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Reflection/Homily: Fifteenth (15th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C (July 14 2013)

July 13, 2013, 1:54 pm
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Reflection/Homily: Fifteenth (15th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C (July 14 2013)
Theme: The Exemplary Lawmaker

One of the things necessary for the progress of any given society or community of persons is the existence of law. Law is believed to be a system of rules and regulations guiding a society or a group of people. For proper application of the law, a proper interpretation of the law by experts and proper understanding of the law by the subjects of the law are required. That is why in a democratic society, there are those who make the law (Legislature), those who interpret the law (Judiciary) and those who execute the law (executive). Since every society is a community of persons affiliated to a divine authority who is also a lawmaker, Christians believe that God is the maker of divine laws. These divine laws are believed to be commandments given by God for the regulation of all men and they transcend the limitations of geography or religion. 

In the first reading (Deut. 30:10-14) Moses addresses the issue of interpreting these divine laws for proper understanding and application. He makes the Israelites understand that in divine laws, God gives, interprets and executes the law. He urges them to obey the laws he has communicated to them. The function of human agents is to communicate and disseminate the message of the law. The language of divine laws is one anybody can understand such that one does not need an interpreter. They are clear and simple. The interpretations are found in the dictates of our consciences since it is generally believed that the conscience is the voice of God in us. 

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Reflection/Homily: Sixteenth (16th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C (July 21 2013)

July 27, 2013, 6:58 am
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Reflection/Homily: Sixteenth (16th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C (July 21 2013)
Theme: Welcoming Strangers

***I apologize for my inability to come up with this reflection last week due to unforeseen circumstances***

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Reflection/Homily: Seventeenth (17th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C (July 27 2013)

July 27, 2013, 7:02 am
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Reflection/Homily: Seventeenth (17th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C (July 27 2013)
Theme: Praying with the Holy Spirit

In the first Reading of Last Sunday we saw how Abraham welcomed some strangers who happened to be angelic beings and how they blessed Abraham with the promise of a Son. In today’s first reading (Genesis 18:20-32), we continue from where we stopped last Sunday. Abraham was already immersed in an atmosphere of prayer because he was already communicating with God. In verse 17 of Chapter 18, God said to Himself “I will not hide from Abraham what I am going to do”. God quickly communicated his plan of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah to Abraham. Immediately, Abraham intervened by interceding on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were so engrossed in immorality. Abraham’s intention was to change the mind of God if a certain number of righteous men were found in these cities even though not even ten were found.

Abraham’s encounter with God has a number of lessons to teach us. We have to learn that prayer exposes us to Divine secrets. Each time we come to God in prayer, we learn from the wisdom of God and discover new secrets. Prayer is like a school where we learn the will of God. In this school, God avails us the opportunity to make our own input to the body of divine knowledge. That is why He gave Abraham the opportunity to keep interceding for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah until he was exhausted. Even today, in our encounter with God, God still allows us to learn more from Him. That is why each time we encounter God in prayer, we learn something new about God, about ourselves or even about our problems. For this reason, when we pray, we have to listen to God first so that we know how to make our requests and adjust them when need be.

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Mbaise Clergy Appointed For Ahiara Diocese as New Vicar

July 30, 2013, 5:25 am
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Mbaise Clergy Appointed for Ahiara Diocese as New Vicar

Rev. Fr. Louis Asiegbu, a priest of Ahiara Diocese and a Professor at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) has been appointed as the New Vicar-General for the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara, Mbaise, Nigeria.

The appointment was made public by the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese His Eminence Cardinal John Onaiyekan on Saturday July 20 2013 during a Eucharistic celebration with the diocesan clergy.

In the words of the Cardinal Apostolic Administrator, he observed that “Since I am still busy with my primary assignment as Archbishop of Abuja and with many other engagements, I will not be able to spend much time in Ahiara. I need someone who can be for me and for you a point of reference. As Vicar-General, he will stand in for me in my absence from the diocese”.

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Reflection/Homily: Eighteenth (18th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C. 3rd August 2013

August 3, 2013, 11:18 am
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Reflection/Homily: Eighteenth (18th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C. - 3rd August  2013
Theme: The Danger of Consumerism

 Consumerism is an ideology that supports individuals to keep accumulating wealth for themselves. In other words, it is the attitude of avarice and it has eaten deep into the fabrics of our society. People are no longer satisfied with the basic necessities of life. Instead, they develop an ever-increasing and insatiable quest for wealth. To worsen the matter, most often these people indulge in deplorable activities just for the sake of gaining material wealth. 

