The Best Leadership Advice.

Homily for February 1, 2018.

“Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do.” 1 Kings 2:2-3.

As David was about to die, he called his Son Solomon and gave him the best leadership advice any good leader could afford. Beneath the lines of this advice is a candid summary of the entire life of David himself. So long as David remained close to God, determined to obey God’s commandments and statutes, everything worked well for him.

Did Solomon eventually abide by this advice? That we shall see as the days unfold.

God’s commandment are not a burden for us. They were given to us by God out of love for us and a desire for what is best for us. Let us love these commandment and regard them as the secret keys to the best of all that life as to offer. You cannot be a good leader without been in touch with God your creator.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus shows the depth of his leadership prowess by sending his disciples to go and preach on their own. He gave them instructions just as David gave instructions to Solomon. They went out in obedience to these instructions, hence their mission was very successful.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, may I never despise instructions. Amen.

*Happy New Month. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. (Thursday of the 4^th week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 1 Kings 2:1-12 and Mark 6:7-13).

Familiarity Breeds Contempt.

Homily for January 31, 2018.

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him.” Mark 6:3. 

The saying is indeed true that the grass always looks greener outside. From time immemorial, humans have not learnt to value what is their own. We do not respect those who come from our land, we do not patronize goods produced in our neighbourhood, we are always thrilled by what is foreign, what is imported and what comes from far far away.

Due to their familiarity with Jesus, his own people took offence at him; that is, they were angry with him for attempting to prove he was not that little carpenter’s son they knew. As we would say in pidgin: “why you con dey form for us na?”

Now comes the question: did Jesus actually have brothers and sisters as they mentioned? For me, given the context at which this statement was made, I am of the strong opinion that it was solely intended to demean Jesus, to make him appear as ordinary as anyone else, and to deny the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Unfortunately, many Christians pick on this verse as a defence as to why they should not have any devotion to Mary. If something was said as an insult, why should it now be used as a statement of fact? Jesus never had brothers and sisters. Mary remained a virgin before, during and after the birth of Jesus Christ. This is a mystery but failure to believe it amounts to denying the omnipotence of God, failure to believe it is like saying there is a limit to what God can possibly do.

Jesus did not do much among the people because of their lack of faith. When out of familiarity we begin to lose faith, we should not be surprised when things no longer work well for us. It is not God’s fault but our fault. Using the analogy of the crowd pressing around Jesus whereas only the woman with the issue of blood had the faith to touch his garment and receive healing, a priest yesterday in his reflection spoke of how so many people today are like crowd pressing around Jesus but only the very few who have faith actually receive graces and miracles.

Familiarity with God also expresses itself in sinfulness. We could get too used to receiving mercy from God, we could get to take the sacrament of penance for granted given that it is always readily available. I am of the opinion that it was out of familiarity that David took a census of the people – an act he was not supposed to have done given that God speaking to Abraham said that his people shall be as numerous as the stars and as many as the sands on the seashore. For this sin of David, seventy thousand men died.

Again, this is why we must pray for our leaders. Seventy thousand people lost their lives just because of the sin of just one man, David. Furthermore, we make a great mistake when we stay aloof from the process of selecting our leaders because if we do not actively participate in putting the right persons in the right positions, we would have ourselves to blame for it.

There is enormous suffering in our land today. The state of insecurity and economic meltdown has never been this bad. Injustice has reached such a high record level. A particular group of persons seem to have immunity to kill, destroy and assassinate because those in power who belong to the same ethnic group have sworn never to arrest or bring anyone of them to book. People are been killed in their farms, butchered like animals and nothing is been done.

Go and register today. Get your Permanent Voter’s Card. Join a political party and have the chance to be voted for. As St. Maximilian Kolbe would say: “Indifference is the greatest sin of the twentieth century.”

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, deepen our faith and grant that we may never suffer for the sins of our leaders. Amen.

St. John Bosco, patron of the youths, pray for us.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. (Wednesday of the 4^th week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 2 Samuel 24:2-17 and Mark 6:1-6). 

The Absalom Phenomenon

Homily for January 30, 2018.

“The king said to the Cushite, ‘Is it well with the young man Absalom?’ And the Cushite answered, ‘May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man.’” 2 Samuel 18:32.

Our first reading today contains the tragic end of David’s Son, Absalom. The story of Absalom is very well documented in the Bible not so that we may imitate him but that we may learn from him what becomes of those who allow their greed for power and over-ambitiousness go unchecked.

