When the Saints are Matching on..

 *When the Saints are matching in*

This annual All Saints Feast brings together countless faces that bear the image and likeness of God .

A face of transfigured humanity. They were not perfect, not at first, not totally, not above all effortless. They had weaknesses and flaws that they'd struggled with all their lives. 

The closer they came to the light of God, the more they saw and recognized the shadows of his existence.

Daily pilgrims, most of them did not perform heroic deeds or perform wonders. It is true that some have to their account spectacular achievements, on the humanitarian plane, on the spiritual plane, or even in the history of the Church. But many others, the majority, are the saints of simplicity and daily life! The everyday people doing thier ordinary things in extra ordinary way.

Like Jesus, the saints often had to live contrary to the received ideas and behaviors of their time. Living the Beatitudes: being poor at heart in a world that glorifies power and having it; to be sweet in a hard and violent world; to have a pure heart in the face of corruption; make peace when others declare war; to be gentle when others talk tough and act tough; to seek for righteousness when others seek for power and firm...

The saints were people "on the march" (according to a Hebrew translation of "blessed"), that is, active people, passionate about the Gospel.

The saints were courageous men and women, capable of reacting and affirming everything cost what made them live. They show us the way to truth and freedom.

Prayer: Oh God, Bless the many parted souls

who lived their lives with grace.

Bless the saints in heaven,

gathered in that special place.

May we tell their stories

and remember all the ways

they lived their faith

and spent their days.

Oh, blessed saints, helpp

 help us to see

a path that’s to eternal life. Amen🙏🏾

 Happy feast of all Saints!

Happy New Month!

Pax-Christi 🙏🏾 Fr Ralph James OSJ

 *Short reflection for first sunday of lent 21/02/21*

Gen 9:8-15; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mk 1:12-15.

*Theme: Persevere in the journey towards salvation*

With the Ash Wednesday we began the lenten journey-40 days of our participation in the mystery of Christ, a period we are called to return back to God in intense prayer, fasting and act of charity.

In the first reading, we see God's alliance with Noah. If everything were wiped away by the flood; when hatred, violence, pride  and arrogance filled the world which God made and saw to be very good, today God who doesn't want humanity to perish intervenes and made an allliance  with Noah.

As the days of the flood were period of rebirth for Isreal, and there was an emergency of new life after the flood, so also our 40days of fast is for us a new beginning of virtues, awaken faith, renewed friendship with God and friends.

Peter takes up the theme of the flood and applied it to Baptism-As 8 persons were saved, baptiam which corresponds to this saves you. That's why Baptism is a sacramment that regenerate life.

In the Gospel,  immediately after his baptism Jesus, was led by the spirit to the desert for 40days. 40 in the scripiture means- enough or ample time, it's a preriod of preparation, of an encounter and renewal. The Israelites wandered 40yrs to be liberated, Elijah ran untonthe desert and was fed my the ravens, and Jesus fasted for 40days and was ministered to by the angels to be santified before the start of his ministry.  What is your 40 days lenten season for? We need perseverance in the journey  of our salvation. As you journey on your own desert, a place of loneliness, dry and thirty land, your place of encounter, know also in the desert the temper comes to try us.  If Jesus was tempted by the devil, we too should be prepared for temptation. It's one thing to be tempted and another thing to fall in to temptation. 

Jesus overcome temptation at the desert, then his followers can't be in such state and fall, because there Jesus will give us strength, the angels that ministered to Jesus at the desert will also stand by us not to fall.

Prayer: May the angels minsiter to us in times of temptation.  May God support us in the moments of our struggle against sin and temptation. May the victory of Jesus over sin and death be our hope in moment of temptation and trials. Amen. 

Have a spirit filled lenten season. 

Pax- peace 🙏🏾Fr Raph Jnr osj.

 *Reflection for Saturday after Ash Wednesday*

*Isaiah 58:9b-14; Lk 5:27-32*

*Theme: Jesus welcomes the needy.*

"Thus says the Lord:  If you destroy your instruments of oppression,and leave authoritarian habits and evil language;  if you welcome the needy with an open heart and give every help to the needy, your light will be born in darkness..."

All the “ifs” that the prophet Isaiah presents to us are inherent in actions that lead us to a true conversion and, consequently, to a fruitful life collaborating in the construction of a better world. All good things can happen depending also on whether our actions are good. The Lord blesses us in kind when we bless others.

In the scriptures there will always be an "if" as a condition for good and not evil. are your "ifs" a condition for good or evil? Jesus gives us an opportunity for conversion and new life, he welcomes the needy. Even though we are the greatest sinners, Jesus looks at us and calls us. Levi responded in the gospel promptly to Jesus' call and followed Him. Suddenly, because of his attitude of welcoming salvation, he received Jesus for a great banquet in his home and invited precisely those who needed help, those who were sick like him and needed healing.

The more we recognize our illness the more we will have Jesus as the doctor of our soul and the healing of our heart. 

 Do you also consider yourself sick, in need of salvation and healing?  Have you tried taking Jesus to your home and introducing him to your family and friends? 

Prayer: Lord heal us from all our sins and iniquities. Intervene for us in this pandemic and bring healing and blessing to our world. Amen.

Have a fruitful lenten season and happy weekend. 

Pax-Peace 🙏🏾Fr Ralph Jnr osj .

 *Short reflection for Friday 19/2/21 after Ash Wednesday. Isaiah 58:1-9; Mt 9:14-15*.

*Theme: A fast pleasing to God*

The prophet Isaiah warns of the pratice of fasting mixed with social injustices and condemned it. Our worship must be linked with solidarity to the poor  otherwise it's sterile and doesn't please God. Instead of imposing ourselves, instead of   just talking, is a way of renouncing ourselves, a way of fasting.

