VIA CRUCIS 5 & 6 ....SIMON& VERONICA

Meditation: 5 I could now see almost complete helplessness on the face of my son as he tried to carry his heavy load. Each step looked as if it would be his last. I felt his every pain in my heart and I wanted the whole thing to end. Then I noticed some commotion near Jesus. The guards had pulled a protesting man from the crowd. They forced him to pick up the back of the cross to help lighten my son's load. He asked the guards why this had to be. I knew, and so followed silently. Prayer: Lord Jesus, I have many times refused to help you. I have been a selfish person who has often questioned your word. Don't let me remain like Simon, but help me to be like your mother, Mary, who always silently followed and obeyed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. Meditation: As I continued close by Jesus, a woman pushed past the guards, took off her veil and began to wipe my son's sweating, bloody face. The guards immediately pulled her back. Her face seemed to say, "Why are you doing this to him?" I knew, so I walked on in faith, silently. Prayer: Lord, this woman gave you the best she could. On the other hand, I have wanted to take more than I give. So many opportunities arise every day for me to give to you by giving to others ----- but I pass them by. My savior, never let me ask why again, but help me to give all I have to you.

VIA CRUCIS 3 & 4

Meditation: 3
I followed close behind my son as he stumbled toward Calvary. Nothing had ever hurt me more than to see him in such pain. I saw the cross digging into his shoulders. My heart dropped when I saw him fall face to the ground, the heavy cross landing squarely on his back. For a moment I thought my beloved son was dead. Now my whole body began to tremble. Then the guards kicked him. He rose slowly and began to walk again, yet they still whipped him. I wanted to protect him with my own body. But, I knew this had to be, so I walked on and wept  silently.

 
Prayer:
Lord, how often have I seen you fall, and , unlike Mary, have left you there without concern? How often have I seen people make mistakes and laughed at them? How often do I find myself getting angry when someone does things differently than I? Mary offered you her support through your entire passion. Help me to do the same for you by the support I give to others. Lord, have mercy on me
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4

Meditation:
I had managed to break through the crowd and was walking side by side with my son. I called to him through the shouting voices. He stopped. Our eyes met, mine full of tears of anguish, his full of pain and confusion. I felt helpless; then his eyes said to me, "Courage! There is a purpose for this." As he stumbled on, I knew he was right. So I followed and prayed silently.

 

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, forgive me the many times our eyes met and I turned mine away. Forgive me the times things did not go my way and I let everyone know about it. Forgive me the times I brooded over little inconveniences or became discouraged and did not heed your call to courage! Yes, Lord, our eyes have met many times, but fruitlessly.

1 Sunday of Lent; Year B... DOCTRINE AND FAITH

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Genesis 9, 8-15; 1 Peter 3, 18-22; Mark 1,15-15:  1 Sunday of Lent;  Year B)

        

    Today is the first Sunday of Lent, a very important period of the liturgical year, which began last Wednesday and will end on Holy Thursday. It spans a period of 40 days. The Church dedicates this period for the preparation for Easter, the principal event of our salvation. This intense period of preparation for Easter was already in vogue in the 4th Century and was established for two purposes. The first was to prepare catechumens (aspirant Christians) for the reception of the sacrament of Baptism, which was solemnly administered during Easter Vigil, that is night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. The second reason was to dispose the souls of all the faithful (already baptized Christians) to celebrate in a dignified way, the paschal mysteries, by recalling their own baptism. During the Easter Vigil, we are actually called to renew our baptismal promises, our adhesion and fidelity to Christ; because through our Baptism we are inserted into him and we are made to participate in his mystery of death and resurrection. 

