Homily For Wednesday Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 12th June, 2024

 

Reading: 1Kings 18:20-39; Ps. 16; Matt. 5:17-19

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

 

ARE YOU BREAKING THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND TEACHING OTHERS TO DO THE SAME?

 

Today, Jesus reminds us that he did not come on earth to abolish what had already been revealed but rather to fulfil them. He came into the world in order to reveal to humanity what true Law really means and to purify the Law to its original meaning and purpose, which has been corrupted through human manipulations. He came to fulfil the entire Law and not to destroy it, contrary to what the scribes and Pharisees accused and think about him.

 

This same notion was critical for Jewish converts in the early Church and also to some people in our own time. The response of Jesus is still very relevant for us today, especially when he speaks of "fulfilling" rather than "abolishing" the law of the prophets as we have it in our Gospel passage today and he added that: “the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven, but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.

 

Here, Jesus points out that keeping and teaching the commandments of God is the sure way to achieving greatness not just here on earth but also in heaven. This is exactly what we see in the life of Elijah in our first reading today, who decided not just to keep the laws and commandments of God, but to teach the people who have abandoned the true God over idols, as he challenged four hundred and fifty priests of Baal at the Mount Carmel. It was a great moment of reckoning, as he confronted King Ahab for his continued worshipping of Baal the pagan idol. 

 

Consequently, the victory of prophet Elijah in this battle was essential to remind the king and the people of the need for them to obey the Law of God, for it is the obligation of all the faithful to worship and serve only the One and True God of all. The king and the people had not obeyed these laws, instead, they chose to follow the false ways of the foreign pagan gods and idols, committing great sin before God. So by keeping and teaching these commandments, Elijah was made great before God and the people through his victory. 

 

Dear friends, today we are reminded that true greatness is found in keeping and teaching the commandments of God, of which Jesus tells us that the greatest of these commandments is to love God and love our neighbour. Therefore, true greatness is rooted in our love for God and our neighbours and Jesus emphasises that it is bad enough to break one of these commandments, but to teach someone else to do the same is a terribly evil thing to do.

 

Thus, we should ask ourselves today, am I breaking these commandments and teaching others to do the same through my attitude and way of life just like Ahab? Do I follow my own opinions contrary to the commandments and laws of love which Jesus has taught us by his way of life? Am I keeping and teaching these commandments through my attitude and by way of life? 

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, from whom all good things come, grant us the grace to keep and teach your commandments by our way of life and so obtain the Joy of true greatness in this world and your heavenly kingdom through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.

Homily For Tuesday Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 11th June, 2024. The Memorial of St. Barnabas

 

Reading: Acts.11:21-26.13:1-3; Ps. 98; Matt.10:7-13

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

 

BE A SOURCE OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO OTHERS JUST LIKE ST. BARNABAS
 

Have you ever been in a difficult and ugly situation where you felt like giving up or quitting and pulling out of a noble project, career or goal in life, and then you heard someone telling you not to give up, don’t pull out, keeping pushing, keeping going for it will soon be over? Such words and behaviour give one great confidence and renewed energy to stagger towards achieving the project or career.

 

This is because there is great strength and renewed energy in us whenever we know that someone believes in us. It feels right and changes our disposition towards difficult and ugly situations. This act of giving someone support, confidence, hope and persuasion to do or to continue doing something is known as an act of encouragement, which is a branch of the virtue of courage, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

 

The Holy Spirit brings encouragement where it is needed by giving this gift to someone near a person whomever he is pleased to encourage. Thus the act of encouragement has a great impact on human relationships. For when we are inspired by the Holy Spirit to encourage people, we become the instrument through which God is letting them know that He has seen what they have done, and by extension, believe what they will be able to do in the future; and that improves their belief in themselves and their potential towards achieving their goals.

 

This great attitude and gift of the Holy Spirit is what St. Barnabas whose memorial we celebrate today is known for among his fellow Apostles. Barnabas is one of the most important figures in the history of the early Church, his real name was Joseph, but the apostles nicknamed him Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement.” This is a pure summary of his entire personality, for he was someone who encouraged others, believed in them and helped them to respond to God with enthusiasm, because of his helpful and optimistic nature.

