Msgr. Anselm Nwaorgu

READINGS: SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Ordinary Time, Year C, the readings reflect on freedom and how that calls us to responsibility, holiness, and social integrity. God gives choice, but never permission to harm, and offers grace but never excuses irresponsibility and injustice. The 1st reading begins with a startling affirmation: “If you choose, you can keep the commandments.” This is not about perfection but about refusing to be a victim of fate or a prisoner of instinct

READINGS: THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME In the 1st reading for this 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A (Isaiah 8:23- 9:3), the prophet Isaiah delivers a message of hope to a people buried in darkness. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” What a promise to every generation. Darkness is not merely the absence of sunlight. It is the weight we feel when life becomes unbearable, confusing, unjust, or overwhelming. It is the heaviness of communities struggl

READINGS: SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME My friends, life experiences can bring us to a holding pattern; we find ourselves drowning, we call out to God for help, and the Heavens seem silent. The responsorial psalm for this Sunday tells us that David knows a thing or two about this situation. He was in a terrible situation, a bottomless pit of destruction and a cesspool of miry clay. He prayed for deliverance, and nothing seemed to be happening. He patiently waited for the Lor

READINGS: THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD Our Catechism teaches us that Baptism cleanses us of Original Sin and brings us into the family of God’s children. We also know that Christ is the sinless Son of God born without original sin. Even John the Baptist was shocked when Christ showed up for baptism and said to Him, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” So, why did Christ submit Himself to be baptized? That Christ showed up for baptized was not merely ceremonial o

READINGS: THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD Today, we celebrate the visit of the Magi who travelled from the far east to Bethlehem, to see the newborn King. Their story is not just history but a mirror for our own lives. Think of it: they left behind their homes, their comforts, their treasures, and set out on a long, uncertain road. Why? Because they believed in the promise of God that “A virgin shall bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel”. This was the expectation that drove t

READINGS FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT Scripture describes Advent not merely as a season of candles and carols, but as a divine alarm clock; heaven’s gentle but urgent wake-up call to the soul, “It is high time to awake out of sleep, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” (Romans 13:11–12). There is a prophetic urgency in this call—the grave is no

READINGS: OUR LORD JESUS, KING OF THE UNIVERSE One of the titles of Christ Jesus as revealed in the Book of Revelation is “King of kings and Lord of lords.” (Rev 19:11-16). In the gospel of John, Pilate asked Jesus. "Are you the King of the Jews?”. Jesus replied, "My kingdom is of this world” (Jn18:33b-37). Yes, not of this world but embedded in this world with counter-cultural consequences. In 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted the Solemnity of Christ the King in response to the

READINGS: THIRTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME In the 2nd reading of this 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Times, Year C (2 Thessalonians 3:7-12), St. Paul said, “We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others.” Basically, St. Paul is saying, be busy minding your business, not that of others. This is not a call to indifference, but an invitation to the stewardship of inner self-reflection; a summon to s

READINGS: FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA On this Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, the Church’s “mother church”, a visible structure symbolizing the life-giving outreach of God’s grace to humanity that heals, feeds, and transforms. In the 1st reading (Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12), we read about the temple from which trickles of water turned into a river flowing into the salt sea, and turned the lifeless sea into a f

READINGS: ALL SOULS DAY The Gospel of this 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C, Luke 19:1–10) tells the story of a man named Zacchaeus. The Bible describes him as a man of small stature, overlooked by the crowd and dismissed by society. While the name “Zacchaeus” means “pure,” “clean,” or “innocent,” the people despised him, for he was a tax collector — an outcast, a cheat, a crook, and a traitor. No one saw holiness in him. No one expected goodness from him. But “Shortness”

READINGS: THIRTIETH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME In the gospel of this 30th Sunday in Ordinary times, Year C, Christ tells the parable of two men who went up to pray in the temple: One stood tall and confident in his righteousness. and the other stood far off, broken. and honest. The latter, according to Scripture, went home justified. This is not just about two men who prayed then; it is about us today and how we stand before God in prayer. The Pharisee stood tall and, in praise

