LAITY REFLECTIONS FOR THE 2ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
Laity Reflections for 2nd Sunday in Advent, Year A
First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 72:1-2;7-8;12-13;17 (R.Cf.7)Second Reading: Romans 15:4-9Alleluia: Luke 3:4;6Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12
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| Bernadette Agetu |
WILDERNESS
A Place of Transformation: The wilderness is a place in which people transform. The life of John the Baptist in the desert was a prophecy of the transformation, which will take place at the coming of the Messiah. The dry land would become springs, a pool of water, and a fruitful field when the messiah comes. He will transform the world and make it a better place (Isaiah 41:18; 32:15). The transformation we seek as we prepare for Christmas is actually the conversion of our hearts.
A Place of Prayer: The wilderness is a place to encounter God and this explains why the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai. Before Jesus commenced his ministry, the spirit drove him into the desert where he prayed and fasted for forty days (Mark 1:12). This season is very good for retreats, prayers, and spiritual recreation. The season is a special moment of being in a spiritual wilderness to encounter God.
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| Michaels Abah Chinedu |
On that day, he will judge the people in fairness. God will come with might and power and judge all man according to the work he has done. We are reminded to set our priorities right. To store up treasures in heaven and not here on earth. We should be wise in our judgments here on earth while the main target is in heaven.
Dear friends, there is no greater joy than the joy of the Lord and dwelling in his presence. The only true repentance is when you have indeed turned from your old ways and make a firm resolve not to go back to them. The kingdom of God is at hand, which means, it is very close than we imagine. When he comes to judge us and others according to what we have done, are we going to rejoice in his presence? Or
Are we going to lament?
Will our ways be straight?
Did we prepare a place for him?
All these we must ourselves and we must get prepared so that we would not be caught unaware.
O come, O come, Immanuel, for we're ready.
Shalom 🤍
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| Rosemary Ibazebo |
I find this statement really striking because it talks about our source, motivation, inspiration and desire.
What do I delight in? What is my motivation or inspiration for the things I do? Just as Jesus is announced in this reading, is my delight in the fear of the Lord? If my delight is in the fear of the Lord, do I realize that I would do everything to ensure that I please God in all I do? If my delight is in the fear of the Lord, then I would not give in to the demands to conform to the standards of the world. If my delight is in the fear of the Lord, then it would be evident in the way I treat others with equity, kindness and justice.
It is not enough to shout praises to God but what is my heart condition? Do I love God as I proclaim that I do? Do I also try to bring others to the knowledge of Christ Jesus? Do I ask the Holy Spirit for help when i am failing in these, rather than accepting that 'I am only human?'
These are questions we should reflect on sincerely, as we prepare to receive the Infant King into our hearts, homes and world in Christmas.
Glory to Jesus!
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| Cecilia Ejiofor |
INTRODUCTION
David prayer in Psalm 5:17 noted that a sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart which the Lord never scorns.
Repentance is a continuous life-long act.
The Gospel of repentance has been preached by our ancient fathers: Noah, Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Amos, Joel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, e.t.c, they preached this Gospel of repentance seriously to their people.
Today, the same Gospel of repentance is repeated by John the Baptist in the Gospel of Matthew 3:1-12. The message of John came after 400 years, when the nation had not heard the voice of a Prophet. The Gospel says that John the Baptist was preaching in the desert of Judah saying, "Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand."
APPLICATION
Today, many of us have been going around with evil intentions. It is easy to say I am sorry, with an unrepentant heart. Out of a list of ten men in the Bible who said, "I have sinned," we believe only five actually repented. They were: David (2 Sam. 12:13); Nehemiah (Neh. 1:6); Job (Job 42:5-6); Micah (Mic. 7:9) and the prodigal son (Lk. 15:18).
We need to tell ourselves the truth and embrace Jesus with pure conscience. We can deceive everyone, just as the Pharisees and Sadducees did but we can't deceive God.
CONCLUSION
Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand was preached by John the Baptist, Jesus (Matt. 4:17) and the Apostles (Mk. 6:12, cf. Acts 2:38). It is the same message you have heard today.
