DAILY SPIRITUAL REFLECTION BY REV FR AWOYEMI EMMANUEL, ILORIN DIOCESE, NIGERIA

 HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY 28TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

{Ephesians 2:12-22;Luke 12:36-38}

In the parable, the chief characters are a master (representing the risen Jesus), and his servants (Jesus’ followers). According to the Fathers of the Church, Jesus’ words in this passage have two senses. In the narrower sense, the words refer to the Second Coming of Jesus, but in the broader sense they refer to the time of our own death, when God will call us to meet Him and to give Him an account of our life on earth. Since the precise time of either is unknown to us, the proper attitude for us is constant watchfulness. Since we cannot be sure about the day of our death, we should do our present work perfectly every day, and not leave it undone, half-done or postponed.

Dear brothers and sisters, We need to stay vigilant and ready to face the Lord through prayer. One of the traditional means for remaining alert is prayer. The most important elements in prayer are listening to God (1 Kgs 19:11-12) and talking to Him. This means we have to set aside a quiet time every day during which we can tune our ears to God’s message of love, harmony, peace, and respond to Him. 2) We need to wait for the Lord who appears to us in different disguises everyday. We must wait for the Lord in our daily lives by learning to see Jesus in the least of our brothers and sisters. In other words, we must be prepared to serve Jesus whenever, and in whatever form, Jesus appears. What we discover in serving, loving, and helping other people is that God invariably comes to us through them. 

Pax Vobis

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com

Daily Spiritual Reflection by Rev Fr Awoyemi Emmanuel, Ilorin Diocese, Nigeria

 

HOMILY FOR MONDAY 29TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

{Ephesians 2:1-10;Luke 12:13-21}

One thing about our Christian calling is that we do not live for ourselves. When we do that, we are paying attention to our own desires and when we do that, we tend to forget God and worst still, people around us. This is said to be selfishness. In the gospel reading, Jesus teaches the audience the folly of greed and selfishness. He declares that the criterion for Heavenly bliss is not earthly wealth but how we share what we have with others. In the parable, God calls the rich man “fool” because:

 1) he has evicted God from his heart, enthroned money instead, and worshipped his wealth; 

2) he has also evicted his brothers and sisters in need from his heart because there is place in it only for his wealth; 

3) he has filled his heart with himself and has become greedy; 

4) he has forgotten that he will die one day and lose all his possessions.

Dear brothers and sisters, we need to share our blessings with others because all these things have been loaned to us by God, and so we are accountable for their use. 

1) We must be generous in sharing our time, our treasure, and our talents, the three elements of Christian stewardship. 

2) We need to control our greed because it diverts our life and energies from loving God and from serving and loving Him in other people to loving ourselves alone. 

Greed takes different shapes and forms in different people. For some it may be the desire for the approval and praise of others. For others it is the uncontrolled desire for power, control, or fame. For still others it takes the form of desire for excessive and sinful indulgence in eating, drinking, gambling, drugs or sexual activities. Hence, let us rely on the strength of God to free us from all forms of greed.

Pax Vobis

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com

Daily Spiritual Reflection by Rev Fr Awoyemi Emmanuel, Ilorin Diocese, Nigeria

 

 HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY 28TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

(Galatians 5:18-25;Luke 11:42-46)

For the past few days, the readings most especially the gospel wants us to be wise in religion and religious matters. In our text today, Jesus focuses his attention on religious leaders. In doing so, he accuses them of the following: 

1) They have misinterpreted the spirit of the Law, making the Law a heavy burden for  God-fearing common people. Jesus gives the Law of tithing as an example. God intended tithing for His people as an expression of their gratitude to a providing for God (Dt 14:22; Lv 27:30). The scribes instructed the people to pay tithes on insignificant things, such as kitchen-garden plants, with great mathematical accuracy, but they themselves neglected justice and love of God in their private lives. 

2) The second accusation is that the scribes and the Pharisees are notorious for their status-seeking. They demand that the common people give them special honours because of their expertise in Mosaic Law and faithful religious observance. As a mark of respect, they are to be given front seats in the synagogue and public greetings in the streets. 

3) Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees to the white-washed tombs on the sides of the road leading to Jerusalem.

 In preparation for the three major Jewish feasts, Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, the scribes and Pharisees used to have the tombs whitewashed, so that the pilgrims would not be ritually defiled by unknowingly walking over one. Jesus accuses the Pharisees of moral filth, of hiding injustice and immorality inside themselves and of covering the corruption with pretensions of piety and religious fervor. Thus, they contaminate others with their rotten and dangerous ideas of God’s demands.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the sole essence of religion is to love God, discover Him in everyone. The basic principles of the Ten Commandments are respect and reverence based on the love of God and neighbor. When we learn to reverence God, His holy Name and His holy Day and to respect our parents, elders, and everyone else, their lives, their goods and their good names, we practice true religion without hypocrisy or selfish interests. 2) True love is selfless, sacrificial, and serving, encouraging us to help lift the burdens of others.

Pax Vobis

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com

Daily spiritual reflection by Rev Fr Awoyemi Emmanuel, Ilorin Diocese, Nigeria

 HOMILY FOR THURSDAY 27TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

{Galatians 3:1-5;Luke 11:5-13}

Today, we are faced with a parables that tells us the extent in which God can do in other to come to our aid. In other words, it gives us a sense of what true friendship is all about.

Examining on the parable of the “friend in need,” Jesus emphasizes our need for that persistent and persevering prayer which acknowledges our total dependence on God. This parable of Friend at Midnight is both an assurance that prayer is always answered and hence, an encouragement to pray. 

This parable stresses the necessity for our persisting in prayer as the expression of our total dependence on God. St. Paul says, “Be constant in prayer” (Rom 12:12), “pray at all times” (Eph 6:18), “be steadfast in prayer” (Col 4:2), and “pray constantly” (2 Thes 5:17).Jesus assures us, “Knock and the door will be opened”(Lk 11: 10).

Dear brothers and sisters, we need to stop giving lame excuses for not praying. Modern Christians give four lame excuses for not praying: 

1) We are “too busy.” This excuse should send us to our priorities list, where God needs to be first of all, if we are to be able to live in His peace. That settled, we will find that prayer in every form is our living connection with Him through which He gives us Grace, fills us with His love for us, and helps us to become our true selves. Then, with His help, we will be able to discern the truly important things in our lives and eliminate the unimportant and/or distracting, debilitating, and useless items.

 2) We “don’t believe that prayer does that much good, other than giving us the psychological motivation to be better persons.” Such people forget the fact that prayer establishes and augments our responsive relationship with God, the Source of our power.

 3) “A loving God should provide for us and protect us from the disasters of life, such as diseases or accidents, without our asking Him.” True – and He does! Prayer is not meant to inform God; it expresses our awareness of our need for God Who loves us unconditionally, and of our trusting dependence upon Him. Further, if we haven’t asked Him for what we need, we may well not recognize it when He gives it to us! 

4) “Prayer is boring.” People who use this excuse forget the fact that prayer is a conversation with God: listening to God speaking to us through the Bible and talking to God through personal and family prayers. We can’t have a close relationship with anyone, including God, without persistent and intimate conversation. 

Pax Vobis

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com

Daily spiritual reflection by Rev Fr Awoyemi Emmanuel, Ilorin Diocese, Nigeria

 HOMILY FOR TUESDAY 27TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

Todays readings most especially the gospel tells us about hospitality and listening to Jesus. Both actions are good however, when we must pay attention to that which is important - we must listen to Jesus. The fact remains that when we listen to Jesus, we become better persons by being hospitable and taking care of those around us just as Jesus did.

The episode is also intended to teach us where we should place our priorities. Presenting Martha as a dynamo of action and Mary as a true listener to the word of God, today’s Gospel invites us to serve others with Martha’s diligence, after recharging our spiritual batteries everyday by prayer, listening to God and talking to God as Mary did. We are able to minister truly to the needs of others only after welcoming God’s words into our hearts, minds, and living.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to pay attention to what God is telling us everyday of our lives. If we do not listen to God, our service can become a crushing responsibility, a burden rather than a vocation, an annoyed grumbling rather than a response to the invitation of God.

