Grace to you!
 
A man became very apprehensive of his mom’s calls, especially when the calls became more frequent. When the mom called in that manner, often, the man is under the weather, dealing with one crisis situation or another. Though he tried to downplay what was going on with him, his mom was not convinced. Mom has a way of sensing something isn’t right. Some call it a kind of telepathy. I call it a unique love intuition. 
 
Parent-child relationship is a unique intimacy that goes beyond mere physical likeness. It’s profoundly spiritual. Parents generally know their children much better than the children may be aware of or acknowledge. They pay attention. The change of facial tone, tone of voice, sleeping habit, dress code, eating habit and walkout schedule, etc., are not ignored. Parents pay attention to small details and often correctly guess what may be going on. 
 
Did you know that with God, the creator who loves us with an everlasting love, nothing about us is ignored? The all-knowing and all-loving God sees us through and through. As the Psalmist says, God knows us and our innermost thoughts (Ps 139:1-3). God pays attention to the minutest details about us and God sees even the insignificant events or circumstances that worry us. Not only does God see, God also cares.
 
Sometimes we fear about out life, our future, our family and our career. Fear is a natural human phenomenon. It’s important we know that in our fears, God is closest to us. 
 
The Lord Jesus reassures us that even the fear of persecution should not deter us from loving God and glorifying God. 
 
“Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7). 

Think about this God’s message: nothing, no matter how insignificant, could escape God’s knowledge and providence. In the same way, no suffering you endure, and no persecution you experience would ever be ignored by the Lord Jesus Christ. Every good you do has a reward and every witness of faith is pleasant to God. 

If you were to know the impact of your endurance and witness of faith in the communion of the heavenly, flowing like a stream of graces for many thousands and thousands of years after you, you would probably want more and more opportunities to bear witness to your faith in God and in the Church. No persecution is without enduring value. No suffering is in vain. 

Be not afraid of those who can destroy the body or utter all sorts of calumny against you, call you names because you are a Christian, a believer, a Catholic. Smile and say with the apostles, “we are privileged to suffer for Christ” (Acts 5:41; Phil 1:29).  I am glad to be on your team O Lord Jesus. Your team is the true love team, the grace team and the team of the redeemed. 

Be bold. Be resolute. Be courageous. 

God love you. God bless you.
​ 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
[Friday Week 28, Ordinary Time: Eph 1:11-14; Lk 12:1-7]
 
 
 
 

Grace to you!
 
It could be a challenging task to clear the reading desk of a senior academic. You are not certain what is important and what isn’t; and though the table is very messy, for the academic, every little piece of paper on that desk is very important.
 
This scenario isn’t the case only with scholars; many of us have messy desks and untidy rooms. We have gotten used to keeping things in a particular way that any attempt by a cleaner to place them in another place, perhaps more appropriate spot, is uncomfortable. 
 
The above analogy, though simple, has huge implication on the way we look at things. Many times, we get used to a certain way of living and thinking, so much so we ignore the core, what really matters. Finding a routine is good, easier and less stressful. However, in many other cases, it could be a barrier to the Spirit. 
 
Consider the legalism in many of our cultures, some of which may not necessarily be in line with our Christian faith. Coming from Africa where traditional culture is key, I know this first hand. 
 
On a number of occasions, Jesus confronted legalism among his followers and his brethren. One case is when a Pharisee invited him for dinner. See the setting as documented in Scripture: “The Pharisee was amazed to seethat he [Jesus] did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you” (Luke 11:38-41).
 
Harsh as this may sound; Jesus was hitting home his objection to hypocrisy and legalism; practices that ignore the essentials of true holiness under the guise of external observances. 
 
The problem of the Pharisee in this above story wasn’t because of hygienic concerns. It was because of a broader rite of ritual impurities. The presumption was that because many of the things the hands touch could have been contaminated, one must be ritually washed—even if the hand has been thoroughly washed—before one could eat. 
 