            There is, by and large, an allusion to baptism in the first and second readings of today. The first reading narrates the establishment of the covenant between God and Noah. This covenant comes after the deluge. The deluge is sometimes regarded as the Old Testament prefiguration of the purifying waters of Baptism. Taking the incident of deluge up St. Peter in his 2nd Letter, sees the waters of deluge as a symbol and figure of baptism. Just as the deluge brought about the  purification of the entire sinful humanity and the beginning of a new covenant between God and his people, baptism also brings about a new humanity redeemed by Christ, who died once and forever for our sins and who rose from the dead. With this new humanity, purified in his blood, he ratified a covenant between God and people, a covenant that is both new, definitive and forever. Our meditation on the import once of baptism on this first Sunday of Lent should serve to put us in the true spirit of Lent. This will enable us appreciate and live out the baptismal dimension of the season of Lent. 

            All the sacraments have the efficacy of sanctifying the soul, each in its own proper way. Each of them does so through the merits of the life, ministry and especially the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism has the capacity of communicating sanctifying grace to the soul, the greatest and most sublime gift that God can bestow on his creature. Sanctifying grace is the divine life, which the soul participates in; it is the divine engrafting into the depth of the soul, which elevates it to the supernatural level; a regeneration, new rebirth, a rebirth and into the supernatural life. Baptism elevating us to the divine, supernatural level, truly makes of us children of God (1 John 3,2); we are children of God by adoption, through participating in his divine life. In baptism, we are immersed in the paschal mystery of Christ who died and rose from death. This immersion should eradicate sin and roots of sin in our lives so that we can rise and live a new of life (Rom 6,4-11). Through baptism, we become united with Christ, engrafted in Him, just as branches of a mango tree are united to the trunk of the tree; it is from Christ that we receive new divine impulse. Uniting all of us to Christ, Baptism makes all of us members of his Mystical Body: He is the head and we are the members; he constitutes us as a Church, the People of God or the Family of God, a community of brothers and sisters that share the same life of grace, the same mission in the world and the final destiny of eternal life in the world to come.

            We need to note some practical implication from the reality of the Sacrament of Baptism: (i). If baptism communicates to us the divine grace and life, we should make every possible effort not to lose it through mortal sin. If we find ourselves in the unfortunate situation of losing it, we should, as soon as possible, regain it through the reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Sacramental Confession). (ii) If baptism really makes us children of God, the practical implication should be clearly reflected in our lives. This can be done by having a good filial love and a good Father-Son/Daughter relationship with God. This filial relationship will easily and naturally lead to the keeping of God’s commandments and showing universal love to all, especially to those who are in any form of physical, moral and spiritual needs. (iii) If Baptism engrafts us to Christ and makes us members of his Mystical Body, the Church, the People of God or the Family of God, we must then follow him faithfully, for he is the perfect image of God the Father, and our way to the Father. It is also from him that we can always source divine life, especially from his words in the Scriptures and his Sacraments, the vital lymph of grace. A further implication of this doctrine of baptism of making us one with Christ and eventually constituting all of us one Family of God was expatiated by Paul in his letter to the Galatians: ...for all or you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal 3,27-28). This Paul’s teaching on baptism makes of the existing walls of division separating people along cultural, class, social, economic, political and religious lines senseless. Unfortunately, all of these are existing among us. What is more, some of us, the so called avowed Christians, even in this modern period hold, maintain, and make certain cultural practices and customs like the Osu Caste system, sectional mentality, diala and ohu institutions to flourish. Despite having been washed in the waters of baptism, Christians continue to define, treat and discriminate against some fellow Christians along these socio-cultural divides. Parents refuse to give consent to marriages between their children and people whom they designate as osu or ohu. Women are still regarded as second class human beings who have little or no rights and must be subservient to their male counterparts. Let us reflect seriously on how to eradicate these anomalies first from our minds and then from our society (iv) As we are engrafted into Christ, we share the threefold mission of Christ: his mission as a priest, prophet and king. To exercise his prophetic mission, the baptized is to be God’s spokesman and has the onus to speak against various forms of injustices in the home, parish community and in the society at large. He should be the voice of the voiceless and the strength of the weak. There is ample opportunity for all Christians to also exercise the kingship mission which we acquired at our baptism. We can do this by getting involved honestly in politics, to be voted in or to vote in honest persons. It is both our duty and privilege. We need not shy away from this our baptismal duty. This is because your vote can make a big difference in the right direction. You have, as we are preparing to elect our leaders, ample opportunity of acquiring the permanent voters card that will enable you discharge your kingship-mission you acquired at baptism. 