In the wake of the 21st century, now that consumerism has become the order of the day, the first reading (Eccl. 1:2,2:21-23) reminds us that all is vanity. This is a call to remind Christians that all we struggle to achieve and possess in this world would one day cease to be ours and become the property of those who do not know how much we suffered to acquire them. Sometimes, there is even a tendency for them to squander them like the prodigal son. The reading is not an invitation to abandon the pursuit of earthly goods but a reminder not to consider them as the end of life. 

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Reflection/Homily: Twentieth (20th) Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C (August 18 2013)

August 17, 2013, 1:32 pm
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Reflection/Homily: Twentieth (20th) Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C (August 18 2013)
Theme: Courage to Swim Against the Tide

We live in a world where there is a constant clash of opposites. There is always a battle between good and evil forces. In our lives, the battle is between the desire to do good and the desire to go evil. Every attempt we make today is geared towards making a choice as to which force we will incline to or which desire we will satisfy. Often, we discover that these evil forces and desires seem to be stronger and appear more attractive. It apparently seems better to defraud an unsuspecting rich man to become rich quicker than to keep struggling for genuine wealth.

Today, our world has been ravaged by relativism. Everybody does what one considers best for oneself irrespective of its moral objectivity. There is almost nothing objectively morally good or bad. In a world where situationism (a case where the situation of things determines the morality of an action) have taken the day, the Word of God in the first reading (Jer. 30:4-6, 8-10) invites us to be courageous in doing what ought to be done. It presents us with the example of Jeremiah who despite the terrifying situation of things remained courageous to proclaim the Word of God. Jeremiah preached what was completely against the popular needs of his time. He prophesied doom to the unrepentant city of Judah.

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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-first (21st) Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C (August 25 2013)

September 7, 2013, 11:24 am
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Second (22nd) Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C (September 1 2013)

September 7, 2013, 11:26 am
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Third (23rd) Sunday of the Year C (September 8 2013)

September 7, 2013, 1:19 pm
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Third (23rd) Sunday of the Year C (September 8 2013)
Theme: Requirements for Discipleship 

In today’s gospel reading (Luke 14:25-33), Jesus quickly made known to the large crowd walking along with him the requirements for following him. This indicated that it was not enough to walk along with Jesus, but we should make effort to follow him. In walking along with Jesus, we could find ourselves at a destination other than that of Jesus but following Jesus makes us true disciples who are ready to learn from him and be with him. Reflecting over the gospel, I was able to identify four requirements Jesus sets out for his would-be disciples.

The first requirement is the readiness to sacrifice our love for our family members and loved ones. When Jesus speaks of hating our father, mother, etc, he wasn’t advocating a feeling of enmity between a would-be disciple and his family. Instead, Jesus was advocating for a sense of priority in the love we have for him to the extent that no love for any other person, place or thing could be compared with it. At the moment, there could be relationships you value so much. This is the time to review such relationships in other to find out if any conflicts with our love for God. There could be people we love so much (family members, friends, colleagues, etc), places we enjoy going (bars, cinema, clubs, etc) or things we love doing (drinking, sports, etc), do they increase our love for God or prevent us from being true disciples?
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"Vatican May Discuss Marriage for Catholic Priests": Matters Arising. By Uwakwe Chibuike

September 13, 2013, 12:34 pm
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"Vatican may Discuss Marriage for Catholic Priests": Matters Arising by Uwakwe Chibuike 
 
Amidst other online and offline reports, the Nigerian Punch Newspaper (online), Friday 13thSeptember 2013 published an article titled “Vatican May Discuss Marriage For Catholic Priests”. This report was informed by the views of some disgruntled iconoclastic media elements who chose to fed the public with half-baked beans and insinuate tension among Catholics. 

