God Disciplines Those He Loves.

(Homily for February 1, 2017).

The word ‘discipline’ is closely related to the word ‘disciple.’ To be a disciple is to be a student or to learn something from one’s teacher and since learning involves pain, it may also be referred to as discipline. As disciples of God, the book of Hebrews this morning tells us that there are times God punishes us not out of hatred but because he wants us to learn. No matter how painful an event may be, there is always something we can learn from it. In short, there is a quotation I found somewhere which states: “Never regret a day in your life: good days give happiness, bad days give experience, worst days give lessons, and best days give memories.”

If we take out time to count our blessings, we will discover that it is our most painful experiences that were most beneficial to us in the long run. I started writing not because English language was my best subject in school but because one day I was disgraced publicly in class. A man once told me that his business career began the day his dad and mum stopped giving him pocket money. The experience was painful at that time but in the end, he had course to thank God for it. Indeed, we cannot but agree with St. Paul that all things actually work unto good for them that love God. Romans 8:28. Never regret anything, never regret your painful experiences, they are your best teachers in life. Never get angry with God for allowing bad things happen to you, He is only disciplining you.

Jesus experienced something painful among his own people when he went there to preach. They looked down on him. In fact, they took offence at Jesus because they felt he was claiming to be something other than the ordinary carpenter they knew him as. But Jesus did not get angry with them, he did not curse them instead he took this experience as a lesson. He simply said: “A prophet is not without honour except in his own country and in his own house.” Dear friends, there is always a lesson to learn from pain.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, help me look beyond my pains that I may see your hand in them. Amen.

Happy New Month. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Wednesday of the 4^th Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Hebrews 12:4-15 and Mark 6:1-6).

Fr. Abu.

Put Aside the Weight of Sin, Fear & Doubt.

(Homily for January 31, 2017).

There are three things we need to get rid of in other for us to attain the blessed and happy life that God so designed for us; sin, fear and doubt. The word sin comes from a Greek word meaning “to miss the mark.” God who created us and knows what is best for us gave us certain targets we must aspire to. Like in the game of archery, each time we sin, it means we throw the arrow off course and when we constantly do that, we can never win the game. In other words, sin can become a heavy weight preventing us from enjoying life as God intended. No player is happy when he constantly misses, so he disciplines himself, spends long hours in training, and even suffers bruises in the process just to hit the target. If Jesus could suffer the pain of the cross during which he was spat upon, flogged, bruised, and shamed, we too must resist sin even if it means shedding our blood.

Fear is a natural defence mechanism. We fear things that we know are capable of taking away our pride, our possessions or even our joy. At times, we need to lay off our fears like the woman with the issue of blood who risked her self-pride to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. The good news about our fears is that ninety-nine percent of the time, they never happen. Our fears protect us from taking risks but by so doing, they also protect us from victories, breakthroughs and new discoveries.

To doubt is to be logical. If a girl stops breathing in your presence and someone tells you she is not dead but only asleep, it is normal to doubt. It is normal to laugh at such a person who seems to be going against the rules of common sense. I have come to discover that the greatest men and women in history were at some point in their life described as mad people yet they went on to change the world. They were considered mad because they refused to allow doubt in their hearts. They believed anything was possible and were determined to find solutions where others had given up. People laughed at Jesus but were put to shame when the girl woke up.

Just as we need to lay aside sin, fear and doubt, so also we must lay aside anyone in our lives capable of leading us into sin, fear and doubt. Jesus drove away all of those who doubted and laughed at him before entering into the house to raise the girl to life. Are there persons in my life who constantly lures me to sin, persons who laugh at me when I tell them my dreams or persons who tell me my plans are impossible? I think I need to realize I don’t need such persons anymore.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, take away from me any weight that pulls me down. Amen.

St. John Bosco, Pray for us.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Tuesday of the 4^th Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Hebrews 12:1-4 and Mark 5, 21 to 40).

Fr. Abu.

Faith Does Not Mean There Will Be No Pains. (Homily for January 30, 2017).