Ritual washing is a religious ceremony and follows a strict format. It includes pouring water out from a cup or jar, first twice over the right hand, and then twice over the left hand; making sure the unpurified hands do not touch the water used for the ritual before it is poured. While this is going on, a prayer/benediction is recited: “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with Thy commandments and has commanded us concerning the washing of the hands.” Then the hands are dried with a towel before the meal is taken. 
 
This ritual seems pleasant and the prayer is even beautiful. However, the belief that if the hands were not ritually washed, any food taken with them would contaminate the entire person was erroneous. It makes purity or holiness a matter of physical things rather than inner transformation and virtue. 
 
Remember when Jesus stated that it is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean, but what comes out of him (Matthew 15:11). It’s all in line with his teaching here.
 
May we always realize that external observances are useless without interior transformation—the practice of virtue. May we be inspired to keep, not simply the letters of the law, but the spirit, and thereby open our hearts to the love of God and one another. Amen.
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu 
 
[Tuesday Week 28, Ordinary Time: Gal 5:1-6; Lk 11:37-41]

Grace to you!
 
Today in our Catholic tradition we are celebrating the life of one of the four women who are honored as Doctors of the Church, the other three are Saints Catherine of Siena, Therese of Lisieux (the youngest of all the Doctors of the Church) and Hildegard of Bingen. 
 
A Doctor of the Church is not an academic award. It is a church recognition to a saint whose writings are so profound that they give deep insight into the mysteries of our faith; and their relevance has a universal appeal. 
 
Saint Teresa of Jesus, popularly known as Saint Teresa of Avila, a Carmelite mystic from Spain (March 28, 1515 - October 4, 1582), is honored by the Church as a Doctor of Prayer (named by Pope Paul VI) for good reasons. Reading her Interior Castle, wherein she describes the spiritual journey from the first stage of spiritual growth (First mansion) to the seventh mansionof mystical union, is a must read for anyone who wants to connect with the depth of her spirituality. 
 
I am fascinated by her story and would love to reflect on how she overcame spiritual roadblocks to reach “perfection” in response to God’s grace. Her story is a message of hope to many who feel, “spiritual union isn’t possible for me.” 
 
Teresa was a strikingly beautiful daughter of fairly wealthy parents. She learned the ways of the Lord when she was young.  To protect her from intruding men, her dad sent her to study and live in the convent, where she received her vocation to be a nun. But the worldliness of some of the nuns—a time when some in the religious life were quite worldly—coupled with the materialism of the time, influenced her so much so that she became worldly too. 
 
From her autobiography, Her Life, published posthumously, which she wrote in obedience to her spiritual director, we learn some lessons about the dangers of worldliness to the spiritual life and how to overcome it. She was candid about her struggles with worldliness in her twenties, even while she was in the monastery. She also shares how the grace of God helped her overcome worldliness when she was about 41 years. 
 
Pay attention to what she said hindered her spiritual growth. 
 
First was being careless about sin.Saint Teresa said she started explaining sin away because of the liberal and permissive advice given to her by priests who told her some of what the Church teaches were sin weren’t. She started to imbibe erroneous ideas, and develop a lax mindset. This cost her a lot. 
 
Second, she said not avoiding the occasion of sin caused her to fall back to the same sins over and over again.She then advised that for one to grow in the spiritual life, the person must avoid people, places and situations associated with sinning, as much as possible.
 
Third, Teresa was of the view that dependence on her ability to grow or practice virtue was another thing that blocked her growth in the spiritual life. “This self-reliance was what destroyed me,” she said. (See Her Life, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriques, OCD, 2nd edition, vol. 1, Washington D.C.: ICS Publications 1987), chapter 19, no.15, p.171). She believed that many people backslide because they get tired and frustrated and give up. They rely on themselves. Her spiritual growth took a different turn when she completely relied on God’s grace and trusted God to lead her to perfection. “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). 
 
