Thursday of the 5th Week of Easter: Reflection by Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

 

THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL

Image from: https://www.cfcsfl.org/finding-true-happiness-in-god/

(John 15:9-11)

This is the will of God for you: Full joy, that you may be joyful.

Jesus speaks to us today to instil His joy in us in order to complete, perfect and realize full joy in us.

He sees us wearing fake smiles. He sees us covering up a lot of things. He sees us hiding our real feelings in a world filled with sorrowful mysteries. Jesus sees the packaging and pretentious garments we put on. He knows that all is not well. He sees beyond the physical and encounters us where we most look like Him in the spiritual realm. He knows the unknown about us. He sees the unseen about us. He knows the fears we are handling within us. He knows the enemies we are battling with and yet we keep living. He sees how cold and lonely we feel just as Adam in the Eden garden. He comes to complete the incomplete in us, the imperfect in us He wishes to perfect.

Dear Child of God, a lot of things in us are not as they should be. Many things around us are not as we expect them to be. Certain things we wished are not what we have in reality. Jesus tells us how to complete what is lacking.

Remain in God's love. That's the instructions He gives. What it entails is that we should know that God loves us, no matter how the situation may be.  Yes, He is the only One that can fill the gap, the emptiness and the longing in us. Look up to God's love in the insecurity we face in our country today. Only God can give you full and lasting joy in your spouse, Him alone can give you your own life partner. God alone can give meaning to your vocation and your profession even when men have written you off. You're more than that force that wants to keep you sad, you must be glad. You're more than that person that makes you feel unloved, you're loved. You're greater than that joy killer, you've got a joy booster in the Lord.

Offer your little joy to the Lord, that it may be increased. Hand over your joyless life to God, He will give you abundant joy. May God give you the joy the world cannot give.

LET US PRAY

Oh God, we thank You for Your Holy will for us. We thank You for being our only source of joy in a world that gives us no reason to be happy. May Your joy be our strength. Bless us to remain in the remembrance that You Love us so much and grant that we may remain in that love that perfects our joy and not the worldly love that steals it. Bless us today and always through Christ our Lord. Amen

God bless your Thursday (Easter, Week 5)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

Wednesday of the 5th Week of Easter: Reflection by Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

 

YOU CAN'T DO WITHOUT GOD

Image from: .: DIBUJOS E IMAGENES CRISTIANAS (iglesiahosannarabbah.blogspot.com)

(John 15:1-8)

Our need for God cannot be overemphasized. Jesus harps on the fact that we can't be productive on our own without His assistance just as a branch can't bear fruit by itself unless it abides with the vine.

Do you know your need for God? Do you feel the desire to involve God in the matters concerning you? You can't get to your expected level if He's not there for you. You can't reach your destiny without Him. Why are you doing it all by yourself? Why are you taking instructions from forces outside of God?  Why do you allow that knife to cut you off from the Lord, the source of your life, of your inspiration, of your joy and your all?

Listen, dear child of God, if you're already bearing fruit in whatever aspect of your life, be wise. Be careful. You may be cut off with those fruits without your knowing. Yes, it happens. There are winds that want to cut you off for you to remain alone, apart from God, for you to become nothing from what the Lord has made you to be.

Have you not seen the branch of mango tree or pear tree with fruits, promising harvest blown down by the wind before? When it happens what do you notice? There on the ground, it looks as if it is alive, as if it will survive, as if it has no need of the stock. But give it some time, it withers and dies.

You will be living in falsehood if you're believing that you can live without God, that you can achieve it apart from God, that you can succeed on your own. You will not make it for a long time. So do not be deceived about what you feel when you're not working and walking with Christ. The crises will certainly strike. You need the Lord to give you life.

Let us in humility today and always confess our need for God. It is not good for you to be alone. He creates for you a way out, an avenue for happiness. Accept the divine offer of God's holy, saving and abiding presence. We need God in matters of security here in our country. The armed forces cannot save us, the talismans can't save us. Belonging to this group or that can't save us. Only God will deliver us. Only with Him shall we achieve the goal of our life spiritually, politically, economically, pastorally and otherwise.

