Glory of God Prayer Group, St. Cecilia Parish, Wa Diocese, Ghana - Let Your Light Shine

Saint of the Day

The gift of overcoming self

Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self. Francis of Assisi

You can't get a cup of tea big enou…

You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.   C. S. Lewis

Will

Will is to grace as the horse is to the rider. Saint Augustine

Preach the Gospel at all times

Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words. Francis of Assisi

if you love until it hurts

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. Mother Teresa

Source of the deadliest hate

From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate. Socrates

Forsaken by sin

To abstain from sin when one can no longer sin is to be forsaken by sin, not to forsake it. Saint Augustine

The richest

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature. Socrates

The desire is thy prayers

The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer. Saint Augustine

Importance of Christianity

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C. S. Lewis

Progress

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. C. S. Lewis

Touch the dying

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work. Mother Teresa

Belief in Christianity

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. C. S. Lewis

Affection

Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives. C. S. Lewis

Courage

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. C. S. Lewis

Intense love does not measure

Intense love does not measure, it just gives. Mother Teresa

Nonsense questions

Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable. C. S. Lewis

Pride

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. Saint Augustine

We must be hatched

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad. C. S. Lewis

What does love look like?

What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like. Saint Augustine

Third Sunday of Easter, Yr B. April 14, 2024

Readings
1st: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
2nd: I John 5:1-5a
Gospel: Luke 24:35-48

Theme: You Too Are A Witness To These Things

My dear people of God, today is Third Sunday of Easter. Our reflections would focus on the theme. "Experience is the best teacher", goes the popular adage. In a similar sense, we could also assert that "an eye witness is the most credible reporter". For better appreciation of today's Gospel, one should keep in mind the awesome experience of the two disciples of Jesus who, out of apparant frustration, left Jerusalem (in the east) and were going to Emmaus (in the west). - From the beginning of light to the beginning of darkness - from Sun rise to sun set. (Luke 24:13-35 - Wednesday of the Octave of Easter). No one moves from light to darkness and remains in the truth. We should also not lose sight of the varied kinds of excitements that characterised the immediate post-resurrection period. The two "frustrated disciples", for instance, met and experienced the Risen Lord in many ways. It is still same with us today. One experience of Jesus often leads to another, more amazing one, in most cases. First, they experienced the Lord as "the only Stranger in Jerusalem" who was totally ignorant of the recent happenings. They met him in Sacred Scriptures which He explained in details to them. In their attempt to show hospitality, the "Stranger" rather played Host at table in the Breaking of Bread. Luke reports that the frustrated disciples were first startled (shocked/alarmed). However, after they've been enlightened by Holy Scriptures and empowered by Broken Bread, they got carried away by great joy, a proper consequence of meeting Jesus. No one truly meets and encounters Jesus and remains the same. If joy is absent there must be something missing. A sad Christian is a serious contradiction in terms.

Freed from freezing fear and empowered by the Word and Broken Bread, they couldn't even wait to finish their "Meal" but hurried quickly to spread the Good News to the Apostles back in Jerusalem. Incredible, to say the least. At Jerusalem they found the eleven apostles who wasted no time explaining to them their own awesome experiences. Fortunately or unfortunately, when the "returned disciples" took their turn to narrate their experiences with great excitement, they didn't finish and Jesus came and stood amongst them, offered them the gift of peace and showed them the fresh scars on his hands and feet. He again took time to elaborately remind them of all that Scripture prophesied about Him - "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem". He then gave them the great mission: "You are witnesses of these things". It is against this backdrop that our theme is paraphrased and formulated: "You Too Are A Witness To These Things" at our own time, this time, not beginning in Jerusalem but in the Home, the basic unit of society. Suffice to say that Witnessing to these things at our time demands a radical change of dimension and approach - from preaching to practice, from words to works, from saying to doing/action - because, after almost 2024 years, the world has heard enough of "Christ has died, Christ is risen and Christ will come again". What the world now longs and yearns eagerly for is, "What is the practical meaning of this mystery of the Christian faith? There is time for everything: time to profess and preach and time to practise, time to say and time do/act, time of theories and time of practicals, etc, because actions speak louder than any amount of words.

Our First Reading of today follows the healing of the cripple at the "Beautiful Gate" by Peter and John. Biblically, lameness is the result of one's sins. We may be surprised, and rightly so, that Peter who, in recent past, proved every bit a worst coward in human history, is heard today boldly challenging the Jews in the face to repent from their sins and receive forgiveness in the name of the one they recently rejected and condemned - Jesus Christ the Holy One, the Just One, the Prince of Life, the Christ. By these appellations Peter wants to state, in no uncertain terms, that Jesus is the Son of the God who was God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. At a deeper level, however, Peter wants to drive home a point that permanent dependence on human charity (like the cripple used to do) is not, and should not be the supreme will of God. People should be taught/empowered to fish for themselves rather than reduced to depending all the time on human charity. This is where our witness is put to its greatest test. Does our encounter with people leave them better or worse? What would people remember us for? Is our witness to the gospel mere lips service or saving works? We thank God for making the Cross of His Christ a Tree of life, raising cripples, like you and I, to our feet so we can fish for ourselves rather than depending permanently on human charity. Today at Mass when the minister says, "This is the Body of Christ", ask yourself, "What do I also give to others to make them better selves?" Remember! that " You are also a witness to these things, beginning from where you live and worship daily. Continue to recite the Holy Rosary daily. God richly bless you and your family.

Rev. Fr. Thomas L. Debuo - Catholic Diocese of Damongo, Ghana. (0244511306/0243711926)

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