Today’s Readings:
Acts 22:3-16; Psalm 117; Mark 16:15-18
I FEAR FOR MY GENERATION where vice is rampart and virtue is in short supply. There is no need to point fingers because “All of us like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, each one, to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). While we all want a country and a church that we can be proud of, we have failed to build personal character that the church and our country can take pride in. ON THE FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL, let us reflect on the aspects of our lives where we need conversion and healing. Our deepest wounds come from Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed and Sloth.
PRIDE causes us to focus on ourselves and our preferences instead of God who made us and is the Giver of all good things;
ENVY is a form of selfishness which desires the misfortune of others or our undue advantage over others;
GLUTTONY is excessive indulgence in the things we eat, drink, read, watch and listen to. If you cannot control your appetite, you can be controlled by anyone or anything;
LUST is addiction to sex and sexual content. We live in a world where we have normalized nudity and sexual content in the media as “entertainment”. The average Christian sees no problem in this great scourge of the age which has been implicated in acts of sexual abuse, rape, prostitution, child and adult pornography, slavery and so on.
ANGER is a deep drive to cling to hateful feelings for others. This kind of feeling often seeks revenge;
GREED is the love of money more than God and more than our neighbour. This happens when a person makes the pursuit after money the essence of their life;
SLOTH makes us find good works boring. It is the reason you are lazy to pray your Rosary or read your Bible or assist your neighbour who is in need.
THESE VICES ARE RESPONSIBLE for this generation’s coconut-headedness. But then there is God and what He does. God can heal all of our brokenness and restore the human dignity He gifted us at the moment of our conception. Just as He tore through Saint Paul’s stubbornness and revealed the splendour of His glory, He will dispel the darkness of our ignorance with the blinding rays of divine love and wisdom.
For pride, He clothes us with HUMILITY;
In place of envy, GOODWILL;
Self-control for GLUTTONY;
Chastity in place of LUST;
Tolerance in place of ANGER AND WRATH;
Generosity in place of GREED and
Diligence for SLOTH.
The mighty hand of God will do all this because without Him we are lost.
JUDE MARY OWOH
Prayer:
Father, thank You for You will build Your Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail over her, in Jesus name.
Father Lord, thank You for Your power that is able to avenge and subdue nations, in Jesus name.
PRAY FOR A FRESH INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Allow God to touch your heart, expose your wounds and heal you, in Jesus name.
Father, help and empower us to submit ourselves to be used as a chosen instrument to bring others back to God and to heal our land, in Jesus name.
Father, let Your name be glorified in me. I shall do exploits, and great things shall be said of me from one generation to another, in Jesus name.
Father pour upon Your Church, the spirit of prayer and supplication, in Jesus name.
Anyone that has entered into covenant with Satan to afflict citizens and fight the Gospel in this nation, die now, in Jesus name.
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