 

Barnabas sold a field he owned and laid the proceeds at the apostles’ feet, an obvious sign of his total commitment to Christ and total trust in the apostles. Such a great gesture, common among the first disciples, would have certainly inspired the other members of the Church to courageously do the same. But we see his encouragement more especially in his interaction with St. Paul in our first reading today where the Holy Spirit speaks to the young Church in Antioch, and there the disciples were first called Christians. And the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

 

Here the Holy Spirit inspired them to go on the first great missionary journey in the Church. In this mission, Barnabas was inspired by the gift of Courage and he was able to encourage Paul and also the entire Church to recognize Paul’s gifts and talents. For without Barnabas’ intervention, Paul would have probably remained silenced in Tarsus by other disciples. But because of Barnabas’ courageous and encouraging interventions, Paul was able to become the greatest missionary in the history of the Church. It was Barnabas who saw the great potential in Paul and chose to make him his collaborator, vouching for him before the Apostles who did not trust him because of his past life of persecuting Christians.

 

Dear friends, are you passing through difficult and ugly situations because of your past mistakes? Are you feeling like giving up the noble project and goal you have begun because of some challenges?  Does it seem as if your great potential, dreams and talents are being neglected? Please don’t give up, for today St. Barnabas “the son of encouragement” comes to us as he did to Paul and other disciples to encourage us and to get involved in our struggles. He also wants us to be sons and daughters of encouragement to others just like him.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we struggle daily towards our mission and goal in life, may we be encouraged by the virtues of St. Barnabas so as to be another Barnabas to people we encounter in our journey of Life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed day.

Homily For Monday Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 10th June, 2024

 

Reading: 1Kings 17:1-6; Ps. 121; Matt.5:1-12

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

 

THE BEATITUDES AS THE INTERIOR LIFE OF TRUE CHRISTIANS

 

Each day of our lives is a struggle for perfection, we grow from one level of understanding and knowledge to another. But what really gives value to this growth is the fundamental principles we follow. Because the fundamental principles of life help us to be focused and determined to achieve our goals. Therefore, Jesus knowing the value and importance of the faith he has come to offer humanity, laid down the fundamental principles that will guide his disciples in the new way of life which he is offering humanity.

 

These fundamental principles are what we have in our Gospel passage today in the famous Sermon on the Mount by the Lord Jesus, which is also known as the Beatitudes. This famous Sermon opens to us the interior life of Jesus: poor in spirit, gentle, merciful, hungry for justice, pure in heart, a peacemaker, yet prepared to grieve and suffer persecution for the cause of right.

 

These are guiding principles to a new life he has called us to live. Here Jesus gives eight characters of blessed people, which stands as graces to the fundamental principles of the Christian life. Each of these Beatitudes is a statement of an ideal way we ought to live and be in close contact with God.

 

These fundamental principles talk about the poor in spirit which brings to mind the low condition of mankind that looks up to a Redeemer and the glory to come. Those who mourn are blessed, for their true repentance, watchfulness, humble mind, and continual dependence on the mercy of God through Christ Jesus shall be comforted. The meek are blessed, for being patient, silent and submissive to the will of God and so are comfort even in this world. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are blessed, for their desires of spiritual blessings shall be satisfied.

 

The merciful are blessed, for their compassion, help and pity on the souls of humanity who are in sin and need mercy. The pure in heart are blessed; for they shall see God since their hearts are made pure in holiness and are capable of seeing God. The peace-makers are blessed, for they love and delight in the peace which Christ is offering to humanity. Those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake are blessed, for victory is theirs since they understand that, there is nothing in our sufferings that can be compared to the victory of eternal life.  This is exactly what God reassured prophet Elijah in our first reading after hearing the punishment due to the wicked, he was assured of God’s providence as a reward for his faithful.

 

Dear friends, we are called to embrace these fundamental principles of Christian life. For we are truly blessed when we are poor in spirit and when we mourn for our sinfulness, gentle, hunger and thirst for holiness. We are blessed when we are, merciful and peacemakers in a world that is full of wickedness, greed and corruption. Today, we are called to live our lives in these virtues and when we encounter challenges, difficulties, persecutions and troubles, we should remain faithful to the end for none of these tribulations shall be compared to the victory of eternal life.

 

 LET US PRAY: O God, from whom all good things come, grant us the grace to live out these fundamental principles of our Christian life and overcome this sinful world, so as to enjoy the beatific vision of eternal life in You, through Christ our Lord. Amen. As you begin your task this week, may the glory of God inspire you and elevate you to greater heights, do have a blessed week.

Homily For Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 9th June 2024

 

Reading: Gen. 3:9-15; Ps. 130; 2Cor. 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35

 

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

IF YOU BELONG TO GOD’S FAMILY WHY SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

Having a sense of belonging is fundamental to human happiness and well-being, for it gives value to our lives and helps us in coping with some painful emotions. Hence, we often want to identify with one another, with our friends and families, with our culture or one association with another. However, one of the common and safest places to belong is our families, especially when it is rooted in the love of God and neighbour.

