The Presence of God

Meditation for Monday of the 27^th Week in Ordinary Time

(Jonah 1:1-17; 2:1, 10; Lk 10:25-37)

The prophet Jonah was unique character. It seems he thought that the presence of God was only among the Jews. Hence, “Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” Imagine that moment, when a man of faith tried to hide from God, and he entered the ship of unbelievers, taking solace therein! Seeing Jonah, the man with the word of God, sleeping away in the inner part of the ship, comes alive today when the baptized Christian, the man who made vows and commitment to the Lord, excuses himself and justifies his self-indulgent life-style, which renders him unfaithful and unfruitful in his vocation. He joins the ship of unbelievers in an earthly pursuit, abandoning his divine vocation to spread the Kingdom of God. Think about how Christians and church leaders of today are sailing away in their little ships to Tarshish, embarking on their own self-preservation journeys instead of facing the truth of faith and announcing the Good news of the Kingdom of God.

But there was mighty turbulence at sea, so that the ship was threatened to break up! Jonah learnt through had way that God is everywhere. Like the prodigal son, he came to his sense, and confronted himself with the truth. His honesty was narrow way to follow for it landed him in the belly of the fish. “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.” Oh! Not only is God present in Israel, He hears prayers from the most uncomfortable situations of life, even in the belly of a fish down the sea. The man who was hiding and resting away, suddenly opened his mouth to pray when he supposed to be fighting for his life. Imagine how the prayer of Jonah transformed the belly of the fish into the ‘house of God’, for if God can hear, then God is present therein. This is what prayer does to our every situation.

Our life of prayer opens us to God’s presence at all times. And prayer comes alive in our love for God and neighbor. The example of the good Samaritan shows us the practical way: As we pray to God, we live so as to become to others an answered prayer for them. This is how we live in the presence of God and bring others to witness to it too. Charity does the miracle; love conquers at the end. The fish that swallowed Jonah became his transporter to Nineveh; The Jew that was beaten on his way to Jericho got a reliable neighbor in the good Samaritan. God wins! 

St Francis of Assisi, pray for us. Amen.

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

 

 

UNMEASURED GRACES

Meditation for Saturday of the 25^th Week in Ordinary Time

The prophet Zacharia gave his message after the Babylonian exile during the rebuilding of the temple. This new temple would stand for the new blessings to come. His prophetic visions encouraged the Jews to gather around the temple. In our opening reading today, Zacharia saw a vision of a man going forward to measure Jerusalem, but another Angel said to the young man, “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle in it.” The Lord declared that He would encircle Jerusalem like a wall of fire and fill her with glory. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion; for behold, I come and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord.” Then, many nations will gather up to be God’s peoples, and the Lord shall dwell in the midst of them.

This ‘Jerusalem’ that is filled by the glory of God and to which all nations gather to, can it be measured? To measure means to determine its limits and extent of its outreach. But the ‘vastness’ of God cannot be measured, and so also is the ‘City’ walled by God and filled with His glory. This is how we are built up in Christ Jesus through His Cross and Resurrection with unmeasured graces and blessings. Such ‘vastness of the glory of God’ in Christ Jesus is not ‘simplistic’, easy or by mere wish.

So, when people began to acclaim the greatness everything Jesus did, He said to them, “For the Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men.” From this opposing effort to ‘limit’ His power and kill Him that the unmeasured graces of the resurrection rise. Let us continue to gather up to Jesus, for in Him is the fullness of divinity, and we shall enjoy boundless glory and unmeasured favours. Amen.

St Ceolfrid, pray for us. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Saturday September 25^th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

“YET NOW TAKE COURAGE”

Meditation for Friday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time

(Haggai 2:1-9; Lk 9:18-22)

Prophet Haggai continues to address Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah concerning the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. He reminded them of the former glory of the Temple before it was destroyed during the exile. Now that they rebuilt their individual homes and settled down, they should be courageous to work on the temple. “Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord…take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt.” The prophet encouraged them strongly to work on the temple, saying that God’s presence would be with them. The Lord promised to bring to them the treasures of the nations, “And I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts.” The temple shall have a greater splendor than in the former days, “And in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.”