That we have faith does not mean we shall not suffer, that we are people of faith does not translate to a life of luxury, or a life free from pains. Yes, Jesus said if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain: ‘move’ and it will obey you. Matthew 17:20. But this does not mean that once we have faith, all the mountains would disappear.

The book of Hebrews speaks of the heroes of our faith in today’s first reading. It says: “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated… And all these, well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised.” Hebrews 11:35-39. I like to think of faith not as a passport to keep bad things from happening to us but as a shield that prevents us from crumbling into depression when bad things happen.

Faith is praying to God for item A only to get item B (the opposite), yet you still find courage to say “Thank you God.” Jesus cured a demoniac but in the process the villagers lost their entire herd of swine. The size of their economic loss was too huge to notice that a man had been set free from demon-possession. All they could see was the loss of their source of livelihood. So they begged Jesus to go away.

I wonder how many times I have pushed God away simply because all I could see was loss. Faith does not mean there will be no pain, it is steadfastness in the midst of pain.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, strengthen my faith in good times and in bad. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Monday of the 4^th Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Hebrews 11:32-40 and Mark 5, 1 to 20).

Fr. Abu.

The Gospel of Poverty. (Homily for January 29, 2017).

In an age and time like ours where in the Gospel of Prosperity has taken centre stage, our readings today propose a different Gospel; a Gospel that not many preachers would like to talk about, yet a Gospel Jesus not only preached, but lived out as an example for us all – it is the Gospel of Poverty which may also be referred to as the Gospel of loss. It is a Gospel that encourages us to let go rather than to grab, a Gospel that talks about building mansions in heaven rather than on earth, a Gospel that calls us to rejoice in the midst of persecution rather than think of how to kill our enemies.

The beatitudes is essentially a Gospel of Poverty. Each quality Jesus speaks about entails having to let go of something. To be poor in spirit basically means we have to let go our natural human pride and ego. As St. Paul puts it in our second reading, it is choosing to be nothing instead of something, it is deciding to be weak rather than proving to others that you are strong. It is boasting in God rather than in yourself. Being poor in spirit entails that I, as a minister refuse to deify myself, that I refuse to put my picture in the church signboard or poster, that I refuse to allow people give testimonies in my name, that I refuse to allow people wear a picture of me on their necks rather than the picture of Jesus or Mary.

To mourn means we let go of our ever-pressing desire for happiness and pleasure. In a society like ours, mourning would mean choosing to remain a virgin or refraining from pre-marital and extra-marital affairs. To be meek is to let others have their way instead of putting ourselves first. As Zephaniah tells us in our first reading, it is deliberately seeking out humility. It is choosing to take refuge in the name of God rather than trying to make others see us as powerful or connected.

To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to let go of our craving to satisfy our bodily need for food, housing, clothing and wealth; it is knowing that man shall not live by bread alone but everything that comes from the mouth of God. Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4. Also it is seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Matthew 6:33. The Gospel of prosperity on the other hand proclaims that we seek first an earthly kingdom of unlimited wealth, a kingdom of instant gratification, a kingdom of private jets, latest fashion, expensive gadgets and so on.

To be merciful is to let go of our desire to retaliate when others hurt us; it is loving our enemies. Being merciful is letting go of that tendency to live only for ourselves and reaching out to those not as privileged as we are. It is letting go of that natural desire to be selfish. It is treating all humans as equal regardless of their financial status. The Gospel of prosperity basically divides the church into the haves and the have-nots. Those who have made it whether by hook or crook are treated as saints and heroes, called upon to give testimonies while those who don’t have money are treated as sinners or those in need of deliverance.

To be pure in heart is to let go of the pleasure we enjoy by contemplating evil and immoral thoughts. Being pure in heart is not just refraining from thinking about immorality, it is also dressing in a manner that does not provoke others to think of immoral things. If you don’t cover your body properly, you become a tool for Satan because he uses you to bring about temptation in the heart of that brother or sister that is looking at you. To be pure in heart requires a lot of sacrifice in this age and time and the Gospel of prosperity fails to help matters, people now dress indecently to church just to hear motivational speeches rather than messages that would lead them to repentance.

