THE HARVEST AND THE LABOURERS

Meditation for the 11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Ex 19:2-6; Rm 5:6-11; Mt 9:36-10:8)

Let us meditate on the dynamics and the relationship between the harvest of the Lord and the labourers He sent into His harvest. Jesus said in the gospel of today, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” In the first reading, we hear how the Lord Himself ‘laboured’ for the Israelites, and ‘harvested’ them to Himself. He made a covenant with them at mount Sinai so that they would be His own possession among all the peoples. He said, “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

 

Both the harvest and the labourers belong to God. The duty of the labourers is to do what the Lord did for the Israelites in the first reading, which is to return to the Lord the harvest that is His own possession. To achieve this, the labourers must first be the Lord’s possession before they can usher others in as the Lord’s possession. Thus, only a Labour who is at the same time a ‘harvest’ of the Lord can truly labour in the Lord’s vineyard. Such labourers are few and not easy to come by. The harvest is plentiful; many people need to hear the authentic gospel message, strengthened and encouraged, and helped to gain the graces they need to become the Lord’s possession. But the Labourers are few; there is always need for committed and persevering labourers, who have been ‘harvested’ for the Lord, who can interpret the signs of the times and apply the gospel message accordingly without bending it towards wordily standards.

 

Jesus Himself is the perfect Labourer for, “While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” Just as Jesus became our reconciliation with God, the Labourers sent to the Lord’s harvest bring the love of God and reconciliation in Christ Jesus. Then, Jesus called the twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits and to heal every infirmity. He gave them the mandate preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without pay, give without pay.”

 

As each of the disciples was identified individually, so does each labourer have a unique dimension he must cover. There is a need for labourers who understand their charisma and apply it for the Lord’s harvest. Standing on the foundation of the apostles, every believer, reconciled with God, must labour at his or her own capacity to bring reconciliation and peace among men and with God. Every labourer must have a sense of urgency, avoid distraction and delay, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. We pray, therefore, that the Lord of the harvest should send out labourers into His harvest. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Sunday June 18^th, 2023.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

 

THE EUCHARISTIC PERSPECTIVE

Solemnity of The Body and Blood of Christ

(Deut 8:2-3, 14-16; 1 Cor 10:16-17; Jn 6:51-58)

It is a very special day as we meditate on the mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ. The first reading tells us how God led the foundation of this mystery when He fed the Israelites with manna in the desert. The manna was given as ‘food for the journey.’ Moses viewed their hunger and distress in the desert through the lens of the manna. From the perspective of the manna, their hunger and distress became, no longer punishment or obstacle to cut short their joy of the journey, but a humbling gesture that prepared them to receive the manna and grow in their knowledge of God. He said that God did this, “That He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. And that you shall remember the Lord your God…”

 

The signification of the manna, which is fully revealed in the Eucharist, has become for us now a blessing and participation in the Body and Blood of Christ. That means the Eucharist brings transformation to our lives, ‘mingling’ our bodies with the Body of Christ. At a personal level, each believer is nourished and his body becomes a worthy dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. At a collective level, St Paul says, “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

 

In the gospel, Jesus declares categorically, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the live of the world is my flesh.” Here we see the fulfilment of what was signified in the first reading. Human life alone can easily be wounded and broken; there are insurmountable obstacles along the different aspects of our journey of life. Human hunger for love, peace, peace and life itself will remain in the desert of agony, for every effort to satisfy them by solely human strength creates more hunger. Jesus feeds us with Himself and nourishes us with His Blood that He might share life with us and become our satisfaction. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”

 

Thus, in the Eucharist, Jesus is present in an extra ordinary way in the form of Bread and wine. He says, “For my flesh is food indeed, and blood is drink indeed.” Now we can view our lives from the perspective of the Eucharist since it has taken a central stage in our lives. Meditate on the difference it makes and the deep meaning it gives when we view our lives from this mountain of grace, just as Moses did. Then, our hunger meets satisfaction, our weakness is conquered by strength, our wounds are touched by healing, courage displaces fear, peace and unity grows stronger, love dispels the darkness of hate, and life overcomes death. We see why Jesus says, “He who eats me will live because of me.” Amen

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Sunday June 11, 2023.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

 

 

 

SPEAK TRUTH WITH HUMILITY

Meditation for Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
(Tobit 2:9-14; Mk 12:13-17)

How easily words can slip off our mouths and result to consequences we never intended. Dishonesty in speech comes when what we say is different from what we have in mind or when we say what is not true. Words can communicate the best of our virtues. Also, they can easily sell out our pride and arrogance. Often times, words are handy tools of provocation and revenge. This is obvious in the first reading, where the wife of Tobit took revenge at him for provoking her by angrily making jest of his charitable works.