Let us repent today and welcome the Kingdom of God, as we await the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
PRAYER
May God who is merciful and gracious, have mercy on us, grant us the hunger of true repentance, and the privilege to see Jesus Christ when he comes and the grace to be with him in his Heavenly Kingdom, through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Happy 2nd Sunday Of Advent!
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| Tonylaz Adoyi |
There is need for generations of disciples to redouble their efforts in spreading the kingdom of God. The pace at which the implantation of the Gospel message is going, gives no serious hope of something substantial being achieved before the Lord's return dawns. While the first evangelization is still happening, some of the places already evangelized are reverting to modern paganism. In this regard, people wear the ensigna of Christ. Yet, when such people are asked to explain the signs they dole themselves with, one will be shocked by what they say of themselves.
Neither the religious instructors themselves nor those they instruct are ready to apply themselves to the demands of their religious profession. May it please the Lord to send interested labourers into his Vineyard!
Much earlier on, the Jewish expectations centered on the Land of Promise and who will make it their own. In that land, their desire for undisturbed peace would be realized. The time from Abraham to David strove to actualize that desire. After David, the Jews thought that a better king than he, could not be found and so began to wish that their present and future kings would imitate David, whose dynasty would be continuous.
It was at this time that Isaiah announced the coming of the Messiah: a future king who would surpass even David. The Jews, therefore, reasoned that if the Messiah would surpass David, then the people's expectation should equally go beyond the "Land of Promise." Hence, since Jesse was the father of David, the Messiah will equally be of the stock of David, no matter what fraction of that lineage will be left.
This coming Messiah will be possessed by the Spirit of the Lord - a Spirit that creates, a Spirit that insipires God's chosen ones, e.t.c. Through this Spirit, they reasoned, the Messiah will have the outstanding virtues of his ancestors: the wisdom and understanding of Solomon; the prudence and power of David; the knowledge and godly fear of Moses and the patriarchs'.
Anointed fully with this spirit, the Messiah-king will be the ideal ruler in justice and compassion.
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Our ancestry is a big issue only as it gives or denies us access to temporal privilages that belong to our lineage. When spiritual matters are being considered, one's standing with God is what matters.
From earlier times, the Spirit of the Lord is known to imbue those, specially chosen by God with wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. With these gifts the Messiah of God will rule his people with justice and their land will enjoy respite as each strives to become God fearing. This new understanding therefore shifted the emphasis from "a land of promise" to 'the kingdom of God and the reign of God's Messiah that will span from age to age, and from one end of the earth to another.'
Under this new expectation, Christ came and lived. He taught the world about the universal peace which will make enemies become friends again. The more we (humans) are able to address ourselves to universal peace, the more God will bless us and make our land yield its fruits. Hence, the response to the responsorial psalm says: "In his days shall justice flourish, and great peace forever."
St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, prays for us thus: "May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together, you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
He enjoins us: "Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." (Rom. 15:5-7).
With the shift from the land of promise to the Messianic kingdom, all that we need and desire should be "through and in Christ."
The mission of Jesus began with his preaching of repentance (cfr Mk. 1:14; Matt. 4:12-17; Luke 4:14-15). This, immediately, points out a different perspective from the warrior-messiah that the people had expected before he stepped into the arena. Those who wish to be part of Jesus' crusade must beat their swords into pruning hooks.
The Gospel of Matthew links Jesus with the Messiah king prophesied by Isaiah, a spiritual crusader. John the Baptist enjoins us to prepare the way for the Lord. In Jesus, ancestry lineage does not count. What matters is repentance and conversion. Those who turn a new leaf spiritually, to do the bidding of God, will be approved and favoured by the Lord.
The kingdom of God beckons on us now! Let us strive to spread the Lord's year of favour not with arms and weapons of war but with hearts open to the Lord and made new for him to enter.
In our families, our associations, neighborhood, places of work, unions and communities, let us create the bond of friendship. Let us deliberately make peace reign and sow the seed of forgiveness and pardon. Let us foster justice and uprightness. Let us plant unconditional love and eschew bitterness and acrimony amongst us.
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| Michael Umande |
‘‘...for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea’’.