READINGS: TWENTY NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME On this 29th Sunday in Ordinary times, year C, the gospel reading (Luke 18:1-8) tells of the parable Jesus used to teach the Power of Persevering Prayer. In the parable, a widow was able to win justice from an unjust judge, who neither feared God nor respected any man, by share persistence. The judge granted her request—not out of compassion, but to stop her relentless appeals. The widow’s repeated pleas reflect a faith that refu

READINGS: TWENTY EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME In the first reading of this 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (2 Kings 5:14-17), we read about Naaman, a five-star general in the Syrian Army, who got healed of his leprosy through the intervention of a slave girl who had been captured by the Syrian army and given into slavery to Naaman’s wife. The role she played in this story portrays a beautiful twist of fate, which I believe has a lot to teach us as we follow the footsteps of Ch

READINGS: TWENTY SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME In the 1st reading of this 27th Sunday in Ordinary times, year C, (Habakkuk 1:2, 2:2-3) laments, "O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?" There is something deeply human in these words of Habakkuk. He does not dress his prayer with polite phrases or distant reverence. Rather, he cries out from the depths of frustration, confusion, and pain. His voice echo

READINGS: TWENTY SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME In the gospel of this 26th Sunday in ordinary times, year C (Luke 16:19-31), we read about the parable of the rich man (Dives) and Lazarus. The parable begins with a gate separating these two, in life, and ends with a chasm separating them in eternity. On one side of the gate was Lazarus, a symbol of suffering humanity, in need of compassion, love, pity, and care. On the other side of the gate was Dives, a rich man, a symbol of o

READINGS: TWENTY FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME In the first reading for this 25th Sunday of Year C (Amos 8:4–7), the prophet Amos speaks with piercing clarity, exposing a timeless truth: God sees every act of exploitation, every moment when profit is placed above people, and every time the vulnerable are treated as disposable. This is not merely about ancient merchants with rigged scales who could not wait for worship to end so they could return to cheating, exploiting, and t

READINGS: THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS The first reading of this 24th Sunday, Year C (Numbers 21:4–9) begins with a very human expression: “With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses.” Have you ever had your patience worn out because the road felt too long, prayers seemed unanswered, blessings lost their shine, envy twisted gratitude into bitterness, and all you could see were the problems in front of you? That was Israel in

READING: TWENTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME My friends, sometimes the smallest books of the Bible carry the greatest punch and challenge. The Letter of Paul to Philemon (our second reading on this 23rd Sunday, Year C) is one such book. Just one chapter long, yet bursting with love, grace, and challenge. The storyline is this: Philemon, a slave owner, had been converted to Christianity by Paul. Onesimus, Philemon’s slave—once called useless—had run away from his master, some

READINGS: TWENTY SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME In our world, we operate so much on exchange, and we tend to measure generosity by what it returns. “I’ll help you if you help me.” “I’ll give as long as I get something back.” But in the Gospel of this 22nd Sunday, Year C ( Luke 14: 7-14), Christ flips all that on its head. “When you hold a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors… Rather, invite the poor, the crippled, th

READINGS: TWENTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Jesus, in the gospel reading for this 21st Sunday in ordinary times, year C, (Luke 13:22-30) speaks in an as-a-matter-of-fact fashion about heaven, as a way of encouraging and inviting us to do what we have to do to get in. Right off the bat, He declares it as a challenge: “Not everyone who tries will get in” (Luke 13:24). Imagine for a moment training for a marathon, a championship game, or a career dream. One thing is certain—

READINGS: TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME On this 20th Sunday in ordinary times, Year C (Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10), we are told how Jeremiah was unjustly condemned and thrown into a cistern to die but was saved by Ebed-meleck. This story has so much relevance for us today because we live in a world that often rewards silence and punishes truth. It is a reminder that justice doesn’t always roar but sometimes whispers through the actions of the overlooked. Ebed-melech was not a