Just like Martha has become a symbol of action-oriented, responsible people who get the job done. Our world needs such men, women, boys and girls who get the job done. This is certainly true in the Church where we need the active cooperation of many parishioners in its various ministries.

Pax Vobis

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com

Daily Spiritual Reflection by Rev Fr Awoyemi Emmanuel, Ilorin Diocese, Nigeria

HOMILY FOR MONDAY 27TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

MEMORIAL OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY

Today's feast was established by Pope St. Pius V in thanksgiving for the victory at Lepanto, 7 Oct 1571, which stopped the Turkish invasion of Europe. Importance: The word Rosary means “Crown of Roses” and each prayer in the Rosary is considered a flower presented to Mary. It is called the “Breviary of the Common People” (The Breviary has 150 Psalms; The Rosary has 150 Hail Marys), and the “Psalms of the Illiterate.” The prayers we repeat are Biblical and hence “inspired,” and the mysteries we meditate upon are taken from the lives of Jesus and Mary. The “Our Father” is a prayer taught by Jesus himself. The “Hail Mary” is also rooted in the Scriptures. Its first half echoes the words of the Archangel Gabriel and those of Elizabeth, both addressed to Mary. The third prayer — the “Glory be to the Father” (ancient in its wording), surely reflects the unceasing prayer of adoration and praise found in the Book of Revelation. The various events in the lives of Jesus and Mary on which we meditate during the Rosary are expressions of the Paschal Mystery, that is, the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, in which Mary shared.

Perhaps, let us look down history lane on what praying with beads began. Prayer using beads is as old as mankind. The Hindus in India used to recite the thousand names of their gods and goddesses and their “mantra” prayers using a multi-beaded string and their sages wear such strings around the neck, constantly rolling the beads in prayer. The Jews used beads to repeat the psalms, the Laws of Moses and the memorized sayings of the prophets. The Muslims use strings with a hundred beads for their prayer. In the ninth century, the Christian monks who recited the 150 psalms instructed the illiterate common people to recite the Our Father 150 times. It was in the eleventh century that the Europeans added the Hail Mary to the Our Father. According to a legend, in 1214, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic Guzman and instructed him to pray the Rosary in a new form as an effective antidote against the Albigensian heresy. The Rosary devotion attained its present form by 1500 A.D. An additional boost to the Rosary devotion was given in 1917, when our Blessed Mother, in her sixth apparition to the three shepherd children, on the thirteenth of September, asked them to, “Say the Rosary every day… Pray, pray a lot and offer sacrifices for sinners… I am Our Lady of the Rosary.” The “Fatima prayer” “O, my Jesus…” was added in the twentieth century. Pope St. John Paul II enriched the Rosary by adding the “Luminous Mysteries” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae).

How to pray the Rosary: The ideal is to recite at least five decades of the Rosary (and if possible, the entire twenty), with one’s whole family daily. We need to say the Rosary slowly enough to make its recitation devout and reverent. We are to reflect for a minute or two on the mystery, and then concentrate on the meaning of the prayers as we say them, to avoid distractions. Besides saying the Rosary with others in the family before bedtime, let us make it a habit of reciting the Rosary during our journey to the workplace and during our exercises.

Pax Vobis

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com

DAILY SPIRITUAL REFLECTION BY REV FR AWOYEMI EMMANUEL, ILORIN DIOCESE, NIGERIA

 HOMILY FOR FRIDAY 24TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

MEMORIAL OF ST ANDREW KIM TAEGON (Priest) and COMPANIONS

{1 Corinthians 15:12-20; Luke 8:1-3}

For those of us who know the story of the origin of Christianity in Korea; it wasn’t pleasant to tell. There were lots of persecution and hatred for Christianity. Today, We marvel at the fact that the Korean Church was strictly a lay Church for a dozen years after its birth. How did the people survive without the Eucharist? It is no belittling of this and other sacraments to realize that there must be a living faith before there can be a truly beneficial celebration of the Eucharist. The sacraments are signs of God’s initiative and response to faith already present. The sacraments increase grace and faith, but only if there is something ready to be increased.