Recently, Pope Francis appointed Italian Archbishop Pietro Parolin, as the new Vatican Secretary of State, the Number 2 position in the Vatican. Discussing how the Church understands Priestly celibacy in an interview with the Venezuelan Newspaper El Universal early this week , the New Secretary of State said: “Celibacy is not a Church dogma and it can be discussed because it is a church tradition”. Ever since then bearing in mind the reformist-minded Pontiff who has invited Archbishop Pietro into his government, the media has been stormed with headlines like “CATHOLIC PRIESTS MAY SOON BE PERMITTED TO MARRY”, “PRIESTLY CELIBACY IS OPEN FOR DISCUSSION, SAYS VATICAN OFFICIAL, etc. 

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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Fourth (24th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (September 15 2013)

September 14, 2013, 5:08 am
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Fourth (24th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (September 15 2013)
Theme: Mending a Broken Relationship 

In the first reading (Ex. 32:7-11, 13-14) the Israelites broke their relationship with God by making for themselves a molten calf which they worshiped instead of God. God was annoyed with them and wanted to destroy them. He communicated His will to Moses who mended this broken relationship by interceding on their behalf and God spared them. Like Moses we are invited today to work towards mending our broken relationship with God. As a community of sinful believers, we often break our relationship with God and only an attitude of repentance could restore this broken relationship. 

As children of God, we are also invited to word towards the salvation of sinners. We don’t have to hope for or glory in the destruction of sinners for Christ came to save all sinners. Instead, we have to constantly pray for them and assist them to repent. Because God’s kingdom is enough to accommodate all creatures, we should not see to be extolled for righteousness and have sinners perish.

In the second reading (1 Timothy 1:12-17), St. Paul speaks of the unique role the grace of God played in mending his broken relationship with God. Out of ignorance, he persecuted believers and through grace,, God restored him to the faith and love of Jesus. So like St. Paul, we are also invited to be conscious of the influence of God’s grace in our spiritual lives and to cooperate with it. Each time we are on the wrong track, God makes available superfluous grace to enable us mend our broken relationship with Him. This grace begins by making us aware of what we are and who we are supposed to be. 

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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Seventh (27th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (October 6 2013)

October 5, 2013, 8:03 am
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Seventh (27th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (October 6 2013)
Theme: Having an Increased Faith in God

At a time in the history of the Israelites, there were so much tyranny, oppression and violence against the innocent. Before this time, various prophets have encouraged the people of Israel to remain steadfast in faith hoping that God would give them victory at the end. However, during the time of the prophet Habakkuk as we saw in the first reading (Hab. 1:2-3, 2:2-4), he was moved to ask God why He allowed injustice to triumph over the oppressed. From the response he got which we saw in the later part of the reading, it became clear that the Lord keeps secret how He rules the world and all He asks is that we remain faithful to Him since the upright will live by his faithfulness.

This reading brings to mind the problem of evil which several scholars have tried to examine. We wonder why there seems to be evil in a world created by a good God and why this evil also befalls good people. Like Habakkuk, we are tempted to ask God why He allows various forms of evil to befall the righteous while the wicked seem to flourish in all they do. Like the prophet and the people of Israel, we are also asked to remain faithful to God for the upright will live by his faithfulness. That God permits evil does not mean that He is not capable of eliminating evil (omnipotent) or that He is not good (benevolent). 

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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Eight (28th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (13th Oct. 2013)

October 12, 2013, 8:35 am
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Eight (28th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (13th Oct. 2013)
Theme: The Church, the Sacraments of Healing and the Power of Gratitude

Every act of healing is an opportunity God uses to reveal Himself to humanity. In most cases, He intervenes with ordinary words and actions which produce extraordinary effects. The story of Naaman’s healing through the Prophet Elisha in the first reading (2 Kings 5:14-17) explains this better. Naaman, a foreigner was made to believe in the God of Israel not through a rational knowledge of God (theology) which he was taught but through an experiential knowledge of the healing power of God. The story of Naaman represents the various stories of our encounter with God in our quest for healing, whether spiritual or physical. We often run helter-skelter, ready to explore all available options in desperate need of one favour or the other. But most often, we do not return like Naaman to give thanks to God.

In the Gospel reading (Luke 17:11-19), Jesus asks “were not all ten healed? Where are the other nine?” Through this, he expresses the fact that God actually looks forward to receiving our gratitude for favours received. Like Naaman, the leper mentioned in the gospel reading did not only express his gratitude with words, he went further to express a deeper level of conviction in Jesus. Trying to find ourselves represented in the characters presented to us, where do we fall? Are we represented in Naaman and the Samaritan leper who returned to give thanks or are we represented in the “other nine” who perhaps thought Jesus was simply doing what he is known for?