            The exhortation to conversion which the Church in the name of  Jesus makes during this Lenten period, means that we should be coherent with the implications of our baptism, becoming more and more perfect, what we are in reality by virtue of our baptism and developing those potentials of graces that we were gifted with at our baptism. Our period of Lent should be a sort of forty days spiritual exercise, a period of training of the soul and mind, through intense prayer, assiduous listening of the word of God, practice of mortification and self discipline, as well as charitable work. We undertake all these in order to celebrate the feast of Easter in a renewed and new Spirit, and that our whole lives may become an ongoing conversion to God. May God so help us to realize our intentions (and resolutions) this Lent. I wish you all God’s choicest blessing during this Lent! HappySunday! 
 +John Okoye.

Mary's Way of the Cross 1 & 2

Mary's Way of the Cross

"Mary's Way of the Cross" follows the mother of Jesus as she walks the road to Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, emphasizing her sense of surrender: "I knew it had to be, so I walked on silently." Enter an intimate journey of faith through a deep reflection that will unite one's pain and suffering with Jesus on the cross through the sorrowful heart of His Mother.

 

Opening Prayer: We adore you, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world.

Meditation:
It was early Friday morning when I saw my son. That was the first glimpse I had of him since they took him away. His bruised and bleeding skin sent a sword of pain deep into my heart and tears down my cheeks. Then Pilate, from his chair of judgment, asked the crowd why they wanted my son executed. All around me they shouted, "Crucify him!" I wanted to plead with them to stop, but I knew this had to be. So I stood by and cried silently.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, it is hard for me to imagine the anguish your mother felt at your condemnation. But what about today, when I hold a grudge ...? "Crucify him!" When I judge others...? "Crucify him!" Doesn't this bring tears of anguish to both you and your mother? Forgive me, Jesus

Our Father...Hail Mary...Glory Be...

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2

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world. Meditation: Regaining a little strength, I walked with the crowds to the entrance of the square. A door flew open and my son stumbled out, the guards laughing behind him. Two men dragged over a heavy wooden cross and dropped it on his shoulders. Then they shoved him down the road. My pain for him was unbearable. I wanted to take the cross from him and carry it myself. But I knew this had to be, so I walked on silently. Prayer: Lord Jesus, I beg you to forgive me for the many times I have added more weight to your cross by closing my eyes to the pain and loneliness of my neighbor. Forgive me for gossiping about others and for always trying to find excuses to avoid certain people who wish to talk with me. Help me to be like Mary, always seeking to lighten the crosses of others. Forgive me, Jesus.  Our Father...Hail Mary...Glory Be...

6th Sun of Year B....(Leviticus 13,1-2,45-46; 1Cor 10, 31-11,1; Mark 1,40-45: )

                                DOCTRINE AND FAITH

                      (Leviticus 13,1-2,45-46; 1Cor 10, 31-11,1; Mark 1,40-45: 6th Sun of Year B)

          