This is indeed the story of St. Andrew and his companion just like we have in the gospel which tells us about Jesus and his close associates including the women. 

Dear brothers and sisters, the lesson before us is that The evangelizing work of the Church must continue and the need of missionaries to preach and train people to be good evangelizers and preachers of the Word, feeding and leading the believers in parishes. This work also needs the active support of all Christians by their transparent Christian lives, fervent prayers and financial assistance just like the women did. We are thus called to contribute our own quota. By doing this, we spread the faith. 

Lord, make me an instrument of your Word. Amen

PAX VOBIS

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com

Daily Reflection by Rev Fr Awoyemi Emmanuel, ilorin Diocese, Nigeria

 HOMILY FOR MONDAY, 21ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

2THESS 1:1-5. 11b-12; MATT 23: 13-22

As we continue to reflect on discernment, let us pray that God will give us His grace to be able to choose areas of our lives that will bring and give glory to God.  

The first reading presents to us Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. Encouraging them to continue in their steadfastness and their faith because they have proven beyond doubt that God made right judgment about them to propagate the gospel amidst persecutions.

In the gospel, Jesus condemns hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is essentially saying one thing and doing another. It’s a disconnect between what we say and what we do. Unlike the first reading where Paul praises the Thessalonians, Jesus on the other side rebukes the Scribes and Pharisees because of their hypocrisy. Though there are many lessons we can learn from our Lord, let’s consider the first thing He says. He condemns hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy can come in the form of trying to present oneself as if one has every virtue under Heaven but in reality cares little for the clear doctrine and moral precepts given us by God. In the scripture passage, the scribes and Pharisees claimed to be leading people to salvation, but they were condemning the very source of salvation. On the one hand, some of what they taught was true, but they failed to teach with the virtue that comes from God. On the other hand, some of what they taught was flat-out erroneous, because they were more concerned about their public persona than they were about the truth. Essentially, they were hypocrites, because their words and actions were neither united in the truth nor lived through the virtues given by God.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the first thing we must do away is hypocrisy by preaching doctrine but failing to exercise or act on the necessary virtue so as to be effective instruments of truths. Invariably, we must practice what we preach. We must embrace steadfastness. A virtue that promotes good and credible personality with values. When we do these, we can now win souls for God and spread the gospel effectively. 

PAX VOBIS

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com

Daily Reflection by Rev Fr Awoyemi Emmanuel, Ilorin Diocese, Nigeria

 

HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY, 20TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

{Ezekiel 34:1-11;Matthew 20:1-16}

The parable described in today’s Gospel is known as the “Parable of Workers in the Vineyard” or the“Parable of the Generous Landlord.” This remarkable and rather startling parable is found only in Matthew. There is Gospel, or “Good News,” in this parable because it is the story of the landlord’s love and generosity, representing God’s love and generosity. The question in God’s mind is not, “How much do these people deserve?” but rather, “How can I help them? How can I save them before they perish?”It’s all about grace and blessings. God is presented in the parable as a loving mother who cares about each of her children equally. The parable in a nutshell: The Kingdom of Heaven, says Jesus, is like a landowner who goes out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. He rounds up a group at 6 AM, agrees to pay them the usual daily wage and then puts them into action. At 9 AM, he rounds up another group, saying He wil give them what is just. At noon, he recruits a third team, and then at 3 PM, a fourth. Finally, at 5 PM, he finds still more laborers who are willing and able to work. He sends them into the vineyard to do what they can before sundown. As the day ends, the landowner instructs his manager to pay each of the workers one denarius, the daily living wage, and to begin with those who started at 5 PM.

Dear brothers and sisters, the lessons before us is that we need to follow God’s example and show grace to our neighbor. When someone else is more successful than we are, let us rejoice with him and assume he has earned the success. When someone who does wrong manages to escape discovery, let us remember the many times we have done wrong and gotten off free. We mustn’t wish pain on people for the sake of “fairness,” for that is envy, and we become envious of others because of our lack of generosity of heart. 2) We need to express our gratitude to God in our daily lives. God personally calls each of us to a particular ministry. He shows his care by giving us His grace and eternal salvation. All our talents and blessings are freely given us by God, so we should thank Him by avoiding sins, by rendering loving service to others, and by listening and talking to Him.

