Posts by Fr. Nnaemeka Paschal Ajuka
The Words of Joshua
Joshua led the children of Israel across the Jordan and into the promised land to take up their promised inheritance. And as his death drew closer, he gave a farewell speech to the nation, which had been chosen by God to be a holy nation unto the Lord and a peculiar people unto Himself. Joshua rehearsed…
Read MoreThe Burning Bush in Our Lives
Today, for a moment, Jesus gives us insight into his innermost thoughts. After he spent some time in prayer, hear the actual words of his prayer. He prays: “Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, to you I offer praise; for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the…
Read MoreRADICAL LOVE OVER REVENGE
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount presents a call to generosity of spirit, willingness to go the extra mile, turning the other cheek and showing love over revenge. It is an ideal for radical love, pure love modelled after Christ. The saints live that model. Their lives demonstrate the hidden potential in each of us to…
Read MoreFear God Not Humans
In our biblical text today, we have the second arrest of the apostles of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke informs us that this is the second phase or second attempt of the leaders in Jerusalem to get rid of the apostles and their teachings. They threaten them by commanding them to stop teaching in Jesus’ name.…
Read MoreSpiritual Blindness and Rebirth
I was in the middle of the “unknown” until I had a divine visitation on February 12th, 1996, during my seminary formation days. I dreamed of the appearance of Jesus bleeding profusely and the blood was dazzling. Initially, I couldn’t recognize Him because he presented himself as a priest I know. The second time I…
Read MoreLeprosy of the Soul
Shortly afterwards, Mark says that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town but had to stay outside in country places. This compassionate love for suffering humanity resulted in more and more people coming to him, and even today the outstretched arms of God’s Son on the cross are a never-ending invitation to sinners to seek refuge in his compassionate love
Read MoreThe Healing Compassion of Jesus
This Gospel narrative shows the leper’s posture of submission to the will of God over his circumstances. It gives us an example of how we are to come before God. The leper recognized the authority and the power of Jesus Christ – and in faith, asked Jesus to make him clean. Dear friends, do we…
Read MoreSpeak with Authority
On this day we celebrate the memorial of Saint John of the Cross, priest and doctor of the Church. In our daily Mass we finished reading the gospel narrative (Mt 21:23-27). In it, there is a line describing the reaction of the crowd that “When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders…
Read MorePersistent Prayer
You may have seen little children doing it with folded hands while kneeling at bedtime or unison voices following the lead of the minister during a solemn religious service. Perhaps it is part of your mealtime, morning, and evening rhythm – as normal and important as breathing. However, if you didn’t grow up attending any…
Read More