Today’s Readings:
Acts 13:26-33; Psalm 2:6-12; John 14:1-6
GOD ALWAYS SEES THE BEST IN US! Despite all evidences to the contrary, God continues to believe that we can be better. Why? He is the one who truly knows us, even better than we know ourselves. We are created in His image and likeness. Through Christ, He has adopted us. We are His sons and daughters. The Psalmist says of Christ and all of us by extension, “You are my Son (daughter). It is I who have begotten you this day” (Psalm 2:7). What do we do when we do not feel worthy of God’s blessings? How do we recover from those times when we have messed up so badly that we feel we cannot be forgiven? It is for those times that Saint Paul made his address where he says, “This message of salvation is meant for you…God has fulfilled his promise to us (of eternal life) by raising Jesus from the dead”. God does not desire for any of us to be eternally separated from him. In Christ, He offers an emblem of mercy and an everlasting sign of love. There is no sin that God cannot forgive through the sacrificial death of Christ. As Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Are you taking steps to come to God through Christ?
Today, we honour our Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Fatima. This is because she appeared to three shepherd children on May 13th of 1917. She asked them to pray the Rosary daily for sinners, to do penance for the sins committed against God who is already so much offended. She also asked them to make sacrifices in their daily lives to obtain peace for the world and peace in every heart. Our Blessed Mother proved that her presence was real by predicting the end of the first world war which ended on November 11th, 1918. She also warned that if humanity failed to change, a worst war than the first would happen. The Second World War broke out on 1st September 1939. “War,” she says, “is a consequence of sin”. If we trivialize the gravity of sin, we risk incurring the wrath of God. Mary’s apparitions around the world (and the Church’s careful verification of them) proves that the saints are not dead and sleeping until the last day. They are part of the communion of saints in heaven. And God can grant them the rare opportunity of coming to warn us to repent of our sins.
God does not wish the death of the sinner. He wants all of us to change from our evil ways and live. Mary’s message is true to the Gospel: “Repent for the kingdom of God is close at hand” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17). How should you do this?
Live your life one day at a time, with no thought of seeing tomorrow;
Carry out a daily examination of conscience;
Go to Confession regularly;
Have a spiritual director (someone you trust and listen to);
Read a passage of scripture daily;
Pray the Rosary daily;
Receive the Eucharist reverently as often as you attend Mass;
Pray for the conversion of sinners (especially those most in need of God’s mercy)
Spend at least 15 minutes in daily silent meditation;
Serve God and live in holiness in whatever state of life God has called you to.
JUDE-MARY OWOH O. P.
Prayer:
Lord, I thank you for never giving up on me even when I have given up on myself, in Jesus name.
Father, create in me a pure heart, and renew a right, humble and teachable spirit in me, in Jesus name.
That I may know You than I do now, and experience your power of Resurrection, in Jesus name.
Father, we plug Your Church to the socket of the Resurrection Power of our Lord Jesus Christ, in Jesus name.
Our Father, breathe Your breath upon Your Church and water her with Your waters of heaven and make her function to the glory of your holy name, in Jesus name.
Father, in Your mercy, restore Your glory upon our nation Nigeria, in Jesus name.
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