Grace to you!
 
In today’s reflection, I share a way of dealing with guilt and finding peace of soul. 
 
In the epic drama of William Shakespeare, Macbeth, we read of Macbeth, the main character, who couldn’t handle the guilt of a bloodied soul and a bloodied hand. The torment for the evil (murder) he committed due to unbridled ambition was unbearable. 
 
In the Gospel story of Luke 9:7-9, we also read of Herod the Tetrarch. News about Jesus Christ and the great works he was doing had reached his ears. He was perplexed as people suggested if John the Baptist, whom he had killed, had come back to life in the person of Jesus. He couldn't silence the mind. Guilt is hardly subdued. It rears its ugly head and speaks aloud in the midst of our cosmetic, external, and pretend solitude.
 
One common denominator for many who ply the route of hateful injustice is the unsettling reality that truth survives the brutality of hate or violent ambition against the innocent. Truth surges in the heart. It stirs the soul. It speaks even when it isn't heard. Often, one may sit on the truth, but it doesn't mean that the mind and the heart get the pass without repercussions. Evil catches up with the evildoer.  The Blessed Lord would say that "those who live by the sword, die by the sword" (Mt 26:52). "What goes around comes around."
 
A word for somebody dealing with unresolved guilt may be appropriate here. Lay it down before whom healing is possible. Confess it to the person whose hands are of solace, whose heart is of love and whose judgment is of mercy and peace—Christ the Lord. God, who is generous, forgives, and heals.
 
The question, therefore, is how one could deal with guilt. Meet a psychologist? Good idea if the guilt is psychological. Much guilt, however, is spiritual and moral. Guilt is like smoke, indicating combustion inside the human heart due to spiritual or moral misconduct. Guilt breathes and breeds in unresolved injustice and/or lack of love.
 
See it as an indirect gift to find spiritual wholeness. Worrying about it and doing nothing to restore the peace wouldn't help. 
 
So, begin by addressing the situation that has brought it upon you. If it is something that has to do with past injustice, restore what harm has been done. Practice more charity and be generous. Do some makeover. Correct what should be remedied. Mend ways. Ultimately, if necessary, as it is in many cases, confess to the victim. 
 
Similarly, the good news is always here. God has provided in his Body, the Church, a powerful means of cleansing and restoration (see John 20:22-23). The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) heals from guilt. Confess to God, who heals. 
 
 By so doing, you won't need to carry the guilt anymore. You deserve better. Best if you lay it down at the feet of Christ, who heals and saves. Ask those who regularly confession; you would hear many testimonies of spiritual healing and grace of reconciliation. As they walk out of the confessional, hearing those words, "I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," they know for sure they are healed and forgiven. They return to their homes with divine peace, their hearts filled with joy.
 
Praying that our guilt is healed. Amen. 
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
[Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time: Hg 1:1-8; Lk 9:7-9]

 
Grace to you!
 
It's a little town, by far less than many cities in Nigeria. In that small town, over four hundred teens run a schedule like cadets, except that they weren’t training to be infantry soldiers, but miles Jesu (soldiers of Christ). Their weapons prayer and the practice of virtue.
 
In that little town called Osina, in the eastern part of Nigeria, West Africa, a house of discernment for priestly vocation is located. It's a school, a minor seminary called Bonus Pastor Seminary (meaning—the Good Shepherd Seminary).
 
The routine of sleep, prayer, dinner, studies, manual work, and exercises made each day pass quickly. No one would expect that in that far, little town, a man whose life was impacting lives beyond Italy, was ringing a bell. Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, popularly known as Padre Pio, was an inspiration to many of those teens. I happen to be one of them. 
 
Among the four religious Saints who have hugely influenced my life and ministry are Saints Pio, Catherine of Sienna, Theresa of the Child Jesus, and for evangelization—Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. The Blessed Virgin Mary belongs to another class of influence. Therefore, a day like this, when the Catholic Church celebrates the life of Padre Pio, is special to me. 
 
Some years ago, the heart of Padre Pio made rounds in Boston, Massachusetts, venerated by thousands of people whose lives were impacted by the Saint. What a blessing, made possible through Cardinal O’Malley. 
 