To be a peacemaker is to let go of your natural tendency to fight back and crush those who seek to deny you of your rights, your power or your possessions. In the second reading of last week, St. Paul told us about the evil of quarrelling among Christians. When we are angry, the easiest thing to do is to pick up a quarrel or stop talking to the person who has hurt us but Jesus is saying we should take the more difficult road instead; seek to make peace. This entails letting go of our pride, letting go of our desire to prove that we are right, letting go of our desire to win every argument. Honestly, making peace is painful. It is hard yet it is the best way. If you quarrel with everybody, how will the world be to you?

Lastly, Jesus talks about the blessedness of persecution. I have seen videos of how Christians are lined up and slaughtered like chickens. It really makes my heart bleed. But I don’t understand why ministers of the Gospel forget the words of Jesus and start preaching on the pulpit that Christians should start killing people from the north. This is just the effect of the Gospel of prosperity. Such ministers have built their faith on an earthly kingdom and are so comfortable with their rich lifestyles that they forget heaven still exists. They have forgotten that martyrdom is a safe passage to heaven and that even Jesus himself did not struggle for independence when his own people were under the Roman rule. I think this is a time for us Christians to rejoice and be glad just as Jesus has said. Yes, if I get to die under the knife of the Islamic jihadists, I would be the happiest person ever.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, help me find freedom by letting go completely. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A. Bible Study: Zephaniah 2:3-3:13. 1^st Corinthians 1:26-31 and Matthew 5, 1 to 12).

Fr. Abu.

Use Your Faith to Cure Your Fear. (Homily for January 28, 2017).

What are your greatest fears? Can you take a piece of paper to write down your fears? I have heard people say that it is wrong to have fears but the truth is that our fears are our greatest treasures. Until we face our fears squarely, we would never know what God is capable of doing. Life is classroom, fear is the examination script on which is written test questions for our promotion to the next level. Inability to face your fears can be likened to a student who refuses to come to class on examination day. What happens? He remains in that class forever.

Abraham had every reason to fear when he was told to sacrifice Isaac but he went ahead to tie the boy up on the altar. He wanted to see that lies on the other side of his fear. Dear friends, life’s greatest blessings are on the other side of our fears. Let us begin to use our fears to our advantage.

The key to conquering fear is Faith. It is with faith that a student goes to the hall on examination day. Faith makes us believe that the questions no matter how tough are not above us – that God is greater than any problem we can possibly think of.

Faith makes us relax even when others are panicking. Mind you, being relaxed is not the same thing as spiritual laxity. That Jesus was asleep during a storm did not mean he was asleep all through the day. He was such a prayerful person that he would wake very early in the morning to pray and at times pray all through the night. When we pray like Jesus, we can afford to relax because even the things that are about to happen will be somehow revealed to us and then, we are able to see the bigger picture and look beyond our petty challenges. When you put everything in God’s hands, you start seeing the hand of God in everything – even those things you consider as difficulties or problems.

We remember St. Thomas Aquinas today. He was a man gifted with intelligence and wisdom, a scholar to the core, a philosopher to philosophers, a theologian of great magnitude, a man whose unshakable Faith in God led him to discover five perfectly logical proofs of God’s existence also known as the Five Ways. Thomas Aquinas is to the Church what the seminary is to a priest. He was not just an intellectual, he was a deeply spiritual person – qualities you hardly find combined in a single person.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, may my faith be like that of Abraham. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Saturday of the 3^rd Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Hebrews 11, 2 to 19 and Mark 4, 35 to 41).

Fr. Abu.

Don’t be discouraged by Little Beginnings. (Homily for January 27, 2017. Friday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time).

Bible Study: Hebrews 10, 32 to 39 and Mark 4, 26 to 34.

The kingdom of heaven is like a little seed, perhaps the smallest of all seeds. The size of the seed does not matter rather it is its potential that matters. That little insignificant seed when planted or even when accidentally spread on the ground begins to grow little by little. Its growth rate can be so slow that no one even takes notice of it. But when its potential fully manifests, it becomes the biggest of all shrubs. People soon begin to wonder how that little seed was able to produce such a big tree.