LET US PRAY

Heavenly Father, we thank You for seeing our helplessness and reminding us to do our best and yet remain bonded with You. Help us not to be separated from You by any force whatsoever. May we succeed by your grace for we depend on You. May we be ever productive and may our society blossom in fruitfulness and abundance of peace, joy and progress through Christ our Lord. Amen.

God bless your Wednesday (Easter, Week 5)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

Feast of Saints Philip and James: Reflection by Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

'FOLLOW WHO KNOW ROAD'; CHRIST IS THE WAY

Image from: Saints Philip and James; Cardinal O’Connor remembered – Communio (stblogs.org)

(John 14:6-14)

Whom you follow matters a lot in life. Today we are celebrating two apostles of Christ: Philip and James. These are men who followed Christ. It might interest us to observe in line with the message of today that Philip as a matter of fact was the disciple of John the Baptist. Later He left John and followed Jesus. He should be a soul in search of the way, of truth and of salvation. He is celebrated together with James the cousin of Christ. James was not proud neither did He allow familiarity with Christ to make Him not to follow.

They were united by the common goal, the desire to Know the way to eternal life. They lived with Christ, walked around with Him, watched Him perform miracles, listened to His teachings and stayed with Him during His day-to-day activities. But they never knew too well whom He was and what He was capable of doing. But He continued to lead for them to follow.

They were inquisitive and never wanted to have any mix-up about the teachings of Christ. They needed to be convinced so as to be able to stand on a solid foundation while teaching. Philip did not hesitate to ask of the way in order not to be lost. He wanted to know the way to the Father and Jesus told Him that He is the way. He continued by telling him that The Father is in Him and He in the Father. That is the secret of the great achievements of Christ. To follow Christ therefore, to achieve what Christ achieved, to be successful in the search for a fulfilled life however, the follower of Christ must allow the Word to live in Him. That Word is Christ. When He lives in You, He guides you in all your paths, He inspires your decisions and leads you away from evil ways. The Word in you is God Himself speaking to you concerning what to do and what not to do, what to say and what not to say, where to go, where not to go, whom to go with and whom to avoid.

It calls for total trust and abandonment. It involves entrusting your life and everything about you in the one you're following. It may be like taking a risk. You have to believe in the one you're following. This is indeed what a follower needs to succeed. Jesus assures His followers today: "Truly truly I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do and greater works than these will he do" Little wonder they became strong apostles and founders of Churches in the name of Christ.

As we celebrate these apostles today, let us learn to follow Christ all the days of our life, to ask Him the questions bothering us on which way to follow and what to do at any point in time. Let us pray against following the wrong ways and wrong persons who only come to make us miss our target in life. Let us pray for the grace to leave the various ways leading to temporary satisfaction but won't take us to our eternal destination and fulfilment. Let us pray that we may not be deceived by those who claim to know the way but end up leading men to doom. Let us pray also for the grace not to mislead people who look up to us to show them the way. Let us be open and generous to show the way to success to people and save them from frustration, depression, diabolism, ritualism and all sorts of corrupt practices in the bid to make it in life.

LET US PRAY

Oh God we pray for the grace to keep following You the Only Sure Way to our real happiness. Bring us back from our faulty ways. Forgive us for allowing ourselves to be deceived by the various persons, powers and institutions that promised to know the road to our problems. May we remain focused along the way to heaven and live heavenly here on earth through Christ our Lord. Amen

Happy Feast Day, Saints Philip and James, Pray for us.

God bless your Monday

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

Homily of 5th Sunday of Easter Yr B: by Fr. Isaac Chima

 

Christ: best connection for bearing good fruits

image from: Wijngaard op een rotonde | REGIO8

1^st reading: Acts 9:26-31

2^nd reading 1Jn 3:18-24

Gospel: Jn 15:1-8

Dearest friends in Christ, for many Sundays, the Church has been urging every Christian to bear witness to the risen Christ in our families and in the society. In our homilies, we have been saying that the best way to bear witness to Christ is by living the life of charity, of love, peace, truth, kindness, holiness and of mercy. In actual fact, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, humility, goodness and self-control are fruits for the edification our families and our society. When we live our lives according to these fruits, our families and society will be transformed into a beautiful paradise. But then, where do these fruits come from? How can they be nurtured?