 

The Pharisees and the Herodians set trap for Jesus to entrap Him in His own talk. They knew those addressing the public can easily err in answering questions or in their own teachings. This is usually the case when one speaks to impress people and boast his ego. Also, one can easily be trapped in his own speech if he is speaking falsehood or when what he is saying does not edify or glorify God. Thus, Jesus escaped the trap, saying, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” At the end, the Pharisees and the Herodians fell in their own trap.

 

Let us learn from the example of Jesus and speak truth with humility and love, and to the glory of God. In this way, no one can entrap us in our own words. “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble” (Proverbs 21:23).  Amen.

 

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

 

THE CORNERSTONE

Meditation for Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
(Tobit 1:3; 2:1-8; Mk 12:1-12)

After narrating the parable of the wicked tenants, Jesus concluded by saying, “The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” The ‘builders’ who are supposed to be professional in their work ought to know the cornerstone and build on it. Why did they act so unprofessional and reject the cornerstone, which was for their good? The answer is found in the bad choices made by the wicked tenant against their master, who loved them and had good plans for them. In their greed and selfishness, they rejected their master's goodwill and all the efforts he made to forgive them and make peace with them, which included sending down his son as the final saving grace for them. But they rejected the Son, the Cornerstone, and followed their selfish and greedy desires. This brought them to destruction.

 

In the first reading, as Tobit lived for the love of his people and attended to the victims of persecution, his neighbors laughed at him. Here is an example of a man, who followed not his selfish inclinations, but denied himself food to bury the man that was killed. Such a man is true ‘builder’, who establishes his house on the cornerstone. Think about how people want to build lasting and strong family ties, peace, unity and progress without the sacrificial love that Jesus laid down for us. But how can we imbibe this love that binds all things together (cf. Col 3:14) when we do not welcome Jesus in our lives as the wicked tenants did? Imagine the wasted effort, wasted opportunity and resources when we do not build on the Cornerstone, which Jesus Christ. God will do marvels for us if we act professionally and build on the Cornerstone. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Monday, June 5, 2023.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE MYSTERY OF MYSTERIES

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY
(Ex 34:4-6, 8-9; 2 Cor 13:11-13; Jn 3:16-18)

The mystery of God is greatly captured in the mystery of the Trinity. This is the highest and most subline of all mysteries. The mystery of the most Holy Trinity states that there are three Persons in the one God, that is, God the Father, the God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God is One, and the One God is unity, not unitary. If God were unitary, He would have fitted into the categories of the human reasoning pattern and man would have exhausted the knowledge of God. But God is Unity, perfect and complete in Himself. He is perfect love. He does not need nor depend on anything outside of Him, including our worship and praises. He reveals Himself, yet remains a mystery beyond our comprehension.

 

The first reading tells us how Moses encountered God on mount Sinai. The Lord God gave Moses His word in the form of the tablet of stone. And His glory descended in the form of the cloud. Then, God proclaimed to Moses, saying, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” The living word, the glory of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father make up this one divine encounter of Moses. In the second reading, St Paul described God as the God of love and peace. This is what He bestows on us, we are urged to live out these qualities. St Paul offers the trinitarian blessing, saying, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” In the gospel, we learn that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And Jesus came to save us and reveal the knowledge of God to us. Thus, through Jesus we understand that God is Trinity of Persons. Jesus is God among us; in Jesus, humanity and divinity have found a common abode. He is the Way, and leads us along as the Good Shepherd. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us; the Holy Spirit is God within, who inspires us, sanctifies us, and appropriates to us the saving grace of Jesus Christ to the glory of God.

