St. Joseph Teaches us to Shine in Our Work.

Friday 1st May 2020. Read Acts 9:1-20, Psalm 117 and John 6:52-59.

_“A light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting…” *(Acts 9:3-5)*_ 

To eat and drink the flesh and blood of Christ is to abide in Christ; it is to have Christ literally live inside of us. And if Christ is living inside you, anyone who persecutes you is actually persecuting Christ. Hence, when Saul was destroying Christians, Christ felt it so much that he accosted him on the road to Damascus: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

Our responsorial psalm beautifully puts it saying: “The Angel of the Lord is encamped around those who fear Him, to rescue them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who seeks refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:9).

The conversion of Saul teaches us that God hates sin but loves the sinner. He is a God of second chances. He who created us knows what we are made of and He never gives up on us. Again, this story shows us no one can fight God’s children and succeed. God knows how to protect His own.

Today, being the first day of May is traditionally known as Workers’ Day. The church in celebrating workers remembers one Saint Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus. He was simply identified as the Carpenter and it is from this great man that the baby Jesus learnt to work. As we honour Mary for her role in salvation history, we also honour Joseph for his sacrificial role in that story.

Not much is written or known about St. Joseph but so much can be said based on the very little that we find. St. Joseph was humble enough to accept God’s plan for him; to willingly marry Mary; to protect the child Jesus from danger and to serve in the place of a Father in the upbringing of Jesus Christ.

Today we pray for workers all over the world; especially workers whose rights and dignity are suppressed by the powerful; workers who are being unjustly denied of their wages; workers who face harassment in their place of work; workers who want to work but are searching for employment. May St. Joseph pray for us all. Amen

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, create in me a pure heart and renew my spirit within me. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the 3rd Week of Easter. Optional Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker. Bible Study: Acts 9:1-20, Psalm 117 and John 6:52-59).

The Mother of Jesus was There.

Thursday 30th April 2020. Read Acts 1:12-14, Luke 1:46-55 and John 2:1-11.

“When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’” (John 2:3-5)

As the month of April comes to an end today, we celebrate a Feast that perfectly sets us in the mood for devotion to Mary given that the month of May is Mary’s Month. Today is the feast of Our Lady; Mother of Africa. Our Gospel passage today captures that familiar scene of the Wedding Feast at Cana. The role Mary played in ensuring the miracle is one reason we often take recourse to her when we pray to God.

First, Mary understood the problem at hand and immediately informed Jesus that “they have no wine.” In other words, “Do something.” Mary teaches us to have faith in Jesus.

Secondly, we see that Jesus has very high regard for Mary. Jesus initially protested, “My hour has not yet come” but Mary pressed further. Mary teaches us never to give up when we pray for anything.

Thirdly, when Mary had successfully convinced Jesus to help the couple, she told the servants: “Do whatever He tells you.” (John 2:5). Mary teaches us to trust and obey God

Fourthly, after the miracle, we do not hear anything from Mary. She simply remained in the background. Mary teaches us humility. She does not beat her chest or brag like some of us do.

Mary is the definition of an intercessor. If we ask human intercessors to pray for us, we should not be afraid to ask Mary to pray for us whether we are Catholics or not. Asking her intercession is not worshipping her.

Our first reading tells us that Mary was present with the Apostles in the upper room where they devoted themselves to prayer. They took her as their mother. Anyone who acknowledges that Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God knows that Mary is not just any woman; she is not an envelope God used and dumped.

In our responsorial psalm today, Mary declares: “Henceforth, all generations will call me blessed” not because she is some goddess but because “He who is mighty has done great things for me” (Luke 1:48-49). We honour Mary because God honoured her first.

Today we celebrate the fact that Mary intercedes for Africa. When Herod sought to kill the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph took shelter in Africa. At a time when our continent is faced with the turmoil, suffering under the yoke of neo-colonialism, we need Mother Mary’s intercession more than ever.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, may your mother pray for us. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Feast of Our Lady, Mother of Africa. Bible Study: Acts 1:12-14, Luke 1:46-55 and John 2:1-11).