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MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS FOR WORLD MISSION DAY 2013

October 18, 2013, 5:07 am
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MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS FOR WORLD MISSION DAY 2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters, 
 This year, as we celebrate World Mission Day, theYear of Faith, which is an important opportunity to strengthen our friendship with the Lord and our journey as a Church that preaches the Gospel with courage, comes to an end. From this perspective, I would like to propose some reflections. 
 1. Faith is God’s precious gift, which opens our mind to know and love him. He wants to enter into relationship with us and allow us to participate in his own life in order to make our life more meaningful, better and more beautiful. God loves us! Faith, however, needs to be accepted, it needs our personal response, the courage to entrust ourselves to God, to live his love and be grateful for his infinite mercy. It is a gift, not reserved for a few but offered with generosity. Everyone should be able to experience the joy of being loved by God, the joy of salvation! It is a gift that one cannot keep to oneself, but it is to be shared. If we want to keep it only to ourselves, we will become isolated, sterile and sick Christians. The proclamation of the Gospel is part of being disciples of Christ and it is a constant commitment that animates the whole life of the Church. Missionary outreach is a clear sign of the maturity of an ecclesial community" (BENEDICT XVI, Verbum Domini, 95). Each community is "mature" when it professes faith, celebrates it with joy during the liturgy, lives charity, proclaims the Word of God endlessly, leaves one’s own to take it to the “peripheries”, especially to those who have not yet had the opportunity to know Christ. The strength of our faith, at a personal and community level, can be measured by the ability to communicate it to others, to spread and live it in charity, to witness to it before those we meet and those who share the path of life with us. 

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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Ninth (29th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C (Mission Sunday, October 20 2013)

October 19, 2013, 4:55 am
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Ninth (29th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C (Mission Sunday, October 20 2013)
Theme: Prayer and Authentic Missionary Activity

On this 29thSunday in the Ordinary Time of the Year C which is also the World Mission Sunday, we are reminded of our missionary roles in the world. A missionary is one chosen and sent by God to a people and a land to do His will. As Christians we are all missionaries of God in the world trying to do the will of God. In the first reading (Exodus 17:8-13), we encounter Moses as a missionary leading the people of Israel to the Promised Land. When they were attacked by the Amalekites at Rephidim, Moses instructed Joshua on what to do while he went up to pray. He augmented the physical efforts of the Israelites with the power of prayer. As long as his hands remained lifted up, the Israelites took advantage over their opponents until they defeated them.

It is not uncommon as missionaries in our own way that we live in an environment where several challenges confront us in the course of doing the will of God. The action of Moses is for us an example to follow. When we encounter difficulties in our missionary activities, whether religious or secular, we have to resort to prayer despite the human strategies we might put in place. Only God can guarantee us victory though sometimes, through the strategies we put in place. Prayer augments our human efforts in the quest for victory. It is not a mere communication with God, it is a relationship with God. Though God is not bound to obey our voices in prayer, He has bound Himself to listen to our voices in prayer by commanding that we pray in and out of season.

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Reflection/Homily: Thirtieth (30th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (October 27 2013)

October 26, 2013, 4:27 am
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Reflection/Homily: Thirtieth (30th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (October 27 2013)
Theme: Humility: The Path to Righteousness

Today’s gospel reading (Luke 18:9-14) presents us with the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican who went to the Temple to pray. According to this parable, the Pharisee thanked God for his righteousness while the tax collector being mindful of his sins asked God for pardon. Surprisingly, Jesus approved only the prayer of the Publican and was dissatisfied with the prayer of the Pharisee. Ordinarily speaking, there is nothing wrong in thanking God for living a righteous life. This Pharisee is supposedly a devout Jew who lived even more than he was expected. He recognized the need for thanksgiving and went ahead to thank God. As the object of his thanksgiving, he presented his religious credentials.

