Rendering Accounts

It is quite obvious that there is a time we have to give account of our works and life. We are called to be responsible in the use of the graces and talents we have, and the wealth we possess. So a time comes when we must explain ourselves, silently or verbally, before God and man, how we lived out our lives in view of our responsibilities towards them.

Jesus lift up His eyes to heaven and said,  "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you." By this gesture,  Jesus rendered back to the Father all that was entrusted to Him. "I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do." In Jesus' address to the Father,  we see how prayer summons us to account to God by rendering to Him, through Jesus Christ, all that was entrusted to us. "I am praying for them...for those whom you have given me, for they are yours; all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them."

On the other hand, we give account to others, as St Paul did at Ephesus. The account of the goods we possess, which we render on earth, comes as 'witnessing'. "You yourselves know how I lived among you all the time...how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable..." St Paul accounted how he testified of the repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Therefore, when we render account of our life of faith in the form of witnessing, we connect the faithful to the 'glory of Christ', which is readily available in prayer. Hence, in prayer we enjoy the twofold rendering of accounts to God in glory, and witnessing before men. Amen. 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 

Egbin, Ikorodu, Lagos. 

Tuesday May 18th, 2021.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

Meditation for Wednesday of the 6^th Week in Easter

(Acts 17:15, 22-18:1; Jn 16:12-15)

As Jesus prepares for His Ascension, He continues to direct the attention of His disciples to the Holy Spirit. Today He presents the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth! Truth can be encompassing to the human mind. Our capacity to grasp deeper truth and wholesome truth is usually limited. The human mind derives pleasure in dwelling on the surface of things instead of digging out the deeper truth, which might require more effort than we had previously accumulated. But the Holy Spirit comes to our aid in our hunger and search for truth. “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak.”

We see then that the Holy Spirit is our guide into the way of truth. He is fascinated by truth; He ‘feeds’ on truth and dwells therein. The unity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit is such that the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Son, dwells on those who have Jesus in them, even in the iota of His gospel. Since Jesus is the fullness of truth, whom we can relate to, the Holy Spirit guides our steps to locate Jesus and walk in His paths, which is the pathway of truth. Jesus says, “He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

That means the Holy Spirit mingles the truth of Christ with our human lives, so that the encompassing truth becomes our lived experience! The truth that appeared as mystery now becomes an encounter; and that which is beyond human understanding, we proclaim with conviction and testimony. All these shall happen when the Spirit of truth comes. We see this manifestation in the wisdom of St Paul before the Areopagus in Athens. Because the Athenians would not accept any knowledge that did not originate from human mind, they laughed at Paul’s message of the resurrection. If we do not open up to the Holy Spirit, we will remain locked up in ignorance, our search for truth will be painful, and round and round an endless circle of ignorance and error, and we may end up living in fear of the truth! Come, Holy Spirit of truth, let us to the truth that sets us free. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Wednesday May 12^th, 2021.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

DISCERNING SPIRIT

Meditation for Tuesday of the 6^th Week in Easter

(Acts 16:22-34; Jn 16:5-11)

Jesus continues to reveal to us the mystery of the Holy Spirit. By becoming more aware of the role He plays for our salvation, we grow in appreciation of His presence within us. Jesus explains that His physical absence is necessary for the coming of the Holy Spirit. “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

Jesus announces the role of the Holy Spirit, not just to the believers called to witness, but to the whole world. “When He comes, He will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.” Here the Holy Spirit takes the image of a judge against the sinful world. The presence of the Holy Spirit exposes erroneous conscience, dead conscience and worldly conscience that does not believe in Jesus Christ, nor adhere to His words. The Counsellor helps us to discern properly what is right from what is wrong. Sinful ideals can be so compelling and convincing that those who hold on them may not easily let go of the grip.

Thanks to the Holy Spirit who fastens our grip on Christ Jesus no matter the situation we find ourselves. We see how Paul and Silas remained faithful to Jesus Christ despite being beaten severely with rods. It took the discerning power of the Holy Spirit to keep them gently seated in the prison after the earthquake while the doors were opened. This response of Paul and Silas so much influenced the jailer, who gave his life to Christ and was baptized, together with his household. “Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God.” Like Paul and Silas, let us dispose ourselves to the Holy Spirit, the Counsellor, so that we can discern properly, and lead a life that can influence others to salvation in Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Tuesday May 11^th, 2021.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE ULTIMATE WITNESS

Meditation for Monday of the 6^th Week of Easter

(Acts 16:11-15; Jn 15:26-16:4)

From now on Jesus will be telling us about the Holy Spirit. These messages are important for us to renew our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Today, He tells us where the Holy Spirit comes from and one major role He comes to play: “When the Counsellor comes, whom I shall send to you FROM THE FATHER, even the Spirit of truth, WHO PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER, He will bear witness to me;  and you also are witnesses. In other words, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the FATHER through the SON. Thus, it is the Incarnate Son of God that opens the way, and only through Him do we have access to the Holy Spirit. That means when we have the life of Christ in us, or when we try to live as Jesus has commanded us and given us example to, the Holy Spirit permeates, overshadows and mingles in us, .

The presence of the Holy Spirit is itself a testimony to the presence of Christ Jesus, since if we do not have the life of Christ in us we cannot not have the Holy Spirit in us. That means the Holy Spirit bears the ultimate witness to Jesus Christ. Man witnesses to what he has seen and heard. “And you also are witnesses because you have been with me from the beginning.” But human witness does not last due to human short memory and weakness in the face of trials. However, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit overcomes these barriers. He keeps our witnessing to Jesus alive even in the face of persecution.

It was by the internal working of the Holy Spirit that Paul was able to make the series of voyages mentioned in the first reading as witnessed to Jesus Christ. The heroic act of the newly baptized woman, Lydia, announces the presence of the Holy Spirit in her for she did something ordinary in an extraordinary way. So, our faith in God and our life in Christ Jesus open us to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who witnesses through our lives to Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Monday May 10^th, 2021.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com