THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: CHRISTIAN LOVE IS A COMMANDMENT

Readings: Exod 22:20-26; 1 Thess 1:5c-10;  Matt 22: 34-40

Throughout Matthew’s Gospel 22 Jesus engages in a series of debates with the local leaders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, regarding many practical, legal and faith issues. Last few Sundays the issues were that of preparedness for the kingdom of God and civil responsibility. Last Sunday it was about taxes to Caesar with the script sponsored by the Pharisees and the Herodians. This Sunday it is all about the greatest commandment sponsored by a lawyer. The learned gentleman came with one question: “which is the greatest of the commandment in the law?” We know that God gave

TWENTY NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME & MISSION SUNDAY

Is 45:1, 4-6; 1Thess 1:1-5b; Matt 22:15-21 

Today is World Mission Sunday. On World Mission Sunday, Catholics gather to celebrate the Eucharist and to contribute to a collection for the work of evangelization around the world. This annual celebration gives us a chance to reflect on the importance of mission work for the life of the Church and on our part in the missionary role of the Church. It reminds us that we are one with the Church around the world and that we are all committed to carrying on the mission of Christ, however different our situations may be.

We can all do a great deal of missionary work by the way we live our faith. We are surrounded by good people who do not know Christ, or who know Him only superficially. When we let the

TWENTY EIGHT SUNDAY OF YEAR A

                                         

(Is 25.6-10; Phil 4.12-14,19-20; Mt 22.1-10)

We may not be so used to royal weddings, but I still remember when Prince Charles of England married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. Thousands of invitations were sent out. Crowned heads and international political figures, heads of state, aristocrats and newly rich, all those who were somebody in "high society" vied with one another as to who would have the honour of being invited to the festivities. Of course not every body was so favoured, for the number of available seats was limited. And so for those who were lucky enough to receive the much coveted invitation, a refusal was unthinkable. One does not turn down an invitation coming from Buckingham Palace.

In ancient times, kings announced the approximate time for a wedding banquet weeks in advance. The exact day of the banquet was given at a later date. To say "yes" to the advance invitation and no at the later date was an insult. It was this kind of situation that Jesus had in mind in today's parable.

The audience for whom Jesus intended his parable was the Jews of his time. Ages before, they had accepted God's invitation to be his chosen people - his special guests at the banquet

Twenty-Seventh Sunday Year A

Readings: Isaiah 5:1-7; Phil 4:6-9 and Matt 21:33-43

Today, we have an interesting story (parable) in the Gospel Reading (Matt.21:33-43) concerning a landlord (or householder) and his tenants. A landlord planted a vineyard, fenced it, dug a winepress, and built a tower on the vineyard. It is interesting to note that the landlord did all the needful in the vineyard and that the tenants he brought to stay in the vineyard would have just very minimal tasks to do. Furthermore the machinery for production was in place with a facility for maximum security represented by the watch tower. The tenants had only the duty of caretaking and harvest. Significantly also, the landlord left the place after leasing it to the tenants and travelled to another country.

There is always a time of harvest. When that time came, the landlord sent his servants to get the fruits of the vineyard but the servants got an aggressive response from the tenants. They had one beaten, killed another and yet another was stoned. This latter may have

SOLEMNITY OF OUR LADY QUEEN AND PATRONESS OF NIGERIA

Isaiah 11:1-10 

Ephesians 2:13-22 

Matthew 2:13-15.19-23 

Today, the twenty-sixth Sunday of the year (A), we celebrate the solemnity of Our Lady Queen and Patroness of Nigeria. By this celebration we commemorate the consecration of Nigeria to the Blessed Virgin Mary soon after the Independence in 1960. The very first consecration of our country, as some of you may recall, was in 1954 during the International Marian Year. At the heart of the consecration to the Immaculate Heart is the quest for peace which was a feature of the message of Fatima, a hundred years ago.  During his historic visit to Nigeria in 1982, on 14th February 1982, in Kaduna, to be precise, Pope Saint John Paul II led the Church in Nigeria in another consecration to Mary. While leading in the consecration, the Holy Father prayed in part as follows:

O Mother of all individuals and peoples...I desire to consecrate and entrust to you, Mother of the Church, in a special way, the Church in the land of Nigeria.....  

Today we also celebrate the 57th anniversary of our national independence and the Church in Nigeria calls all of us to pray with our Mother Mary and through her for the country.  This year’s celebration of the feast is unique in the sense that it is being celebrated during the Marian Year declared by our

Twenty sixth Sunday of Year A

Eze 18:25-28; Phil 2:1-11 and Matt 21:28-32

This Sunday the Church draws our attention in a most special way to the importance of realizing what God wants from us and obediently carrying them out.  In our first reading, God through his prophet Ezekiel, confronts and responds to Israel's accusation of his being unjust by allowing them suffer in the hands of their captors and enemies. He condemns their blame-shifting attitude and pointed out to them that they are the ones at fault and to blame for their predicaments. The simple reason being: "When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin because of this he dies of the evil that he himself committed." In order words, God simply means that renouncing of the part of integrity is "capital disobedience" (a grave sin), the effect or consequence of which is death. 

However, it is not over for the sinner. If we return to the part of integrity in obedience to the will of God, we have life once again. This was Israel's case throughout their biblical history. Owing to their disobedience, they suffered slavery and deportation to Egypt, Persia, and Babylon. However, when they realized themselves and

Twenty Fifth Sunday of the Year: A

​Is 55.6-9; 

Phil 1.20-24; 

Mt 20.1-16

​The gospel reading proposed for our meditation this Sunday seems at first sight to be dealing with a labour problem. It is as if it is setting up a model for management and labour relationships. Such is not, however, the case. The parable is more about the generosity of God than about working conditions. The story is more about the supreme goodness of God than about wage settlements.  