There are over one billion Christians in the world today yet at a point Christianity was just a tiny seed in the hands of just thirteen men; Jesus and his disciples. Who would have imagined that there would be so many Christians in the world today? Again the book of Hebrews reminds us of how Christians were made to face serious persecution in the early days of its history. Even to this day, the world’s hatred for Christianity has not ceased. Heads have not stopped rolling. In the recent wake of radical Islam, millions of Christians worldwide have been killed all in a bid to exterminate this tiny seed. Yet, how the Christian faith continues to blossom remains a mystery.

Like the Christian faith, beginning a new habit is like planting a seed. When we decide to change from our sinful ways and devote ourselves to becoming more serious with God, we have just planted a small seed. The beginning may be rough, very rough. We may even face great temptations; so great that we may attempt giving up; progress may be slow; people may mock us because they wouldn’t see any change in us. But we should never be discouraged. Keep moving on. One day, that good habit you just began will become part of you and like a shrub that attracts birds of the air, people will come to ask you: “how did you become so successful?”

I recall how I began sending daily reflections in 2014. I was sending to a few persons only and I had great fears as to how this would be sustained. Even it took a great deal of sacrifice to pen a single reflection down. Now, this is 2017 and the story is different. Never be discouraged by your little beginning.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, help me realize my full potential. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.

Fr. Abu.

LIGHT NEEDS NO PERMISSION TO SHINE. (Homily for January 26, 2017. Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops).

Bible Study: 2 Timothy 1, 1 to 8 and Mark 4, 21 to 25.

Timidity is not a virtue. Paul advises Timothy today that God did not and will never give anyone a spirit of timidity, rather a Spirit of Power and Love and Self-Control. Hence there is no room for being ashamed of testifying for the Lord. Even though this faith entails suffering, we should not be afraid of identifying with it. The key to conquering timidity is a constant reminder that we are lights. And a light cannot be put under a bed. If we really allow our lights to shine, we cannot be put down, ignored or hidden. The world may laugh at us or try to make us look stupid for not blending but in time our goodness will bring us out. “Nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest; nor is anything secret that will not come to the light.” Those who once laughed at you will come to ask: ‘how did you do it?’

Timidity and goodness do not go together. If we are truly what we say we are, then acting as though we are ashamed of our identity is a betrayal of our goodness. For instance, some Christians are so shy when they dress properly but they feel extremely comfortable and proud when wearing indecent clothes. Some of us are too scared of preaching in a public place yet we do not mind talking about American politics just to show we are very current. I have seen Catholics so ashamed of bringing out their rosaries in a bus or even along the street all because they don’t want to look strange.

Dear friends, if we don’t believe in ourselves, how do we convince the world that we are lights? Why are we constantly trying to blend in to the world and its standards? We should only be timid when it comes to evil not when it comes to letting our light shine. A minimal Christian is as good as a non-Christian. Sand is sand and sugar is sugar. If sugar now begins to behave like sand, of what good is it?

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, take away any timidity from me. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.

Fr. Abu.

THE SECOND CHANCE. (Homily for January 25, 2017. Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul).

Bible Study: Acts 22, 3 to 16 and Mark 16, 15 to 18.

Today we celebrate the fact that God looked around all the men living in the world and decided to give a second chance to the very man who was all out to destroy Christianity. The same man who went about from house to house dragging Christians to jail, the same man who supervised the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, the same man whose zeal for the destruction of Christians would put him on a missionary journey with letter of permission, became the greatest missionary to promote the Christian Faith. That is God for you.

The beauty of St. Paul’s conversion was that the moment he rose from his feet, he never went back to his former ways. From that day, he saw himself as a completely different person. According to St. Peter, if we repent, there should be no going back otherwise, we become worse for it. 2nd Peter 2, 20 to 22 states: “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was passed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "The dog turns back to its own vomit," and, "The sow is washed only to wallow in the mud.”

May we never return to our vomits in Jesus Name! As some people would say, no matter how you wash a pig, it will look for mud again. My thinking is that the kind of washing a pig requires is not the washing of the outer skin but the washing of the heart, the washing of that which makes the pig love mud. This is what true repentance means. It means changing your heart, changing the things that give you joy, changing the things you love and desire even in secret. Repentance is changing the things that make you love to dance in the mud, changing your belief in yourself, it is telling yourself that you can do without sin, that you will not die if you let go of those past behaviours.