 

So, today in our Gospel passage, Jesus speaks about belonging to his family and his relationship with members of his family when he said: ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.’ In this Gospel, Jesus speaks of two ways the people around him could be identified as members of his family. Firstly, he talks about those who belong to the family of his birth that is, his mother, father and relations. Then his other family is made up of those who do the will of God.

 

This family he says, is his true family where doing the will of God is the only way of belonging to this family. This is not to say that Jesus is rejecting his family; to do so would contradict his teaching about loving one's parents and loving one's neighbours. However, Jesus is using this opportunity to emphasize that relationship with God is more important and this should depend on our total commitment to doing the will of God through him.

 

Surprisingly, Mary the mother of Jesus belongs to both sides of the family, for she gave birth to Jesus and was also the first to do the will of God when she said, “Let it be done unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). For this reason she is the first disciple of Jesus and a model for all Christians. This is not the same with Eve in our first reading who disobeyed God’s instructions for we heard the Lord calling the man after he had eaten of the tree. ‘Where are you?’ what have you done ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ the Lord asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’

 With this act of disobedience, humanity was separated from our original family where doing the will of God is the guiding principle. But God has not abandoned us for he still stretches his hand of reconciliation.

 

Thus, to be a Christian or a disciple is to respond to this act of reconciliation in order to enter into the family of Jesus and embrace a new relationship with God and with one another for this is the most important family we can belong. All other bonds, including those of blood, should be considered secondary. Because belonging to God is fundamental to our basic relationships before all human relations. Remember, we belong first to God before belonging to our families, after which we all go back to God where we ultimately belong, which is determined by how we have been doing God’s will here on earth.

 

Little wonder Jesus spoke about the sin against the Holy Spirit who is the primary agent of evangelization. This is because some scribes who watched the great miracle of the deliverance of a man who was possessed said that it was through the power of Beelzebul the prince of demons that he was able to cast the devil out. Because they were adamant in their opposition against Jesus which was propelled by envy and jealousy.

 

 So, it is obvious that the scribes knew the truth but were not ready to accept it, rather they chose to deny the work of God, that’s why Jesus said: everyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

 

From this frightening passage, Jesus reveals to us that sins no matter how grievous can be forgiven, but there is a particular sin that will not be forgiven. That is the sin against the Holy Spirit. But what is this sin against the Holy Spirit? And why would it not be forgiven? The sin against the Holy Spirit is rooted in one's outright rejection of God’s mercy and grace of salvation offered to us through the Holy Spirit‘s constant invitations and warnings.

 

This happens when the will of a person is hardened against God’s mercy and goodness. This is so because it is the sinner himself who rejected God’s forgiveness. And since God respects the freedom which He has given us, for he respects the sinner’s decision to firmly refuse to be forgiven.

 

Dear friends, we are called today not to be like the scribes who out of pride and ignorance denied the power of God over spiritual realities and so sin against the Holy Spirit. This will be possible if we know where we ultimately and truly belong. Though, as Christians, we claim to belong to God. But do our attitudes and decisions show that we truly belong to God? Do we not often commit ourselves to things contrary to the faith we professed in God? Can we say that we are truly doing the will of God? What have we been doing with the word of God we hear every day? What kind of fruit are we bearing in our family and society? How has the word of God changed our life and disposition towards our family?

Therefore, we should ask God to endow us with the spirit of discernment and truth, especially during this period when we are often faced with the ugly and sad attitude of human deception all over the world.

 

 LET US PRAY: Lord God, today we are called to do your will always in order to truly belong to that true family of Jesus where the love of you and our neighbour unites us together. Grant that we may learn to do your will and never sin against the Holy Spirit. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Do have a blessed Sunday.

Homily For Saturday Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 8th June, 2024. The Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Reading: 2Tim. 4:1-8; Ps. 71; Luke 2:41-51

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

 

DO YOU HAVE A HEART THAT PONDERS AND CONTEMPLATES ON THE LORD?

 

Biologically, the heart is the main organ in the circulatory system, the structure primarily responsible for delivering the circulation of blood and transportation of nutrients in all parts of the body. This continuous task uplifts the role of the heart as a vital organ whose normal operation is constantly required. In biblical language, “heart” indicates the centre of the person where his sentiments and intentions dwell. Yesterday we celebrated the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Heart where we embrace God’s infinite love and mercy for humanity and His will for universal salvation. Following the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Immaculate Heart of his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

Hence today, the liturgy invites us to venerate the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Immaculate Heart of Mary is a devotional name used to refer to the interior life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus, and her compassionate love for all people. Here we recall Mary’s great love for God, her faith and piety, her commitment to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, and how she loved her Son dearly from the moment before he was born, his finding in the Temple and even up to the way of the Cross, when Mary followed her Son faithfully as he picked up his Cross and bore that burden of the Cross to Calvary, she bears and pondered all this sorrows deep within her Immaculate Heart.