The miracles, heroic virtue, and life-witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ lived by Padre Pio when he was alive are unbelievable. No wonder his body is partially incorrupt close to forty years after his death.  
 
Do you want proof about the omnipotence of God? Then visit the crypt in the Church of Our Lady of Grace, in San Giovanni Rotondo, southern Italy, where Padre Pio is buried. It is the second most visited Catholic shrine in the world. There you will see how the power of God's grace in the life of a human being like you and I could transform the world. We, too, can add more value to the taste of the world in our little ways. We can be agents of change.  
 
Saint Pio was unique, for the Lord manifested through him so many unusual gifts and grace. From the power of bilocation, a spiritual gift where you can be in more than one place at a time (I am not talking of the virtual world or the techno-third life – I mean real presence), to stigmata, the power of reading souls, numerous miracles and healings. There is nothing God can't do.  
Whenever I contemplate what God did in the life of Saint Padre Pio, I have chills of joy. You and I can be like Pio, or rather like Christ, whom he followed. 
 
One of his famous quotes may be an inspiring word to end today's reflections: "Pray, hope, and don't worry." 
 
Saint Padre Pio, pray for us. 
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
[Feast of Saint Pio, September 23] 

Grace to you!

In my reflection yesterday, I talked about the need to look around us, admire, and share the good we see. There is a lot of good around us. It takes a positive mindset, a virtuous heart to see the good and spread the good news. 

May I advance that reflection further by suggesting that there are many bearers of the good news around us too. News is about people, places, and events. Bearers of good news are people. It's people who shine the light for everyone to see. It's people who announce or live the story of delight. 

When the poor in India saw the unequaled care, love, and attention of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, they found, after all, Christ in that woman of incredible virtue. She was indeed a sister of Jesus. You wouldn't need to second-guess the qualification of being a brother or sister of Christ. The answer is straight from the horse's mouth. 

The Lord said, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it" (Luke 8:21). The Blessed Virgin Mary heard God's word and acted on it. She is the archetype of the true faith and true charity. Her role as a model is unique. 

Christians are so-called because they emulate Christ. They also spread the good news of Christ. They live the Word of God. 

Several times, you may have seen people in your circles who have been Christ to you, offering hope and inspiration by their words and lifestyle. Christ in us is the seed of that goodness. He lives on in his saints. 

The Church is rich, providing us with great models of faith to emulate. From the contemplatives to the extroverts, advocates to monastics, there are many models. We also have examples from the religious to the laity, the military to politicians, entrepreneurs and skilled people, scholars and students, from every nation and people and language, name it. The Church has models relatable to all and for any. The Church is truly Catholic—universal; and has an appeal across the centuries and the world, in the sense that whatever spiritual model you desire, and no matter where you are located, you would find it in the Church. 

It's always inspiring to know many have gone the route of holiness. We would, by the grace of God, be part of the story. Someday. 

It will be the most beautiful thing for our hearts' desires to be to hear God's word and follow it every step of the way. May praising God and shinning the light for everyone to see be our passion. How I wish we desire and love to be saints. 

This wish is a prayer with a hope-filled divine blessing. Amen. 

God love you. God bless you!

Fr. Maurice Emelu
​
[Tuesday Week 25 Ordinary Time: Prov 21:1-6, 10-13; LK 8:19-21]

Grace to you!

These days, I avoid watching the news. When I do, they are depressing. It isn't the camera angles, compositions, or the newscasters that stress me out. Neither is the well-produced commercials flooded in-between the news. These, too, can be frustrating. 

The most depressing is the awful news gone mainstream. I notice that most of the time, the graphic, the sensational, the shocking, and gross, gory scenes of violence, murder, exploitation, or lust dominate the breaking news. It's as if to say everything that happens around us is dark and dirty. Is everything around us that dark? Where has the sense of proportionality gone? How about social responsibility in news coverage?

Amidst the bad news, there are also many inspiring stories to tell. There are many beauties not given the platform. There are many lights put under the bushel. The media may not force us to think their way or shape our perceptions, but they sure provide a frame for the content about which we think. If they broadcast only negative and mean content, they foster what George Gerbner, a media theorist and founder of cultivation theory, calls "the mean world syndrome." The mean world syndrome is well and alive in contemporary news media. 

