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 Wednesday, November 1, 2023 ALL SAINTS (SOLEMNITY) First Reading. Apocalypse 7:2-4,9-14  Psalm 24: 1-6 Second Reading. 1 John 3: 1-3 Gospel. Matthew 5: 1-12 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION YOU CAN BE A SAINT.  ***Is anyone born a Saint? NO  ***Can anybody be a Saint? YES  ***Is everybody destined for sainthood? YES.  ***Is anybody destined for damnation? NO  ***Does a saint have superhuman power? NO  ***Are saints human beings like you and me? YES.  ***Does a saint suffer like you and me? YES, even more than you and me.  ***Does a saint live inside Church 247 every time? CAPITAL NO  ***Does a saint sin at all? CAPITAL YES, but they go for confession and strive every day to avoid sinning.  My dear, we can go on asking rhetorical questions, but the main point is that a Saint is a person like you and me.  SO, YOU AND I CAN BECOME A SAINT I want you to know that: Every sinner has a future, and Every saint has a past. No one is born a Saint, rather we all except Jesus Christ were born sinners. Every

 *TUESDAY October 31, 2023*  Weekday (30) First Reading. Romans 8: 18-25 Psalm 126: 1-6 (R.3a) Gospel. Luke13: 15-21 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *SUFFERING IS PART OF LIFE*  The truth is that no one can avoid suffering in life. Suffering is part of life Below are facts about life's suffering  1. As a growing child, to become responsible, you must endure good parental training. Suffering by nature. 2. As a student, to come out with a good result, you need to deny yourself pleasures, and endure the pain and stress of studies, is that not suffering? 3. After graduation, you suffer to get a good accommodation, business, job, spouse, and comfortable life. 4. As a man, you suffer to keep your family, and as a woman, you suffer to give birth; can any woman avoid the pain of child delivery?  4. Inside marriage, you suffer to maintain your family, and to train your children, especially praying against the fear of the unknown. Is it palatable with good parents? Invariably, to become great in life,

 *Sunday, October 29, 2023*  Thirtieth Sunday of the year A. First Reading. Exodus 22: 21-27 Psalm 18: 2-4, 47 and 51 (R. 2) Second Reading. 1 Thessalonians 1: 5-10 Gospel. Matthew 22: 34-40 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *LOVE IS LIFE AND LIFE IS LOVE*  You can not claim to love God while you spitefully hate your brothers. To love God is to Love your neighbour.  If you love, you see yourself in others and others in you, but if you hate, you will fail to see yourself in others and others in you Where love exists, life abounds; such, you find life inside love. Love is Life, while Hatred is Death  *HATRED*  Where love exists, hatred does not  But where hatred exists, war rules Where War rules, death becomes cheap  Where death is cheap, the flesh becomes dry bones 🦴  Where dry bones exist, life is extinguished.  *SPIRITUAL MEANING*  He who lacks love lives with hatred  He who lives with hatred lacks peace He who lacks is trouble-minded A trouble-minded person degenerates A degenerated person is h

 *FRIDAY October 27, 2023*  Weekday (29) First Reading. Romans 7: 18-25 Psalm 119: 66, 68, 76-77, 93-94 Gospel. Luke l2: 54-59 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION   *THE SPIRIT AND FLESH AT WAR*  Naturally, our warfare is between the flesh and spirit. In all honesty, many Christians today are facing some of the following difficulties as outlined by some passages in the bible. 1. The spirit is always willing, but the flesh is weak. Cf Matthew 26:41 2. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. Cf. Galatians 5:17 3. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. Cf. Romans 8:5 4. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me. Cf. Romans 7: 15-17 This

 *Sunday, October 22, 2023*  29TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A  *MISSION SUNDAY*  First Reading. Isaiah 45: 1, 4-6 PSALM 96: 1, 3-5, 7-10 (R. 7b) Second Reading 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5 Gospel. Matthew 22: 15-21 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *IF JESUS WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE, WILL YOU FOLLOW HIM?*  Today is mission Sunday, and for anyone to live a fulfilled missionary life, such ought to be a responsible person. No one can survive on a mission land if he lacks good character. I hope you know that Jesus' good character attracted us to follow Him in His mission. So will anyone with good character on a mission influence or attract people to God? Good character attracts, while bad character repels. Jesus is a good man because his ways of life are good. Christianity is a good religion because it is Jesus' way of life. Therefore, Christianity is a way of life. So, since Christianity is a way of life, it teaches how to live a good responsible life filled with a high sense of responsibility.  A Chr