PAX VOBIS

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com

Daily Reflection by Rev Fr Awoyemi Emmanuel, Ilorin Diocese

 HOMILY FOR THURSDAY 16TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

FEAST OF ST. JAMES

Today we celebrate the feast of James the Greater, Apostle. James was the son of Zebedee the fisherman and Salome, the sister/cousin of Jesus’ mother, and the brother of John, the Evangelist and Apostle. James was one of Jesus’ inner circle of three disciples who had the privilege of witnessing the Transfiguration, the raising to life of the daughter of Jairus, and Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane. He is in the first three of every list of the apostles in the four Gospels. Jesus called James and John “boanerges,” or “sons of thunder,” probably because of their volatile character and high ambitions: they once offered to “call down fire from Heaven”— the power he had given them for their mission's journeys — on the Samaritan village which had refused Jesus permission to cross through their village because he was going to Jerusalem. Jesus refused the offer. Later, James was known as James the Greater to distinguish him from James the Less (the son of Clopas), who was leader of the Church in Jerusalem and wrote the Epistle that bears his name.  James the Greater was probably the first apostle martyred — by Herod in 44 AD, in that Tetrarch’s attempt to please the Jews (Acts 12:1-3).

The incident described in today’s Gospel shows us how ambitious, far-sighted, and power-hungry James and his brother John were in their youth with their impulsive and hot-tempered Galilean blood.  They asked their mother to ask Jesus to make them the second and third in command when Jesus established his Messianic Kingdom after ousting the Romans.  They must have been shocked when their request prompted Jesus to make a third prediction of his passion and death, promising them a share in his sufferings.  Jesus told the apostles that it was only the spirit of service which would make his disciples “great,” because he himself had come “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” St. James the Greater is the patron saint of Spain.

Dear brothers and sisters, the leaders in Jesus’ Church must be the servants of all as Mary was (“Behold the handmaid of the Lord“). That is why the Pope is called “the servant of the servants of God” and the priesthood of our pastors is called “ministerial priesthood.” secondly, Our vocation as Christians is to serve others sacrificially, hence, we are called to do this with agape love in all humility, without expecting anything in return, and our spiritual leaders must be humble, loving, selfless, and serviceable, just as Jesus was, for our Lord loved and served us all.

Pax Vobis

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com  

Daily Reflection by Rev Fr Awoyemi Emmanuel, Ilorin Diocese, Nigeria

 HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY 16TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

[JER 1:1.4-10; MATT 13:1-9]

The story is about three priests who found themselves before St. Peter at the gates of heaven and were asked what they had done in their lifetime. The first one said he had baptized many people during his ministry and then he brought his record book of baptisms from his bag. The next one said he had specialized in marriages during his ministry and brought out his record book of marriages he had solemnized and validated. The third one boasted that his ministry had been filled with a series of talks, retreats, homilies, and recollections. When asked by St. Peter what he had to prove his claim, he opened his bag, and behold inside were the ears of so many people because their ears “listened to the word but they did not live it.” St. Peter was supposed to have said: “Same with you, Father. I will just accept your tongue.”

Today’s gospel is about the parable of the sower. The sower sows seeds in the field. Some fell on a footpath, on rocky ground, on thorny ground and some fell on good soil. This parable is aimed at those who listen or rather hearers of His word. The sower is God and the seed is God’s word and His Kingdom. The different kinds of soils or grounds are the different human reception or different ways of accepting God’s word and they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly. First, Jesus says: “Some seed fell on the path,” (v.4). All of us know that pathway is so hard that the seed would lay only on its surface where birds of the sky would eat it. This person is a prejudiced hearer who has a shut mind. Such a person is unteachable and blind to what he/she doesn’t want to hear and unwilling to accept anything new.

