POVERTY AMIDST AFFLUENCE

I was sitting quietly this morning in my room when messages started coming in geometric progression, all demanding why I have not posted my daily reflection to their inbox. I am sorry for depriving you of it 🙈

It's no news that even in our affluent country, Nigeria, we do have so many poor people around us. Joke apart, there are genuinely poor people in our society. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus in the gospel of Luke 16, 19-31makes us to realise this reality and asks us what we as individuals are  doing about it and how we are helping the poor? 😳😳

Last week I talked about the three spiritual disciplines of lent, and today, one of them (almsgiving) is emphasized. When last did you help the poor? What about your driver, maid, cook, cleaner, etc? Do you say because they are paid, therefore you can't give helping hand again? You always tell your pastor to pray for you, have you remembered to offer alms to him this season? 🙊🙊🙊

My dear friend(s), more than just charity, it is our duty to help the poor, and it is also about justice to the poor when we understand that we are stewards who should look after the weak and poor members of our community and society 🙏🏻🙏🏻

As soon as we understand that it is our duty to help the poor and that it is an act of justice, then we will receive that blessing from the Lord and we will continue to bear fruits for the Lord 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻👍🏻.

Please, don't waste food today. Monitor what your children are doing in the kitchen. Serve the quantity of food you can finish. Think of another person next to you. I am in my house, expecting your call today. Am I one of your friends? Waiting! 😁😁

Good morning!
Rabbi

WE NEED COMPASSION AND FORGIVENESS

Has anyone accused you? Have you tried to exonerate yourself from the accusations of your enemies? Are you feeling the guilt of your sins? Have you noticed that when you do the right thing, no one remembers, but when you do the wrong thing, no one forgets? 😳😳

My dear friend(s), whenever we do something wrong, we don't need reminders, because it only make the guilt heavier. What we need at that time is compassion and forgiveness. Forgiveness to carry on with our lives 👍🏻👍🏻

In Isaiah 1, 18, God gives us a reminder, not of our sins, but of His compassion and forgiveness. He says, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow ; though they are red as crimson, they shall be white as wool."

Today, learn to show compassion and forgive. Learn to do good, search for justice, discipline the violent, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow (Isaiah 1, 17).

May God give you the necessary grace to carry this out through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy Tuesday! 👍🏻

Good morning!
Rabbi😘😘

HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN TO PRAY?

What a bright new Monday morning! What time did you wake? What was the first thing you did after waking up? Were you happy doing it? Are you experiencing spiritual aridity? How do you hope to come out of this mess? Well, these are some of the questions you can ponder this morning... 🙊

There is no one on earth, even Jesus, who has not experienced some hard times. But, the question is, how do you deal with it? In Daniel 9, 4-10, Daniel turned his face to the Lord God, begging for time to pray and to plead, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes👍🏻

He began his prayer by acknowledging God in these words: O my Lord, God great and to be feared, you keep the covenant and show faithful love towards those who love you and who observe your commandments 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Daniel acknowledged the greatness and faithfulness of God because that was what God had done for him. God blessed Daniel with status and authority even though he was in exile in Babylon. God gave Daniel the gift of prophecy. He saved Daniel in the lions' den and rescued him from his enemies' plots. Time and again, God showed Daniel His greatness and also His faithfulness.

What is your own experience of God? Is God faithful to you? Has He been compassionate and merciful to your situations? How do you repay His goodness to you? When Daniel experienced the awesomeness of God,  he remembered and praised God for His greatness and faithfulness to him 👏🏻👏🏻🙏🏻

As you begin this new week, may you remember to praise God for His greatness and faithfulness in your life, business, office, studies, etc. Today shall be better. Amen.

Heading to the table for coconut rice and coffee. I didn't take my juice, I have sacrificed that for lent😜😜. Have a good day!

Good morning!
Rabbi 😘😘

RECONCILE WITH HIM/HER TODAY

Are you surprise at the topic? What time do you think reconciliation should be preached other than at the season of lent? By the way, how are you at the moment? Thank God is Friday! 👍🏻👍🏻

My dear friend(s), why should we be angry in the first place if we know very well that anger only generates heat that burns us away. Most times, the person we are angry at, may not be aware of what's happening.. 😳

Contrarily, reconciliation opens the door of our hearts for God to enter, heal and restore peace. The gospel pericopee in Matthew 5, 20-26 captures this vividly when Jesus remarked, "Go first and be reconciled to your brother." Don't forget that reconciliation is not about who is right and who is wrong 🙊🙊

It is a way of reaching an agreement or compromise towards healing the wounds of misunderstanding. It's a soothing medicine for angry parties to a conflict. God first reconciled us to Himself by sending His only Son to forgive and heal our sinful hearts🙏🏻🙏🏻

I charge you today, please reconcile with him/her today no matter the distance. Let he who does not reconcile, not eat 😜.

God bless you day. See you at lunch.

Ututu oma!
Rabbi

LORD, I HAVE NO OTHER ONE BUT YOU ALONE.

My dear friend(s), I want to draw your mind back to Esther 14, 1- 14, and see how you and I can return back to God our maker in times of crisis and difficulties. How do you handle that marital problems, job problems, office problems, etc?  Have you forgotten to take them to God in prayer?