Have Faith in God; Sorrow May Last in the Night, but Joy Comes in the Morning.

Wednesday 29th April 2020. Read Acts 8:1-8, Psalm 66 and John 6:35-40.

“And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria.” (Acts 8:1)

Sometime ago, someone asked me a question: “When you pray very hard for something with deep faith and trust in God and yet, God does not answer you, what should you do?” As I raised my head, I saw the Crucifix and I immediately remembered that the Bible is filled with stories of persons who prayed and God did not grant their prayers. One of them was Jesus Christ. The truth dawned on me that God never stops being God simply because He does not grant our prayers sometimes.

Our first reading today begins by telling us how a great persecution arose against the church following the death of Stephen. These Christians must have prayed yet they faced cruel persecution. God did not prevent their deaths but then, what began on a sad note ended on a very joyful note. See how our first reading ended: “So there was much joy in that city.” (Acts 8:8).

God doesn’t always grant our prayers but He sure knows how to write straight on very crooked lines. This is why God deserves our complete trust. He may not give us exactly what we want but in the end, we realize that even those events or circumstances we labelled as negative ultimately turn out for our good.

But for the persecution, Philip might not have left Jerusalem. Maybe he would not have known he had the gifts of preaching and healing to work great signs. Like food that has to be cooked, I believe God allows hardship and crisis in our lives to cook us so that our true value comes out.

God never promised that if we serve him, everything will be smooth in our lives. No! The book of Sirach 2:1 says: “My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for an ordeal.” Trials and hard times would surely come our way but even if we die, Jesus assures us in today’s Gospel passage: “This is the will of my Father; that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40).

Like an athlete running with the pole to take the high jump, we must trust God completely even in very difficult moments knowing that when we go up so high to jump, a very soft landing awaits us.  Endure! “Sorrow may last in the night but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, save me from all forms of discouragement and despair. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Wednesday of the 3^rd Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 8:1-8, Psalm 66 and John 6:35-40).

He who Comes to me Shall not Hunger.

Tuesday 28th April 2020. Read Acts 7:51-59, Psalm 31 and John 6:30-35

_“Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him.” *(Acts 7:56-58)*_ 

Yesterday, Jesus told the crowd who had obviously come to him for the sake of bread not to work for the food which perishes but for that which lasts forever. Today, Jesus continues his message to the crowd. This time, it was more like a conversation with the people. Jesus was leading them somewhere – the Holy Eucharist.

First, Jesus began by explaining to them the inner meaning of the miracle they had just experienced (the feeding of the five thousand). This miracle was a sign; a pointer to the fact that God is truly a provider, a pointer that God truly cares for his people; a pointer that God is willing to go to any extent to ensure that we get our needs just as God was willing to feed the people during their sojourning in the desert.

Secondly, Jesus made them understand that there are different types of bread; the earthly bread and the bread which comes down from heaven. While the earthly bread represents all that this world has to offer us (food, money, power, luxury, etc. which often create more hunger in us), the bread which comes down from heaven is that which truly gives us LIFE.

At this point, the people got the message. So they asked Jesus, we want this bread that comes from heaven. “Give us this bread always.” We don’t want to eat the bread that leaves us hungrier, we want the bread that is from heaven. Jesus then told them: I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE; HE WHO COMES TO ME SHALL NOT HUNGER AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NEVER THIRST.

Jesus is the Bread of Life. When our relationship with Jesus suffers, everything else falls apart. We all need to have a solid relationship with God to survive in this world and to realize that we are just sojourners. Stephen had this deep inner connection with God. In fact, it is from the lips of Stephen that we get to hear how heaven looks like. Stephen’s vision of heaven helped to form our creed: “He ascended into heaven, where he is seated at the right hand of God the father.”

Keep your relationship with Jesus alive, fuel your spiritual life, create time daily to be alone with God in prayer, have a daily routine of meditation, bible study and other spiritual activities, never stop it. It is the energy that is more powerful than food.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, make me realize how much I need you. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Tuesday of the 3^rd Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 7:51-59, Psalm 31 and John 6:30-35).

Do not Labour for the Food which Perishes.