Second, Jesus says: “Some fell on rocky ground,” (v. 5). All of us know that the top soil of a rocky ground is often quite thin and the seed would grow quickly but its root is unable to sink because it doesn’t have deep soil. This person is a shallow hearer.  He/she fails to think things out or think them through; he/she lacks depth of faith.  He/she may initially respond with an emotional reaction; but when it wears off, his/her mind wanders to something else.

Third, Jesus says: “Some seed fell among thorns,” (v. 7). Thorn was a constant problem of farmers during Jesus’ time. Thorn refers to a person who possesses the proper disposition for spiritual growth but he/she is choked by excessive care and concern for the riches of this world. This person is a busy hearer. He has many interests or cares but cannot hear or comprehend what is truly important.  This person is forever too busy to pray or too preoccupied to study and meditate on God’s word.

Fourth, Jesus says: “Some seed fell on rich soil,” (v. 8). This is the person who is free from all three of these obstacles. This person is an open-minded hearer. Somebody had said that this person is at all times willing to listen and to learn.  He/she is never too proud or too busy to learn.  He/she listens to understand.   God gives grace to those who hunger for His word so that he/she may understand His will and have the strength to live according to it.

And so this parable reminds us to be doers of the Word of God and not just hearers; to be doers of God’s word in our concrete lives and not just preachers.

PAX VOBIS

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com  

Daily Reflection For 18/07/2024, by Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel, Ilorin Diocese, Nigeria

 HOMILY FOR THURSDAY {18/07/2024}, 15TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

[ISAI 26:7-9.12.16-19;  MATT 11:28-30]

Righteousness is defined as the act of doing what is right. Doing what is right is what Prophet Isaiah gives to us in the first reading. One of those act is approaching God whether in time of season or out of season. In other words, we must learn to approach God at every moment and time of our lives because the Lord waits for us every time we seek him.

One thing that all of us must know is that there will be troubles and crosses as Christians. This is why Jesus gave a way. A way that will make us go through life’s challenges. A right thing to do as followers of Jesus is to carry Jesus’ burden in other to free ourselves from unnecessary burden. “My burden is light.” Jesus does not mean that his burden is easy to carry, but that it is laid on us in love. This burden is meant to be carried in love, and love makes even the heaviest burden light. By following Jesus, one will find peace, rest, and real refreshment. We are burdened with many things: business, concerns about jobs, marriage, money, health, children, security, old age, and a thousand other things. Jesus is asking us to give him our burdens and take on his yoke. By telling us, “Take my yoke . . . and you will find rest,” Christ is asking us to do things the Christian way. When we are centered in God, when we follow God’s commandments, we have no heavy burdens.

Dear friends in Christ, apart from the fact that we are so choked up with unnecessary burden of life, one major thing that we must know is that Jesus is interested in lifting from our backs the burdens that drain us and suck the life out of us, so that he can place around our necks his own yoke and his burden which bring to us, and to others through us, new life, new energy, and new joy. 2) We need to unload our burdens before the Lord. One of the functions of worship for many of us is that it gives us a time for rest and refreshment, when we let the overheated radiators of our hectic lives cool down before the Lord. This is especially true when we unload the burdens of our sins and worries and evil addictions on the altar and offer them to God during the Holy Mass

PAX VOBIS

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria
awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com  

DAILY REFLECTION BY REV. FR. AWOYEMI EMMANUEL, ILORIN DIOCESE, NIGERIA

 HOMILY FOR THURSDAY {20/06/2024}, 11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B

Sirach 48:1-14; Matt 6:7-15

Jesus continues to tell us basic things that we need to know concerning our relationship with God. Today, we see Jesus giving us the pattern of how our prayer should be however, we must take note of some important things such as repeating empty phrases. It is only when we do this we become like the Gentiles. Just like I have said prayer is the raising of our minds and hearts to God, thus it is not so much on the number of words that we use.  

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus teaches us a model of all prayer. This is the “Our Father,” which consists of two parts. In the first part, we praise and worship God, addressing Him as our loving, caring, and providing Heavenly Father and asking Him to help us to do His Holy Will in our lives as obediently and lovingly as His Will is done in Heaven and, thus, to remain remaining in His kingdom. 