Absalom’s problem began with pride. Upon returning from a self-imposed exile as a result of killing his brother Amnon (for committing incest with his sister Tamar), Absalom started feeling like the most righteous person in the world. He got a widow to make peace with David and obtain forgiveness by force.

Using what I would describe as highly Machiavellian moves, Absalom started winning the hearts of the people towards himself. For four good years, Absalom acted like the Minister of Justice to those who had suits. He would tell them how David could not hear their cases and how he wished David could be replaced with someone like him.

When Absalom felt he had gathered enough supporters, he decided to declare himself a king thereby waging war against David. Absalom’s greatest mistake was to assume that all those who were singing his praises and fanning his ego were actually on his side. He took the advice of Ahitophel and publicly went in to his Father’s concubines. Unknown to him, Hushai was a good friend of David but pretended to be Absalom’s adviser. Husahi gave the advice that brought Absalom down!

Well, well, well, the summary of this story is that power and authority come from God. No matter how good we judge ourselves to be for leadership, without God’s hand of approval and support, our craze for power; our “dirty politics” lands us into the same situation as that of Absalom. No one ever became a successful leader by usurping power! If the throne is not meant for you, the crown will never size your head.

Our Gospel passage today contains the healing account of Jarius’ daughter and the woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years. In all of the drama that ensured, the lesson we need to take home is ALL POWER BELONGS TO GOD. Who has the final say? No one but God alone.

There were already mourners in Jarius’ house, they had concluded that the little girl was dead and they even went as far as telling Jarius not to bother Jesus again. They did not know that Jesus himself is God who created heaven and earth and is in charge of all life on earth. The raising of the little girl to life teaches us that God alone is all powerful. And so, in our quest for power, we should never push God aside.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, free me from self-pride and over ambition. Amen

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. (Tuesday of the 4^th week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 2 Samuel 18:9-19:3 and Mark 5:21-43).*

Fr. Abu.  

They begged Jesus to leave their Neighbourhood

Homily for January 29, 2018.

“The herdsmen fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus, and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had had the legion; and they were afraid… And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their neighbourhood.” Mark 5:14-17.

Today’s Gospel passage actually continues from where that of last Saturday ends. Jesus had just finished a great crusade and he told his disciples to get into the boat and cross over to the other side. That very night, as they were out there in the river, there was a great storm, one that brought out all the fear in the disciples. Jesus was sleeping till they woke him and he gently calmed the sea.

As soon as Jesus and his disciples came down from the boat, behold, there was a man with an unclean spirit. That was the day for this man who would later become an evangelist to gain his freedom and it was probably because of this man that Jesus and his disciples suffered a great storm at sea.

I once heard the musician, Buchi sing: “Never make permanent decisions based on temporary situations.” Never get discouraged by the waves at sea, great things await you on the other side. Jesus was not discouraged by the experience at sea, he was determined to go everywhere to continue his mission.

Nevertheless, in the process of healing of this demon-possessed man, two thousand pigs died instantly in the process. What does this teach us? It teaches us that for God, the life of one man is more important than two thousand animals (be it, pig, poultry or cattle!). If freeing just one man from the shackles of bondage would cost such a monumental loss, then it is worth it.

When the herdsmen reported what had happened, a mild drama played out; the people of the town came out to see that the demoniac had been made well now in his right senses but all they actually took notice of was the fact that two thousand swine were gone. And they begged Jesus to depart from their area.

How often have I driven God out of my workplace? How often have I taken economic decisions without even trying to consider God’s opinion? How often have I gotten angry with people for daring to mention God in my business transaction?

The truth, my dear friends is that we cannot serve God and money at the same time. We cannot deceive ourselves, it is either we are prepared to lose money for the sake of God or we are prepared to ask God to leave for the sake of money. The fact is that Jesus actually walked away. You see, when we ask God to leave us alone because of money, God will never force his way on us. He will leave us to become gods unto ourselves and when we become our own gods, we soon realize our emptiness and nothingness.

David had everything he ever dreamed of. He was the richest man in the world in his time, but somehow he pushed God aside and brought trouble unto himself. Today we read about him running away from his own son, Absalom. Along the way, there was a man named Shimei who threw stones at David and cursed him continually. David came to realize his nothingness.