However, there are a number of issues associated with his prayer. He was not wrong in his methodology but in his disposition. In his prayer, we see a feeling of superiority over others especially sinners. When we flaunt our religious credentials, we are no better than this Pharisee. Most often, we boast of how piously we have lived our lives. A catholic in the shoes of this Pharisee is likely to thank God for being a good catholic and not a protestant or non-Christian. He would boast of receiving communion, going for confession and fulfilling his financial obligations.

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Reflection/Homily: Thirty-First (31st) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (November 3 2013).

November 2, 2013, 3:08 am
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Reflection/Homily: Thirty-First (31st) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (November 3 2013).
Theme: Radical Conversion and Transformation on Encountering Christ

Today’s gospel reading (Luke 19:1-10) presents us with the encounter Zacchaeus had with Jesus which led Zacchaeus to a radical conversion and transformation. Jesus was passing through Jericho when Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree just to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Similarly, Jesus constantly passes through our lives in the experiences we have, places we visit and persons we meet. Like Zacchaeus do we make any effort to encounter him even in the least possible way? 

Encountering Jesus simply means giving him the attention he needs in other for us to be converted to him and be transformed. In our encounter with Jesus, we are only but recipients of divine favour. It is Jesus who truly works for us to encounter him. Like the parables of the lost sheep and coin, he is the owner looking for his own. But there could be a number of things that could prevent us from encountering Jesus.

Ordinarily speaking, Zacchaeus though short would have seen Jesus if there were no crowd surrounding him. His inability to see Jesus was not so much dependent on his size because it was no fault of his. Instead, it depended more on the surmountable obstacle the crowd imposed on him. Therefore, he needed to go away from the crowd in other to see and encounter Jesus.

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Reflection/Homily: Thirty-Second (32nd) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (November 10 2013)

November 9, 2013, 7:43 am
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Reflection/Homily: Thirty-Second (32nd) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C (November 10 2013)
Theme: Becoming Children of the Resurrection

Luke, the author of today’s gospel reading addressed his gospel to the gentile converts who had a similar Greek cultural background with him. The belief in the immortality of the soul was not foreign to the Greeks because several Greek scholars like Pythagoras and Plato held such beliefs in their philosophical doctrines. For Pythagoras, the soul is immortal and returns to life through a process of transmigration which could include returning to life through an animal. For Plato, the soul is also immortal and returns to life through the process of reincarnation. In relating the encounter Jesus had with the Sadducees, Luke uses a familiar Greek belief to divert the attention of the early converts from a mere belief in the immortality of the soul to a superior belief in the resurrection of the dead. 

Today, in our own cultural background, Luke’s message is not irrelevant for us. We have so many doctrines emphasizing the immortality of the soul in different ways. For example, some Igbos of Nigeria still hold the belief in reincarnation as a proof of the immortality of the soul. Luke’s message is therefore, to focus our minds on a greater goal by motivating us not just to aspire to be immortal in the land of oblivion but to aspire to be sons and daughters of God at the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees we encountered in the gospel reading (Luke 20:27-38) are a Jewish sect who recognized only the first five books of the Bible attributed to Moses (Pentateuch) as the Word of God. As a result, they did not accept beliefs not emphasized in the Pentateuch such as the existence of spirits, angels and the resurrection of the dead.

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Promo: Win a Free Website for Yourself

November 9, 2013, 8:03 am
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Win a Free Website for Yourself
 As Uwakwe Reflections clocks 2
As part of the activities marking the two years anniversary of the foundation of Uwakwe Reflections, an online resource for Catholic homilies, reflections and news, the publisher invites interested writers to contest for a free customized website.

The e-contest will be based on a short article to be written on the topic: 

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What Scott Hahn has to say about this Sunday's Readings

November 9, 2013, 8:36 am
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 Find the readings for the 32nd Sunday of the Year C with these links:


2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
Psalm 17:1,5-6,8,15
2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
Luke 20:27-38

Reflect with Scott Hahn:

With their riddle about seven brothers and a childless widow, the Sadducees in today’s Gospel mock the faith for which seven brothers and their mother die in the First Reading.

The Maccabean martyrs chose death - tortured limb by limb, burned alive - rather than betray God’s Law. Their story is given to us in these last weeks of the Church year to strengthen us for endurance - that our feet not falter but remain steadfast on His paths. The Maccabeans died hoping that the “King of the World” would raise them to live again forever (see 2 Maccabees 14:46).

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