In the second part, we present our petitions before the Triune God. First, we ask God for our present needs, food clothing, and shelter, (“give us this day our daily bread”), then for our past h, especially for forgiveness of our sins (“forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”), and finally, for our future needs, protection against the tempter and his temptations (“and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”). In this part, we also bring the Trinitarian God into our lives. We bring in: 

1) God the Father, the Provider, by asking for daily bread; 

2) God the Son, our Savior, by asking forgiveness for our sins; and 

3) God the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, Who is our Guide, Advocate, Comforter, and Illuminator, by asking for protection and deliverance from evil. Special stress on the spirit of forgiveness: We are told to ask for forgiveness from others for our offenses against them, and to offer unconditional forgiveness to others for their offenses against us as a condition for receiving God’s forgiveness. Jesus clarifies, “If you forgive others their wrongs, your Father in Heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you either” (Mt 6:14-15).

Let us now examine something very spectacular. The phrase: “For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, now and forever. Amen.” The manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew do not contain this phrase, nor do any of the Catholic translations. Martin Luther added this doxology to the Our Father in his translation of Matthew’s Gospel, and the King James editions of the Bible keeps it. The doxology is taken from the Divine Liturgy or Catholic Mass. Known as the final doxology, it takes up the first three petitions to our Father. By the final “Amen,” which means, “So be it”, we ratify what is contained in the prayer that God has taught us.

Pax Vobis

Rev. Fr. Awoyemi Emmanuel,

Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,

Nigeria.

awoyemiemmanuel@gmail.com

cogitabund: Today's thought November 14, 2020 adj (archaic, literary) Deep in thought; meditative, thoughtful. The French sculptor Auguste Rodin, who created the sculpture known as The Thinker, was born 180 years ago on 12 November 1840.

cogitabund , adj :
(archaic, literary) Deep in thought; meditative, thoughtful. The French sculptor Auguste Rodin, who created the sculpture known as The Thinker, was born 180 years ago on 12 November 1840.

fantasia: Today's thought November 13, 2020 n (music, also figurative) A form of instrumental composition with a free structure and improvisational characteristics; specifically, one combining a number of well-known musical pieces. (chiefly art, by extension) Any work which is unstructured or comprises other works of different genres or styles. A traditional festival of the Berbers of the Maghreb (in northwest Africa) featuring exhibitions of horsemanship. The Walt Disney animated film Fantasia premiered on this day 80 years ago in 1940.

fantasia , n :
(music, also figurative) A form of instrumental composition with a free structure and improvisational characteristics; specifically, one combining a number of well-known musical pieces. (chiefly art, by extension) Any work which is unstructured or comprises other works of different genres or styles. A traditional festival of the Berbers of the Maghreb (in northwest Africa) featuring exhibitions of horsemanship. The Walt Disney animated film Fantasia premiered on this day 80 years ago in 1940.

World Wide Web: Today's thought November 12, 2020 proper n (Internet) Usually preceded by the: collectively, all of the hypertext documents (web pages) on the Internet stored in different computers around the world that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media, and are typically retrieved by the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). Today is the 30th anniversary of the day in 1990 when Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau coined the term in a formal proposal to build a “web” of “hypertext documents” to be viewed by “browsers” using a client–server architecture.

World Wide Web , proper n :
(Internet) Usually preceded by the: collectively, all of the hypertext documents (web pages) on the Internet stored in different computers around the world that hyperlink to each other and to other kinds of media, and are typically retrieved by the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). Today is the 30th anniversary of the day in 1990 when Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau coined the term in a formal proposal to build a “web” of “hypertext documents” to be viewed by “browsers” using a client–server architecture.

poppy: Today's thought November 11, 2020 n Any plant of the genus Papaver or the family Papaveraceae, with crumpled, often red, petals and a milky juice having narcotic properties; especially the common poppy or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) which has orange-red flowers; the flower of such a plant. A bright red colour tinted with orange, like that of the common poppy flower. poppy: (chiefly Australia, Britain, Canada) A simple artificial poppy flower worn in a buttonhole or displayed in other contexts to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts, especially around Remembrance Sunday. [...] Today, the date in 1918 when hostilities in World War I ceased, is observed as Remembrance Day in many countries to remember armed forces members who have died in the line of duty.