  When we read the first reading and today’s gospel reading together we will easily appreciate how innovative Jesus’ encounter and consequent healing of the leper was. A leper, as can be seen from the first reading, was marginalized and segregated from the religious and civil societies. The people of Israel followed the other nations around them in imposing complete isolation on lepers, constraining them to live far away from the village and town settlements, among themselves. In addition to the inhuman social segregation, the people of Israel added yet another burden on the shoulders of the lepers: religious segregation. Leprosy was thus, interpreted as a sign of divine disapproval and curse. A leper was regarded impure, unclean, a sick person before God, and one who was struck by divine retribution on account of his sins. He was a sick-sinner; sick because he sinned. This was why the leper was under the authority of the priest and in the case of any sign of healing had to present himself to the priest for verification and authentication. This was the situation before the coming of Jesus Christ.
            Jesus allowed the leper to come near him as we read in today’s gospel. Moved by pity, Jesus touched him. Through this, Jesus clearly showed that the law of segregation in the code of Moses’ law was thus abolished. For it was not true that leprosy was a punishment from God, just as it was not true that physical sickness was a sure sign of spiritual impurity and sin, or the idea that whoever was suffering was paying for his sins. This false impression is very much diffused among us Christians of today as we hear people sometimes exclaim: What evil have I done to be so punished by God? This is false notion, that Jesus openly repudiates. Even when one comes in contact with people whose sins are publicly known, those so called public sinners should not be avoided or segregated against. Our attitude and action should follow Jesus example of who was found in sinners company; publicans and prostitutes. In God’s eyes, there are no marginalized, segregated, rejected persons; all are God’s creatures, made in his image and likeness and loved and redeemed by the blood of Christ.
            Even though there are thousands of years between the people of Israel of Old Testament and us in the contemporary times, lepers are still in one way or the other marginalized. They are no more considered as sinners, but they are somehow forgotten and abandoned, neglected and condemned in isolation for years or throughout their lifetime. We are horrified by the stipulations of the law of Moses about lepers, but we should be even be more ashamed and horrified by insensitivity and disinterest of most of us in coming to the aid of those who are still pining under the stigma of leprosy diseases. The society and especially, the government have the onus to provide succor to our brothers and sisters that are in this condition. We should not shy away from our duties. Our consideration for help for the needy should not be limited to the lepers. There are many of our other brothers and sisters who suffer other types of ailments, for which we stigmatize them: people living with HIV/ AIDS; the poor, sick beggars that roam our streets, young people with problem of drugs, homeless people, abandoned aged and sick people, prisoners and ex-prisoners. We have responsibilities towards these people. It looks very easy and convenient to argue away our responsibilities for them, washing our hands clean by implying that they could be responsible for their situations, through careless immoral living or through laziness. Every Christian, especially the ones who have public responsibilities, should, like Jesus, literally touch with his/her hands the situations of our brothers and sisters in order to alleviate their suffering through one way or the other. Often times, a good gesture of compassion, like Jesus showed to the leper can do wonders. Also contemplate also that, were it not for the grace of God, we could be in the circumstances of these our indigent brothers and sisters, situations in which every drop of ONE NAIRA into our begging plate would have sent thrills of joy in our body and heart and hope of surviving hunger for day!

            We appreciate the ardent faith and confidence of the leper in Jesus in today’s gospel reading. He showed it by the gesture, begging on his knees and by his simple and spontaneous prayer, If you want, you can heal me. By this expression, he shows that he has no doubt of Jesus’ power to heal, he believes Jesus could heal him. But still, he left it at Jesus’ discretion: if you want to! Jesus rewarded his faith by his words, I want to, be healed! Immediately, the leprosy vanished. When we really desire to be freed from our physical, moral and spiritual ailments, we should have the type of faith the leper exhibited in saying some prayers like this:  Jesus, I believe that you can cure me, because nothing is impossible to you, it is enough that you want it. I would want it so much, however, do what you consider most useful to me. Such courageous request together with confidence in God’s benevolence is the best way to demonstrate the authenticity and depth of our faith. It is the best disposition of the soul to obtain what it desires. When it does not obtain it, we should consider the situation best for us and regard it as the will of God for us. Let us in this Eucharistic celebration pray that God may remove from us the most deadly forms of leprosy which are sins and the loss of the sense or smell of sin, and may we also have the graces to come to the succor of our needy neighbours in all their disadvantageous positions.  

+John I. Okoye.