For once, David remembered how he was just a little boy tending after sheep when God made him King of Israel. He realized he wasn’t all-powerful. He said to Abishai, “Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has bidden him, it may be that the Lord will look upon my affliction and repay me with good for this cursing today.”

Dear friends, without God, we are nothing! We may great mistakes when we push God away all in the name of making money.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, teach me to value you above anything else in this world. Amen

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. (Monday of the 4^th week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 2 Samuel 15:13-16:13 and Mark 5:1-20). 

What is the Devil doing in Church?

Homily for January 28, 2018.

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Mark 1:24.

Our Gospel passage today is a direct continuation of that of last Sunday. Jesus is at the beginning of his public ministry, he goes about town preaching the need for repentance and along the way he finds some fishermen and called them to himself with the promise that they would fish for men henceforth.

Today, Jesus went to the synagogue to worship God. Jesus did not despise the synagogue even though he knew how imperfect the place was, Jesus knew of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the Priests and their followers yet it was his custom never to skip the synagogue. Like the Synagogue, the church today is so full of imperfect people but this fact should never discourage you from going to church; it is not people you are going there to worship, but God. No amount of scandal should drive you away from church.

Upon entering the synagogue, Jesus immediately took the pulpit and began to preach. It was the opportunity he was waiting for, the perfect setting he need to announce himself to the world as the Messiah. Jesus taught with authority; this way he confirmed the words of Moses in our First Reading. He did not speak like one who was just a messenger, he spoke to them as God. The people were astonished, amazed, touched; caught to the heart… Like the disciples at Emmaus, their hearts were burning within them as they listened to Jesus. Good preaching should strike a chord in your heart, it should shift you away from your comfort zone and make you think. Good preaching is not motivational speech, it is not prayer, it should not make you feel good, it should make you look inwards and decide to change your life.

There was a man in the synagogue who was possessed by a demon. Now, could it be that this man was a regular customer to this synagogue? It means that spiritually speaking, that synagogue was actually dead. A church that fails to help sinners change or repent but rather makes them comfortable in their sinfulness is truly a dead church, a church that makes light of evil and actually condones sin in the name of modernity is a very dead church. You may ask, what is the devil doing in church? I answer, the devil’s presence in church is the reason why many people go to church but only few are true Christians. God speaking through Isaiah says: “These people honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” Isaiah 29:13.

The demon could not withstand the purity of Jesus Christ. It cried out “What have you to do with us?” This is the reason why the world hates true Christians. Beneath the cry of the demon possessed man is the cry of the world against God’s children. We do not belong to the world, we cannot compete with the world for its wealth, its power, fame and pleasures. We cannot be Godly and worldly at the same time, we cannot be truly comfortable in the world. Jesus says, if we want to be his disciples, we should take up our cross and follow him. We operate by a higher standard, we do not conform to the pattern of the world.

If you are a youth, say past the age of twenty, unmarried and still a virgin, not in a relationship, the world practically hates you. Your friends call you all sorts of names, they make you feel like one big loser. Basically, the world is asking you “what have you to do with us? Just go away, you don’t belong here.” Look at the words of St. Paul in our second reading today. Don’t give up on your holiness, don’t bow to pressure; don’t try to be like everyone else, worship God with your body.

Jesus cast out the demon simply by speaking. The words of Jesus are not ordinary words, they are words that created the world and everything in it. In the beginning was the WORD and the WORD was God. Never take God’s words for granted. Never joke with the Bible. Read God’s word, Speak God’s words, Declare God’s words over your life, your circumstances, your marriage, your health, your finances, and just as the demon obeyed, things would work for you. Jesus said: “I came that they may have life in abundance.” That abundant life is what we get when we soak ourselves in God’s words and use them for ourselves.

The book of Hebrews says: “The word of God is sharper than any two edged sword” Heb.4:12. Don’t use the Bible as a pillow case, open it every day and read it. Joshua was told: “this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.” Joshua 1:8. Today’s Christians want good success but forget that they are also to do what is written in the Bible.

Conclusion: Our Gospel passage ends with the line: “News about him spread everywhere throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.” Every time you attend Church and fail to spread the word of God, your church attendance is incomplete. The few people in that synagogue that day talked about Jesus so much so that the whole of Galilee knew Jesus. When the priest says: “Go, the mass is ended” it literally means “Go and announce Jesus, go and spread the message, go and proclaim God by your life.”