 *SATURDAY, October 21, 2023*  Weekday (28) First Reading. Romans 4: 13, 16-18 Psalm105: 6-9, 42-43 (R.8a) Gospel. Luke 12: 8-12 TOPICS FOR REFLECTION  *TO LOSE HOPE IS TO SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT.*   *TO LOSE HOPE IS TO COMMIT SUICIDE.*   *(read the categories of suicide we have)*  Abraham is our father in faith, and he won this from God and not because of his work, but through the righteousness of faith.  However, do not join the group of some Christians who would always say "We are justified by faith and not by work". This immediate quote has made many Christians lose the moral sense of living because they believe that good work cannot save but only faith. St. Paul said: "God's promise to Abraham and his descendants that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith". Below is what he meant  The truth is that the test Abraham went through before God made him the father of nations, many of us Christians t

 *Friday, October 20, 2023*  Weekday (28) Ordinary Time A First Reading. Romans 4: 1-8 Psalm 32: 1-2, 5, 11 (R. see 7). Gospel. Luke 12: 1-7 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *TRUST GOD, BUT AVOID HYPOCRISY*  Jesus said, "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees – that is, their hypocrisy".  It simply means if you know anybody with the under-listed attributes, please in your interest and for the sake of your future, avoid them. If you can't avoid them, learn to manage them. Do not keep such persons as friends, unless you want to ruin your future. So, avoid: 1. The people who are not real, fake by nature. 2. Those who teach the wrong doctrine 3. Those who blackmail and slander people. Note: Be aware that those who gossip to you about others have already massacred you to other people before coming to you. Avoid them. 4. Those who are pretenders  5. Those who are full of eye 👀  service 6. Those who live and dine with envy and jealousy. etc. Jesus went further to say, that ev

 *THURSDAY, October 19, 2023*  Weekday (28) First Reading. Romans 3: 21-30 Psalm. 130: 1-6 (R.7bc) Gospel. Luke 11: 47-54 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION   *PLEASE, STOP MARKETING YOUR EMEMY AND NOBODY SHOULD INHERIT ENEMY*  😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 my dear, are you aware that some people have Doctorate Degree (PhD) in marketing people, especially their enemies? I once asked somebody a question after marketing all his enemies to me; I asked, does it mean, none of these people whom you have condemned and destroyed before me have done anything good to you before, even if it only one time? My dear, could you believe that he waved the question, even despite twisting it in different forms?  Hmmm, these marketers of enemies are very smart, please, be very careful with them. Below are some of their marketing strategies... 1. They will never say good things about those whom they intend to sell to you. 2. They will blackmail them before you. 3. They will always tell you how evil they are, just to set your emotions on

 *_WEDNESDAY, October 18, 2023_*  Weekday (28) Ordinary Time  *St Luke the Evangelist. (Feast)*  First Reading. 2 Timothy 4: 10-17 Psalm. Ps 145: 10-13, 17-18  Gospel. Luke 10: 1-9 TOPICS FOR REFLECTION  *A PERSON WHO LACKS A VISION, LACKS A MISSION*   *ST. LUKE ACCOMPLISHED HIS VISION AND MISSION*  It is expected that every individual must have a vision, that is, a goal that one wishes to achieve in life, while a mission means purpose, the reason one aims to achieve the goal. Therefore, he who lacks a goal will certainly lack a purpose.  In today's Gospel, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them out 2 by 2 into every town and place where he was about to come. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  If one is focused with a defined vision and mission, one will become a good labourer, if not focused, one will

 *MONDAY October 16, 2023*  Weekday (28) First Reading. Romans1: 1-7 Psalm 98: 1-4 (R.2a) Gospel. Luke 11: 29-32 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION   *IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN, AND YOU DEMAND A SIGN FROM CHRIST, IT MEANS YOU DO NOT LOVE HIM.*  In life, it's either you love or you hate. You can only know who you love or hate. Yet, it is extremely difficult to know who loves you, and those whom you think hate you may not necessarily be. If however, you eventually come across those whom you think love you, you will naturally want such people to prove their love for you with certainty, hence you will demand a sign. You demanded a sign because you did not trust the love coming from them.   I guess you know how you feel if the person you genuinely love asks you for proof of your love as a sign. This simply means that the person is in doubt of your love. Therefore, if you know how you feel if someone doubts the true love you have for him or her, then imagine how Jesus feels demanding a sign from Him, aft

 *Sunday, October 15, 2023*   *28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A*  First Reading. Isaiah 25: 6-10 Psalm 23: 1-6 (R.6cd) Second Reading. Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 Gospel. Matthew 22: 1-14 TOPICS FOR REFLECTION  *INVITE TO GOD'S BANQUET, WILL YOU DECLINE HIS INVITE?*   *WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU RECEIVED THE HOLY COMMUNION?*  If you are celebrating your birthday party, and you have prepared both local and different intercontinental foods together with various types of drinks, but none of the people you invited honour your invitation; they all gave one flimsy excuse or another.  In such a situation what will you do? 1. Will you throw all the food you have prepared away? 2. Will you be happy that nobody attended your birthday party? 3. Will you not conclude that nobody loves you? 4. Will you not feel rejected, dejected and abandoned? 5. Will you not see yourself as a nobody among your friends and family? Anyway, since all you invited did not come, will you not think of sending a m