When Saul fell to the ground, he heard the voice of Christ saying: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Let us always remember that when we face persecution for the sake of our faith, Jesus Christ himself shares in our pain. We do not even need to cry because Jesus himself feels our sorrow. When we are dragged off, lied upon, insulted or given names, it is Jesus himself who is dragged, it is Jesus who is insulted. And he has said to us, “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.” Matthew 10, 25 to 26.

On the other hand, just as Jesus feels our pain when we are persecuted, he also feels it when we who carry his name on our lips disappoint him by sin. He is always with us! We can never hide anything from him. Conscious of his presence in us, we would not only stay away from sin, we would make use of His Power working through us. As Jesus told us in today’s Gospel passage, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16, 17 to 18.

As far as you repent today, your past does not matter anymore. Once you drop the old ways, do not go back again. Invite Jesus into your heart and believe in his presence with you always, believe you have the power to overcome sin, the power even to raise back to life those aspects that were dead as a result of bad habits.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, give me the grace of total repentance today. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.

Fr. Abu.

WELCOME TO FAMILY. (Homily for January 24, 2017. Tuesday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time).

Bible Study: Hebrews 10, 1 to 10 and Mark 3, 31 to 35.

Someone sent me a music video recently titled: Family. It was a song by Dolly Patton. It was quite inspirational. Family are people in your life that you did not select and yet you can’t say ‘no’ to them. They are a mirror of the worst and best in of you. They will always put you to the test and you will for their sake do your best. No matter what they do, you will always find a way to forgive them because you have no choice and then, you never stop trusting them. When its family, you will tolerate what you’d kill others for, you find yourself even justifying their mistakes, defending their errors and finding solutions rather than throwing stones.

Family is blood. Family is life. When it comes down to nothing for us, family still remains all we’ve got. You may choose your lovers, you pick your friends but not the family you are in. Yes, friends walk away from your life, even your closest allies fail you but family remains to the very end. Even when others betray and deny you, somehow you feel at peace because you know family got your back.

Now imagine what it feels knowing that Jesus Christ is one of your own family. However, this is not something for mere imagination, it is just reality. Jesus is family. But you may ask, how come I don’t feel it? How come Jesus seems so far away from me? The answer is simple: Being a member of this family depend on how much we do the will of God. When we decide to start keeping God’s commandments diligently, only then would we begin to feel Jesus in our hearts. Sin is what makes Jesus seem far away.

Even the book of Hebrews this morning speaks of how Jesus came to do the will of God in other to abolish the old and bring about the new order of things. God does not desire sacrifices and burnt offerings of rams and bulls, all wants from us is a heart that is ready at all times to obey, a heart that wants to do God’s will. This reading reminds me of Saul. God told him to destroy the Amalekites completely but he decided to take the best things as loot and even spared the king. When Samuel met him, Saul tried to justify himself saying he took those loot to offer them as sacrifice to God. Samuel said to him:

“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23.

In essence, that was the end of Saul. Dear friends, Obedience is better than sacrifice. Doing God’s will should be our number one guiding principle in life.

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Francis de Sales. He was born to a noble family at Chateau de Sales in the Kingdom of Savoy near Geneva, Switzerland on August 21, 1567. He was a Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Francis was both intelligent and gentle. From a very early age, he desired to serve God. In 1580, Francis attended the University of Paris, and at 24-years-old, he received his doctorate in law at the University of Padua.

All the time, he never lost his passion for God. He studied theology and practiced mental prayers, but kept quiet about his devotion. To please his father, he also studied fencing and riding. After much discussion and disagreement from his father, Francis was ordained to the priesthood and elected provost of the Diocese of Geneva, in 1593, by the Bishop of Geneva. In 1602, Bishop Granier died and Francis was consecrated Bishop of Geneva, although he continued to reside in Annecy. He only set foot in the city of Geneva twice -- once when the Pope sent him to try to convert Calvin's successor, Beza, and another when he traveled through it.