Connected to this factor is the fourth, which is the necessity of valuing and depending on the grace of God. Saint Teresa said God constantly gives us a sense of His presence through prayer and the simple things around us. It can come through prayer burdens, through simple events around us, and, by those silent voices directing us to do something good, to respond to God’s call. The more we respond to this call of grace, the more we grow spiritually. When we ignore them, we gradually become less and less aware of God’s Presence and hear less of God’s voice. 
 
I can go on and on about this great woman who has inspired generations of Catholic spirituality. For today, focusing on these four points—not being careless about sin, avoiding the occasions of sin, not relying on ourselves to be holy, and responding to the promptings of grace—, could be a good way to start for those who think that a deeper life in Spirit isn’t for them. 
 
Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us. 
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu 
 
 

Grace to you!
 
Today’s reflection focuses on the gift of wisdom. Permit me to use a different style in relating the content so as to explain some necessary aspects of the teaching. 
 
Generally, many people regard wisdom as a skill born out of experience, training, relationships and networking. The Christian notion of wisdom is different. Wisdom is not simply a skill, or a talent acquired by experience or training but a gift of God, the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the fullness of this wisdom, in Christian worldview is a person. 
 
Wisdom is listed in the prophesy of Isaiah 11:2-3 as one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, or properly called in Catholic Christian phraseology, the seven traditional gifts of the Holy Spirit. The first verse of this text of Isaiah introduces the granting of this gift from a source, identified as flowing from the stock of Jesse. “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isaiah 11:1). The above prophesy refers to the Messiah, the son of David who is the son of Jesse, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 
 
In the mystic prayer of Wisdom in the book of Wisdom chapter 9 attributed to King Solomon, wisdom is equally identified with one who sits with God; one in equality with God as the imagery depicts. Wisdom is identified as a person not simply a quality. “Give me the wisdom that sits by your throne” (Wisdom 9:4). A similar notion is expressed in the New Testament, but in a more vivid way. The Gospel of John introduces the Good News with reference to the logos. “In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God and the logos was God” (John 1:1). “And the logos became fresh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Logos was translated and could be translated as word, wisdom or reason. 
 
Wisdom in the Christian tradition is the person of the Son; it flows from God and is granted to believers. Thus, for a person to have wisdom, it must be gifted him or her. It is the gift of God, from the Father through the Son who is the Wisdom of God and by the Holy Spirit. As the Catholic tradition holds, this gift of wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit granted to believers through the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. The sanctifying grace enables the believer to be holy and have an habitual life of God, or the seal of God. 
 
The bible is clear on how the wisdom is a gift from God. “For even if one is perfect among the sons of men yet without the wisdom that comes from you (emphasis mine) he will be regarded as nothing” (Wisdom 9:6). Because wisdom is a gift from God, the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can pray and ask for it and God will supply it. King Solomon prayed for it and received it: “I prayed, and understanding was given to me; I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me” (Wisdom 7:7). 
 
What is the nature of this wisdom? It is the gift from God through the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit that enables us to penetrate the mysteries of God and see things, reality, events, and indeed, everything as God sees them. It is the gift that enables us to perceive everything in their right perspective. Wisdom helps us to understand the place of God and his sovereignty over all as well as the place of humanity and the rest of creation as God’s created beauty. 
 
By seeing things in the light of God, that is their right perspective, wisdom enables us to properly prioritize as well as come really close to God’s plan, the will of God in every situation of our lives. God’s delight will begin to be our delight. God’s priority becomes our priority and God’s distaste will become our distaste. 
 
By wisdom, the will of God will no longer be a stranger to us. It will not be something accidental to our will and our nature but will become our own delight too. Wisdom is a habit of the soul making our intellect align with God’s will and plans. 
 
