SILENCE AND INNER BALANCE

Meditation for Monday of the 18^th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B

(Num 11:4-15; Mt 14:13-21)

The value of silence cannot be over emphasized. It is doubtful if one can ever climb the heights of spirituality without nurturing silence as a habit. Silence is formative; it trains us to self-mastery, maturity and to discern properly. Entry into the ‘silent place’ is not to run away from our responsibilities, but to re-energize so as to carry out our tasks effectively and with joy. Jesus withdrew from the people and went to a lonely place. This was necessary to avoid exhaustion. However, it has a deeper spiritual connotation.

But the crowds with their needs anrts6s6w demands did not allow him to even settle down in the place of silence. He quickly stepped forward to attend to them, healing the sick and feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fish. It is usually the experience that whenever we want to observe the silence that uplifts the souls, crowds of thoughts, distractions and other interferences would not allow us to settle down in the place of silence. Nevertheless, no matter how little we had a taste of it, silence gives us vision and strength to achieve more.

Seeing how difficult it can be to recollect and settle down in the silence that our hearts yearn for, we look up to Jesus through the words of the Gospel that He may flood our soul with serenity. Such a touch of ‘divine stillness’ through the word of God can occur even in the noise around and as we run around our daily responsibilities. Like the boat that took Jesus to the silent place, the word of God draws on to that inner place of serenity and peace. It is within this ‘breath of silence’ that we can achieve inner balance, and remain focused and firm despite temptations and life challenges.

Think about the desire for variety of food and the imbalance that made the people of Israel to complain against Moses. Their nagging threw Moses off balance and he got frustrated and asked God to take his life! And imagine the numerous things today that throw us off balance and we act strangely. Therefore, let us enter the ‘boat of the word of God’ that it may carry us to behold Jesus Christ, in whom we have inner serenity and silence, which energizes us to achieve greatness. Amen.

 

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

SHE THAT COME FORTH AS THE MORNING RISING

Meditation for the Feast of the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today, we recall and celebrate with joy the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She was timely positioned for our salvation. From the very dawn of God’s plan for human redemption, Mary’s role was clearly defined (Gen 3:15). Her birth, like her maternal presence, announces that the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation is near. “Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!” (Lk 1:45). Mary’s birth was part of the fulfilment of what the Lord had promised, in order to bring about the greater fulfilment of our salvation in Jesus Christ. 

Therefore, the celebration of the birthday of Mary becomes for us the celebration of God’s faithfulness to His promises. And Mary grew up, living out to full maturity what her birth stood for.  In view of our salvation in Christ, Mary’s birth breaks forth like the Morning Sun. It keeps our hope high like the Tower of David; enriches our faith like the House of Gold. The tenderness of her birth lingered on throughout her life in her humility and silence.

Mary, the Highest Honor of our race, was full of grace as she entered the world. And she was set to unlock blessings as all generations will call her blessed. “But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, and subject of the law” (Gal 4:4). As we honor her today, may she unlock divine favor for us, and bring us closer to our salvation. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Wednesday September 8th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

BE ROOTED IN CHRIST

Meditation for Tuesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time
(Col 2:6-15; Lk 6:12-19)

St Paul now begins to correct some of the wrong beliefs among the Colossians, which he heard from Epaphras. According to St Paul, faith in Christ needs no comprise. Those who have received Jesus Christ should live in Him, be rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith, and abounding in thanksgiving. He warned against those who deceive believers with reasoning, human traditions, and elemental spirits. Christ is the center of our faith, “For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness of life in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” Spiritually, we are circumcised in Him by not living according to the flesh, but we are buried and raised with Him in Baptism.

This brought us forgiveness of sins; Jesus nailed our trespasses to the cross. “He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in Him.” That means our obedience of faith to Jesus Christ cannot be reduced to human philosophy, traditions or to elemental spirits. He is Lord of all and above all.

 In the gospel of today we see a correlation between day and night, hills and level ground, sickness and healing, but all centered around Jesus. Jesus went to the hills to pray all night. When it was day, He chose the twelve apostles. On coming down to plain ground, many sick people came to Him to be healed. “And all the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came forth from Him and healed them all.” This is how those who believe in Jesus should allow Him rule over every aspect of their lives. Such that their lives are rooted, built up and established in faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Tuesday September 6th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

 

“STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND”

Meditation for Monday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time
(Col 1:24-23; Lk 6:6-11)

At this point, St Paul begins to use his own experience to exhort the Colossians. He talked about the value of the sufferings he bore for the sake of the Gospel among other things. “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the Church.” St Paul associates his sufferings for the gospel to Jesus’ death and resurrection. He described himself as called by God to reveal the mysteries hidden for ages, but now revealed through Jesus Christ. He said categorically that in preaching the gospel, it is Jesus Christ we proclaim. St Paul said his intention is that they may be encouraged as they knit together in love, and “To have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

As the scribes and Pharisees opposed Jesus and tried to prevent Him from healing the man with withered hand on the Sabbath, so we encounter difficulties St Paul when we want to witness to the hidden mysteries in Jesus Christ through the gospel. Jesus called the man to the center, before the full view of His opponents, and asked, “Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”