Esther prayed to the Lord God of Israel. She was pleading and imploring the Lord to save her and her people from mortal danger when she said, "help me, who am alone and have no helper but you, for my danger is in my hand... Now, assist me who am all alone, and have no one but you, O Lord, my God."

For queen Esther, her prayer is one of pleading, imploring and beseeching. For her, the Lord God is her only hope and there were no other options. Do you have any other option apart from God? 🙊🙊

Ask, seek and knock, whatever is impossible with us is possible with God. As you go out today, may God give you the grace to love Him above other things and to love me and other neighbors as yourself.. See you at lunch.

Guten Morgen!
Rabbi😘😘

BE HUMBLE AND OBEY

Thank God is Wednesday! How are you today? How was your night rest? Were you disturbed by noise from a nearby Church during their night program? Okay, thank God for seeing this new day... 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Oftentimes, God would tempt us to see how much we listen to His commandments to love one another by asking us to something that will be for the good of those that we dislike and detest. 😳😳😳

If we are asked to pray for our enemies, how possible would that be? If we are asked to help our neighbour who is always quarrelling with us, how possible would that be? Like the Prophet Jonah in Jonah 3, 1-10,  we would rather not listen and even turn away from where and who God wants us to look at because they are our enemies.

Jonah was not interested at all in preaching to the Ninevites. Perhaps because the children of Nineveh were considered as arch-enemies of the Israelites, and so Jonah objected to have anything to do with them 🙉🙊

Obviously, Jonah never wanted to see them repented and converted, but because God had already destined it, it happened when he began to preached to them. Terrible!!!

My most cherished friend(s), all our spiritual disciplines (prayer, fasting and almsgiving) would mean nothing if we do not humble ourselves in total obedience to the Word of God.
God can only grant the grace of repentance to those in need of His mercy through our humility and obedience 👍🏻👍🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻.

Well, like I said yesterday, I have given up on my juice therapy.. 😜🙈. I have hope that lunch shall be better, but until then, learn to be humble and obey.

This is your very good friend and brother saying, Buenas Dias.

Rabbi😘😘

Rejoinder: Archbishop Palmer-Buckle ‘sacks’ journalists from church

The attention of the Planning Committee of the Ecumenical and Inter-Faith Prayer Service had been drawn to news circulating in the Media that the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev. Gabriel Palmer-Buckle has sacked Journalists of the Presidential Press Corps from the Holy Spirit Cathedral during the Service on Saturday, March 4, 2017

The headline of story sourced to ultimatefmonline.com and published on ghanaweb.com on March 4 reads: “Archbishop Palmer Buckle ‘sacks’ journalists from Church”. The story itself reads:

“Presidential Press corps abandoned Ghana@60 anniversary church service attended by the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Archbishop Gabriel Palmer Buckle sent them packing out of the Holy Spirit Cathedral for setting up their cameras next to his own camera. The Archbishop told the presidential press corps that the Cathedral was his and he calls the shots and that he determines the position his camera should be positioned. EIB’s Wilberforce Asare reported that the disappointed press team respectfully packed out of the church before the service started.”

The headline of another publication ghanaweb.com sourced to starfmonline.com reads: “Presidential press corps abandons Akufo-Addo at Church”. The story itself reads:

“Press corps abandoned the President after they were treated rudely by Palmer Buckle. The Presidential press corps on Saturday abandoned the President at the Holy Spirit cathedral in Accra after they were treated rudely by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra.

Archbishop Gabriel Palmer Buckle reportedly ordered the media to move their cameras from the frontal of the church where they had set up to cover the president because the cameras obstructed his personal one which had been mounted in front of the church. According to Starr News’ Presidential correspondent, Wilberforce Asare, the Archbishop told the pressmen that the church was his and he must remain in control. The pressmen who were shocked, packed their accoutrement and left the premises even before the service could start.

President Akufo-Addo attended the service which was being held at the instance of the Ghana at 60 Committee.”

We wish to state that since the Ecumenical and Inter-Faith Prayer Service was a solemn liturgical service taking place in a Catholic Cathedral, the Archbishop only dispassionately explained to the cameramen to position themselves at a usual reserved place for the media during liturgical functions in the Cathedral to avoid distractions.

The Archbishop as the Chief Shepherd of the Archdiocese with the Cathedral as his seat, also reminded the Media that it was a service of prayer, hence the need to observe the solemnity of the programme. We want to place on record that, it was never and had never been the intention of Archbishop Palmer-Buckle to sack any journalist from the Cathedral as purported by the above reports but he was giving a liturgical directive to protect the sacred ambience of the liturgical space.

ADVERTISEMENT

In a Catholic liturgical service, it is inappropriate to distract the Service and the people with movements with cameras. This has always been the norm in the Catholic Church according to its liturgical norms.

Again, we wish to correct an erroneous impression in the reports that Archbishop Palmer said their cameras obstructed his personal one which had been mounted in front of the church. On record, the Archbishop drew the attention of the Media that their cameras were distracting and obstructing the faithful who were to participate fully, knowingly and actively in the liturgical service.

If in any way, the Media misconstrued the Archbishop’s explanation, we, members of the Planning Committee, would like to render an unqualified apology and wish to assure the Media that the Catholic Church will continue to collaborate with them in the discharge of their duties.

Issued by:

The Planning Committee

c/o Department of Social Communications

National Catholic Secretariat, Accra.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017.

Source: National Catholic Secretariat