As I have said, the life of wisdom enables us to prioritize. I need to make some applications of this reality about the gift of wisdom. Wisdom makes us know the value and the reason for who we are, what we have and the very purpose for our lives. Take for instance wealth. Wisdom equips us to see wealth from God’s point of view as an instrumental cause instead of the final cause (to use the terminology of St. Thomas Aquinas). Wealth would not be seen as the end in itself but a means to an end. 
 
The wise know how to use wealth as good stewards, not as hoarders or wasteful spendthrifts. They use wealth for self, for family, and for the well being of others in generosity and almsgiving, knowing that they are blessed so as to bless others. 
 
In the Gospel of Mark 10:17-30, a rich aristocrat—young, smart, highly connected and wealthy—, came face to face with Jesus, the wisdom of God. In spite of the young man’s exceptional religiosity, including humility which is rare for a young accomplished man, he asked how to reach eternal life. 
 
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God, acknowledged the young aristocrat had done all things well. He had kept the law (ten commandments) from childhood, but he was lacking in wisdom. He could not realize that his blessings weren’t for him alone but for many others. He could not connect the dots that though the right to own property, wealth is private, personal, but the use of it has social implications and demands. He was a hoarder, attached to his wealth. He lacked wisdom, even though in the eyes of the world, many might argue he is a wise man to have accomplished much at his age. 
 
The encounter with Jesus was difficult for him. It was difficult to take the challenge of Jesus because, as the bible says, “He was a wealthy man.” He had come with a wrong impression about heaven. He wanted to earn it as he had earned his wealth. He relied on his ability without realizing the great gift of wisdom from God and the grace of real transformation that comes when we are ready to detach from stuff and align our will with God’s. 
 
From this encounter, Jesus makes a chilling and honest declaration about how unwise attachment to wealth or anything whatsoever we have is to the detriment of the intent of the Creator for giving us those blessings. “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mk 10:24-25). 
 
We learn from this text that it would take a lot of stooping, literally crawling, which means humility, detachment, and ultimately the gift of wisdom for a rich man to enter into heaven. It would be less difficult for a camel that has to stoop so low to the point of crawling with its stomach to pass through the eye of a needle (the small gate, the only access to the city when the main gate is closed). 
 
Pray with me, “Lord, let your wisdom be with us to help us and to work with us.” Amen.
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
[28thSunday Ordinary Time B: Wis 7:7-11; Heb 4:12-13; Mk 10:17-30]

Grace to you!

May I introduce today’s reflection with a popular bible story: Fascinated by Jesus’ words and actions, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Jesus, “‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!’ But he [Jesus] said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” (Luke 11: 27-28). 

Has there been a time you deeply reflected on this text? 

Surely, the Lord was not dismissive of his mother. He was actually reaffirming what made his mother “Blessed.” It is hearing and keeping God’s word. 

I would love to walk us through some insight into what faithfully hearing and keeping God’s word means, using the example of Mary. I will borrow from the thoughts of Saint Pope John Paul II, from the homily he gave in Mexico City Cathedral on 26 January 1979. 

The Pope said Mary’s fidelity to God manifested in four ways, sort of one leading to the other. I would love for us to pay attention to them because they could help us in getting to the core of how to embrace God’s word, how to be faithful believers. 

First is search.“Mary was faithful first of all when she began, lovingly, to seek the deep sense of God’s plan in her and for the world. Quomodo fiet?How shall this be?, she asked the Angel of the Annunciation” (see Luke 1:34). 

We must search, and I would say thirst for God’s Word, God’s plan in our lives as the deer yearns for a flowing stream. It’s blessing to do so. 

Second is reception and acceptance.According to the Pope, the “how shall this be” (quomodo fiet?) is “changed, on Mary’s lips, to a fiat:Let it be done, I am ready, I accept.” The pope says this stage is crucial because we have to understand we may not completely know how the word or plan of God would eventually play out in our lives. “…in God’s plan [there are] more areas of mystery than of clarity” and that however we may try, we will never succeed in understanding it completely. 
​
Isn’t it true in your life that many times, you do not know how the will of God would work out? Yet the expectation is to trust that God will see you through. God never fails. 
 
