2nd Sunday of Lent by Tyolumun Kinga-Upaa, S.J.

Seeking forgiveness is a demonstration of confidence and trust in the one asked to pardon. If sincere, our cry for clemency exposes our weakness and embarrasses us. Before whom are we ready to reveal our fragility? Only before the one in whom we have confidence and trust, because this person never seeks to humiliate but to give us back our humanity when we show that we have lost it in shameful or sinful acts. The profit we draw from this process of repentance and forgiveness is the deepening of our relationships; of trust and of confidence.

1st Sunday of Lent by Sebastine Adigwe, S.J.

During our Ash Wednesday liturgy, the day marking the beginning of Lent, a call to transformation was prominent: “Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew your spirit within me” (Psalm, 51:10). The invocation for the renewal of God’s spirit within us is quite prominent here. But what is the basis for this call? In the sign of the ash we are reminded that while we are made from dust, we are created in the image of God; for at creation God breathed into us God’s breath of life.  It is in this image that Christ came to us through his incarnation. In Christ’s victory over temptations in our gospel reading today, the image that we ought to mirror is further revealed: beings in union with God through obedience to the will of God.

4th Week in Ordinary Time by Enyeribe Oguh, S.J.

Our world is an enigma. The more we ponder it, the more it puzzles us. A world so rich no age or species can ever exhaust it. A wondrous world so diverse, so colourful, and so organised no human geniuses can fully explain it. A world so huge to contain everything in it! Such is the mystery of our world! Upon this world we appeared some day without the option of choosing otherwise. And so also must we disappear some day from the face of the earth whether we like it or not. As far as we know, nothing in this world is eternal. Every thing passes away: be it man or woman, beasts or plants, moon or stars, mountains or seas. As the old saying goes: soldier comes, soldier goes; the barrack remains.
 

3rd Week in Ordinary Time by Chukwuma J. Mueme, S.J.

Allow me to begin with a suggestion that, as we listen to Jesus in the readings of this third week in ordinary time (Year A), we should find our place among the different crowds he addresses. And as we sit with the crowds, we should hear Jesus subtly put this question to us: “Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under a bed?” I cannot predict how each one would respond to such a question. However, such simple question challenges us to examine the soil on which our Christian values are cultivated. Such question invites us to evaluate how well we have shared in God’s vision for this world. Each one of us may want to conduct a reality check and ask ourselves the following: How have I been a lamp to those around me? On which aspect of humanity have I really cast the radiance of God that I bear?
 

The Baptism of Our Lord by Fr. Amaechi M. Ugwu, S.J.

As a teacher of Christian Religious Knowledge, I have on several occasions tried to convincingly explain the importance and the necessity of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus to my curious students in and outside of the classroom.     For most of them, Jesus, being the Lord and God of all creation, did not need to go through the earthly (human) ritual of Baptism like the rest of us.  They support their claim using John the Baptist’s act of hesitation when Jesus approached him for baptism.   In some sense, I am tempted to agree with them. However, we know with certainty that Jesus’ Baptism was not one of repentance or forgiveness of sins since he was sinless from his Incarnation.   In addition, I believe that the totality of Christ’s mission to earth as a human being does not make any more practical and logical (by human standard) sense than his desire to be baptized by John does.
 

4th Week of Advent by Fr. Ugo Nweke, S.J.

The Jewish marriage custom, is a bit different from what we are familiar with today. From what we know, one can only call a lady his wife, and be capable of divorcing her, after the marriage ceremony proper. This was not the case for the Jews. It has been noted that there are about three stages to the Jewish wedding; first, the engagement; second, the betrothal, and third the marriage proper. The engagement was often an agreement between the families when those involved were still children. The betrothal takes place a year before the wedding proper. Immediately after the betrothal, though the couple will have to live separately for a year after the betrothal, technically, a man and woman were already married. The year apart allowed the couples to mature, and helped the families to get to know each other better. After the betrothal, if the man died, the lady was looked upon as a widow (“virgin widow”). .
 

3rd Week of Advent by Fr. Jerry Aman, S.J.

"Rejoice" is the first word of the Entrance Antiphon for the third Sunday of Advent.  In the old liturgy this Sunday was called by the Latin form of that word: "Gaudete Sunday."  In those days the nature of the season of Advent was thought of as being primarily penitential.  So Gaudete was somewhat similar to Laetare Sunday in Advent, the "past the half-way point".  It signaled anticipated joy that we're almost there.  Or, as G.K. Chesterton had expressed it, the human spirit cannot be held down for too long; sooner or later it pops up again with joy. 

31st Week in Ordinary Time by Fr. Ugo Nweke, S.J.

For those of us who have traveled to Ghana or The Republic of Benin through The Nigeria –Benin border at Seme, one of the things that is truly striking is the amount of commerce that takes place there. Another thing that is striking is the number of custom officials, police, Vehicle Inspection Officers, mobile police, NDLEA, military, para-military and other governmental security agencies that have their posts at the border. Any keen observer will easily see the amount of money that exchanges hands as travelers and traders strive to ensure that their goods and properties successfully make their way through the border. Little wonder for some of these agencies, being posted to such border posts is like winning lottery ticket.

30th Week in Ordinary Time by Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, S.J.

A line from my favorite morning prayer reads: “When I am full keep me from pride.” I recall my experience many years ago of trying to learn how to ride a bicycle. Looking at other people riding a bicycle it appeared simple – at least until I took my turn on the bicycle seat. I only succeeded in peddling it a very short distance before I came tumbling down, with the bicycle resting on me. For a brief moment, while I kept the bicycle going, I recall feeling on top of the world and screaming with delight: “Look at me, I am riding a bicycle!” That experience also illustrated quite concretely a saying which I learnt in secondary school: “Pride goeth before a fall.”

29th Week in Ordinary Time by Fr. John Okoria Ibhakewanlan, S.J.

In today’s Gospel (Luke 18:1-8) Jesus shares a parable about persistence: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’” And Jesus said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?

28th Week in Ordinary Time by Mr. Aloysius Agbo, S.J.

In Igbo, E to dike na nke o mere o mekwa ozo is an expression which can be translated as “when a hero or heroine is praised for doing something good, he or she accomplishes more good things”. This accounts for why shouts of e to dike na nke o mere o mekwa ozo or its corresponding expression omekannaya (one who does like his father), which trail generous donors any time they are found in a community, stimulate them to splash out their wealth on the people. This Sunday’s readings are about praising the true Hero/Heroine, God our Father and His son Omekannaya and our Lord Jesus Christ, for the many good things they do in our lives.

27th Week in Ordinary Time by Mr. Peter Chidolue, S.J.

Too many words, too many lofty ideas, too many revolutionary and developmental thoughts; all buried in the cemetery of inactivity. What can we compare our generation to: a dark world of unlit candles; a watery world of thirsty people; a rich world of poverty trodden populace?

In today's readings, Prophet Habakkuk, relaying the words of YHWH (Yahweh, God) reminds us that people are still craving for light in a world of unlit candles, that people are still dying of thirst in a world of clean water, and that people are still wallowing in dehumanising poverty in a world of immense wealth.