*SATURDAY, October 14, 2023*  Weekday (27) First Reading. Joel 3: 12-21 Psalm 97: 1-2, 5-6, 11-12 (R. 12a) Gospel. Luke 11: 27-28 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *CAN YOUR CHARACTER ATTRACT GOD'S BLESSINGS?*  #Jesus is the Son of God, so He is HOLY #He has a good character, so He is perfect #Therefore, we follow Him and try to be good like Him so we can become Holy. #To be called a Christian means imitating Christ #No one can be called a faithful follower of Christ if the person does not have a good character  #Therefore, to be like Christ is to be good like Him In today's Gospel, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!”  My dear, in all honesty, can anybody who comes in contact with you say with confidence "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breast that you suck". Although, such a statement may not come to you as above, can people who come in contact with you say, "I thank God for me

 *FRIDAY, October 13, 2023*  Weekday (27) First Reading. Joel 1: 13-15; 2: 1-2 Psalm 9: 2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9 (R. see9a) Gospel. Luke 11: 15-26 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *ARE YOU JEALOUS OF JESUS?*  Do you know that many of us are jealous of Jesus?  Below are some of the ways people are jealous of Jesus. 1. If a servant tries to outshine his master, and tries to attract his master's people to himself; such is a sign of jealousy.  2. If a man of God tries to outshine the God whom he proclaimed by making himself the centre of attraction and not God; such is a sign of jealousy. 3. If a person tries to find fault in God's marvellous and wonderful work, it simply means the person is jealous of God. 4. When one is not happy with a person who is doing great well, who is talented, gifted, and who does great things; such attitude is jealousy not only about the gifted person but about God who gave him such a gift. The message to God is that God, "I am angry with you, I deserve that gift an

 *THURSDAY, October 12, 2023*  Weekday (27) First Reading. Malachi 3: 13-4: 2 Psalm 1: 1-4 and 6 (Psalm 40: 5) Gospel. Luke 11: 5-13 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *GOD ANSWERS ALL PRAYERS*  The voices of our prayer we offer to God either in the secret thoughts of our heart or by the words of our mouth is never silent. God hears and answers every prayer. Before I continue, please let us distinguish between Hearing and Answering. Many of us Christians do mix up these two words. This is how we often mix it, if what we pray for is granted, we will often say God has HEARD my prayer instead of saying God has ANSWERED my prayer. If on the contrary, what was prayed for is not yet granted, then we go with the common saying, God does not HEAR my prayer. The question is, is God deaf? NO God is neither deaf nor blind, He hears and sees everything clearer than we might ever think. However, our major problem is impatience.  When a person is not patient with oneself and with others, how can such be patient w

 *WEDNESDAY October 11, 2023*  Weekday (27) First Reading. Jonah 4: 1-10 Psalm. 86: 3-6, 9-10 (R.See15) Gospel. Luke 11: 1-4 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *SPIRITUAL GREEDINESS*  Let me quickly ask,  Is God's mercy your mercy? Is God's compassion your compassion? Is God's kindness your kindness? Is God's love your love? Is God's forgiveness your forgiveness? Hmmm, why is God's generosity your headache? Well, if you have a problem with His generosity, it simply means you are SPIRITUALLY GREEDY. Now, before you start thinking about what today's topic means, kindly read through... 1. Are you aware that some of us are angry with forgiveness? 2. While some are celebrating forgiveness, some are busy castigating it. 3. While some are trying to make friends with forgiveness, some are busy making enmity with it. 4. Some want forgiveness for themselves alone, and not for others. 5. Some see forgiveness as their birthright and not the birthright of others In a nutshell, some w

 *MONDAY October 9, 2023*   *Weekday (27)*  First Reading. Jonah 1: 1-17; 2: 1, 10 PSALM Jonah 2: 2-4, 7 (R.6d) Gospel. Luke 10: 25-37 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IS LOVE*  A Christian who does not live in love, but hatred is not Christ-like, but devil-like.                       OR What type of Christian, Christ-like are we if we do not live in Love among one another, but share, wine, dine, celebrate and promote hatred?                      MORE SO ---Why do we want people to Love us when we do not care to love others? ---Why do we want people to appreciate us when we refuse to appreciate others? ---Why do we want people to help us when we find it extremely difficult to help others? ---Why do we want people to wish us good tidings, while we wish others evil? ---Why do we justify our evil actions, while we pretend to love? Well, in all of the above-raised questions, if one is guilty of any, such may not experience peace of mind. Even though Christ lives in us as an indi