 

Let us meditate on how the sublime mystery of the Trinity has become our living experience. As we appreciate and accept the Mystery of mysteries, the Most Holy Trinity, we come to understand how human life, made in the image and likeness of God goes forward with a spark of mystery around it. Our appreciation of this mystery helps us to acknowledge that ‘mystery’ itself has become part of our knowledge, since in faith we know God as that which cannot be fully known. Our connection with the Mystery of mysteries makes it possible that human mind cannot exhaust its knowledge about human life and anything that has reference to God. Thus, we cannot know everything about human relationship, marriage, life and death. Even in science, there will always be new discoveries and new understanding about reality. God, who is the highest and source of mystery, continues to reveal Himself to us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

 

Therefore, faith in the Trinity strengthens us to continue to match forward in life despite the rising smoke of uncertainty that spreads discouragement. So, we plan for tomorrow though we do not know what tomorrow holds; we continue to love even when we are not trusted; we continue to live fully and happily even the news of death is everywhere. Our hope does not diminish for we embrace life with faith not by sight (cf. Rm 5:5; 2Cor 5:7). God, in His Trinity of Persons, who is perfection in Himself, in revealing Himself to us through Jesus Christ, has given us opportunity to participate in His own divine life. The love of the Father, given to us through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is now spread around as we fellowship with the Holy Spirit. That is why believers are urged to love all peoples, live in in in peace and unity, and radiate the joy of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria.

Sunday June 4^th 2023.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

 

 

“MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE”

Meditation for Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 11:19-26; Jn 10:22-30)

The first reading narrates how the persecution that arose after the death of Stephen scattered the believers and brought them to many cities including Antioch. The Holy Spirit continued to manifest the divine presence wherever they went. The Church leaders in Jerusalem heard about the great works those who escaped persecution were performing in the name of Jesus, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. He was full of the Holy Spirit and faith. Barnabas was glad, and he encouraged them to remain steadfast to the Lord. He went to Tarsus and brought Saul. “For a whole year they met with the Church, and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians.”

 

We see how the spread of the Christian faith was made possible first by the action of the Holy Spirit working through human efforts. The believers were surprised how their little efforts brough so much impact and won many souls for the Lord. But those whose hearts were hardened denied what they experienced through the believers and refused to believe. That was why when the Jews kept asking Jesus if He were the Christ, He answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.” Those who are on the side of truth are the sheep that belong to Jesus; “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.”

 

The freedom, peace and love with which Christianity spreads, and steps on persecution to grow, testifies to the presence of the Holy Spirit, who is the unseen hand that moves us forward. It takes a humble man, who is honest and open to truth to perceive this silent divine presence and accept the faith. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Tuesday May 2, 2023

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

STANDING RIGHT WITH GOD IN OUR LABOURS

Meditation for Memorial of St Joseph the Worker
(Gen 1:26—2:3; Mt 13:54-58)

Happy Workers Day! The Church entrusts all workers to the patronage of St. Joseph the Carpenter. We thank God for the gift of creativity and inventive skill. God created man with the inherent capacity to work, and gave him the mandate, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” That is why for a person not to have work or to lose the capacity to work through sickness, old age, etc, is never a good experience. Hence, it is popularly said that THERE IS DIGNITY IN LABOUR. The human person is dignified in the outcome of his labors; there he finds joy and fulfilment, and derives meaning in life. That is why we pray for workers, for those looking for work, and for those facing all sorts of challenges in their work.

 

Therefore, let us meditate on St. Joseph the Worker, the patron of workers. This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955. St Joseph was so dedicated in this work as a carpenter that it became his identity. To be so recognized and identified in that singular work is a sign of lifelong persistence and perseverance in the business. This enduring capacity of St Joseph is an example for us to emulate today. St Joseph was known to be an UPRIGHT man (Mt 1:19). An ‘upright’ man can be described as ‘one who is standing right before God.’ WITHOUT HONESTY THERE IS NO DIGNITY IN LABOUR! We cannot derive meaning and joy if we are dishonest in our work.

 

Meditate on how Jesus was identified through the work of Joseph as the Carpenter. They said, “This is the Carpenter’s Son, surely?” (Mt 13:55; Mk 6:3). As the chosen one of God for the Holy Family, Joseph was chosen even in his work as a carpenter. Thus, his humble labors became means of serving God, and contributing to the work of our salvation. In the same way, if we ‘stand right before God’ in our labors, they will become means of serving God. That means we can win grace for ourselves and for others through our work. In this way, Jesus can be ‘recognized’ in our labors. That is why our great patron St Joseph was a silent man, but spoke eloquently through his work. Let us reduce the noise that fuels laziness and embrace the committed silence that fuels creativity and productivity. Our labors shall never be in vain, for through St Joseph, God has given a deeper meaning to the work of our hands as means of working out our salvation in Christ Jesus (cf. Phil 2:12-13).

 

May St Joseph the Worker intercede for us as we work. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Monday May 1st, 2023.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com