“WALK DAILY WITH JESUS”, 10/06/26, (Wednesday, 10th Week in Ordinary Time of Year A).

COLLECT: “O GOD, FROM WHOM ALL GOOD THINGS COME, GRANT THAT WE, WHO CALL ON YOU IN OUR NEED, MAY AT YOUR PROMPTING DISCERN WHAT IS RIGHT, AND BY YOUR GUIDANCE DO IT. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SON, WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH GOD THE FATHER IN THE UNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN”.

1Kgs 18:20-39; Ps 15:1-2,4-5,8,11 and Mt 5:17-19.

Sin is all about going against the commandments of God. The people at the time of Elijah sinned as they disobeyed God’s Commandments. Elijah, burning with zeal to do the will of God and to bring people back on track to obey God by doing the right thing, calls down fire from heaven to prove the true God is the God of the covenant, and him, we must obey and honour. Jesus, in the Gospel, intends to perfect the Commandments of God that are bound up with the covenant. We are all challenged and encouraged today to live better, God’s commandments in our lives.

Our contemporary society is not a sinless one and therefore today’s message is relevant for us. Sin is now on the ascendancy in our society. A few examples I will mention here. Fetishism, Juju and occultism are very popular and common now. Some people have forgotten about God who is the Creator, the All-powerful and the Supreme God, and they are doing things (sinful of course) thinking that occultism and fetishism are all about life in this world. Now a lot of TV programmes are about occultism, juju and witchcraft, deceptions, sometimes deliberately deceiving viewers and hearers about the power in them and in their programs. We know very well the deception and fraud that are involved in occultism and juju. Occultism and Juju.

Another sin of our time is when people use Religion and God to do wrong things. There are lots of pastors (so-called men and women of God) who use religion wrongly to amass wealth and riches in the world. Such men and women of God exploit and extort their followers to achieve their selfish ambitions and desires: Gate fee, Membership (card) fee, Consultation fee, Appreciation fee, fee for saying ‘Amen’ and ‘Alleluia’, the several collections, so-called holy water, ‘anointing water and oil’, toffee, powder, “soobolo” (“Yezu Zii”), handkerchief, banners, bangles, etc., etc.? These items are usually sold by pastors and their assistants, and pastors are ready to justify why they must collect all these fees. Are we not selling God’s blessings? This is what we called ‘Simony’. Other people use religion to fight, destroy and enslave humanity.

Others are the sins of ‘Sodomy’. That is, Homosexuality and Lesbianism. People know this is sinful in the sight of God yet they indulge in it. God did not ordain this. Marriage is for a man and a woman and not for a man and a man, or for a woman and a woman. Think seriously about the almighty LGBTQIA+. Our modern world is grossly sinful and we could go on with more examples of the sinful/wrong deeds in the world, committed by most of us out of wickedness, lack of a sense of sin in our minds or simply because we derive some joy and benefits from our sinful deeds (carnal desires).

We are challenged today by the scriptures to join hands and heads to fight evil and sin in our world like what Jesus and Elijah did in their time. We should expose the sinful deeds that people commit in our world, expose the wrongdoers in order to bring some sanity and perfection into the world. We should not condone wrongdoers. We pray for ourselves to be aware of our own sinful deeds, admit and work hard to overcome them in order to fight the sinful deeds in the world. May Saint Anthony intercede for us. Stay blessed and happy feast to all who bear the name Anthony.

WE MEDITATE TODAY, WEDNESDAY, ON THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES: ‘THE RESURRECTION, THE ASCENSION, THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE ASSUMPTION, AND THE CORRONATION’. (WE PRAY FAITH, HOPE, LOVE OF GOD, GRACE OF A HAPPY DEATH AND TRUST IN MARY’S INTERCESSION) “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen”.

PRAYER: “MAY YOUR HEALING WORK, O LORD, FREE US, WE PRAY, FROM DOING EVIL AND LEAD US TO WHAT IS RIGHT. THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN.”

Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya, Catholic Diocese of Wa, UW/R, Ghana. (00233) 0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@yahoo.com.