Monday 27th April 2020. Read Acts 6:8-15, Psalm 119 and John 6:22-29.

_“Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.” *(John 6:26-27)*_

What does Jesus mean by: “Do not labour for the food which perishes”? There are two ways to understand this statement: One, what consumes my time and energy daily? Two, what do I ask from God when I pray?

If we take stock of every minute of our day, we would be able to tell where our priorities truly lie. As Jesus would say: “Where your treasures are, there your heart would be.” (Matthew 6:21)

Am I working to achieve something that perishes (i.e. that can be exhausted, lose its value, change, decay, go out of fashion, spoil, die, etc.) or something that lasts forever? If the things that consume most of my time and energy are merely perishable items, it means it is possible that I could reach the end of my life only to discover I wasted it.

Think of it this way. Who would have imagined just six months ago that the price of oil would crash? I can give more examples but the point is this: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away.” (1 John 2:16-17)

On the other hand, we ask ourselves: “What is the content of my prayer? What do I pray for?” The great multitudes in today’s Gospel passage obviously were looking for Jesus because they wanted their fill of bread which according to Jesus was merely perishable food.

As Jesus would say to the Samaritan woman: “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)

Why do we ask God for things we know can never give us lasting satisfaction? Jesus did say we should ask, seek and knock for whatever we desire (Cf. Matthew 7:7-11) but it would be better to ask for living water and for food that never perishes. It is better that we spend more time asking to be united to God because as St. Augustine would confess, only God can satisfy the deep yearnings of our heart.

Seen from a purely earthly perspective, our first reading today is a very sad one; but it is the story of our world, the story of injustice perpetuated daily by the high and mighty against the innocent and holy; the story of envy and false accusation. Nevertheless, it is the story of the first martyr, the first fruit so to say of the Early Christian community, the first to attain the bliss Jesus talked about when he said: “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

If Stephen had set out to work for the food which perishes, he would have backed out when he saw the threat to his life, he would have denied Jesus or run away but he chose to fix his gaze instead in heaven. Sing: You take the whole world and give me Jesus. You take the whole world and give me Jesus. You take the whole world and give me Jesus. I’m satisfied, am satisfied.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, fill me with the courage to proclaim you to the world by my thoughts, words and deeds. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Monday of the 3rd week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 6:8-15, Psalm 119 and John 6:22-29).

The Journey to Emmaus.

Sunday 26th April 2020. Read Acts 2:14-33, Psalm 16, 1^st Peter 1:17-21 and Luke 24:13-35)_

_“While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” *(Luke 24:15-16)*_

Have you ever felt disappointed before? Did you ever engage in some business or try to learn a new skill or join a particular society or group in the church only for your expectations to be dashed? Have you had serious thoughts about leaving the church or even abandoning the faith altogether?

Do you feel the need to return to your old ways (of sin) perhaps because of scandal, hurt or betrayal? Are you sick and tired of being a disciple of Jesus Christ? Has life treated you so unfairly that you feel God is no longer the solution? Perhaps you are already on your way to Emmaus. This was the situation of the two disciples in our Gospel passage today. As we reflect on their story, we discover how it plays out in our own story today and the lessons we can learn from it.

*1. Jesus Understands Your Plight. He Never Abandons You.*

In our moments of pain and confusion, when we think prayer is useless and we feel like giving up completely, God, in His love for us, never abandons us. As our Psalmist today sings: “You will show me the path of life.” By joining these two disciples on their way to Emmaus, Jesus displayed His kindness as the Good Shepherd who abandons the ninety-nine in search of the one lost. (Cf. Luke 15:4).

Just as Jesus came to these two disciples, Jesus continues to visit us in different ways. Luke tells us that “their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” Haven’t you encountered strangers who turned out to be Angels? Can you recall an experience when someone from nowhere came to your rescue or said something to you that saved your life and to this day, you cannot tell who that person was?

Remember the story of Tobit how God sent the Archangel Raphael to bring an end to his tears and that of Sarah? The book of Hebrews admonishes us saying: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (Hebrews 13:2) On the other hand, we too can become Angels to persons in need if only we refrain from selfishness and allow God to use us.

