Posts by Fr. Cyriacus Uzochukwu
The Revelation of Jesus
Lenten Season My dear friends, yesterday, we celebrated the beginning of Lenten period known as Ash Wednesday. We were marked with ashes on our foreheads, calling us to repentance and reminding us that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. Lent is a forty-day spiritual journey of prayer, fasting, penance, mortification, and almsgiving…
Read MoreBeware of Blasphemies Against the Holy Spirit
The Scribes My dear friends, the gospel today reflects not only the challenges of Jesus in his days in reaching out to people but also in our contemporary age and time. The Scribes were the major critics of Christ, and as such, they always attacked him to silence him. They searched for every opportunity to…
Read MoreThe Sending of the Messenger
The readings today are very reflective of the season in which we are. They present us with the loving interest of God over His people for their salvation. The prophet Malachi in the first reading prophesies the sending of the messenger of the Lord to prepare the way before him. And the prophesied messenger is…
Read MoreWarning over Persecution
My dear friends, in today’s gospel, Jesus sincerely tells his disciples what awaits them as his followers. He warns them thus: ‘men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment and bring you before kings and governors because of my name’ (Lk 21:12 -13). Again, he…
Read MoreThe Prayer of the Humble Pierces the Clouds
Prayer of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector My dear friends, the liturgy of last Sunday exhorted us on the need to persistently pray with faith and good intention. And in response to that, two men in Jesus’ parable of today’s gospel, the Pharisee and the tax collector went up to the temple to pray.…
Read MoreWho Is Jesus to You?
My dear friends, in today’s gospel, Jesus puts forward a very important question to each one of us about himself and our relationship with him. He started the question by making enquiries about his status before the people. Jesus could not miss that opportunity to know what people think about him. He knew he had…
Read MoreThe Anger of Jesus over Hypocrisy
The Life of the Pharisees My dear friends, the pharisees are very popular in the gospels. They always encounter Jesus because their lifestyles are opposed to the authentic teachings of Christ in the gospel. The pharisees are the influential, respected, and great teachers of the law among the Jews. But, they do not practice what…
Read MoreJesus Tasks His Disciples to Remain in Him
The gospel of today is a metaphor. Jesus, aware of his departure from his disciples, uses the metaphor of the vine and its branches to demonstrate the type of relationship that should exist between him and his disciples. The symbol of the vine is what is familiar to his disciples because there were grapevines everywhere.…
Read MoreLive and Let to Live: The Joy of Having a Baby (The Nativity of John the Baptist)
‘For it was you who created my being, knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank you Lord for the wonder of my being, for the wonders of all your creation’ (Ps 139: 13-14). My dear friends, there is great joy today as we mark the solemnity of the nativity of John the Baptist.…
Read MoreMission: The Work of the Holy Spirit
My dear friends, the first reading today is very inspiring. It demonstrates the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the people after the resurrection of Christ that ensued the missionary activities of the disciples. At the end of the first missionary journey and prior to the verses of the reading today, Paul…
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