How I wish you, and I could turn the tide, not merely in the mainstream media—we don't have much control over it—but through our channels. Namely, our one-on-one interactions and our online postings. Tell the good news, not only the bad news. There is much good news around us. 

How would the younger generation know there are good people if we don't point them out? How would we see the beauties of the arts if they are not displayed? How would we allow the world to see the light if we becloud it ourselves? 

The Blessed Lord says: "No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light" (Luke 8:16). If you, a believer, are the light of the world, then shine for others to see. 

In my opinion, the following are a few thoughts on how to turn the tide:
1. Let's share the good things happening around us, not only bad news. Don't do it for a show or flamboyancy but in humble gratitude for our blessings, radiating the authentic truth about the good things around us. Positive vibes are a delight and inspiring, aren't they? 

2. Let's not confuse humility with suppressing the good or true. Do not silence what is good, which must be known. The "word of our testimony" is a second factor in conquering evil (See Rev 12:11). People grow by truthful testimonies about what good the Lord has done. 

3. Be positive in speaking about the truth. Isn't the truth geared towards what is good and beautiful? Even in our fight against evil forces, let's always remember that there is hope with God, which often comes with a sense of optimism, not pessimism. A message of repentance, for instance, though it may sound harsh to some people, is true to its name if it shows the way to repentance? Diagnosis without a solution or ways to handle the future isn't helpful. With God, problem-solving, salvation, is the goal. 

4. Finally, how about sharing the good things that happen in your community, the great things your neighbor has done, seeing and celebrating the good, even in your enemy? The proverbial half-full psychology is, after all, a Christian spiritual principle too. 

Let the light shine. Tell the good news—God has saved us in Christ. Aren't we to be the sacrament of that good news so many would see and believe? 

I am praying for the grace of beautiful and good witnessing to the good news. Amen. 

God love you. God bless you.

Fr. Maurice Emelu

[Monday Week 25 Ordinary Time: Prov 3:27-34; Lk 8:16-18]

 
Grace to you! 
 
Of all the attributes of God, mercy shocks many. It confronts with glaring contrast and sometimes with unease. 

Some see many of the stories of mercy in Scripture as unfair. It is not so with God, who is mercy itself. 

Using many parables, the Blessed Lord emphasizes the abundant mercy of God. Remember the parable of the prodigal son (Lk 15:11-32). The faithful son was upset with his father for being merciful to his brother, the prodigal child. The woman caught in the act of committing adultery (Jn 8:1-11) is another example. The judgmental Pharisees were scandalized that the Blessed Lord Jesus was not so quick to condemn the woman but to show compassion. 

The story of Jesus' relationship with Mathew (the call of Matthew) and other tax collectors (Mt 9:9-13) is yet another reference. The onlookers doubted if Jesus was a holy person because "he dined with sinners." Do I need to mention the call of Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10)? Instances abound. 

Over and over again, the mercy of God confronts us with glaring contrast. The parable of the landowner who hired people to work in his vineyard at different hours but paid each the same wage (Mt 20:1-16), is another example of God's mercy, as it also shows the paradox of divine justice. Those who came early, and probably worked eight hours, were justly paid for all the hours they put in. Before the close of work, those hired at the last hour were equally paid the same amount as those who worked "eight hours." This sort of reward was scandalous to those who worked more hours because they thought God was unfair. Was God unfair? 

The explanation of this kind of Justice of God, a justice of charity (Pope Benedict XVI) and mercy, is that God has the right to use his treasure any way he wanted. Does God, whose name is mercy, not have the right to show mercy to whom and how he pleases? This example is a good message for all those who question the mercy of God. It is also good for those who bask in their birthright's security to heaven, such as those Pharisees, to whom Jesus first addressed this parable. 

Here is the lesson: the ultimate reward we desire is eternal life in God, to see God face to face. It doesn't matter who began the heavenly race earlier and who began late. Each will receive the same reward. What's important is to be at the duty post for the hiring. As Scripture says, "Seek the Lord while he may be found" (Is 55:6); that is, when we're still alive. Be ready to accept divine invitation whenever and however it comes calling. He or she who comes first like a creedal Catholic or who comes last like the thief on the right-hand side of Jesus during the crucifixion, would receive the same reward—heaven (beatific vision). The heavenly prize is not dependent on when one started, but how faithful. 