*2. There is Danger in Misunderstanding the Scriptures.*

When Jesus joined them, He sought to find out what exactly was their problem and in their explanation, they said: “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth…” meaning that they were yet to recognize that Jesus is God. Furthermore, they said: “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel…” And so, even though they were aware of Jesus’ resurrection, it didn’t make any meaning to them since Israel remained a Roman colony.

These disciples were disappointed because they couldn’t reconcile what had happened with prophecies in the Scriptures such as Jeremiah 23:5-6, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.” Jesus said to them: “O foolish men… was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer…?”

And beginning with Moses, and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Unlike these disciples, Peter displayed the depth of his understanding of the Scriptures in our first reading today wherein he noted how a statement of David was fulfilled in Jesus Christ because David died but Jesus could not be held by death.

Dear friends, it is one thing to know what the Scriptures say but a different thing altogether to understand it. For instance, in this time of the pandemic, some of us Christians cannot reconcile our suffering today with the promises in the Scriptures such as Philippians 4:19, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory.” But did God say we shall never suffer?

*3. The Best Way to Study the Scriptures is to Use the Pattern of Jesus.*

Another important lesson we learn from Jesus’ response to these two disciples is that Jesus began with the Old Testament and gradually moved into the New Testament. Be careful of taking portions of the Bible out of context or treating them as though they are totally unconnected to the whole. Bear in mind that Jesus Christ is at the very heart of the Bible such that while the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New, the New Testament is revealed in the Old.

We make a great mistake when we assume that the Old Testament is no longer relevant or that all we need is the New Testament. This is because without the old, we cannot understand the new and if we must grasp the inner meaning of the language of the Bible, we must try to place ourselves in the shoes of its original audience.

Above all, we can only get the message of the Bible with a heart full of love. It is sad to see Christians today argue and fight over the Bible with each trying to prove the other wrong by all means. This is what happens when we allow hatred becloud our hearts; we start quoting the Bible like Satan did while tempting Jesus.

*4. Every Mass is an Emmaus Experience.*

What Jesus did for the disciples is exactly what happens at the Holy Mass. First, Jesus opened the Scriptures to them and taught them everything about himself; how it was necessary for him to suffer, how he had not come to struggle for earthly kingdoms but to defeat death itself. Secondly, Jesus proceeded to give them his body and blood at the breaking of bread. This was when their eyes were opened to recognise Jesus.

You see, the Mass is in two parts, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Holy Eucharist. In the Liturgy of the Word, Jesus speaks to us in the readings and at the homily. Our hearts burn within us and with that frame of mind, we proceed to the Liturgy of the Holy Eucharist where we receive His Body and Blood. When we pay full attention at Mass, we are able to recognize Jesus and our eyes are open to His real presence with us.

Furthermore, every Mass ends with “in te Missa est” meaning: “Go forth and proclaim the Good News.” Like these disciples who couldn’t wait till the following day but found their way back to Jerusalem that same hour, every time we attend Mass, we are called upon to go out and spread the message to the whole world joyfully. It is quite painful that we cannot gather physically to celebrate the Mass but at least we are able to participate in it electronically. Even more painful is that we can only receive Jesus spiritually and we are not able to leave our homes to spread the message like these two disciples.

It is my prayer that this pandemic will help to deepen our longing and appreciation of the Mass which we sometimes take for granted. That notwithstanding, God has provided us with the means of technology to reach more people than we could ever do physically. Let us use our social media handles to the fullest in spreading the Good news of Jesus Christ. As Peter explains in both our first and second reading, the resurrection of Jesus is the essence of our faith. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, come into my heart and speak your word as you did to those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Amen.

Happy Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Third Sunday of Easter. Year A. Bible Study: Acts 2:14-33, Psalm 16, 1^st Peter 1:17-21 and Luke 24:13-35).

Be Humble, Worry Less, Preach the Gospel.

Saturday 254th April 2020. Read 1^st Peter 5:5-14, Psalm 89 and Mark 16:15-20.

