Tag Archives: The Holy Spirit

WHEN LOVE DOESN’T MAKE SENSE

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Saturday 8th August – Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest

WHEN LOVE DOESN’T MAKE SENSE

Deuteronomy 6:4-13

This conversation ensued between a mother and her child after a Sunday Mass:

Mother: What lesson did you learn from Father’s homily today?

Child: Father said that love does not keep a record of wrongs in our hearts.

Mother: That is great my baby. You listened well.

Child: Thank you Mum, But where should I keep it? What then should I do if I don’t even remember the wrongs my friend did to me?

Beloved, Love is the nature of our Abba Father and all His actions are wrought in love. God’s love gives us a glimpse of heaven and it is capable of stripping us of anything in this world that contends with it in our heart. How then as Christians can we live without love? The truth is that there is no life without Love. Love breathes life and that is why Jesus love for the world led him to died so as to give us life.

Our reading today tells us of the greatest command that God gave his people Israel: “Israel, remember this! The LORD and the LORD alone is our God.  Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:4-5). To show its importance, God ordered them to tie this law on their arms and wear on their foreheads, to keep saying it while resting and while working, to write it on the doorpost of their houses and gates. Beloved, is this too much for Love? Does it make sense to do all this?

Love doesn’t have to make sense to the flesh because it is a gift of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit pours out the love of God into our hearts (Romans 5:5) to make us do the impossible for God. are we willing to allow the Holy Spirit work in us and through us? Just like the little child’s response in the illustration above, the love of God would make us live above malice, hatred, envy and all sorts of vices and would reconfigure our thinking. This is what Love can do with ease. Let us therefore be willing to give all for the Love of God and in turn we would see God in our neighbour.

Keep showing love to others even if it does not make sense.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, help me to love you always. Give the grace by the power of the Spirit to love even when it doesn’t make sense to my reasoning. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 33- What does it mean to say that God is love?

If God is love, then there is nothing created that is not carried and surrounded by his infinite benevolence. God not only declares that he is love, he also proves it: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).

HIDE A TREASURE: “Love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs”. 1 Corinthians 13:5 GNB

Today’s Readings: Deut. 6:4-13; Psalm 18:2-4.47.51; Matt. 17:14-20

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HOW GREAT IS GOD’S GRACE?

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Sunday 12th July- 15th Sunday of the year

HOW GREAT IS GOD’S GRACE?

Reflection: Ephesians 1:3-14

“Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church.” CCC 2003

God’s grace is the unmerited favour we receive from Him regardless of our physical and spiritual status. His grace over our lives is so great and beyond our imagination. Can you ever imagine a father sending His only son to a world of sin and wickedness to die for the salvation of souls? It was by the fullness of God’s grace that we were created in God’s image and now we can be called sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ (Eph 1:5). He has also blessed us with every spiritual blessing so that we can grow to the status He desires for us since this is his purpose for our existence.

So then, beloved in Christ, just as St. Paul said in Romans (6:14) “sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God’s grace”. This is the time for us to choose to stay away from all forms of sin and unite ourselves to the father, for with him we have no cause to worry; his grace is ever sufficient. Always remember the words of the lord in 2corinthians 12:9 that says “my grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak”.

PRAYER: Father, I ask for the grace to follow, to stay away from sin and remain connected to you. Amen .

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 339– What does God’s grace do to us?   

God’s grace brings us into the inner life of the Holy Trinity, into the exchange of love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It makes us capable of living in God’s love and of acting on the basis of this love.                                                          
Hide a treasure: Surely he is ready to save those who honour him, and his saving presence will remain in our land. Psalm 85:9 GNB

Today’s Readings: Amos 7:12-15; Psalm 85:9-10,11-12,13-14; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13

OUR HOPE IN THE GLORY TO COME

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Tuesday 19th May – Tuesday of the 7th week of Eastertide

Reflection: John 17: 1-11

OUR HOPE IN THE GLORY TO COME

Though the world may someday forget the pains of racism, history will never forget Martin Luther King Jnr. and his famous speech “I have a dream”. Along with many others, he stood his ground against the pervading demon of racism at that time. They knew their lives on the line yet they were not going to permit a cloud to cover the bright light of hope they saw. They were inspired by the hope that their children would someday live in a nation without racial boundaries. Their dream may not have come through during their lifetime, yet their hope has inspired generations. Should our hope in Christ not be even much greater?

Christ at the close of His earthly ministry; was eagerly desirous of the glory He was to receive from His heavenly Father, after glorifying the Father with His earthly life and work (John 17:5). Also, amidst the tears of the elders of the church in Ephesus, as he gave his farewell speech, St. Paul was at peace with himself and with God after serving him faithfully through thick and thin. He had given his life in order to accomplish the work of his Master, Jesus. In hope, he could catch a glimpse of the glory to come at the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8: 18-19).

As Christians, we are people of hope. It is our hope in God that keeps us faithful to Him even in difficult situations. Have you lost the will to live in the face of trials? Are you on the verge of compromising your Christian and Catholic faith because of the difficulties around you? Do not give in to despair, dear friend. Ask the Holy Spirit to rekindle in your heart the gift of hope and the joy that comes with it.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, comfort me in trying times by the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 308 – What is hope?

Hope is the power by which we firmly and constantly long for what we were placed on earth to do: to praise God and to serve him; and for our true happiness, which is finding our fulfillment in God; and for our final home: in God.

HIDE A TREASURE: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us…” Romans 5:4 RSV-CE

Readings for Today: Acts 20: 17-27; Psalm 68: 10-11, 20-21; John 17: 1-11

WHAT KIND OF BELIEVER ARE YOU?

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Monday 18th May – Monday of the 7th week Eastertide

Reflection: Acts 19: 1-8

WHAT KIND OF BELIEVER ARE YOU?

Every religion in the world has doctrines which must be accepted by anyone who professes it. Our Christian faith, being a newness of life drawn from a union with Christ requires an even deeper profession. True Christians are recognized by the fruits of the Holy Spirit which they manifest in their daily life (Mt 7:16, Gal 5:22).

At Ephesus, St. Paul met twelve people who professed to be believers but immediately noticed there was something missing in their faith; they lacked a manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit whom they unfortunately had no knowledge of. What does your way of life portray? Does it manifest the presence of the Holy Spirit in you? You have received the Holy Spirit at baptism. Do you cooperate with Him and allow your life to be controlled by Him?

Dear friend, our profession of faith in Christ would be complete only when we manifest the divine life of Christ. Jesus tells us that certain signs would follow believers (Mk 16:17) and they would be identified because of their sacrificial love (Jn 13:34-35). Our Christianity would be mechanical and devoid of its life-transforming power without the breath of the Holy Spirit. Today, ask the Holy Spirit to renew you and lead you to live a true Christian life.

PRAYER: Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart; enkindle in me the fire of Your love. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 203 –What is Confirmation?

Confirmation is the Sacrament that completes Baptism; in it the gift of the Holy Spirit is bestowed upon us. Anyone who freely decides to live a life as God’s child and asks for God’s Spirit under the signs of the imposition of hands and anointing with chrism receives the strength to witness to God’s love and might in word and deed. He is now a full-fledged, responsible member of the Catholic Church.

 HIDE A TREASURE: “But the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness ad self-control; against such there is no law” Galatians 5: 22-23 RSV-CE.

Readings for Today: Acts 19: 1-8; Psalm 68: 2-7; John 16: 29-33