If this is how God treats us, shouldn't it also influence how we relate with one another as children of God? Mercy loses its glory if it is merited. No one merits mercy; this is why it's called mercy. If we are waiting for someone who has offended us to deserve mercy, we may not have realized what true mercy is. 

Forgiveness is a fraction of mercy. Mercy encompasses much more because mercy goes beyond forgiveness and sometimes overlooks the protocols of forgiveness. That is why it seems scandalous to many. True mercy is the Blessed Lord dying for us while we were sinners. It's love. It's mercy. 

Ask yourself: Do you deserve divine mercy?

Mercy is God granting us grace to see him. No one could see God if not by his mercy and love, which is also grace. Grace is mercy granting our unworthy selves to be enraptured in the glory of divine love and life through the gift of faith the Blessed Lord has given us. 

This week, how about we live mercy and show mercy? How about we become instruments of Divine Mercy for a wounded heart and a wounded world? 

Most Merciful Lord, grant me the grace to live and show mercy. Amen. Please make me a disciple of your mercy and compassion. Amen. 

God love you. God bless you.
​ 
Fr. Maurice Emelu 
 
[Sunday Week 25 A: Is 55:6-9: Phil 1:20-24, 27; Mt 20:1-16]

Grace to you!

Do you sometimes wonder why God's word doesn't seem to grow in the hearts of many who receive it? Do you want the word of God you have received to grow and bear much fruit? I have a few suggestions, inspired by the parable of the sower (Luke 8:4-15). 

1. Allow the Word to be sown: God's word has to be sown in our hearts first before it can germinate, grow, and produce fruit. Scripture says, "faith comes by hearing" (Romans 10:17). 

The word of God is sown in many ways. They include the following: By reading God's word in Scripture, listening to God's Word during liturgical celebrations. It can also be planted during a faith-sharing discussion, casual Godly interactions with people, or reading spiritual literature. With modern means of communication, many media provide faith-based resources too. Reading or listening to them could feed us with God's word and make us disposed to grow and mature in faith, thereby producing fruit. Therefore, first, reach out to occasions of God's word. I call this "being in the zone of God's word." 

2. Guard and Protect the Word: God's word, which you have received, is a treasure, and you have to guard it as you protect your treasure. Borrowing Saint Paul's line: "It is a treasure in clay" (2 Cor 4:7). Though the word is powerful, it would not force itself to make a home in your heart. It demands your freedom to guard it. 

You guard the word against the deceiver, whose goal is to mislead and make you ignore the word's relevance. The devil's deceptions come through subtle but powerful ways. Among them include sowing the seed of doubt, the "it doesn't matter" attitudes, and worldliness—convincing us that our lifestyle doesn't matter in terms of our faith in God's word, plus other deceitful innuendos. Guard against deceit. The Blessed Lord Jesus says: "The devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts…" (Lk 8:12) 

3. Have Roots: Just like the tree, the roots are the networks to nutrition. Without roots, there will be no nutrients for the tree. Our roots are the network with believers, and our network with the means of spiritual nutrition and strength, namely the sacraments. 

Similarly, because God's word isn't simply an individual affair or merely an intellectual process, it must be incarnated. For us Christians, the word of God is Jesus, the Divine Logos. It is the Eternal and Incarnate Word. This Word took flesh in the womb of a woman (the Blessed Virgin Mary) and dwelt among us, not merely as individuals, but ultimately as his body, the Church. God's Word is rooted in his body, the Church. So, for the word you receive to be planted on fertile, not the rocky ground where it has no root, you have to cultivate it in the community of faith, the Church. 

It is in the Church, through the Liturgy, that God's word is essentially rooted and takes root in the hearts of believers. Be part of the Church where the word is well-rooted, especially during the Eucharist. The faith of the Christian community enriches your faith too. 

4. Think God: As God's word takes root and matures in your life, and as you nourish it in the Church, never lose sight of where your mind should always be—focused on God. Be absorbed in the things of God and the spiritual life. Worldliness is a severe parasite to the fruitfulness of God's word in our lives. The Blessed Lord reminds us that "the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life" could choke God's word and cause them not to produce fruit (See Luke 8:14). Hence, we should always be aware of the sources of worldliness and block them off our spiritual radar. 