 

This is the event we celebrate today, of which our Gospel passage tells us how Mary having struggled to understand the mysterious events in the life of her Son Jesus, stored up all these events in her heart. A heart that is propelled by love and filled with genuine faith in God, a heart so pure and contemplative. For such is the immaculate heart of Mary, having been conceived without sin, and pure from any taints of evil and wickedness.

 

Yet, this loving and caring Immaculate Heart has to endure great sorrows and in the midst of these sorrows, she did not stop being loving, compassionate and caring to her Son and also to all of us, as she fulfils the mandate entrusted to her by Jesus at the Cross of Calvary saying: Mother behold your son and son behold your mother. By this mandate, all of us are blessed to have been placed under the maternal care of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a great saint and our role model.

 

Dear friends, do you have a heart that ponders and contemplates the Lord? For today we are called to imitate and embrace the Immaculate Heart of Mary, whose maternal care we have been commended by Jesus at the Cross of Calvary. We are truly fortunate to have received such abundant love and compassion from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary his mother, who is also our loving mother.

 

Let us, therefore cultivate a heart that mirrors that of our mother, let us imitate the purity of her heart, and let us be caring, loving, contemplative and compassionate in our relationship with one another. So like St. Paul in our first reading today we can say: I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his Appearing.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we imitate the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, graciously grant that through her intercession we may be a worthy temple of your glory and make our hearts a loving, caring and compassionate vessel for all through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful weekend.

Homily For Friday Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 7th June, 2024. The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (World Day Prayer For the Sanctification of Priests)

 

Reading: Hosea 11:1.3-4.8-9; Ps. Is. 12:2-6; Eph. 3:8-12.14-19; John 19:31-37

 

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

 

CELEBRATING THE HEART THAT WAS PIERCED FOR THE LOVE OF YOU AND I

 

Every Friday after the Sunday of the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Church celebrates the great Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. An occasion where we are invited to contemplate and celebrate the love of God pouring forth from the Most Loving Heart of Jesus pierced for the salvation of humanity. A great act of love which God revealed through influences on mystic saints such as St. Gertrude the Great was made more obvious through St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the revelation she had around 17 century.

 

In this revelation, the Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and showed her his heart and the anguish and sorrow which he had for the sins and disobedience of humanity, despite the incomprehensible act of love, compassion and mercy that he has lavished upon us. Then the Lord said to her: “Behold the Heart that has loved so many men, and yet, instead of gratitude, all I received were ingratitude…” and asking in particular that the Friday after the week in which the Solemnity of Corpus Christi is celebrated should be dedicated to him as the Feast of reparation to the Most Sacred Heart. The Lord also promised St. Margaret Mary that all those who devoted themselves to His Most Sacred Heart with faith will be protected and receive the graces of God.

 

So, the long development of these revelations led to the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus as we have it today. However, it was Pope Pius IX who extended and placed this great Feast and Solemnity in its current form and honour. This great feast also marks the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life, keeping in mind that the priesthood is the product of Christ's sacrificial heart of love for humanity.

 

Hence, we remember all those who have been called to model themselves after the life of Christ’s love by giving themselves to the ministerial priesthood, so that we may truly model ourselves and our hearts after that of the Most Sacred Heart of Christ. Let us be filled with love for all humanity while recognizing that the priestly life is a very difficult undertaking, especially in our world today. Let us be supported by all, knowing that priests, though humans just like everyone, have their flaws and imperfections, but we are at the same time held up to a much higher expectation to care and guide the people of God.

 

Meanwhile, in the midst of all our difficulties, challenges, daily temptations and pressures of life, we are called to abide in the loving heart of Christ for he who abides in love, abides in God and God abides in him. (1 John 4:7-16). So, like St Paul in our second reading, we can say: may God give us the power through his Spirit to grow strong, so that Christ may live in our hearts through faith planted in love and built on love, and so with all the saints, we may be filled with the utter fullness of God as we fulfil our duty following the footsteps of our Lord. For in our first reading today we heard the Lord saying: when Israel was a child I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. I myself taught Ephraim to walk, I took them in my arms, yet they did not understand that I was the one looking after them. For I led them with a cord of compassion, with bands of love.

