Fr. Ken's Pastoral Care

Advent Wreath  Readings: Isaiah 63:16-17;64:3-8; Psalm 80; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 and Mark 13:33-37.  CHRIST OUR HOPE OF SALVATION   Today we celebrate the first Sunday of advent, which begins a new liturgical calendar, year B and the weekday readings from year I. Advent has its origin from the Latin word Adventus , meaning “Coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia. It is a season of preparation for the celebration of God’s incarnation, that is, Christmas. This season, we patiently and vigilantly wait for the coming of Christ . His coming in three dimension: in incarnation, historically Christ took flesh and dwelt among us; His coming in sacrament, He constantly comes to us sacramentally; and His coming in majesty, which expresses the second coming of Christ.   This season of advent comes with a new look in the Church’s liturgy. The liturgical colour is changed to purple or violet and the Advent Wreath, which is a circle of evergreen branches w...

Christ the King Readings: Ezekiel 34:11-12.15-17; Psalm 23; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26.28 and Mathew 25:31-46.  THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST     Traditionally, the Holy Mother Church celebrates the last Sunday of ordinary season as solemnity of Christ the King of the universe. Pope Pius the XI established this solemnity in 1925 against the influence of secularism and for pastoral reasons the Church in Nigeria combines it with the solemn procession of Corpus Christi, which ought to be celebrated Thursday or Sunday after Trinity Sunday as thanksgiving for the institution of the Holy Eucharist. The kingship of Christ is expressed as a good shepherd who looks after his sheep and a just judge who separates the sheep from the goat.   The first reading take our minds back to the unfaithful shepherds of Israel who have failed to shepherd the people faithfully. So through the prophet Ezekiel who exercised his career in exile with the people of Israel in Babylon, God promised to ...

The Parable of the Talents   Readings: Proverbs 31:10-13;19-20; 30-31; Psalm 128; 1 Thess. 5:1-6 and Matthew 25:14-30. WHERE DO YOU BELONG: FLIRT OR VIRTUE?   Sometimes in our discussion, we share ideas on how we flirt with men or women. Often we are so fast to classify people. We hear discussions of this kind: “That guy/babe is the flirting type, if you want her, you will get her easily.” Again, we hear comments of this kind: “This other lady is not like that, she’s a ‘wife material,’ do not joke with her.” These are people predictable to a large extent as regards their integrity, honesty, fidelity, loyalty, character… and we can beat our chest to say ‘No,’ this person in question cannot be involved in an ungodly act. In view of this that the readings of today speaks of a good wife and accountability of all that has been entrusted to us at the end of time.   The first reading from the book of Proverbs has a continuous theme on women. The reading happily echoes la...

You are light to the world! Readings: Wisdom 6:12-16; Psalm 63; 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and Matthew 25:1-13.  HOW READY ARE YOU TO RECEIVE THE LORD?    Today’s liturgy brings to mind that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom but fools despises wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7). “Wisdom is more precious than jewels and nothing desirable can be compared with it” (Prov. 8:11). In essence, God Himself is Wisdom. We are encouraged to patiently seek the Lord and always be ready to welcome Him like the wise virgins as we gradually come close to the end of the liturgical year. It has been a journey with Matthew’s Gospel, which has the central message of the Kingdom of God in various parables. Interestingly is the parable of the ten virgins: five were foolish and five were wise women prepared to meet the source of wisdom and the first reading personifies wisdom as a woman.   In the first reading, for the author of Wisdom to communicate his notion of Wisdom, he ...