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