Often times we understand and describe God according to the manifestation of His power or the blessings we have received. Those enjoyed the teachings of Jesus would compare Him to John the Baptist; those who witnessed his miracles would call Him another Elijah or one of the great prophets. But the mystery of God that saves is given by revelation. Our experiences and knowledge of God must surrender to divine revelation. At the realm of divine revelation experience becomes worship, and knowledge becomes contemplation! 

After Peter answered through revelation that Jesus is “The Christ of God”, He began to reveal to them that, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” This is the real manifestation of God that should form their knowledge of God and of the Christ. The ‘erection of the Cross’ fulfilled the promises God made through Haggai about the temple. And the knowledge and experience of the Cross encompasses and fulfills the great works of the prophets, but goes further to draw us to contemplation and worship. “Yet now take courage” and embrace the Cross of Jesus, for on it God gives prosperity and heavenly treasures. Amen.

Our Lady of Ransom, pray for us. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Friday September 25th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

“CONSIDER HOW YOU HAVE FARED”

Meditation for Thursday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time

(Haggai 1:1-8; Lk 9:7-9)

Haggai prophesied after the Israelites returned from exile, when Zerubbabel was governor of Judah. As the people rebuilt their homes and settled down, they folded their arms against the holy temple. The Lord send prophet Haggai to ask them: “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” The prophet explained that they needed the temple for the glory of God to dwell among them and bless their labors with fruitfulness. “Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested little…Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may appear in my glory, says the Lord.”

But in Jesus Christ the glory of God took its permanent abode among us. The Body of Christ became the perfect Temple; the presence of Christ is the manifestation of God, bringing to us all the heavenly blessings. Jesus brought good news and joy to those believe in Him and abide in Him. So, we ask Herod the Tetrarch, just as Haggai asked the Israelites, “Consider how you have fared?” 

Herod was perplexed at hearing about all that Jesus did: casting out demons, healing the sick, preaching the good news of the Kingdom. Herod lived the opposite: he brought fear and imprisonment to the free, sickness to the healthy, and death to the living! Definitely, he cannot be free in the presence of Jesus. Think about that life style that makes it difficult for us to spend few minutes before the Blesses Sacrament, discourages us from going to Confession or even to concentrate in our prayers. There is that little taste of pleasure that makes our hearts shiver at the mere thought of prayer! There ‘Herodic’ dispositions want us to dwell comfortably in our selfish panel houses while neglecting our abode in the Body of Christ, where we are blessed and covered with the glory of God.

St Pio of Pietrelcina, pray for us! Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Thursday September 23rd, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE BATTLE OF THE RIGTHEOUS

Meditation for 25^TH Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
(Wis 2:12, 17-20; James 3:16-4:3; Mk 9:30-37)

1.0.         THE MOTIONS OF EVIL

By its very existence, evil opposes good; evil fights for dominance and survival by trying to overcome the good. Still, it is this very battle to suppress the good that destroys evil and exalts the good. In other words, evil is self-defeating! This internal struggle of self-defeating and self-survival makes evil restless. So, evil finds itself sentenced by the peace and silence of the good. That is why it falsely approaches the good with aggression, blaming the good for its self-defeat and self-destruction. But evil cannot overcome the good because the good exists, and on its own, while evil’s existence is ‘the opposition of the good.’ That is why St Augustine said that EVIL IS A PRIVATION.

Therefore, those who harbor evil intents such as jealousy, selfishness, greed, pride, etc will always find people of righteousness and prayer very inconveniencing and annoying; the ungodly will always ‘lie in wait’ against the righteous ones, while admiring their courage, peace and freedom. This is what the first reading demonstrated clearly. “Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”

2.0.         THE FLIHT TO WISDOM AND HUMILITY

The restless character of evil is manifested wherever it exists, no matter how little it might be. The second reading warns that those who entertain any trace of evil, such as jealousy and selfish ambition, will exhibit disorder and vile practices. And such persons will bring disunity and fight among the community or family. “But the wisdom from above is pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity.” To such, when they pray, God will answer because they do not spend what they have received on their passions.

