Msgr. Anselm Nwaorgu

READINGS: FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME The gospel reading of this 14th Sunday in ordinary times, Year C, (Luke 10:1-12, 17-20), tells about Christ sending out his disciples to proclaim the good news of salvation while warning them, “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves” (Vs 3). What a caution! It is not a very comforting statement, is it? We know what usually happens when lambs find themselves in the midst of wolves; they become lunch. No wonder, Peter h

READINGS: CORPUS CHRISTI Our internet and social media age has made it possible for the self-help industry to blossom, with a barrage of advice and information concerning just about any problem. From the best trick for losing weight to being happier in life, there are hundreds of experts dosing out contradicting advice on any issue under the face of the sun. This industry has prospered because many people are in search of the life they want. Sometimes, we wonder if this is al

READINGS: THE MOST HOLY TRINITY Today, we celebrate the amazing doctrine of the Trinity, a doctrine and a mystery beyond human understanding. How can there be Three Persons in One God? Trying to understand this with our human minds is like trying to empty an ocean into a hole. What is important for us to understand about the Holy Trinity is this: How has God revealed Himself to us from the beginning of creation? Scripture has revealed that we have God the Father, who is the c

READINGS: PENTECOST SUNDAY Before He ascended into heaven, Christ told His disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the Holy Spirit. In other words, they were not to begin their mission of proclaiming the good news of salvation until they receive help from above.  He knew that success in their mission was going to be dependent on their ability to walk with the Holy Spirit. This instruction was not just meant for the apostles alone, relative to preaching about

READINGS: THE ACENSION OF THE LORD The American Bishops have moved the Solemnity of the Ascension permanently to the Sunday following Ascension Thursday. So, on this seventh Sunday of Easter, Year C, we celebrate the solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord; a necessary solemnity because it marks the return of Jesus to the Father, the permanent victory over death, the sole opportunity for us to have a defense counselor at the right hand of the Father interceding for us, and the

READINGS: SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER The first reading of this Sixth Sunday of Easter, year C (Acts 15:1-2, 22-29) highlights the difficulty ethnic diversity can cause in a Church. As could be seen in our passage, the Gentile converts to Christianity were being told by some Jewish converts that they had to become Jewish in tradition and rituals to be accepted into the household of the redeemed. Jews and Gentiles have so little in common: different histories, traditions, practices

READINGS: FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER In the second reading of this 5th Sunday of Easter, (Revelation 21:1-5a), we read, “The former heaven and the former earth had passed away” and “The One who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Life, is an interesting mixture of beginnings, endings, and new beginnings—when we come into this world, when we move away from home, when we get married, when we have a baby, when we become a mother or a father, when all the childre

READINGS: FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER In the gospel reading of this 4th Sunday of Easter, Christ calls Himself the Good Shepherd, that His sheep know Him and He knows them, that they follow His voice, and that no one can snatch them away from His hands (cf. John 10). There is the story of this woman from southern Nigeria who had two cows she left grazing in a nearby field. A herd of cows got into the area for grazing. The herd owner enticed the two cows to follow his herd, and th

READINGS: THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER The Gospel for this 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year C, (John 21: 1-19) describes an encounter the apostles had with Jesus, after the resurrection. Apparently, the apostles were not clear as to what the future held for them. So, during this uncertainty, Peter declared, “I am going fishing” and six other apostles followed him. They fished all night and caught nothing. Then, at dawn, something happened. Christ appeared to them and commanded them to ca

READINGS: SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER One of the main actors in this Sunday’s gospel (John 20:19-31) is the apostle Thomas, the man we have come to know as Doubting Thomas, because he said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” What is not frequently appreciated, though, is that Doubting Thomas is also the Confessing Thomas, “My Lord and my God!” It was Confessing Thomas became th

READINGS: EASTER SUNDAY In the 2 nd  reading of this Easter Sunday, St. Paul concludes with this statement, “Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness ,but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor 5:6b-8). What Paul, basically is saying is that our celebration of Easter should be a sign of an inner disposition that has  no place for malice and wickedness.  Malice comes from a Latin root “Malus” which liter

READINGS: PALM SUNDAY There is the story of a professor who was traveling by boat to an island. As the boat set sail, he asked the sailor, “Do you know anything about Oceanology?”, to which the sailor answered, “No Sir”, and then the professor yelled out, “What on earth, then, do you know as a sailor? You will die of illiteracy”. After a while, a heavy wind developed, tossing the boat around, and the sailor, using his expertise, made the situation look worse. Turning to the p

READINGS: FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT In the Gospel reading of this 5th Sunday of Lent, Year C (John 8:1-11), we are confronted with the story of a woman caught in adultery, who was surrounded by unrighteous accusers willing to stone her to death for a crime they were all guilty of, and how they treated her with disgust, humiliation, and shame, her sins laid bare for all to see. But the law required that both parties to adultery be stoned (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22), yet th

READINGS: FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT In the first reading of this fourth Sunday of Lent, Circle C (Joshua 5:9-12), we read that the day after the Israelites ate their produce in the land of Canaan, the manna, which God had supplied to feed them during their 40-year journey through the desert to the promise land ceased. Woo, that is an impactful message and says a lot about how life functions and what we should expect from it.  Now, for over 40 years, God had miraculously provided

READINGS: THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT This 3 rd  Sunday of Lent is the beginning of “Scrutiny Sundays” which is part of the process for the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults—the Rite for preparing and initiating unbelievers, non-Christians, and non-Catholics into full communion with the Catholic Church— if a church has candidates. Readings for “Scrutiny Sundays” are taken from Circle A if we are in any other Circle of our liturgical year. The gospel, for this Sunday, therefore

READINGS: SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT My dear friends, as we continue our Lenten journey, the 2nd reading of this 2nd Sunday of Lent (Philippians 3:17-4:1) tells us not to “follow those who conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ, because their end is destruction; their God is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and their minds are occupied with earthly things”. It goes on to remind us that “our citizenship is in heaven” (Cf verses 19-21). So, this reading is

READINGS: FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT Rudyard Kipling is a writer, and his books sold so much that words in his books were said to be worth a hundred dollars each. Once, a journalist gave him a hundred dollars with the request, “Mr. Kipling, could you please give me one of your one-hundred-dollar worth words.” “Sure”, Mr. Kipling replied, and putting the money in his pocket, said, “Thanks”. Yes, thanks—to be grateful and to appreciate blessings in life—is a genuine and gracious mill

READINGS EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME In the 1st reading of this 8th Sunday in Ordinary Times (Sirach 27:4-7) we are told that one’s speech discloses the bent of one’s mind and that one’s faults are revealed when one speaks. The gospel reading (Luke 6:39-45) concludes with this statement, “for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” My friends, what comes out of our mouth reveals a lot about who we are and what our innermost self is made of. Speech always betr

READINGS: SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME In the gospel of this 7th Sunday in Ordinary Times, Year C (Luke 6:27-34), Jesus says, “Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who despise you”. Now, I can hear people saying, “Yah right! Why should I love, do good, bless, and pray for my enemy—someone who has hurt me, lied against me, slandered my name, and hates me with passion?” Yap, we are not wired to be like that. We are

READINGS: SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Building life on stable foundations; pillars of trust that can hold us in place, just in case, is what most people desire. Such a pillar could be God, a person, or a thing. In the first reading on this 6th Sunday in Ordinary Times, year C, the prophet Jeremiah contrasts casting our hope and trust in human strength and effort and casting our hope and trust in the Lord. He writes, “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks h