IN THE FACE OF PERSECUTION

Meditation for Saturday of the 5^th Week of Easter

(Acts 16:1-10; Jn 15:18-21)

It is very easy to identify ourselves as part of Jesus Christ when He speaks of the love and support we receive that branches that abide in Him. What about in moments of persecution, pain and sorrow? Jesus assures us that we are very much connected to Him at such moments. In fact, He goes ahead of us in receiving persecution and suffering. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

Jesus explains that the new pattern of life for those who believe in Him puts them at odds with the world and will definitely attract persecution from the world. “But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” To live in the world, but not live by principles and standard of the world is a sign that one is a true believer. Anyone who claims to be a believer but is soaked in every way of life of the world is a hypocrite. Opposition from the world should be expected since the principles of Christ challenge the worldly standard.

The world sets trap and tries to blackmail believers so that out of fear and shame they may withdraw and shy away from the virtues and righteousness that Jesus taught us. But fear cannot rule us though persecution rages, for we are part of the suffering Christ, who passed through the road of persecution and won victory for us. “A servant is no greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you…” Jesus gives us hope in the face of persecution that whatever hate we endure in His name will be on His account! This is very important for us to hear at this time when the more is becoming more and more aggressive against the voice of truth.

Therefore, let us hold fast to Christ Jesus and abide in His love. For He is present in our moments of joy, success, peace and love, and he is also with us in our moments of persecution, suffering, pain and sorrow. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Saturday May 8^th, 2021.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE GREAT FRUIT OF LOVE

Meditation for Friday of the 5^th Week of Easter
(Acts 15:22-31; Jn 15:12-17)

Yesterday we meditated on how the love of God flows down to us like a stream. Today we hear from Jesus how that love, once received, should spread around. It is in the nature of the love that comes from God to keep flowing; it cannot be stagnant. Stagnant water becomes poisonous and unhealthy, dangerous to anyone who drinks it. In the same way, love received must be allowed to flow down to others. If we try to keep it to ourselves, it becomes like stagnant water!

Therefore, Jesus said in the Gospel of today, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Earlier, Jesus explained that keeping His commandment makes one to abide in His love, and we see now that this commandment is to share this love with one another. That means by that very act with which we allow the streams of love to flow to others, we equally abide in the love of Jesus. Here we see how the love of God takes concrete expression in the love of neighbour; and the love of neighbour is inspired and energized by love God. “So, let us love one another, since He loved us first. If you say, ‘I love God’, while you hate your brother or sister, you are a liar. How can you love God, whom you do not see, if you do not love your brother, whom you see?” (1 Jn 4:19-20).

The greatest love is in the Trinity, for God is love. Greater love is in the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. Great love is that which Christ’s faithful spread in the world and show to one another. It is this great and heroic love we see in the Apostles and the early Church as given in the first reading. With great love, the apostles agreed not to burden the Gentile converts, only that they must observe what was necessary for them to be united with Christ. Barnabas and Paul risked their lives for these Gentiles. It was a heroic love but to the glory of Christ, who supplied them the grace.

Love is the fruit we bear as branches of Jesus the Vine; the love we show to others makes us great. It is when the streams of divine love flows through us to others that we are identified and distinguished as friends of Jesus. “But I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you...I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you.” At the end, to show love to one another becomes an answer to one’s prayers.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Friday May 7^th, 2021.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

STREAMS OF LOVE

Meditation for Thursday of the 5^th Week of Easter

(Acts 15:7-21; Jn 15:9-11)

Think about how a stream flows from one end and spread downwards, watering and wetting the ground, sustaining fishes and keeping the trees fresh! This is how love flows. Love does not come equally and simultaneously in two people. Often times, it ignites in one and may grow deeper in the other. That is why it is practically impossible for two people to love each other equally and at the same pace. That is why the person you love may be busy loving someone else! Though love flows like a stream, it has one source.

“God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Jesus said in the gospel of today, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love.” God is the source of love; the love of God flowed down to us through Jesus Christ. For God loved us first and sent His Son, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 Jn 4:9-10). Thus, from Jesus, the Trinitarian love flowed to us. So if we abide in Jesus, we shall receive constant flow of love; the streams of love, the ocean of mercy and fountain of life flowing from His wounded side shall be poured into our hearts. Our individual responsibility, therefore, is to open up ourselves and allow the streams of love from Jesus to flow into us by abiding in Him.

How do we abide in Him? “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” That means by keeping the commandments, especially the commandment of love, we are connecting ourselves to the streams of love in Christ Jesus. Our preoccupation in this regard to ensure we are in line with God’s commandments, then love comes to us as a free gift. That was why the apostles and elders convoked the first Church council to ensure that they were acting according to the will of God. Like the apostles, we often face the temptation to derail by creating human patterns of love and worship that end being burdens on us and others.

The streams of divine love that flows freely from Jesus Christ to us sets us free and fills us with joy. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Thursday May 6^th, 2021.
Memorial of St Dominic Savio
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE LIFE OF ANSWERED PRAYER

Meditation for Wednesday of the 5^th Week of Easter

(Acts 15:1-6;Jn 15:1-8)

Today’s Gospel passage ended in an encouraging note: Jesus said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.” Imagine being given opportunity to have all your prayer requests answered! These words of Jesus come alive anew in our hearts as we are surrounded with numerous socio-economic needs, individual and family problems, etc. If we focus mainly on receiving answers to our numerous requests without taking into account the conditions that apply, we may exalt our needs above our Provider. Then, our practice of faith and prayer shall be like someone who enjoys asking questions more than receiving answers to his questions!

Jesus assures us that He is the true vine, we are His branches. If we abide in Him through faith, and bear fruits of love and righteousness, then His life becomes ours, and our needs become His! In this case, a true branch of the True Vine lives A LIFE OF ANSWERED PRAYERS, even when he is yet to receive all the answers to his prayers. Such a believer is deeply aware that he shares life with Jesus, who gives nourishment and support to his life, and thus, shares in the pains of His Branches. Hence, in their prayers, the true branches of the True Vine, Jesus Christ, request whatever is of the will of God; and the will of God fully comes alive in Jesus, who gives it freely to those who believe in Him.

Therefore, the true circumcision we need to be saved is the pruning the Father gives to the branches that abide in the True Vine that they may bear more fruit. So Paul and Barnabas argued fiercely in the first reading that we do need the circumcision of the old law to be saved. What we need is to be grafted through faith and baptism into the Body of Christ. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ shall flow freely to us, and we shall bear fruit that endures even to eternal life. Amen

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Wednesday May 5th, 2021.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com 

THE GIFT OF PEACE

Meditation for Tuesday of the 5the Week of Easter
(Acts 14:19-28;Jn 14:27-31)

We all want peace, both within our heart and with those around us. Sometimes when our efforts to sustain peace fail, violence becomes our struggle to regain peace. Unfortunately, violence begets more violence! That is why true and lasting peace comes as a gift. Jesus said to the disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

For Christ’s faithful, our efforts to enjoy peace are now summed up to believing in Jesus and to loving Him. This hold on Jesus takes us deeper into the divine mystery of the Godhead. When our peace flows from this divine height, no evil can pluck it away. That is why Paul continued to preach from town to town despite the stones that were thrown at him.  To get up from such deadly attack and move on with the gospel without bitterness, desire for revenge or courses shows an abiding power that is stronger that the ordinary human inclinations. The peace that endures tribulations and neutralizes violence is a gift of our Lord Jesus.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Tuesday May 3rd, 2021.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES

Meditation for 5^th Sunday of Easter

(Acts 9:26-31; 1Jn 3:18-24; Jn 15:1-8)

We are greeted today by one of the enriching and inspiring gospel passages. Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more.” The vine is an economic tree that produces wine. The branches of the tree produce the seeds that are crushed to squeeze out sweet wine. The branches give shape and beauty to the tree, from which they receive nutrient and support. Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

We see how important we are to Jesus; and we see how necessary and sufficient He is to each of us. As the branch receives life from the tree, it is expected to produce fruits that will showcase the greatness and value of the tree. That is why the 2^nd reading says LOVE is the fruit we bear as branches of Jesus the Vine! “We should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us.” By faith we abide in Him and receive the support and nourishment to bear the fruit of love. Love for one another is the sweet wine; it is that BEAUTY that the branch adds to the tree of life. This love that ‘tastes’ and announces Jesus can only come from those who abide in Him, who are firmly rooted in Him as the trunk of their existence.

It is through faith that we grafted into Christ Jesus as His branch. We see in the first reading how this takes a practical approach in the life of the Church. As we are welcomed into the life of the Church, the Body of Christ through Baptism, the faith of the Church that binds us together equally binds us with Christ Jesus. After his conversion, when Paul first came to Jerusalem, the disciples were reluctant to welcome him into their fold. Barnabas intervened and introduced him as a believer and they welcomed him. The Church continued to grow, “Walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it multiplied.” Each of us has been given different gift and talents as branches of the Vine. When we apply these 'resources' to good use, bearing fruits of righteousness, we grow and strengthen the body of Christ. This, too, is how we share love and attract others to abide firmly on Jesus, the True Vine.

Therefore, the True Vine will always have branches for the Church is always alive as the Body of Christ. But, how can one be a true branch of the True Vine without sharing communion of faith with other branches of the same Vine? Most importantly, we abide in Christ Jesus when His words abide in us, we live by it and with it. In doing so, we win souls for Christ, and introduce others to the body of Christ as branches grafted in Him, just as Barnabas did. “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Sunday May 2^nd, 2021.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

REFILLING THE EMPTY JARS OF AFRICA

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF AFRICA
(Acts 1:12-14; Jn 2:1-11)

We entrust the Continent of Africa into the maternal help of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The perception and the reality of life in Africa is quite unique. The ‘otherness’ of Africa evokes from people of other continents mostly pity or scorn. The replacement of natural boundaries with western political boundaries is still at the root of political instability and cultural clashes in most African states. However, Africa is the land of natural resources with economic potentials that promises a bright future.

The first reading tells us how Mary was present with the Apostles in the Upper Room as they awaited the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel we hear about the presence of Mary and Jesus at the wedding in Cana. When the celebrants ran out wine, Mary intervened. She brought up the matter to Jesus, the source of every blessing. Then, she turned to those who were in a position to take action, i.e. the servants, and prepared their hearts for Jesus by directing them to obey whatever Jesus tells them to do, “Do whatever He tells you.” Mary is qualified to bring us divine blessings, and helps us to be open and available to take the proper actions that would bring those blessings to reality.

Oh Mary, Mother of the Saviour, we employ you this day to intercede for the peoples of Africa. Be in our midst as our mother, and pray with us as you did with the apostles in the upper room. Mary, please direct us and turn our hearts to Jesus as you did to the servants at the wedding in Cana in Galilee. With your motherly presence in the affairs of Africa, Jesus will bless us, and the ‘empty jars’ of Africa will be filled with sweet wine of economic growth, peaceful co-existence, fear and knowledge of God, etc. Teach the servants of Africa, our leaders, who serve at the ‘high table’ of affairs in African countries, to obey Jesus and follow His footsteps of Jesus Christ in leading by example and with sacrifice. Amen.

The best wine is yet to be served in Africa; our hope is still alive. We shall rejoice and dance that the Lord our God has blessed us in our land.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Tuesday April 30^th, 2021.
Feast of our Lady of Africa
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com