In 1604, Francis took one of the most important steps in his life -- the step toward extraordinary holiness and mystical union with God. He gave spiritual direction to most people through letters. Francis gave spiritual direction to lay people who were living real lives in the real world. He had proven with his own life that people could grow in holiness while involved in a very active occupation. He also recognized that Christian marriage and family life is itself a call to holiness.

His most famous book, INTRODUCTION TO THE DEVOUT LIFE, was written for ordinary lay people in 1608, not just the clergy and religious. In 1923, Pope Pius XI named St. Francis de Sales the patron saint of Catholic writers and the Catholic press because of the tracts and books he wrote. He is also the patron saint of the deaf, journalists, adult education, and the Sisters of St. Joseph. His feast day is celebrated on January 24.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, my brother, help me to do your will. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.

Fr. Abu.

NO DIVIDED KINGDOM CAN STAND. (Homily for January 23, 2017. Monday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time).

Bible Study: Hebrews 9, 15 to 28 and Mark 3, 22 to 30.

In our second reading yesterday, St. Paul speaks to the Corinthian Church of the need for them to guard against any form of disunity among themselves. Today, Jesus having been accused of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub explains that such was not possible because a kingdom divided against itself can never stand. Jesus went further to say that a house divided against itself cannot stand thereby reminding us once again of the importance of unity.

One way to recognise a house or even a Church or any community that is on the verge of collapse is to study its lines of division. Wherever a people are divided among themselves, they cannot make progress. Like a broom, its ability to sweep dirt depends on its ability to hold many single strands together. Put apart, none of the broom sticks can achieve what the entire broom can achieve. The story of the Tower of Babel is an example of how division prevents progress. When the people could no longer speak or understand themselves in the same language, they abandoned the project that would have made them challenge God’s omnipotence. Genesis 11:1-9.

If Satan succeeds because of his internal unity, we the body of Christ should not allow disunity break us apart. When we are united, it is difficult for anyone to destroy us. Jesus says “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.” Is it the case that Jesus is referring to Satan as a strong man? Of course, by strength, Jesus is referring to unity. What makes us strong is our unity.

A perfect example of unity is the three persons in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are so united that even the greatest of all theologians cannot fully explain how they could be different and still one at the same time. Let us be united for unity is power.

For those who accused Jesus of being possessed, he made them understand that by so doing they were blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and therefore guilty of eternal sin. In moments of distress and sadness, let us be careful of our utterances against God lest we become guilty of the sin of blasphemy.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, teach me to love my neighbour as myself. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.

Fr. Abu.

REPENTANCE PRECEDES HEALING. (Homily for January 22, 2017. Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A).

Bible Study: Isaiah 8, 23 to 9, 3. 1^st Corinthians 1, 10 to 17 and Matthew 4, 12 to 23.

Last Sunday, our readings were centred on vocation: the fact that we are called by God as Christians to become a light to the nations; the fact that just like John the Baptist, our lives should point people to Jesus; the fact that we need to constantly hear from the Holy Spirit in other to succeed in our mission of pointing the world to Jesus. Last Sunday, we spoke of the need for us to revive our spiritual lives so that we would begin to hear from God like John the Baptist who did not know Jesus but was able to identify him by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. A Christian whose prayer life is weak is like a dead light bulb, no matter the amount of electricity that passes through it, it cannot shine.

Today, the theme of light comes up again. This time, Jesus Christ himself is described as the light whose presence frees a people from darkness. The very fact that Jesus would visit the Lands of Naphtali and Zebulun is seen by Matthew as a fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah which we saw in our first reading. Matthew bearing in mind that his audience were aware of the Old Testament often makes reference to it in other to prove that the life of Jesus fulfils all the prophesies of the long awaited Messiah.

However, what does Isaiah mean by a people that walked in darkness? And how did Jesus’ presence become a source of light for them? When a people live in darkness, it does not mean that the sun no longer shines there or that they lack electricity. Rather, the word darkness is used to refer to the state of their spiritual condition. As we know, everything that happens in the physical realm is controlled in the spiritual realm. Once the spiritual side is down, it means the inner man is dead and this is state of darkness.