poppy , n :
Any plant of the genus Papaver or the family Papaveraceae, with crumpled, often red, petals and a milky juice having narcotic properties; especially the common poppy or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) which has orange-red flowers; the flower of such a plant. A bright red colour tinted with orange, like that of the common poppy flower. poppy:   (chiefly Australia, Britain, Canada) A simple artificial poppy flower worn in a buttonhole or displayed in other contexts to remember those who died in the two World Wars and other armed conflicts, especially around Remembrance Sunday. [...] Today, the date in 1918 when hostilities in World War I ceased, is observed as Remembrance Day in many countries to remember armed forces members who have died in the line of duty.

rake: Today's thought November 10, 2020 n (agriculture, horticulture) A garden tool with a row of pointed teeth fixed to a long handle, used for collecting debris, grass, etc., for flattening the ground, or for loosening soil; also, a similar wheel-mounted tool drawn by a horse or a tractor. (by extension) A similarly shaped tool used for other purposes. (gambling) A tool with a straight edge at the end used by a croupier to move chips or money across a gaming table. [...] (Northern England and climbing, also figurative) A course, a path, especially a narrow and steep path or route up a hillside. (mining) A fissure or mineral vein of ore traversing the strata vertically, or nearly so. (Britain, originally Northern England, Scotland) A series, a succession; specifically (rail transport) a set of coupled rail vehicles, normally coaches or wagons. (systems theory) In cellular automata: a puffer that emits a stream of spaceships rather than a trail of debris. (Midlands, Northern England) Alternative spelling of raik (“a course, a way; pastureland over which animals graze; a journey to transport something between two places; a run; also, the quantity of items so transported”) [...] A person (usually a man) who is stylish but habituated to hedonistic and immoral conduct. English artist William Hogarth was born today in 1697. His series of paintings called A Rake’s Progress (1732–1734) depicts a rake who wastes his money on extravagant living, gambling, and prostitutes, and ends up first in prison and then in an insane asylum.

rake , n :
(agriculture, horticulture) A garden tool with a row of pointed teeth fixed to a long handle, used for collecting debris, grass, etc., for flattening the ground, or for loosening soil; also, a similar wheel-mounted tool drawn by a horse or a tractor. (by extension) A similarly shaped tool used for other purposes. (gambling) A tool with a straight edge at the end used by a croupier to move chips or money across a gaming table. [...] (Northern England and climbing, also figurative) A course, a path, especially a narrow and steep path or route up a hillside. (mining) A fissure or mineral vein of ore traversing the strata vertically, or nearly so. (Britain, originally Northern England, Scotland) A series, a succession; specifically (rail transport) a set of coupled rail vehicles, normally coaches or wagons. (systems theory) In cellular automata: a puffer that emits a stream of spaceships rather than a trail of debris. (Midlands, Northern England) Alternative spelling of raik (“a course, a way; pastureland over which animals graze; a journey to transport something between two places; a run; also, the quantity of items so transported”) [...] A person (usually a man) who is stylish but habituated to hedonistic and immoral conduct. English artist William Hogarth was born today in 1697. His series of paintings called A Rake’s Progress (1732–1734) depicts a rake who wastes his money on extravagant living, gambling, and prostitutes, and ends up first in prison and then in an insane asylum.

endorheic: Today's thought November 9, 2020 adj (hydrology) Of a basin or lake: having no outflow to an external body of water such as a river or ocean, and only losing water through evaporation or seepage into the ground.

endorheic , adj :
(hydrology) Of a basin or lake: having no outflow to an external body of water such as a river or ocean, and only losing water through evaporation or seepage into the ground.

fly in the ointment: Today's thought November 8, 2020 n (idiomatic) Something (especially a minor thing) which ruins or spoils everything else, or makes it less pleasant; a nuisance or problem; a disagreeable or unpleasant detail.

fly in the ointment , n :
(idiomatic) Something (especially a minor thing) which ruins or spoils everything else, or makes it less pleasant; a nuisance or problem; a disagreeable or unpleasant detail.