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, fill me with the Holy Spirit, cast away from me any attachment to evil, any sinful habit, any demonic possession. Amen

Happy Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. (Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Year B. Bible Study: Deuteronomy 18:15-20, 1^st Corinthians 7:32-35 and Mark 1:21-28).

Adultery is a Sin.

Homily for January 26, 2018.

“As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” Nathan said to David, “You are the man.” 2 Samuel 12:5-7. 

Our readings today are loaded with lots of lessons for us, some of which I shall try to unpack.

First, let us consider for a moment the courage of Nathan. It is not easy to confront people with the truth of their sins, not to mention if those persons occupy very high positions of authority and power. In all of Israel, no man was higher than David, yet Nathan found a way to rebuke him directly face to face with his sin.

This is the job of a prophet. Many who call themselves prophets today are nothing short of praise singers, motivational speakers, feel-good-speakers who encourage evil and sin in our society by not confronting sin head-on.

I particularly titled this reflection “Adultery is a sin” on purpose. Dear friends, regardless of what people think, regardless of whatever definition our immoral world describes it, adultery is still a sin and on no account whatsoever is the act of sex between two unmarried persons ever justified. Using the words of David, anyone who indulges in adultery deserves to die!

The truth is that our society tends to apply double standards when it comes to adultery. If a man cheats, it is said that he attaches no emotions to the act and his wife should just understand and let it go but when a woman cheats, all hell must be let loose. This way of thinking reduces the woman to a toy; something to be used, a second class human being who has no right to be respected. If as a man, you can’t stand the thought of another man sleeping with your wife, why do you cheat on her?

Secondly, another lesson we learn today is the wise old saying that when one finger points at others, the remaining four fingers point back to the self. See how David was moved to anger against the man in Nathan’s story not knowing that he was only passing a judgement on himself. This is just life.

We tend to condemn everyone else but ourselves; we always see the specks in people’s eyes but never notice the logs in our own eyes. We do things in secret assuming people do not know but we seem to know what everyone else is doing in secret. The faults we notice faster in others are those that we ourselves are most guilty of.

Dear friend, this story calls us to examine our consciences very well and repent.

Thirdly, we learn that nothing is hidden under the sun. The fact that no one has confronted you yet does not mean people are not aware. It is better not to do evil than to try to hide it. In an attempt to hide his adultery, David ended up with Murder. Mind you, Uriah was no ordinary soldier, he was one of David’s most loyal fighters; he was a personal person! Just know that sin can never be hidden in this world. If you tell one lie, you need at least ten more lies to cover it and each of those ten lies need ten more. How much more when you sin with your body?

Thirdly, we learn that God is moved by a humbled contrite heart. David was quick to admit his secret affair, he did not deny it! As a result of his admittance of fault, David did not die immediately rather than he would serve another punishment; watching the child of his adulterous affair die.

This tells us that even when we go for confession, there is still a punishment we serve for committing sin. Many Catholics deceive themselves a lot; they are like: “after all, isn’t just to go and confess.” A lady once told a priest at confession that she was making plans to commit the sin she had just confessed that very night. The priest had no choice other than to send her away without absolving her; there was just no atom of repentance, she did not really come to confess but to boast of her sinful escapades.

Dear friend, the God who killed David’s child and literally ended the peace and harmony in David’s household after his adulterous act is the same God that we serve. I don’t say this to scare anyone but to encourage us in our resolve to avoid sin. Do not take God for granted, do not hide under the pretext that Christ has taken away our sins on the cross, strive to avoid sin even if it means shedding your blood because no matter how you try, you can never escape the punishment of sin. from on Monday, we shall read about how David had to flee like a fugitive from his own Son!!!

Does this message disturb your inner peace like the way the disciples of Jesus were afraid of drowning in today’s Gospel passage? Jesus says: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” Believe. Believe that you can live above sin. Believe that you are not just flesh but spirit. Yes, body no be firewood, but body na also temple of Holy Spirit oh.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, renew my anointing every day. Amen

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. (Saturday of the 3^rd week of Lent. Bible Study: 2 Samuel 12:1-7, 10-17 and Mark 4:35-41).*

Fr. Abu.  

Timidity is not A Virtue.

Homily for January 26, 2018.

“I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control. Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God.” 2 Timothy 1:6-8. 

Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of the conversion of St. Paul, today we are celebrating the memorial of two bishops we may likely refer to as the spiritual sons of St. Paul. Every great leader is a mentor. As the saying goes, success without a successor is failure.