Third is consistency to live in accordance with what one believes.We have to adapt our life to God’s word. This comes with trails and temptations, but we have to be consistent. “But all faithfulness must pass the most exacting test, that of duration,” the pope says. 
 
Fourth is constancy.The pope says, “It is easy to be consistent for a day or two. It is difficult and important to be consistent for one’s whole life. It is easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm, it is difficult to be so in the hour of tribulation. And only a consistency that lasts throughout the whole of life can be called faithfulness. Mary’s ‘fiat’ in the Annunciation finds its fullness in the silent ‘fiat’ that she repeats at the foot of the Cross” 
 
So, if you want to respond to Jesus’s invitation as to be blessed in the footsteps of Mary, follow these four steps of faithfulness—deeply desire God’s Word, God’s Will, accept it, be consistent in holding on to it and be constant to the end. How about that? 
 
May God give us the grace to welcome the Word and consistently live according to the Word of God. Amen. 
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
[Saturday Week 27 Ordinary Time: Gal 3:22-29; Lk 11:27-28]
 
 
 
 

Grace to you!
 
A friend got a ticket for crossing double lines on a highway. You know that feeling of “Oops! The cops! Please have mercy…” 
 
His violation was way beyond the officer’s leniency. He knew the ticket was coming. Surely it did. 
 
By the time the bill came, at least $500 of hard-earned money was gone. He had the choice to go to a driving school; otherwise, the violation would be in his driving history. He chose to go to the driving school. Smart. The lesson he learned at the school is my inspiration for telling this story. 
 
After the driving school, a happy and confident friend shared how grateful he is after getting the driving violation ticket. 
 
“How do you mean?” I asked. 
 
“I didn’t know that I didn’t know many rules about driving these days,” he replied.  
 
It’s been long since he went to driving school and he seems not sure what certain traffic rules are. This is dangerous for him and for other commuters for that matter. 
 
“After attending the driving school,” he continued, “I have become absolutely confident about myself at the wheel. Sighting cops, going through unmarked roads, I know exactly what the rules are. The knowledge of the rules has made me freer and increased my confidence level at the wheel,” he concluded. 
 
Ironical, isn’t it? 
 
Confidence grows by knowledge. If you know what you should know, you are freer to follow the paths you know you should. Making better choices become easier. Being more informed is a plus. Self-confident people are self-aware; their confidence grows with knowledge and experience. 
 
Many people are threatened by the concept of the law. We know, as Saint Paul said, simply following the law doesn’t justify believers (Romans 3:20). He would also say that the knowledge of the law is death, meaning that if there were no law, there wouldn’t be the knowledge of its violation – sin. And the just God wouldn’t punish either. But this is too simplistic an interpretation of the bible.  
 
A more Christ-like attitude is one based on the positive spirit for which the law has been given. It isn’t a testament of death, but of love and life – to show us the way to live. When a scholar of the Law asked Jesus what he must do to gain eternal life, did Jesus not summarize it in two positive responses, based on the law – love of God and love of neighbor? (See Luke 10:25-37) 
 
Jesus even showed him that the love of neighbor isn’t simply regarding a fellow brother from the same family, race or clan, but anyone who is a human being. God’s Law makes us free for love. Remember that beautiful biblical passage: “They shall know the truth and the truth shall make them free” (John 8:32). 
 
Knowing what God expects from us is a confidence builder. This is not only in the moral sense, but also in spiritual discernment. Many times, I have listened to the agonies of people who wonder—I am not sure what God wants me to do now? Such a feeling could be frustrating. 
 
But for those who know the will of God, the law of God, and are so familiar with how God relates to them, their faith is a different story. Their spiritual life is admirable. It’s like a house built on a solid foundation. 
 
I pray you know the law of God and the will of God, so much so that you are confident about what God expects of you. Thus, through the power of God’s grace and the Spirit, you live freely with what you know. Amen. 
 
Be a confident believer. 
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu 
 
[Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time: Galatians 1:6-12; Luke 10:25-37]
 
 

Grace to you!
 
On many occasions, I’ve been privileged to conduct marriage preparation classes. I’ve heard some candidates for marriage say things such as: “Let’s give it a try.” Or, “We decided to see if it will work for us.” 
 
When I hear such, it lets me know that there is much work to do to teach the life-commitment— “for better for worse”—which the Lord establishes for marriage in the Church. 
 
We read the conversation between some Pharisees and the Lord concerning the question of marriage and divorce. 
 
The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" (Mark 10:2)
 
To me, many ask the same or similar questions today. Nothing is new under the sun.
 
To this Jesus replies by repeating the words from the Book of Creation (Gen 2:24). By so doing, he shows his approval of the divine mandate about the human bond of love in marriage. “What God has joined together let no one separate” (Mk 10:9).  
 
A brief analysis of the context of this approval is crucial. The background to the question is a long-time controversy between two camps during the time of Jesus, a time (like ours) with loose morality. There were two schools of thought on the divorce question: the Shammai School (regarded as conservatives) and the Hillel School (regarded as liberals). These schools tilted the all-important divine law to become a matter of political debate. Whichever side one chose became a matter of partisan debate. 
 
The Pharisees, therefore, thought they could entrap and discredit Jesus if they inserted him in this hot button political debate. Whichever side the Lord took on the divorce controversy, a great number of people would differ and therefore stop following him. 
 
Do you see any similarities between these schools and Christianity today? By the way, the use of these words—conservative Catholic or liberal Catholic—is a misnomer. You are either a Catholic or not. We should be careful of bringing political arguments into Church matters. It is wise to know the lines between the two. When we allow political matters to determine what is binding or not binding in our faith, we have sold our soul on the altar of worldly religion. We have built for ourselves the golden calf and created for ourselves the god who worships us rather than worship the God who created us. 
 
The Lord’s response in Mark 10:2-16, underscores five key points which a believer has to take seriously. His response addresses marriage in the Judeo-Christian tradition. 
 
1. Moses allowed divorce as a concession which is not in line with the will of God. 
2. Divorce is due to the hardness of heart. Recall that the kind of heart needed to follow the Lord is a heart of flesh, not a heart of stone (Ez 36:26).
 
3. Marriage is not just a civil affair. It is a natural law. More importantly, it is a divine law. It cannot be dissolved without a violation of the right that belongs to God. No person, not even a religious leader, could dissolve a valid marriage. The Church, under certain conditions which are meticulously examined by the proper ecclesiastical juridical authority, could declare an invalid marriage null, but does not dissolve a valid marriage. A null marriage means that from the start, the marriage was not a valid sacramental union. To read the Churches teaching on this issue, you may want to consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1629. Read also 1983 Code of Canon Lawchapters five and six, covering canon 1108-1129 for norms on what constitutes validity and non-validity of the sacrament of matrimony. But every marriage in the church is presumed valid until proven otherwise (Code of Canon Law, #1060). 
 
4. Marriage was ordained in the beginning, right from creation (Gen 1and 2). 
 
5. God made them male and female (not males and females) to show the singularity of the union. It is a union deeper than any other on earth which can make a man leave (sign of permanent departure) his biological family and be joined to his wife (a symbol of perpetual union) so much so that by the very act of God they become one and no longer two. This is possible because of the power of God, not humans, and could not be remade without a violation of this power.
 
As we reflect on these words of our Savior, let us ask for the grace to keep faithful to the plan of God in the marriage union. To do so is blessing for us and for society. 
 
God bless our families. God bless married couples. God bless those seeking to find their best half. 
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
[27thSunday Ordinary Time B: Gen 2:18-24; Heb 2:9-11; Mk 10:2-16 or 10:2-12]