The hidden mysteries, power, understanding and knowledge in Jesus Christ is reveal through the Cross. So, when we encounter suffering or opposition in witnessing to the gospel, we connect them to the cross of Christ, from which flows the wellspring that builds up the Church. This is how we contribute to the salvation of mankind, and overcome the oppositions that try to prevent these hidden mysteries in Christ from being manifested in our lives.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Monday September 6th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

“BE OPENED”

Meditation for 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
(Is 35:4-7; James 2:1-5; Mk 7:31-37)

Affliction, sickness, infirmity, poverty, etc can set a man apart from among his fellows or make him feel abandoned my God. Fear, uncertainty, sadness, etc are often the immediate responses that such situations can arouse in someone. Isaiah speaks directly to the heart going through such affliction, “Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance…He will come and save you.” When He comes, the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped…and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy.

This prophecy was fulfilled in the Gospel as Jesus heals the man who was deaf and dumb. “And taking him aside from the multitude privately, He put his fingers into his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.” The man’s affliction set him ‘apart’ from his community since he could not interact freely. But Jesus took him apart from the multitude—away from their general understanding of the sickness—and healed him with gestures that showed that He associated Himself with the man at the very point of affliction. So, being ‘apart’ with Jesus privately heals and reconciles us with God and others.

“And looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that, ‘Be opened.’” As in the sacrifice of the Cross, Jesus offered up the man pains, shame, isolation, poverty, fear, heartbreak, etc with a sigh that pierced heaven! This prayer cannot be disconnected from the prayer of ‘His Hour’, i.e. His agony in the garden, and His loud cry on the cross. And Jesus continues to set us apart to Himself privately, and touching us with the merits of this saving sacrifice at our very point of affliction through the Eucharist.

Therefore, in our worship and Eucharistic celebration, we join our voices with the man that was thus touched and healed to sing joyful praises to God. Our Eucharist is a thanksgiving offering that the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in us. Then, how can we begin to show partiality against the poor and afflicted in our church gathering! This will make our worship hypocritical. Since Jesus takes us to Himself in our poverty and affliction, we too should have preferential option for the poor, and through our charity and care, offer their pains in union with the sacrifice of Jesus. Let our eyes and ears be opened (Ephphatha) that we may see the afflictions around us, and hear the cries of the poor among us. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Sunday September 5th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE LORD OF THE SABBATH

Meditation for Saturday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time
(Col 1:21-23; Lk 6:1-5)

St Paul recounts the good things that happened to the Colossians as they accepted Jesus. They were saved from their evil deeds, reconciled with God through the death of Jesus Christ, and made holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him. All these will continue to hold if they remain steadfast in faith, not shifting from the hope of the gospel.

This hope in Jesus Christ through the gospel is what the old law and prophets tried to achieve. But the Pharisees and scribes focused on the mere letters of the law and to their own benefits. Jesus condemned their hypocrisy saying, “The Son of man is lord of the sabbath.”

Immediately, we recall St Paul’s message we read yesterday that Jesus Christ is pre-eminent, and in Him is the fullness of divinity. Therefore, He becomes the reason for the law, for in Him is the fulfillment of the law. And our faith in Him becomes our rule of life and our guide for action. That means, for us to follow the details of the law now implies to live in friendship with Jesus; to live for Him, and to act to please Him. Who shall condemn those chosen by God, Christ died for! (Rm 8:33-34). The inheritance of the saints and the riches of God’s kingdom shall be ours if we remain steadfast in faith. Amen.

St Ross of Viterbo, pray for us! Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Saturday September 4th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

 

THE PRE-EMINENT

 Meditation for Friday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time
(Col 1:15-20; Lk 5:33-39)

“Christ is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation; for in Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth…” St Paul gives this all-time description of our relationship with Jesus Christ in relation to the Father and the rest of creation. Since the Father has ‘transferred’ us to inherit the riches of the Kingdom of His Beloved Son, we need to understand the position Jesus Christ occupies in our lives. “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” That means our lives, families, society, etc cannot have lasting peace if they are not formed in Christ.

“He is the head of the body, the Church; He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything He might be PRE-EMINENT. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.” Since is God among us, and we have been called to faith in Him, we must accord Him that highest position as the pre-eminent in our lives and worship.

Think about the freshness of life we have in Jesus, to whom we have surrendered ourselves, such that He now becomes ‘our conscience’ and principle of life! Think about how powerful we are when we render ourselves powerless before Jesus! That means, if Jesus becomes pre-eminent in our lives, He will give us a new beginning and keep us reconciled with God. This new ‘burst of life’, to which the Father has transferred us to, must be received with a new heart. “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.”

The old legalistic and hypocritical approach of the Pharisees and scribes cannot contain the ever-new riches in glory given to us in Jesus. Yes, Jesus Christ is pre-eminent; He is the Beginning, before all, and God among us. Therefore, we need a new wineskin, a new heart, like the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to preserve these divine riches. And we shall have peace and be bubbling with life like the new wine! Amen.  

St Gregory the Great, pray for us! Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Friday September 3rd, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com