S'up? (Page 15)

Emmanuel: “God is with Us” Isaiah 7:10-14; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24 We hear it said at every liturgical celebration, especially at Mass, “The Lord be with you”. This wish/subjunctive and realistic statement precedes every sacerdotal/priestly blessing. The presence of God is the source of every benediction. This Sunday, “Emmanuel Sunday,” when we remind ourselves of the presence of God among us – “God is with us” – it is difficult not to remember Gideon. The first biblical recording of “the Lord is with you” goes back to an angel’s visit to Gideon (Judges 6:12). I am very sure that Gideon’s response to the angel isRead More →

The Key to Happiness: “Blessed is he who is not scandalized by me” (Matthew 11:6) Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 “Happiness” is not the absence of problems, but what we make of problems and troubles that surround us daily. You see, the power of problems and troubles come from our imagination of the negatives, that we have been abandoned, unloved and uncared for. “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10) was the statement of Nehemiah to those weeping in sorrow over the ruins of Jerusalem and its temple. They forgot about the joy that animated them from the good newsRead More →

Cosmophilia or Philadelphia Sunday! Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12 Reading the message of Isaiah today and hearing about the role of John the Baptist in the lead up to the coming of Jesus as a human being, the many ways that you and I can relive the experiences of 2000 years ago began to flood my mind. First of all, I remember the story of a young girl who, in the preparation for Christmas, was asked to take part in a sketch or drama a nun/Sister at her parish church was preparing, where the nun/sister gathered a few kids and wanted them to presentRead More →

Journey to Christmas Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44 “Coming” and “waiting” are two dominant verbs to take seriously during the season of Advent. Notice that both verbs are in the progressive form or present continuous tense, as we often say. In themselves, theses verbs are suggestive of what is expected of a Christian during the period of Advent, the liturgical season when we await the arrival of God as human being – Christmas or Incarnation. We receive encouragement to assume the position or attitude of expectant parents at the news of an imminent arrival of a child into the family or to be likeRead More →

Thy Kingdom Come Sunday 2 Samuel 5:1-3; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43 Christians are builders of God’s Kingdom, if they choose to. The choice to participate in building God’s Kingdom requires right modeling or the need to imitate God, whose Kingdom we want to build. Our first reading discourages wrong modeling because it leads to bad outcome or failed project. A concrete example is found in Israel. Israel moved away from a theocracy (God’s leadership) which teaches about WHO they are—builders of God’s Kingdom, to a monarchy (human kingdom) copying from human rules because Israel wanted to be like other nations, and repudiated its aspiration toRead More →

Decision Sunday not Doom’s Day Malachi 3:19-20a; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19 Nigerians are very daring and creative people. Not only on earth, but in Heaven above and in Hell below. Listen to this story about Nigerian bravery. I’ve been laughing since I got this joke…..but are we really this bad? ANGELS: Father! We are tired of these Nigerians in heaven. GOD: What have they done this time? ANGEL: Everything!They don’t listen to instructions. They don’t obey traffic rules. They don’t wait for their turn in anything. They are completely reckless! GOD: Then we better send them to hell! (Calls the Devil). Hello.. SATAN: HelloRead More →

S-O-S SUNDAY 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5; Luke  20:27-38 Many traitors have gone out or should we say that Judas is on  recruitment campaign for followers? At any rate, Save-our-Souls (S-O-S) Sunday, this Sunday, calls for self-examination or introspection of every Christian, citizen and family member. Our first reading sets out death sentence as the consequence of betrayal from fellow religionists. Division among the Jews – conservatives against progressives – is at the heart of our first reading. Progressives abandon the customs of their ancestors and campaign for new ways to replace old ways. The Greek imperial culture recruits Jews, converts them viaRead More →

Salvific Curiosity: Finding Yourself on the Tree of Life With Zacchaeus Wisdom 11:22-12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10 There was a beggar, who heard that a king was passing by his village. Early that morning, he got out of bed and readied himself and went out to sit by the roadside, waiting to beg for alms from the king. Sure enough, the king stopped his entourage by the siting beggar. Instead of giving something to the beggar, the king begged some beans of the beggar, since the beggar was picking his beans in a tray while waiting. In response, the beggar said to the kingRead More →

Equal Right to Salvation Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14 Today, the book of Sirach addresses the question of favoritism: does God love some people to the exclusion of other people? Why are some people rich and others poor? How come some persons keep God’s commandments and others do not: that is, some are virtuous and others immoral? Or, why did God fight on the side of Moses and Israel against the Amalekites last Sunday? These questions have plagued generations of believers, and have divided Christendom and Christians on how to appropriately respond to them.  We now present a Jewish response, toRead More →

Soldier of Salvation Exodus 17:8-13; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2; Luke 18:1-8 There was a village in Cameroon, in years gone by, where anyone caught stealing received the mark of what he/she stole on the forehead. There were two men who stole a sheep, and they were caught. ST= “Sheep Thief” was written on their foreheads. One of the two men was too ashamed to remain in the village, so he migrated from the village. The other man stayed on and tried to change his ways. He became a very charitable and humble man. Many years down the road, children who were born after the incident andRead More →