Fast  in order to refuse to be selfish, fast to avoid speaking ill of others, fast to stop lies,  fast to stop wanting to be the most important than the others. Fasting is giving the other a turn, who also wants to express his/her ideas, or the way of thinking. Let's hear them! Let's be charitable, let's fast, let's give up wanting earthly pleasure always. 

In the gospel, the  Pharisees and John the Baptist's disciples, when asking Jesus that question, why his disciples didn't fast while they did, were really criticizing the fact that they did not fast. As if fasting were the last word in practice of holiness. Fasting is important, yes, and Jesus praised it. However, as Master he said, there is no point in fasting at a party, or at a banquet when the bridegroom is present. So his disciples were celebrating because he the master was with them. However, after He was gone, then fasting would be appropriate. Now is our appropriate time, now is our favourable time, now is our acceptable time, let's fast, according to our possibilities, according to our health. But let us not forget that spiritual or behavioral fasting is possible at any age.

Question: Since Ash Wednesday were you able to fast? what can you say you fasted from apart from eating? 

Prayer: Lord Jesus infuse your spirit in us to guide us during this lent, that as we fast, we maybe united with you. May our fast also open us up to the love of one another. Amen.

Have a fruitful lenten season.

Pax-Peace 🙏🏾 Fr Ralph Jnr .

 *Reflection for Thursday afterAsh Wednesday.Deut. 30:15-20; Lk 9:22-25*

*Theme: God proposes

Life and happiness*

life and happiness is the destiny of man who accepts to walk in the   commandments of God, while death and disgrace is the destiny of those who refuses his commandments.  The choice we make will lead us to live the blessing or the curse.

The Lord's proposal for us is that we love and prove it by following His ways and keeping His laws and decrees.

How is your life,  Do you have peace or distress in your heart?  Have you lived in the blessing or the curse?  are you sure you already made the right choice?  In the Gospel, following Jesus conditions us to a total renunciation of our human will that makes us want to achieve everything easily and without much effort. Jesus proposes the Cross to us( take up your cross..) as an exercise to get rid of ourselves, our weak will, our accommodation and thus allow ourselves to be surrendered to the Father's will, which for us is the supreme happiness.

if Jesus tells us to take the Cross and follow Him to salvation we cannot continue trying to win the whole world attached to what we have and who we are and to walk to perdition. What do you understand about Jesus' proposal to follow Him? -   What do you need to give up to follow Jesus?  

Prayer: Help us O Lord to take up our dialy cross and follow you. Offering our suffering to you and to continue steadily on the path, in truth and in spirit. Amen.

Have a spirit filled lenten season. 

Pax- peace 🙏🏾Fr Raph Jnr.

 *Reflection for Ash Wednesday 17/02/202*

Joel 2:12-18; 2Cor 5:20-6.2. Mt.6:1-6, 16-18

*Theme- “time to return to God”*

Today, the cycle of Lent begins, the liturgical time of conversion, when the Church prepares us for the great feast of Easter. The readings suggest a real turnaround in our actions. The prophet Joel calls us to sincere repentance, with a contrite heart. Crying, let our heart be thorned, is a  gesture that express sincere regret and the purpose of no longer offending God.  It is a favorable time for us to repent of our sins, a time to reflect and rethink our life in what we need to change in order to be better and to live closer to Christ. 

There is a way to go back to God, however, we need to make an effort so that we can purify our body so that our spirit dominates and guides our journey towards heaven.  We need to go back to acknowledge our sin and ask the Lord for forgiveness in any situation we find ourselves in. The Lord is always ready to give us another chance by pouring out His mercy on us. 

In this Gospel Jesus teaches us to be restrained in our manifestations of piety, not using our actions of justice as a pretext for us to be appreciated by men.   The fasting, prayer and almsgiving are practices that makes us grow spiritually, and through them we can dominate our human will.

When we fast we have the purpose of purifying our body, controlling our will, as well as solidarity with those in need, feeling their pain in our own flesh.  When we pray, we lift up our hearts to God and take hold of His mercy that motivates us to get involved in the pain of our brothers and to do good deeds. When we give alms, we are putting into practice the love that has been exercised by fasting and prayer. So almsgiving is a result of the two other actions. It is our solidary involvement with the need and shortage of those who live on the margins. 

Three times in this Gospel, Jesus refers to hypocrites as those who give alms, pray and fast, only to be praised, seen and admired by "men". For this reason, Jesus warns us: “ Pay attention not to practice your justice in front of men, only to be seen ”. - 

Questions: What do you prefer: pleasing God or men? Do you usually propagate the good deeds you practice?  What is your attitude when you are fasting? Does your prayer life connect you  with God?        

prayer: Lord help us to do what we can in prayer, in mortification, in fraternal charity; help us to do it in humility and sincerity before You. Infuse us with your Holy Spirit to guide and protects us through the desert of penance, during this Lent. Amen.

Have a spirit filled lenten season.

Pax- peace 🙏🏾Fr Raph Jnr OSJ.

 *Ephphatha*- 

Be opened. This was the word used by Jesus to heal that man who had ears to hear, but did not hear anymore, as he was deaf.Mk 7:31-37. He was deaf until Jesus, in all his mercy, touched him, and freed him from that deficiency.

Today we also see many deaf people out there. They are people who, having ears, do not hear the truth, continue to believe the lies that are now called fake News, and thus follow wrong advice and paths.

Let us pray to the Father for all those “deaf” of our times. So that God touches them and frees them from deafness, and that they finally hear the truth that is being drowned out, confused by lies on a large scale.

Pax- peace 🙏🏾Have a blessed day. Fr Raph Jnr.