5. Live Godly: Just like any human realities, for the word of God to mature and produce fruit in our lives, we have to live it day in and day out. The fruitfulness of God's word occurs not at a time or a specific moment but through the course of our living the life of the gospel. For those in Christ and who live the life of Christ, every day is a fruit of joy. It radiates like a full moon and exudes like a pleasant fragrance for all to perceive. 

You know you live the life through and through (the ideal) when you wouldn't need to dichotomize your life in the church and your life elsewhere. It has to be the same person all through. The heart is the same, and the mind is the same. Such a life bears much fruit—namely, the fruit of righteousness like joy, peace, love, kindness, etc. It also produces the fruits of evangelization, such as inspiring other people's faith-journey. 

Allow God's word in your heart, guard it jealously, and be rooted. Always thinking Godly thoughts and living the life of Christ, you will see how your spiritual life would mature and produce abundant fruits, thanks to God's grace. 

I pray you mature and bear fruits, fruits of the gospel. Amen. 

God love you. God bless you.

Fr. Maurice Emelu

Saturday Week 24

 
Grace to you!
 
Today, I focus on love as the greatest of all gifts. 
 
From time to time, events happen that reveal the beauty of human life transformed by God's grace. Now and then, we have living testimonies of sacrifices worth sharing. Look around you and notice they are everywhere. Here, I share one notable instance. It was an example of a sacrificial love that occurred on September 16, 2019, in the eastern part of Nigeria.
 
Fr. Charles Chukwukelue Ebele, a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Onitsha,  drowned in the River Niger. The River Niger is the major river in West Africa, covering about 2600 miles running through the Guinea highlands to the borders of Mali and Niger Republic across the Gulf of Guinea into the Atlantic Ocean. It is the 3rd largest river in Africa.
 
Sometimes, the river can be turbulent as to pose a danger. Unfortunately, the river became so stormy that the boat in which Fr. Ebele was, began to capsize. The priest noticed that another person in the boat might not have a chance of surviving if the boat sank. He undid his life vest and gave it to him.
 
The boat finally capsized. The priest couldn't make it before the coast guards arrived. He gave his life for another. He died for sacrificial love. Fr. Ebele is the most recent example of heroic love comparable to Saint Maximilian Kolbe's. He is a real case of the Titanic moving story.
 
Stories of love touch us in the most profound ways. In those stories, we connect at a deeper level, to the best of human aspirations. Such was the most moving reality of God's love. We are moved to read how God so loved us to the point of the Son giving his life for us (Jn 3:16). 
 
It is the purest love that lets oneself be at the services of the common good and others' needs. Life for others is a true testament of pure love. Such is the greatest.
 
Saint Paul writes to the Corinthian Church and us about the nature, necessity, and role of the Church's spiritual gifts (I Cor 12). 
 
Next, he speaks of the greatest of these gifts, namely love (1 Cor 13:13). Of course, we know that love is one of the most misunderstood words today—from mere emotional or sensual connection to friendship or family ties, etc., an issue I will not discuss here.
 
It is sufficient to list the following pointers to true love: It is that which springs from God because "God is love" (1 Jn 4:8). It unites and binds us together as children of God. It makes us live not for ourselves alone but also for others.  It is living so that we can see in our most inner selves my neighbor as God's image and relate to that neighbor based on God's love. Et cetera.
 
Saint Paul gives us at least thirteen criteria to measure the quality of our love. He writes: “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor 13:4-7). 
 
Hence, to measure the extent of my love, these could serve as a prayerful meditation and question for me: To what extent am I patient with others, especially the ones that drive me crazy? To what extent do I show kindness to those who, in my opinion, do not deserve it? Am I bitterly jealous of others, their gifts, and accomplishments?  Am I boastful of the gifts or blessings I have? Etc.
 
Perhaps a prayerful reflection on 1 Cor 13:1-13 this week could help us think more deeply about the quality of our love.
 
May the Lord give us the grace to love as we are loved in God. Amen. 
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
[Wednesday Week 24, Ordinary Time: 1 Cor 12:31-13:13; Lk 7:31-35]