In Gospel, Jesus, the Righteous One, who in Himself must confront and overcome the ancient hostility of evil against the good (cf. Eph 2:16). He began to explain to His disciples that He was going to take up the pain and death evil inflicts on the good and overcome it on the Cross. This is how he will lead those at war with evil to crossover to the realm of the righteous, peace and freedom. The humility of the Cross becomes the humiliation of evil! Humility becomes our escape from being infected by evil. Since the Cross of Christ is the greatest expression of humility, to carry our cross each day and follow Him humbly like a little child, is the lead way to greatness, peace and joy. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Sunday September 19th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE SEED ON THE GOOD SOIL

Meditation for Saturday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time

(1 Tim 6:13-16; Lk 8:4-15)

Today we come to the end of our Mass readings’ meditation on St Paul’s first letter to Timothy. His concluding instruction is very clear: “I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

For us to remain faithful and fruitful in Jesus Christ, the parable of the sower indicates the generosity of God and the struggles we must overcome along the way. In his love and generosity, the Sower makes his seed available to all kinds of soil, both the fruitful and the unfruitful. But each seed had the same capacity to reach maturity and be fruitful. The different soils and conditions to which the seeds were subjected to made the difference. The fruitful seed must not end up ALONG THE PATH, where it will be trodden under foot, and evil birds of the air devour its faith and righteousness. The seed must avoid ending up ON THE ROCK of ‘occasion of sin’, where it will not have spiritual nourishment for sustainable growth. Such seed that want to be fruitful cannot grow AMONG THORNS ‘of the flesh’, where it will be choked and denied the spiritual joy of the freedom of the children of God.

“And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundred-fold.” If human heart is the soil on which the seed of the word of God is sown, it must remain steadfast as the ‘good soil.’ And that means it must be guarded but never allowed to be an open pathway where anything goes; it must be watered and nourished, never to be a dry hardened rock; it needs pruning and weeding so that wide thorns of pleasure will not choke it into slavery! To be ‘a good soil’, like St Paul charged Timothy, ‘until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ’, does not come by chance. It takes dedication, focus, and in keeping with the commandments. “And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Amen.

Saint Joseph of Cupertino, Pray for us. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Saturday September 18th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE SPRITUAL JOY OF CONTENTMENT

Meditation for Friday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time
(1 Tim 6:2-12; Lk 8:1-3)

In today’s edition, St Paul gives a very sensitive and important instruction to Timothy. He tells Timothy to avoid dabbling into issues and teachings that do not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and which do not accord with godliness. A religious who does that has a craving for controversy, which produces envy, dissension, slander, suspicions; he is depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. However, St Paul says, “There is great gain in godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take away anything out of the world.”

 He goes further to instruct Timothy about the importance of contentment and to avoid greed. “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.” St Paul warns that the love of money is the root of all evils. The craving for MORE money, and for financial security have made some to wander away, and such craving brings with it many sorrows. How ugly it looks to see a priest or church leader consumed with desire for money! One who is already contented with what he has will always have more, but his real craving is for love of Jesus Christ. His energy shall be channeled righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness, etc.

The gospel of today gives us examples of faithful women, who journeyed along with Jesus. Some of them were touched by the power of Jesus and He healed them. Their response in following Jesus was not for any gain, instead, they provided for them out of their means. Imagine how these poor women were able to gather things to support the apostles! Again, imagine how Jesus and His disciples were so contented that they enjoyed the support of these simple women, and not looking up to the rich and mighty! Yes, a church leader who craves for money will definitely be out of reach from the poor and simple; he cannot lead them, and they cannot follow him. So, let us be contented that we may remain godly and steadfast in witnessing to Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint Robert Bellarmine, Pray for us. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Friday September 17th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com