_“And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, 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 16:17-18)*_

Today is the Feast day of St. Mark, a close assistant and secretary to St. Peter. St. Mark, being learned was the first person to write down an account of the life of Christ which is known as The Gospel According to Mark. Matthew and Luke made reference to this account while composing theirs hence, the obvious similarities. The content of Mark’s account is what he heard St. Peter preach in the course of their missionary journeys.

Unlike St. Paul the scholar, St. Peter was not so learned but he managed to compose three letters. Our first reading today comes from Peter’s first letter and there we find Peter addressing Mark as a son. It is often said that success without a successor is a failure in disguise. Invest in the younger generation, become a mentor, a guide and teacher to others. You cannot do everything all alone.

Furthermore, St. Peter says: “Clothe yourselves, all of you with humility towards one another for God opposes the proud…” Without humility, Mark wouldn’t have been such a loyal assistant and son to St. Peter. As St. Peter says: “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that in due time, he may exalt you.” Today, we are celebrating the exaltation of St. Mark.

St. Peter adds: “Cast your anxieties on God for he cares about you.” As we groan under this pandemic St. Peter’s words serve as a reminder to us that God still cares. In Fr. Reneiro Cantalamesa’s words: “What is the surest proof that the drink someone offers you are not poisoned? It is if that person drinks from the same cup before you do. This is what God has done: on the cross, he drank, in front of the whole world, the cup of pain down to its dregs. This is how he showed us it is not poisoned, but that there is a pearl at the bottom of this chalice.”

St. Peter also says: “Be on guard; be sober (opposite of drunkenness) and watchful. Stand up against the devil. Resist him, firm in your faith.” In other words, if we guard our spiritual lives, we can actually stand against and resist the devil. Indeed, we have no reason to be afraid of the devil.

Today, we read the concluding part of Mark’s Gospel which particularly emphasizes the fact that God worked with the Apostles confirming the message they preached with signs and wonders. Mark wrote this in connection with the miraculous cure of the lame man at the beautiful gate by Peter and John. If we obey Jesus’ mandate to “Go into all the world to preach the Gospel” we become instruments; tools in God’s hands for bringing healing, salvation and deliverance to the nations.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, use me like St. Mark to spread the Gospel. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Feast of St. Mark. Bible Study: 1^st Peter 5:5-14, Psalm 89 and Mark 16:15-20).

No One Can Fight God.

Friday 24th April 2020. Read Acts 5:34-42, Psalm 27 and John 6:1-15.

_“Keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.” *(Acts 5:38-39)*_ 

The wise words of Gamaliel are worth pondering upon today. If this plan or this undertaking of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. In very simple terms, Gamaliel was saying: “No one can fight God and win.” This marked the end of the persecution of the Jewish religious authorities against the early Church.

A clear proof that the work Peter and the other disciples were doing wasn’t a mere human undertaking is this: The Church is still standing today. Consider the history of the church, the internal and external attacks and you cannot but admit that no one can fight God. As Jesus puts it: “You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18).

In our Gospel passage today, we read about the feeding of the multitude by Jesus. Firstly, it is interesting to note that none of the people asked for food but Jesus knew they were hungry and worked a miracle to feed them. Very often, we complain about our unanswered prayers forgetting that more of the time, God provides for us without us even asking.

Secondly, the feeding of the multitude teaches us the miraculous power of charity. Every time they broke the bread to share for someone else, it literally multiplied. In the end, from five loaves, they had twelve baskets full of left-overs. As Anne Frank once said: “No one ever became poor by giving.”

Thirdly this miracle displays the power of God over the works of nature and everything contained in this world. As Gamaliel noted, any undertaking that is entirely human is bound to fail but when God is involved, no one can bring it down. How often and how willing am I to involve God in my daily choices and actions?

Fourthly, we learn that Jesus did not come to seek earthly power and glory but to lead us to our true home; heaven. After the miracle, Jesus withdrew from the crowd perceiving that they were about to declare him King.

The multitude had not seen anything like this before and they felt (in a materialistic sense) that Jesus was the answer to all they needed. They forgot that Herod Antipas was still on the throne and two kings cannot reign in the same kingdom. Note that this was exactly the fear of Herod the Great which led to the mass murder of so many male children.