To live in darkness is to live in a state of sin. It is living a life that does not glorify God of even acknowledge his existence. When we do not keep the commandments of God, it is either we are in the dark about these commandments, that is, ignorant of them, or that we prefer to keep the commandments of Satan instead. Telling a lie is a symbol of darkness. Since Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, any lie we tell does not glorify Jesus, rather it makes us anti-truths or anti-Christ. This can be applied to every sin we commit.

Whatever we do, say or wear that does not glorify God is a work of darkness. Someone made a comment on Facebook that these days when you see people coming out of the Church, there seems to be no difference with those coming out of a night club. A dress that can be accepted to a night club should not be found in your body at all not to mention wearing it to church. Bear in mind that being beautiful is different from being sexy. When a dress is sexy, it is because it is tight, short or fails to cover those places that ought to be covered. When a dress is sexy, it means it arouses the appetite for sex in others and announces to the world that you are a sex-object, that you can be used and dumped like a rag. When your dress reveals the shape and size of your body or exposes your nakedness it is a sign of deep seated darkness.

Another way of identifying darkness in our lives is by asking ourselves about the things we do in secret; things we hide from others, things we by first ensuring no one is watching us, things we do literally under the cover of darkness – at night or in very hidden places. The works of darkness are those things we do which we are not proud of announcing to the world.

When a people live in darkness, you hear all kinds of terrible things happening among them; you hear of man’s inhumanity to man, you hear of atrocities, abominations, wickedness, evil and calamities of various proportions. Darkness is characterised by sicknesses of different kinds, demonic possessions and disunity among the people. Yes, disunity is one of the signs of darkness and that is why St. Paul appeals to the Corinthian Church in our second reading today not to allow anything bring division among them. When Satan wants to dominate a community, he applies the principle of divide and rule. He brings something capable of dividing the people so much so that they begin to hate themselves and start fighting each other. When camps and factions are created, people no longer trust each other and love disappears. My dear parishioners, let us not allow Satan bring darkness to this community through disunity. Let us stop Gossiping about each other, let us stop tearing one another apart with our mouths, let us stop forming camps or treating certain persons as though they are holier than others.

Jesus could see the lands of Naphtali and Zebulun just like our country today enveloped in such thick darkness and immediately he proceeded to bring about a cure. What is the cure for darkness? “REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS CLOSE AT HAND.” Repentance is the first and foremost the cure for darkness. It is the foundation on which discipleship is built, the foundation on which healing and miracles can take place. Hence Jesus began by preaching repentance. The people needed to repent first before Jesus could call the disciples and before he could carry out healing of their diseases and infirmities.

How come Jesus did not proceed immediately to heal them? It is because healing comes only when faith has been developed in the mind of the sick person. And faith comes only when the sick person repents of his past life and begins to acknowledge God by following his commandments. If the people had not repented, Jesus would not have been able to perform healings among them. Mind you, when Jesus went to his home town, we are told that the people looked down on him so much so that “he could do no mighty work there…” Mark 6:1-5.

Dear friends, if we must benefit from God’s blessings and provisions in our lives, we must first cooperate with him, we must be first repent, we must first renounce our attachment to worldly things and sinful passions. Unless we let go, we cannot let God in. God is not going to force his way on anybody. If we continue to enjoy of sinfulness and still hope to receive God’s healings and manifold provisions, we are only deceiving ourselves. Whatever you know is against your faith, stop compromising, stop lying to yourself that it is okay because others are doing it, stop trying to eat your cake and have it, stop for good today. Repent. Repent. Repent.

If we do not repent and start keeping his commandments, we remain in darkness and frustration. Yes, we become frustrated because darkness does not pay, the world cannot give us the joy and peace our hearts long for. What is that that you seek from God today? Why not take out the source of darkness from your life so that God can come in and change your situation. Why not repent from that sin that might is preventing the light of God from shining upon you.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, I give my lifetime to you. Make me your instrument, your apostle and a light to the world. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.

Fr. Abu.