 *Sunday, October 8, 2023*   *27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A*  First Reading. Isaiah 5: 1-7 Psalm 80: 8, 11.12-15, 17-19 (R. 5:7a) Second Reading. Philippians 4: 6-9 Gospel. Matthew 21: 33-43 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *WHAT TYPE OF CHRISTIAN ARE YOU?*  If God should treat us according to our wickedness, who will survive?  Cf. Psalm 130. In our world today, we plant, nurture, harvest, eat and share wickedness. It is as if wickedness is part of our life. What a terrible situation we find ourselves in. We abandoned the good God and embraced the bad devil who is the master planner of wickedness. I once saw an accident scene on the internet recently where a filled fuel tanker trailer collided with a fully loaded commercial bus, and many people died, while some were half dead on the ground begging for help, yet no one cared to rescue them. Hmmm, to my greatest shock, instead of people helping the accident victims, some stood aloof to video the accident scene, while the majority were rushing

 Saturday 7 October 2023 Our Lady of the Rosary   on Saturday of week 26 in Ordinary Time First Reading. Acts 1: 12-14 PSALM  Luke 1: 46-55 (R. 49) Gospel. John 2: 1-11 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION THE BRIEF HISTORIES OF: --- THE HOLY ROSARY --- OUR LADY OF THE HOLY ROSARY --- OCTOBER DEVOTION                         THE HOLY ROSARY According to Dominican tradition, in 1206, St. Dominic was in Prouille, France, attempting to convert the Albigensians back to the Catholic faith. The young priest had little success until one day he received a vision of the Blessed Virgin, who gave him the rosary as a tool against heretics, and it was then promoted by Blessed Allan de la Roche.   The practice of meditation during the praying of the Hail Marys was attributed to Dominic of Prussia (author of Liber experientiae 1458), a 15th-century Carthusian monk, who called it the "Life of Jesus Rosary" (vita Christi Rosarium) OUR LADY OF THE HOLY ROSARY So, it was as a result of the spiritual effect of

 *THURSDAY, October 5, 2023*  Weekday (26) First Reading. Nehemiah 8: 1-12 Psalm 19: 8-11 (R. 9ab) Gospel. Luke 10: 1-12 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *WE ARE CALLED TO BE MISSIONARIES*  All Christians are missionary by nature, especially the baptized. As a baptized, one has become a child of God and a member of the church.  Invariably, baptism automatically makes you a child of God and a member of the church, so it is expected that one should go out to win souls for God. Therefore, in today's Gospel, Jesus sent out, two by two, seventy of his disciples on a mission. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”  This simply means that by nature, every one of us is a missionary by our baptism and that we have to pray and support the missionaries working in remote and difficult terrains.  The mission work is not meant for Bishops, Priests and Deacons alone, it is also for the lay faithfu

 *WEDNESDAY, October 4, 2023*  Weekday (26)  *Saint Francis of Assisi (1181 - 1226)*  First Reading. Nehemiah 2: 1-8 Psalm. 137: 1-6 (R. 6ab) Gospel. Luke 9: 57-62 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI: A PERFECT EXAMPLE*  St. Francis is indeed a perfect example of today's Gospel reading, those who said they would like to follow Jesus had one excuse or another, and Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” However, going through the life history of St. Francis, we can see clearly, the true picture of following Jesus wholeheartedly.  *Brief history of St. Francis of Assisi.*  Francis was the son of a prosperous cloth merchant in Assisi. When his father objected to having his goods sold without his consent to pay for the restoration of a church, the bishop commanded Francis to repay the money. He did. He also renounced his father and gave back everything he had ever been given, even his garments. He began a life of perfe

 *Monday 2, October 2023*   *Weekday (26)*   *THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS (MEMORIAL)*  First Reading. Exodus 23: 20-23 Psalm. 91: 1-6, 10-11 (R. 11) Gospel. Matthew 18: 1-5, 10 TOPIC FOR REFLECTION  *ARCHANGEL AND GUARDIAN ANGEL: ANY DIFFERENCE?*  The Church in her wisdom celebrated the feast of the archangel on the 29th of September, and today October 2nd is the memorial of guardian angels. However, one might be curious to ask, what is the difference between the archangels and guardian angels? There are not many differences between them, however, the church categorises them according to their functions. Basically, the archangels are known as the head of the angels just as an archbishop is the head of the other bishops in his province. Like Saint Gregory the Great who was the 64th pope of the Church in the 6th century said: "It is necessary to know that the word 'angel' designates their function: messenger. And those who announce the greatest events are called "archangel