​Someone has attempted to put the parable in a modern setting. He invites you to imagine there are four houses on your street. You own the house on the corner, and it

Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time: A

Ecclesiasticus 27,30 – 28,7

Romans 14,7-9

Matthew 18,21-35

Often the readings proposed for our meditation on Sundays seem to be referring to the lives of those who lived during the Old  or New Testaments.  That cannot be said of the readings of this Sunday which apply to all of us right now. The reading speak about the omnipresent sin of many of us - refusing to forgive others. Yet, the obligation to forgive is mentioned 108 times in the Scriptures.  We must be grateful to Peter for pushing the question today. His question to Jesus caused Him to discuss material He was

Twenty Third Sunday of Year A

Ezekiel 33:7-9; Rom 13:8-10 and Matthew 18:15-20

Sometimes, in the Bible, we come across certain passages that are as relevant and practical in our lives today as they were thousands of years ago when they were first written. Today’s readings are good examples of such passages. Together they remind us that as faithful Christians it is our responsibility to reach out to

Twenty Second Sunday of Year A

Jer 20:7-9; Rom 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27

Last Sunday we read of Simon Peter in Caesarea Philippi

recognising and confessing Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. That demonstration of faith earned him the name Peter, "Rock." And Jesus gave the keys of the Church to Peter, but went on to explain that He has to go up in order to suffer in Jerusalem, be killed and on the third day be raised. The disciples did not understand this type of talk. 

At this point in time, Jesus was already at the height of His popularity. Multitudes of people were coming to Him to listen to Him. But the people, also with His disciples, misunderstood His mission. Jesus tells them bluntly that He was destined to go to Jerusalem to suffer grievously and to be put to death (v. 21) and he continued saying: "If you want to be my follower, you must carry your own cross," (v. 24). It seemed he doused cold water on their triumphalistic hopes and expectations. In other words, He talked about His passion and suffering on the cross.

 Popular Jewish belief at the time of Jesus expected a Messiah who would bring instant glory to Israel in terms of military success, wealth and prosperity. The disciples shared this popular belief. So when Peter heard Jesus announce that he must first endure the cross, he figured that Jesus must have made a mistake. So, he takes the Master apart, as if to cheer him up in a moment of despair. It is as if he wants to make him understand that, in a

Twenty-First Sunday of Year A

Readings: Isa 22:19-23; 

Rom 11:33-36 and 

Matt 16:13-20

In the gospel of today, Jesus was worried about His public image, so He made His own survey. The respondents were His disciples. There were only two questions to be answered: The first is: "Who do people say that I am?" and the second question is: "Who do you say that I am?"

In response to the first question, the disciples had listened to the people and talked with people who had listened to Jesus' preaching, with those who had been cured by Jesus or had seen Him healing. The disciples were up to date as regards the latest news so, they gave the various opinions of the people. They followed what the

HOMILY BY REV MSGR. CLETUS TANIMU GOTAN AT THE FUNERAL MASS FOR THE LATE NDE THOMAS GOWOK GOMIR AT THE HOLY CROSS CATHEDRAL CHURCH, PANKSHIN ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18TH, 2017

Ecclesiastics 50:24-26; I Cor 1:3-9; Luke 1:39-55

We are together here for the funeral Mass of Nde Thomas Gowok Gomir, and I am certain that we all want to assure all the bereaved and sorrowing family and friends and especially his children Rev. Fr Gabriel Gokir Gowok, Mrs Mary  Okereke, Mr Emmanuel Dimka Gowok, Miss Jacinta Neshi Gowok, Eng. Jude Gowok, and  Mr Sebastian Nenbekechor Gowok of our prayerful condolences on the loss of their beloved and loving father.  We are not unaware of the poverty of our words at this time, but we hope that our presence and prayers, and the presence of the so many families and friends from near and far will sustain and comfort Fr Gabriel and the other children at this saddest of times. May God, the God of all things, the doer of great deeds everywhere, grant him a peaceful repose and cheer our heart.

During his tenure as senior minister of a Church, a Reverend gentleman lost his son Alex in a horrific automobile accident. Among the well-meaning people who tried to

HOMILY BY REV MSGR. CLETUS TANIMU GOTAN AT THE FUNERAL MASS FOR THE LATE MRS SAFIRATU DWAKNAAN FOMWUL AT THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, ZARAMAGANDA ON FRIDAY 9, JUNE 2017

Job 19.1, 23-27; Rom 14;7-9, 10-12; Lk 24:35-

It is with sorrow that we assemble here, in this church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception this morning, to entrust our sister Lady Safiratu Dwaknaan Fomwul LSM into the "hand of God" (Wisdom 3:1). Although, saying goodbye is always the most difficult thing to do, we do so this morning, finding comfort in the fact that it is into the Lord's hand that we commend her, knowing by faith that death is not the end. We all know that we are all on pilgrimage to the Lord's house to which our sister has gone ahead before us. While she is no longer with us serving our community of faith, she is in a position to be a powerful intercessor for us. We are deeply saddened by the sudden way Safiratu has passed from us and it is difficult to let her go for a time.  Yes, we feel all of the normal human emotions that come to us when someone so close to us and whom we love so much dies.  But we are privileged to be able to gather together as her family and friends to pray for her and for ourselves and to offer this Eucharist, a word which means "Thanksgiving", thanking God for the gift of the life of Safiratu Fomwul.

To you, Sir Joseph Fomwul, the members of your family and friends, I extend the loving prayers and sympathy of all of us here and those of the