 

Thus, in this solemn feast, our devotion is rooted in the mystery of God’s love; for it is precisely through the Sacred Heart of Jesus that the Love of God for humanity is sublimely manifested in all its effect and power especially for souls thirsting for God’s mercy, for in it we find the inexhaustible source from which we draw the water of life that refresh and revives the thirsty souls of sinful humanity and make us new and alive again. Hence we are called today to abide in this love of Christ which flows from the pierced heart of Jesus through which the door of true love is opened for all humanity as we heard it in our Gospel passage today.

 

Dear friends, every Christian is called to embrace the love of God which he poured out from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so as to become a wellspring which gives life of love to others. For we ought to be offering life-giving water to a parched and thirsty world. We are called to embrace that love which propelled Jesus to lay down his life for his friends and also forgive his enemies, for that is what this solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus represents. We are called to contemplate the mystery of love in the heart of a God who full of compassion, bestows his love upon humanity through his Son.

 

Though humanity has rejected his love, but God does not lose heart in the face of ingratitude or rejection by the people he loved and chosen; rather, with infinite mercy he sends his only-begotten Son into the world to take upon himself the fate of shattered love so that by defeating the power of evil and death he could restore humanity once again from our slavery of sin and death back into a life of grace and open up his Sacred Heart of love once again for all who wishes to embrace it.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, grant that we, who glory in the loving Heart of your beloved Son and recall the wonders of his love for us, may be made worthy to receive an overflowing measure of grace from that fount of heavenly gift of love which he offers to humanity. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do pray for me and for the sanctity of all the Priests.

Homily For Thursday Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 6th June, 2024

 

Readings: 2 Tim. 2:8-15; Ps.24; Mark 12: 28-34

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

YOU ARE NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM WHEN YOU LOVE GOD AND YOUR NEIGHBOURS

 

In our journey of faith, we struggle with so many commitments and responsibilities. Oftentimes, we want to know which one should be our priority. What should be the most important thing to focus our energy on? What should become the foundation of all the things we need to do? In fact, we just want to know what is really required of us in this life.

 

This is the deposition of the Scribe in our Gospel passage today who came to Jesus and asked the same question. In response to his question about which is the greatest commandment? Jesus reminded him of the 'Shema Israel' - שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, the prayer that they knew and recited from their earliest years from which they learned that the most important thing in life is to love God with all their heart, and with all thy soul, and with all their mind; that is, with all the powers and faculties of the soul; as under the influence and guidance of the more noble faculties of the soul, the mind, the understanding, judgment, and will. Jesus then added: that loving one’s neighbour is the second priority.

 

In other words, loving God with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is what is required of us and it is the foundation of all the things we have to do. Jesus set the standard of love not just by the love he was able to show, but the depth of love which he shows by dying for us.

 

This is exactly what St. Paul is encouraging us to imitate in our first reading, when he said: If we have died with him, then we shall live with him. If we hold firm, then we shall reign with him. If we disown him, then he will disown us. We may be unfaithful, but he is always faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” This is possible only when we understand the true meaning of love and sacrifice and this is what is really lacking in our relationship with God and neighbours.

 

In fact, a critical look at what is happening in our world today, it is obvious that the world has lost the true meaning of love. This present generation has failed to understand the true meaning and source of love and this can be seen in the kind of fruit we bear. The fruit of love in this generation is so complicated: love has become a tool for selfishness, deception, greed, and emotional and sexual satisfaction. This is because we have abandoned God who is the source and power of love and created for ourselves a mirage in the name of love.

 

Dear friends, today, we are called to come back to the source of love, God himself, who teaches us that love is an attitude that seeks the good of others despite how we feel about them, he teaches us to be merciful, just as he is merciful. That love is a sacrificial attitude, an attitude that forgives, an attitude that accommodates, preserves, heals and builds up when every other thing fails. This is the kind of attitude the world needs now, the attitude that comes from the pure love of God and neighbours.

 

But how can humanity recover this power of love and harness it to bear more fruit in our societies where it seems as if true love does not exist? This is possible when we realize that we are products of love and are called to live out our essence, which is to love. Therefore, we can make our choice today to renew our commitment to keeping these two commandments and to reflect on how best we can put them together for our good and the good of humanity for by so doing we will not be far from the kingdom of God. Remember, in you resides that love that is lacking in others.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, in You, is the fullness of love, grant that we may truly love You and our neighbours and so conquer the world full of hatred, self-centeredness, greed and corruption, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed day.