Highlights for Second Week of Advent 1. Renounce False Security: Identify areas of false security in your life and consciously choose to place your trust in God. Recognize that worldly possessions and power are fleeting, but God's love and grace endure. False security could be an attachment to money, pleasure, position, and friends. Do these replace God in your life? 2. Fill in the Valleys: Confront your fears, doubts, and discouragements with faith, courage, and hope. Trust that God can lift you from these low points in your life. 3. Practice Compassion and Mercy: Cultivate compassion, humility, and mercy in your interactions with others. Show love and kindness to those you encounter, even in challenging situations. 4. Repent and Trust: Embrace repentance as an ongoing process of turning away from sin and toward God. Trust that God will provide you with the strength and wisdom to lead a life aligned with His purpose. Preparing Our Hearts for the Lord's Coming: D...
The Crucifixion Week 5, Day 1: The Ultimate Sacrifice of Love As we enter the fifth week of our Lenten journey, our focus shifts to the Crucifixion, the sorrowful mystery that encapsulates the ultimate sacrifice of love. This profound event marks the culmination of Jesus' earthly ministry, offering Himself on the cross for the redemption of humanity. Scripture: John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." These words of Jesus, spoken shortly before His Passion, underscore the depth of His love—a love so great that it embraces even the most painful death for the sake of others. Reflection The Crucifixion stands as the definitive revelation of God's love for us, a love that is willing to endure the greatest sufferings to bring about our salvation. This sacrifice invites us to contemplate the nature of true love—not as an emotion or feeling, but as a self-giving act for the good of the other. Reflect on how the sacrifice of ...
You are God’s Temple... Fr. Patrick Etuk, MSP My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Today, as we gather to celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, we are called to reflect on the profound meaning of this event in the life of the infant Jesus, and what it meant for an ordinary Jewish family. This day, which commemorates the presentation of Jesus in the temple, carries with it a message of God's goodness and mercy that is as relevant to us today as it was to those who witnessed it over two thousand years ago. The prophet Malachi, as we heard in our first reading, foretold this moment when he said, "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me; the Lord whom you seek will suddenly appear in his temple, like a refiner's fire he will purify the sons of Israel" (Malachi 3:1). In these words, Malachi speaks of a purification, a cleansing of the temple. But what is this temple he is referring to? It is not a physical building, but rather...