In the readings of today, the church showed us the origin of these fruits and how they can be nurtured by us. Their source is Jesus, and they can only be nurtured when we abide in him, when we live our lives in communion with Him. Could this explain why many people, families and communities enjoy peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, humility, goodness, self-control, and mercy, while some others are constantly soaked in disagreement, quarrels, hatred, wickedness, envy, greed, pretence, and anger?

In the gospel of today, Jesus was about to depart from his disciples. His presence in their midst has helped them to enjoy a life of tranquillity, peace, unity, harmony, love and other good fruits. So, as he was about to leave them, the challenge they faced was how to sustain the good lifestyle and teachings they have learnt from him. As an answer to their worries, Jesus, used the image of the vine tree to teach them how they can sustain the wonderful fruits he has planted in them, even in his physical absence. The image of the vine tree is well known to each of us. As we all know, every branch of the vine tree is connected to the stem for its life and productivity. From the stem, they connect to the roots where water and other nutrients come from. If the branch of the vine tree is cut off from the vine tree, it will lack basic nutrients and die. That means, it will stop bearing any fruit.

In this same way, Jesus is the vine tree, and we are the branches. We are connected to him for our life and productivity, and for graces and strength to produce good fruits. If we remain connected to Him, we will bear good fruits, but if we disconnect ourselves from him, our lives will start bearing bad fruits and, consequently, die.

Therefore, dear friends, only the families and communities that are connected to Jesus and his teachings can bear fruits of love, peace, and unity. It is only the life that is connected to Jesus that can reflect the fruits of love, kindness, mercy, humility, goodness and self-control. When families and communities are disconnected from Christ, people’s relationship with one another will be tainted by quarrels, hatred, wickedness, lack of trust, crisis, injustice and oppression of the poor and the weak. When individual lives are disconnected from Christ and his teachings, envy, anger, hatred, lust, arrogance, thirst for evil, pretence and frustration will set in. Many people in our world have lost this connection to Jesus, and that is why there are frustrations everywhere. Many families and communities have also lost this connection to Jesus and his teachings, that is why things are going from bad to worse everyday. Because of the loss of this connection to Jesus and his teachings, our world has gradually turned into a theatre of politics without principles, wealth without work, commerce without morality, pleasure without conscience, education without character, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.

In today’s second reading, John explains that it is only when we remain united to Christ by putting our Faith in him and drawing our spiritual strength from him, will we be able to obey God’s commandments, especially the commandment of love, loving one another as Jesus commanded us.

The first reading told us what became of the life of Saul after he connected himself to Christ. Before he met Jesus, the life of Saul was that of killing and persecuting Christians. But when he met Jesus, and became part of the branches of Jesus, his life began to bear the fruits of love and testimony for the risen Christ.

Believe me, dearest friends, it is very difficult to live a life that is full of joy, happiness, peace, love, patience, kindness, humility, goodness and self-control without the presence of Christ and/or his teachings, that is to say, without this connection to Christ. It absolutely difficult to conquer envy, anger, hatred, lust, arrogance, thirst for evil, pretence and frustration, unnecessary disagreement and quarrels without the grace of Christ and the guidance or inspiration of his teachings. It is this way because Christ is the animator of good fruits; He is the source of goodness and his teachings are wonderful guides for good living. Therefore, dear friends, run away from those friends who promise you fulness of life outside Christ and his teachings. These friends are everywhere around us, but their job is only to cut you off from the fountain of life.

How do people lose their connection to Jesus? It is through sin; when we grow used to sin, we lose connection to Christ. This connection is also lost through living a lifestyle that contradicts the truth of the gospel, through living a prayerless life and a life without the sacraments. Prayer and the sacraments connect us to Jesus.

Dear friends, we can connect ourselves back to Christ by pruning our lives of those things we do which contradict the gospel and the spirit of Christ. We need to cut off from ourselves every addiction to sin. We also need to re-link our lives to Christ through living a life of prayer, participating actively at mass and in the works of charity in our communities.