The mistake of the multitude is still being made by many of us Christians today. We somehow forget that our true home is in heaven and that no matter how good we desire life on earth to be, we are forever going to be just strangers, pilgrims, passers-by.

We should therefore not be too worried about fixing this broken world or about solving all our problems because the purpose of our existence is to know God, to love God and be happy with God forever in eternity.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my confidence in you. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the 2nd Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 5:34-42, Psalm 27 and John 6:1-15).

Many are the Afflictions of the Righteous.

Thursday 23rd April 2020. Read Acts 5:27-33, Psalm 34 and John 3:31-36.

_“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all!” *(Psalm 34:17-19)*_

Based on the miraculous deliverance of Peter and John from the prison which we read yesterday, one would have thought that the Sahendrin would just leave them alone to continue their mission. However as we read today, Peter and John are back before the council again answering questions.

Indeed, as our Psalmist today sings: “many are the afflictions (trials) of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” In truth as Jesus earlier warned, we are sent as sheep in the midst of wolves.”

Just as darkness hates the light, so do the people of the world hates the children of God but we cannot afford to be quiet or compromise. We must always remember the fact that we do not belong to this world, that is, we must be prepared to die for the sake of God. This is what fueled Peter’s courage when he boldly said to the High Priest: “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)

In uttering these words, Peter did not mind being killed at that very moment. He is no longer the fearful man who could not even defend Jesus before a little girl on the night of Jesus’ arrest. Peter is such a transformed man now.

Unfortunately, many of us are still like the Old Peter; we are still too scared to die for our faith, we keep denying Jesus by condescending to sin for fear of losing our life, losing our friends or losing money. As Jesus asked us: “What shall it profit if we gain the whole world only to lose the only thing that matters – our soul.” (Matthew 8:36-37)

In our Gospel passage today, Jesus says to Nicodemus. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; *he who does not obey the Son shall not see life* but the wrath of God rests upon him.” (John 3:36). Peter must have born this statement in mind when we said: “We must obey God rather than men.”

Peter was prepared to disobey men and suffer in their hands than to disobey God knowing that was worse. Indeed, as Jesus told us: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28). Don’t be afraid of people. Make God your priority.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my trust in your protection. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Thursday of the 2nd Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 5:27-33, Psalm 34 and John 3:31-36).

The Lowly One Called and the Lord Heard.

Wednesday 22nd April 2020. Read Acts 5:17-26, Psalm 34 and John 3:16-21.

_“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!” *(Psalm 34:7-8)*_

The high priest rose up and all his companions… and, filled with jealousy laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and said: “Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life.”

When they heard this, they went to the temple early in the morning and taught. When the high priest and his companions arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin, the full senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the jail to have them brought in.

But the court officers who went did not find them in the prison, so they came back and reported, “We found the jail securely locked and the guards stationed outside the doors,

but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”

When the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report, they were at a loss about them, as to what this would come to. Then someone came in and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are in the temple area and are teaching the people.” (Acts 4:32-37).

Dear friends, our Psalmist today reminds us of an eternal truth, God never turns His back on His children; God is a strong defender of the poor, the weak and the marginalized. God never turns a deaf ear when the innocent calls out to Him.

As Jesus tells Nicodemus in today’s Gospel passage, people always prefer darkness to light. They saw the light of Christ but see what they did to Him. They saw the light of the disciples; common fishermen now working miracles, they tried again to quench this light. To this day, the story is not different.

When we try to let our shine, let us not assume people will love us. When we dedicate our social media accounts to purely spreading the Gospel of Christ, let us not expect to gain many followers. Instead, let us expect attacks of all sorts. But we must remember one thing: THE BATTLE BELONGS TO GOD.

Even when it seems as though the enemy is succeeding, fear not, God knows how to fight for His Children. God never turns His back on us so long as we remain faithful to Him. The Lord is my shepherd, “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4) 

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my trust in your Divine Protection. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Wednesday of the 2^nd Week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 5:17-26, Psalm 34 and John 3:16-21).