As we see in today’s Gospel passage, even Jesus recognized the fact that he alone as a person cannot do all the preaching and he decided to appoint for himself seventy two others whom he tutored and sent out ahead of him in pairs to preach.

From Paul’s letter to Timothy, one great lesson we learn is that 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. We are lights and a light cannot be put under a bed.

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.

Being timid is trying to hide the gifts and talents that God has deposited in you. It is a form of spiritual coldness or slothfulness. It is keeping quiet when you should raise your voice for God out of fear of what people would do to you.

As St. Paul advices Timothy, the cure for spiritual timidity is REKINDLING THE GIFT OF GOD or as some translations put it, FANNING INTO FLAMES GIFT OF GOD that is within you. Yes, a person’s anointing can grow cold, it can literally expire! Like one’s muscles, the less they are exercised, the weaker a person becomes.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, renew my anointing every day. Amen

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. (Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus. Bible Study: 2 Timothy 1:1-8 and Luke 10:1-9). 

Rise and be Baptized and Wash away your Sins.

Homily for January 25, 2018.

“The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” Acts 22:14-16. 

This story has been told several times and I consider it quite fitting to today’s reflection. It is the story of Thomas Edison, the inventor of the Electric bulb. When Edison’s team had fabricated that first light bulb, Edison turned and surveyed each of his co-workers as if he was sizing each of them up. After surveying them all, Edison handed the light bulb to a young boy who was helping in the lab, entrusting him with the very delicate task of carrying the first light bulb ever produced upstairs and placing it gently into a vacuum machine.

Needless to say, this bulb was very precious and the boy knew it. Step by step he cautiously watched his hands, obviously frightened of dropping such a priceless piece of work. But the boy was concentrating so hard on making sure that the bulb didn’t slip from his hands that he forgot to watch his feet. He tripped at the top of the stairs and dropped the bulb and it shattered.

Undeterred by the setback, Edison put his team back to work. Their effort to construct the second light bulb consumed an additional 24 hours. Exhausted from so much work and ready for a break, Edison was ready to have his bulb carried up the stairs again. He once again looked around and surveyed each of his co-workers to determine who would carry the bulb upstairs.

Everyone was shocked when Edison selected the young boy who had dropped it the first time. Edison knew that the boy was probably devastated by the first incident. He decided to give the boy another chance. This time the boy successfully completed his task.

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 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. 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.

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. (Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle. Bible Study: Acts 22:3-16 and Mark 16:15-18). 

Repentance is working on Your Soil.

Homily for January 24, 2018.

“But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” Mark 4:20 

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus not only gives a parable about planting and growing seeds, he also explains the meaning of the parable. Now, there is only one farmer and the seed sown is the same type of seed but there are different harvests. Why? The soils where these seeds were sown are different. These soils represent the nature of our hearts.

Some people have rocky hearts; they receive seed with joy but have no roots. They are always excited in church, they are the first to rush out for altar calls, so emotional but their faith evaporates as fast as their emotions change. They cannot withstand trial.

Some people have thorny hearts; they really love God and they want to serve God but it happens that they also want to be like everybody else. They want what people want, the delight of riches, fancy clothes, nice car, bumper bank account…, just name it; the list is endless. Their love for the world chokes up their love for God.

Then comes the category of people with a rich heart who are able to yield fruits with their life. These are people whose manner of life even in secret bears no contradiction with who they say they are.

Dear friends, true repentance is taking out the thorns and breaking away the rocks. I believe this is what Christianity is about. It is consistently working on yourself, consistently rejecting sin, consistently bringing in the right soil, consistently applying God’s word as manure for your heart, consistently applying the water of devotion and prayer, till you become a saint.

David expressed his desire to build God a house and this pleased God so much that he showered him with so much blessings. David was not a perfect man but his heart represents the rich soil, he wanted permanence for God’s house. Do you want permanence for your acts of virtue? What structures can you put in place in your life or what needs to change to sustain your repentance?

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.

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.

It there is one book that changed my life completely, it is Introduction to Devout Life by St. Francis the Sales. Find it wherever good books are sold, take one chapter each day and meditate as you read. Your life will never be the same again, I bet you.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, create in me a pure heart; a rich soil that I may bear fruits for your kingdom. Amen.

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. (Wednesday of the 3^rd Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 2^nd Samuel 7:4-17 and Mark 4:1-20).