Christ says: ‘he who abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruits, for cut off from me you can do nothing.’ So, if you want your life to bear good fruits, you have to abide in Christ, and if you want to abide in Christ, you have to renounce sin, say ‘no’ to choices that contradict the Christian life, take your prayer life and your life of charity seriously and then, make the sacraments of reconciliation and communion you companion.

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima

PUSC, Roma

5th Sunday of Easter Yr B: Reflection by Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

THE SECRET OF BEARING MUCH FRUIT

Image from: Dusahel – Sapone Biologico e Crema Viso Biologica alla Bava di Lumaca – Colors and Bio (wordpress.com)

(John 15:1-8)

Jesus in the Gospel of today discloses to us our relationship with Him. He   reveals to us the bond we should have with Him. He talks of the Divine interconnectedness which should exist between Him and men. He invites us to inseparable rapport with Him. He calls us to get intertwined with Him. This Holy union is indeed not a mere act but a productive one that results to the manifestation of the will of God in us. Through it we enter into God and He in return enters into us. Let us know the will of God for us.

REMAIN WITH CHRIST THE TRUE VINE

Jesus calls Himself our true vine.  He wants to be our source of joy. He wants us to derive our life from Him. He wants us to be true branches, not weeds, not camouflage leaves. He wants us to produce what He gives us.

He insists we should remain in Him, for if not we will do nothing. We will not achieve much. Our country is unable to achieve much since independence because we have not held fast to godly principles. We have not maintained fairness, justice, truth, success by merit, encouragement of hard work etc. We say much and do less, that is why we are not producing much. We have a lot of letters of the law that are positive, but none is put into practice. Once the source of goodness is not tenaciously held unto a lot will fall apart. We find it difficult to remain. That's a big problem.

Politician do not remain with their true words that endeared them to the people. They say one thing today and do another tomorrow. They promise to serve for a tenure and stay for tenures. 

Couples do not remain in their marriage. They say 'I do' today and tomorrow they are not doing what they vowed. This affects their fruitfulness.

Students do not remain studious. They disconnect from seriousness with their studies and start pursuing ephemerals. 

Ministers at different levels abandon the True Vine and start plugging themselves here and there for power, wealth and everything that has no connection with their calling. Thus they leave the fruits they are called to bear to bear something else. For you to bear fruits, you must blend with Christ. He wants the best for you. Therefore, He decorates you.

BE DRESSED BY GOD

Jesus connects with His Father and for that He succeeded. The fruit of salvation came to us through Him because He was able to remain One with His Father even when all seemed to be dry and fruitless. To be fruitful Jesus invites us to subject ourselves to the pruning work of God. He wants us to be open to dressing. He addressed the Father as the Vinedresser. 

The vinedresser does two jobs. He eliminates the branches that have refused to produce. He equally helps those making effort to do better.  In your little effort to bear fruit accept the grace of God together with discipline He gives you. Welcome the chiselling, the beating into shape, the corrections and the directions.

IT SHALL BE WELL WITH YOU

You will never remain the same after abiding in Christ and Christ abides in you. You will certainly bear good fruits. The Lord says that whatever you ask shall be granted. What are the withered or withering areas of your life? Why are they withering? You may have disconnected from the Divine, the true vine.  Connect back in prayers, in good works, in fidelity, in holiness and in sincerity. Do all in the name of Christ. Remain with God in your thoughts, words and deeds. Seek the will of God and the face of God in all your endeavours and you will certainly see a difference in your life.

PRAYERS AND BLESSINGS FOR ABUNDANT FRUITS

May you be fruitful in your spiritual life.

May you be fruitful in your marital life. May you be fruitful in your business. May you be fruitful in your academics. May you be fruitful in Governance. May you be fruitful in administration. May you be fruitful in your pastoral life. May you bear abundant fruit in your vocation. May you bear sweet fruits to people around you. May you taste sweet to God and to men. May nothing separate you from the love of God. May you not be barren. May you be a fertile vine with pleasant aroma and be beautiful to behold. May the plans of the evil ones to disconnect you from the Divine never see the light of the day through Christ our Lord. Amen

Happy Sunday (Easter, Week 5)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh