Grace to you!
 
In our everyday life, there are times we look for signs from the Lord. It could be signs of divine approval for a particular decision, signs that God is leading our affairs. 
 
Signs in our religious experience are pointers that God is here. God is with us and is in charge of things as they unveil. In technical biblical language, signs are the miraculous. It could include nature miracles, such as calming of the storm; healing miracles, such as opening the eyes of the blind; provisions or what some call miracles of supply, such as feeding of the five thousand; and miracles over the demonic, such as casting out demons or exorcism. 
 
The Lord Jesus Christ did numerous miracles during his public ministry. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ from the apostles till today, in the Lord’s name, have been granted the grace of the miraculous. Signs and wonders didn’t end with the Christ. As he assured his disciples, those who believe will witness the miraculous too (Mk 16:17). 
 
I don’t know about you, but in my life and ministry, I have seen so much of the miraculous works of God. The miraculous confirms more and more that the Lord is at work even today. The miraculous often strengthens those whose faith sometimes grow cold.  
 
On the other hand, the Lord warned against faith dependent on the miraculous (Mt 12:38-42). We read about the encounter between him and some scribes and Pharisees: 
 
“Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Mt 12:38-39). 
 
In the above conversation, the Lord is demonstrating two things at the same time. Rejecting the search for the miraculous as a precondition for faith. He also offered his death and resurrection as the climax of all miraculous and the sign which is sufficient for faith.  
 
Of what use is faith if is based on what we can see with the physical eye? What is the evidence of one’s faith if it is based on miracles? As the Letter to the Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Which means in faith, one is accepting what is not seen with the physical eyes. Hence, we call it “seeing with the eye of faith.” Signs are seeing with the physical eyes. 
 
Experience has shown that those who look for signs before they believe would hardly believe. This is because the human heart can never be satisfied with one sign. It would want some more and when it does not come, the past miracles are easily forgotten. 
 
I have seen this over and over again in ministries. Many easily forget what has happened before. They forget when the Lord did the miraculous and saved them from a situation. A new challenge comes, they forget about the past. 
 
For those who have faith, they keep moving on. They are convinced that miracle or no miracle, the Lord is in charge of their life and history. As the Psalmist says, “Those who trust in the Lordare like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever” (Ps 125:1). 
 
I pray for you today. May you be gifted with so strong a faith that in all things, you keep an eye on the finish line of saving grace. Amen. 
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu 
 
[Monday, 16thWeek Ordinary Time: Micah 6:1-4, 6-8; Matthew 12:38-42] 
 
 

Grace to you!
 
One of the no-nos in a scientific empirical research, if it must pass the test of legitimacy, is “forcing.” “What is forcing?” one may ask.
 
It is imposing a result on data that has little or nothing to do with the data. Or superimposing a preconceived idea upon a data that has nothing to do with what the data is showing.
 
Take for instance; you want to analyze the behaviors of a German shepherd in comparison with a Caucasian shepherd over a period of time. Your interest is on their dietary habit. If you ignore the actual data coming from the time, quantity, sequence and frequency of the dietary habits, and inject what you found in another specie of dog in order to propose a line of argument that supports your preconception, you have forced the result.
 
Underlying this criterion is the honest submission that what science does and should do, is to discover what is already present in nature. That’s all. We don’t create reality, including the truth of science, from nothing. We simply discover. To the extent this discovery is kept honest and not forced, the result would be considered legit. 
 
We become the best version of ourselves when we discover the truths in our very nature and calling. Ignore it, one is already forcing.
 
Though many times friends and associates may try to convince us that truth isn’t real, be assured that at least, you, your nature, and your environment are objectively real. Or do you doubt this?
 
One important thing for those who are always “forcing,” they hardly ever discover the truth, neither of science nor of the more spiritual realities. A sort of intellectual humility is required to discover heavenly reality. Just like cultural humility is necessary to understand a given culture. 
 
I was thrilled to hear Jesus pray to God the Father and state that the “great things” are hidden from the so-called wise and learned, and revealed to little children (cf. Matthew 11:25).
 
We could read “little children” to mean humble and honest hearts; those who are not forcing, but those ready to discover. 
 
Hear the most amazing of Jesus’ declaration:  “All things have been delivered to me by the Father and no one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).
 
It follows that the all-important divine truth could only be discovered too. The Son grants this discovery. It’s what is called revelation. It’s revealed. Just as the angelic doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas, said, we believe because it’s been revealed for we “cannot assent to what has not been revealed.”
 
Thank God you already know Christ and therefore God. If not, be open for God's revelation of the Godself to you. To grow in this knowledge, depend on the extent of your humble openness to be led into the Christ-event. The revelation grows like a fount of water that you feel within you, “I am in love” or simply, “I’m loving it.” You wouldn’t need to force it. 
 
Humility and acknowledgment of our limitations, being like little children, is key to more discoveries.
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
 
[Wednesday, July 13, 2016, Ordinary Time: Isaiah 10:5-7; Matthew 11:25-27] 
 
 

Grace to you!
 
With regard to giving back, there are at least two philosophies of life. They are “We live when we receive,” and “We live when we give back.” 
 
Following these two philosophies of life are two groups of people: Those who believe they have come to receive and those who believe they have come to give back. The one philosophy of life says, “I am here to be served.” The other says, “I have come to serve.” The one seeks the crown and gets a cross. The other embraces sacrifice, the cross, and receives a crown! 
 
These two classes of people exist in virtually every organization. In meeting and prayer rooms of church ministries, they are present too. They may be subtle. Look carefully, you will notice. 
 
You will notice it in that humble man who is always looking for how to volunteer and does so with a big smile. You will notice it in the other man who rarely volunteers, and seldom gives a cup of coffee to anyone. Yet, he is constantly whining about how nobody helps him or sees things his way.  
 
In our everyday life, we experience these opposing philosophies. One is opposed to the other, because when one is upheld, the other is suppressed. 
 
I find in the mission of the twelve (Mt 10:7-15) the Lord’s insight into choosing to be givers rather than receivers. The key players in the story are Jesus, the twelve apostles and those to whom the apostles were commissioned and sent to evangelize. 
 
The Lord sends. The missionary or evangelizer doesn’t send oneself. It is Jesus who sends. The directives are pretty straightforward. No hangovers. It has to be done with every measure of detachment and generosity. The evangelizer, the missionary, must be disposed to give without charge. First and foremost, he has to be the giver. 
 
How about the evangelizer’s sustenance? Jesus promises the people would provide. “The laborer deserves his wages” (Mt 10:10). 
 
Wait a minute, one may say. How would this work in real life? 
 
I suggest it lies in our realizing that both the evangelizer and the evangelized, the pastor and the parishioners, the minister and the people have to think of themselves as givers, not simply receivers. As Saint Paul, adapting Proverbs 22:9, reminded the Ephesians during his farewell address: “Blessed is the hand that gives than the hand that takes” (Acts 20:35). 
 
The person who receives God’s Word should realize that he or she has a spiritual obligation to give back. Give to your church. Give to the poor. Give back to your community. Give to others. Preachers should also see their role as that of givers and not careerists whose desire is to work for pay. 
 
If the work of evangelization must be set apart from other economic relationships, then it has to be built on the gospel truth, not based on trade-by-barter deals. A spirit of Christian generosity must be the watchword. 
 
Call it complementary? Yes, because if all give, all will complement one another. Subsidiarity? Yes, for regarding ministry, we help one another as God wills; a person’s strength should support another’s weakness; a person’s surplus, provision for the needy.
 
May there be a generous disposition in the ministry. Amen
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
[Thursday Week 14: Hosea 11:1-4, 8c-9; Matthew 10:7-15]
 
 
 

Grace to you!
 
Recently, I ran an idea concerning a big diocesan project by a friend who is an expert in strategic business planning. The project has to do with the furtherance of the mission of evangelization in that local church. I noticed that my friend made little or no contribution on the nature and funding source for the project. Rather, he suggested I take as a priority, the personnel training and succession planning regarding the project’s future, and advise the bishop of that diocese on specifics of personnel planning. 
 
Many ideas die not because people don’t have the financial and infrastructural way withal to execute them. It is because they don’t have the right personnel to lead and manage. Many times, churches struggle due to poor personnel and human resource management. Anyone who is trained in leadership and management understands this basic reality. 
 
When I read the gospel of Matthew 10:1-7, I am fascinated by the brilliant example the Lord Jesus, the leader par excellence, leaves for the Church. The Lord’s mission of bringing about the reign of God has to be continued. He had to train, inspire, mentor, commission and equip those to further the mission after him. He had to set up a structure, in which his authority and spirit will lead so his mission will spread to the whole world (Mt 28:19-20). 
 
For those clamoring for a church without structures, a free-for-all spiritual experience without commissioned leadership or organization, be sure you are asking for the kind of church the Lord commissioned. A free-for-all spiritual experience sounds nice. But is it the church the Lord founded?
 
Before choosing the twelve apostles (Mt 10:1-7), Jesus taught his followers of how rich the harvest is and how scarce are personnel who are willing and zealous to serve. He admonished them to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers to the harvest (Mt 9:38). 
 
Next, he showed an example by selecting twelve out of his numerous disciples to become chosen leaders to carry on the mission. Rightly called the pillars of the church with the prophets before them, and Christ as the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20), the apostolic college is evidence of that structure. 
 
By asking the disciples to pray, I believe they were praying for themselves and for many after them to be open to divine invitation to serve for the promotion of God’s reign. That prayer continues. Pray for the same petition. We need more passionate messengers of the Lord. As you pray, open your heart for the possibility to serve the way the Lord desires. 
 
The bible mentions the names of the twelve, so we know these were real people not imagery figures. Those were ordinary men without exceptional training. None of them had elitist portfolios. Yet, the Lord saw in their heart, the desire to serve first before leading. Hence, he chose them. No need to count yourself out of the mission because you suppose you aren’t qualified. What it takes is a passion and a love for the Lord’s cause, and the desire to serve. 
 
Robert Greenleaf, the servant leadershiptheorist, once said that great leaders have the desire to serve first. Hence, when they have the authority, they lead well. Fr. Robert Spitzer of Magis Centersuggests great leaders lead from the heart. They are passionate and homed in on the vision. I would say, they own the vision and live it. 
 
Praying that wherever you find yourself, you keep the mission of the reign of God alive. Amen. 
 
God love you. God bless you. 
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
[Wednesday Week 14 Ordinary Time: Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12: Mt 10:1-7]

Grace to you!
 
The stigmatist, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, popularly known as Padre Pio, was one of the most popular of modern saints. Reports of his holiness, love for God and neighbor, and incredible testimonies of miracles that the Lord worked through him were numerous. Many flocked from different parts of the world to see the monk who, for the most part, was secluded in the little room at Our Lady of Grace Capuchin Friary in San Giovanni Rotondo, Foggia, Italy. Delicate Francesco (Pio’s given name) could barely hold a barrel or display the physical toughness of the military when he was drafted as an Italian military during the second world war. He was discharged from duty after about 182 days due to his precarious health. However, he would turn out to be a valiant spiritual warrior against evil and the demonic world and a channel of healing grace to many. But, when he was alive, he suffered so much from some of his closest religious brothers and neighbors in Italy. The Lord said, “a prophet is without honor in his own town” (Mk 6:4). 
 
From canonized saints to many living witnesses of Christ you see many have noticed around your neighborhood and in churches across the world, hardly is there an easy pass when it comes to their immediate environment. You will observe that they have their fair experiences of how bearing witness to God entails swimming against the current. For that, they win more foes than one would expect, especially from those closer home.  
 
I was wondering why, when Prophet Ezekiel was commissioned to preach, God prewarned that the he would face rejection and that the mission wasn’t going to be easy (see Ezekiel 2:2-5). Yet, the prophet is required to say: “Thus says the Lord” (Ez 2:4). Whether the people listen or not is not the measure for the success of the prophet’s success. The prophet’s responsibility is to say what God says, pleasant or unpleasant. This is striking to me. 
 
In life, one could face various levels of challenging situations. Those challenges, which I prefer to see as opportunities, may be ways of testing our faith or maturation. Some of the opportunities may come from the field itself and the people we meet. We may meet indifferent, unloving and unwelcoming situations that we would be wondering why bother. 
 
A supervisor’s heart was so broken when she received a box of heinous petitions leveled against her by some members of her team. According to her, many of those accusations were blatantly false. Some came from those she thought were her closest allies. They simply didn’t want her, though they pretended they did. Hence, they made things difficult for her.
 
You may have noticed that sometimes your greatest hurdles in doing the right thing come from that child, that sibling, that friend, that colleague for whom you have sacrificed so much. The more witness of love you bear, the more manipulative they become. The day you choose no longer to be manipulated, that day, all the good you have done for them would be as if they never happened. You become the villain. You thought by living a saintly example, you would receive praise. You forget that saints are named only when they die. Various times, saints are regarded as villains by many of their contemporaries. 
Discouragement could come from yourself also. As Saint Paul shares with his own personal life, he carried in his body a humbling reminder. “A thorn in the flesh” he says, “to beat me, to keep me from being elated” (2 Cor 12:7). For Paul, it was a tormenting experience, an experience that could discourage anyone. 
 
What is your own thorn in the flesh? Declining health? Addiction? Hurting memories? Humbling child or sibling? Rejection from peers and colleagues? Broken and unhealed relationships? Betrayal and general frustrations because of things outside of your control? Do these keep you humble and sometimes make you want to quit from being the witness of the love, grace and mercy of God? Are these making you reconsider being that light in your community? 
 
Allowing your personal challenges to dampen the spirit of bearing witness isn’t the answer. God’s word speaks to you at this moment, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).  
 
Other elements of the challenge could come from relationships. We read in the Gospel of Mark 6:1-6 how Jesus wasn’t welcome in his own town, among his own people. They knew him—a mere son of a carpenter without elitist background. Underneath is jealousy. 
 
Sometimes, you may feel discouraged from shining the light because of sibling and sibling-like jealousy. If that were to discourage you, you know you have a long way to go. Jealousy is everywhere. Poor or wealthy you aren’t shielded from it. Even if you were to be an Ivy League school graduate or the child of the Queen of England, many will still put you down. Keep an eye on why you are here. Get about your daily work being Christ to others anyway. 
 
Accepted or rejected, praised or denounced, welcomed or shut out, keep the smile of grace coming. Keep shining the light. Keep the spirit of the Lord alive. Be one more instance of grace for your neighborhood. 
 
Personalizing Saint Paul’s encouraging line, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:10)
 
Praying for you, for the grace of courage, strengthening and endurance. Amen. 
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu 
 
[14th Sunday Ordinary Time B: Ez 2:2-5; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Mk 6:1-6]
 
 
 

Grace to you!
 
Autobiographies tell many stories that look too real and too unreal at the same time. I like reading them. They make for a lighter moment mental shootaround. Colorful scenes, decked plots and exaggerated facts punctuate the scripts, making it difficult to see the true identity of the writer. 
 
Nevertheless, when the writer is truly ready for a candid report about oneself, the story could be told in a rather bold, and fairly honest way. Such could be said of Saint Augustine’s Confessions as opposed to Jacques Derrida’s skeptical, pessimistic and confusing Circumfession. 
 
A man approached a priest. He told the story of his faith journey with details than the priest would rather care to know. In the end, the priest was wondering if the man wasn’t all out for the “I am good” bravado. His story was a praise of his goodness and holiness as if he were a living saint. There was no discernible moment the man expressed need for grace and God’s mercy. It was all about how good he was and how he needs the Church to endorse his style of life. Poor priest! 
 
You don’t need a class in bible studies or catechism to know that that man was unaware of what new life in Christ means. We may find ourselves in that story. Let’s look into ourselves. If you were to write a story about your faith journey, what would it look like?
 
Many people in the bible had the opportunity to write a bit about their life. One of them was Matthew, the said author of the Gospel according to Matthew. 
 
In Matthew 9:9-13, he describes the events of his call by Jesus. In few words, he tells us so much about what the call meant to him, the tax collector. 
 
Jesus called him. He followed. He was at dinner with Jesus and many other tax collectors and sinners. He contrasts the openness of the sinners towards Jesus with the attitude of the Pharisees, who were showing signs of “holier than thou.”  
 
Matthew wrote those details—the good and the bad about himself—with such brevity because he may have reached the freedom for Christ, which our past can’t cripple. Often, when we aren’t completely free from something, we tend to be defensive. Matthew wasn’t defensive. He was free indeed!
 
The call to follow Jesus presupposes a past that must be left behind. A past, though shameful, yet is revealing of what the power of God’s grace can do in the heart of anyone who welcomes it. Without that past, there would be no need for a new call. With a new call, there should be no more need to be defensive. 
 
If the past is very shameful, it shouldn’t be a stumbling block to the “new way”, Christ’s way. In fact, the more shameful the past, the more likely we appreciate better the freshness of freedom, grace and new life in Christ. “Where sin increased, grace abound all the more” (Rm 5:20). 
 
Many spiritual writers would agree that unless we could identify that moment, or some moments in our past that brought us on our knees, leading us to ask for divine grace and mercy, we may not have truly been converted or attuned to God’s redeeming and transforming grace. Ongoing conversion or renewal is normal. It’s expected of the true believer. 
 
The Lord Jesus said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). 
 
Praying for the grace of humble, repentant heart so God will heal us. Amen. 
 
God love you. God bless you.
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu. 
 
 
[Friday Week 13 Ordinary Time: Amos 8:4-9, 9-12; Matthew 9:9-13]

Grace to you!
 
Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t help yourself; or rather, where you needed a helping hand? Reflecting about those moments may help to appreciate the relevance of friendship, relationships, support system and intercession. 
 
Seeing documentaries about war veterans, I am always fascinated by the sacrifices veterans make for each other at the battlefront. They put their lives on the line to bring wounded soldiers to safety, often carrying them on their shoulders amidst the whizzing sound of blazing bullets over their heads. No weight of a wounded friend is unbearable in the face of war and deadly bullets.  
 
Consider your spiritual life. Isn’t it the case that sometimes you need somebody to pray for you? Other times, you feel the weight of some other person’s burdens prompting you to become an intercessor. Responding to those promptings is blessing. 
 
Many times in our spiritual life, the faith of the family and community of believers lifts us up. Take for instance, the prayers of your mom who ceaselessly mentions your name during her daily Masses, bible readings, rosaries or other prayers; or the prayers of your friends who shared your prayer-burden when they heard the news that you or your loved one was diagnosed with terminal disease. These prayer-support systems carry you on the wings of faith to Him, who alone can help you. 
 
You may not even believe in the power of those prayers, but your doubts wouldn’t stop God from doing what He is capable of doing. He is able. 
 
You may be encouraged to see how Jesus responds to intercessions for you or for others. Matthew 9:1-8 records the story of the healing of a paralytic by Jesus. In this case, Jesus didn’t simply respond to the paralytic because of his faith. Scripture reports that Jesus was drawn by the faith of the people who brought him. “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven’” (Matthew 9:2). Thereafter, he healed the man as he will heal us too.
 
There may be people around you, in your family, at your workplace, in your community or among your online friends who may need your faith-support to re-ignite their own faith. 
 
It would be wonderful if you and I, as believers, rediscover the power of intercession. Against the name-calling, bad blood in many communities and the spirit of vengeance and hatred due to real or imagined injustice done against us or someone we love, may we become intercessors. 
 
Believers are the salt of the earth and light of the world as they provide for what is lacking. They model the way. They spice the horrible taste of the world with the graciousness of prayer, sacrifices and love. Their intercessions avail much. 
 
How about we take up the petitions of those spiritually paralyzed, those emotionally, psychologically and mentally crippled, those who are deep in sin, even those who are forcibly opposed to our faith, one person at a time, before Jesus. 
 
Don’t you think rediscovering our roles as intercessors can help much? A prayer for a person each day is a holy service. Give it a try. You will be blessed. 
 
God love you. God bless you. 
 
Fr. Maurice Emelu
 
 
[Thursday Week 14 Ordinary Time: Amos 7:10-17; Matthew 9:1-8]