We are living in an imbalanced world; a world, in a state of journeying. Things have changed over time. The abnormal has become normal and the normal has become abnormal. In this reading, our attention is drawn toward the Messiah who will bring all things to perfection and normalcy. In so doing, the world shall be full of the knowledge of God, the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.
As we look forward to the coming of Christ, let's remember that he's already amongst us, and he calls us each day to live in righteousness, faithfulness and living at peace with another. In so doing, we are already earning our place in his kingdom of justice, love and peace. May the Lord bless his words in our heart. Amen.
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| Eghe Okonofua |
For the most part of my life, I have paid little attention to what the goes on at mass, in the gospel and in anything that concerns Christianity as a whole. This is the same with most of us Catholics. We profess our faith as Catholics, we chant hymns and recite the creed absent-mindedly at mass. We receive holy communion as a routine. We can argue angrily to defend our faith even when we do not have sufficient defense.
Some of us stubbornly remain Catholic while others claim they 'saw the light' when confronted by non-Catholics.
This is a summary of most of us as Catholics.
We are religious but not fully rooted in what we profess, Christ!
We daily attack non Catholics as not having the right doctrine, we go as far as mocking them as being half baked and can argue till eternity, how the Catholic Church was formed by Jesus Christ himself but an examination on our lives and behaviours, will betray the fact that we have not truly known the Christ we claim to know.
Yes, non-Catholics may not always get it right but we see the zeal for the work of God, proclaiming the little they think they know on the street, asking people to call Jesus into their lives and converting souls by preaching the word of God.
Yes, there are places where they may fall short but the zeal to convert souls for Christ is there!
The readings in this Advent season so far has repeatedly been about:
👉🏻Personal Repentance
👉🏻Preparation for the Lord
👉🏻Preaching to others
Which of these have we successfully done till date?
Remember as St. Paul says:
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
But how will they call on him, in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe, in whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
You may claim to believe and you may claim to have heard of Christ. But in sincerity, have you?
Let us all repent today and harden not our hearts, as we partake and learn from today's opportunity of the word of God.
Because being Catholic and professing Christ is not enough, true repentance is highly desired.
At OCCF, we celebrant our members' collectively at the end of the month, collate their intentions and have our Spiritual Diretor (Fr. Chinaka Justin Mbaeri, OSJ) and his Assistant (Fr. Toby Ndiukwu) offer the Holy Mass for them.
We wish them many happy and fruitful returns...
Parabéns, dear members, and many blessings!
Fr. Chinaka Justin Mbaeri, OSJ
Spiritual Director
(On behalf of OCCF Council)
| First reading: Malachi 3:19-20 Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 97(98):5-9 Second reading: 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 Gospel: Luke 21:5-19 |
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| Sr. Veronica Amaechi, FSP |
That which is more important is my attitude towards the last day. How am I waiting, am I living an arrogant lifestyle like those Prophet Malachi condemned in the first reading? Or am I passively waiting as the Thessalonians who St Paul called idle busybodies? Am I preoccupied with fear about how that day will be that I fail to live fully my life, or am I persevering in doing good, actively waiting in joyful hope, practicing my Christian virtues, with that assurance that my redemption is drawing near?
The coming of the Lord is inevitable, as the Psalmist said, he will come to judge the world in fairness, thus, trusting in the graces I receive in the Sacraments, (esp. Holy Eucharist, our daily spiritual bread for the journey and the sacrament of Reconciliation), I will strive each day to live according to the teachings of Jesus, my Master. I will wait for his coming in hope and in active service. So help me God. Amen
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| Sister Oparaji |
Nothing in life comes easy.
We need to evangelize to the world,
especially to our youths who think that things come very easily
without hard work.
Let's be hardworking and believe God to reward our sincere efforts.
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| Irene Egbuniwe |
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| Ojo Emmanuel |
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| Uchenna Malachi Okpala |
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| Josephine Uzo |
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| Fidelis Moses |
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| Chinwe Ann |
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| Tonylaz Adoyi |
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| Georgina Chukwu |
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| Ayaka Daniel |
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| David |
