Msgr. Anselm Nwaorgu

READINGS: PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD'S PASSION My friends, today is Palm Sunday; the celebrate triumphant our day we Lord’s entry into Jerusalem, with the people singing “Hosanna to the Son of David”, only to change that chant, five days later, to “Crucify Him, Crucify Him!” The First Reading (Isaiah 50:4-7) has these words to say, “The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them” (Isaiah 50:4). Words, as

READINGS: FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT The gospel of this fifth Sunday of Lent (John 11:1-42) presents us with the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This story can be our story, any day, any time! Lazarus was the brother to Martha and Mary, family friends of Jesus. Lazarus had fallen sick, and the family had done everything they could to save him, but all to no avail. So, they turned to Jesus because they knew that if only Jesus lays His hand upon him, he would be made we

READINGS: FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT In the first reading on this 4th Sunday of Lent, Year B (2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23), we are told that because of their sins, the land of Israel was completely destroyed and those who escaped the sword were carried into captivity to Babylon. They were in captivity for seventy years and had no hope of returning to Judah. Then, a pagan king, Cyrus, took over Persia, and God touched his heart to let all the Israelites return home to rebuild the temple.

READINGS: THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT My dear friends, the adoration of the Holy Eucharist is the most remarkable devotion in the life of a Catholic Christian. No other devotion comes close to its power to heal, restore, save, and bestow divine blessings and favor. Speaking to a gathering in Phoenix Park during a three-day visit to Ireland in 1979, Saint Pope John Paul II said, “The visit to the Blessed Sacrament is a great treasure of the Catholic faith. It nourishes social love an

READINGS: SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT The gospel of this second week of Lent, Year B (Mark 9:2-10), tells the story of the transfiguration—the manifestation of the divinity of Christ. In that story, we read, “Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." Then Scripture says, “Suddenly, looking around,

READINGS: FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT As we begin this solemn season of Lent, I would like to encourage our parishioners to make the practice of Catholic devotions a permanent part of our prayer life. Devotions have deep and powerful roots in Catholic spirituality and a millions of people, over the ages, have found divine favors, spiritual strength, and growth through these devotions. The Stations of the Cross: The Stations of the Cross is a powerful and unique way of contemplating

READINGS: SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME On December 18, 1865, after a war had been fought, a president assassinated (Lincoln), and the Emancipation Proclamation had publicly been stated, an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, abolishing slavery, was signed into law. The news swept across the country and virtually every newspaper in all the states carried the headline: “Slavery Legally Abolished.” Yet, years after this declaration, many slaves in the South, who

READINGS: FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME My friends, it is very hard to hold unto faith when life events conspire to bring us down to the dust. The first reading on this fifth Sunday in Ordinary times, Year B (Job 7:1-7), introduces a man named Job, a righteous and upright man who, upon hearing that all of his possessions had been destroyed and his children killed, said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; m

READINGS: FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME In the gospel of this 4th Sunday in Ordinary Times, Year B (Mark 1:2125), we read about Jesus casting out an evil spirit from a man. It is not uncommon for us to dismiss accounts of demonic possession as a primitive way of describing mental illness. While mental illness has often been wrongly diagnosed as demonic possession, we cannot deny the fact that outside hostile forces do interact with human beings. From the time Lucifer was ca

READINGS: THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME The narrative about the journey of the Magi who travelled from the Far East to Bethlehem to see the child Jesus is a very interesting story. This story uncovers power strategies that can combine to bring about success in any aspect of our lives. How did the Magi come to know that the Child Jesus has been born in Bethlehem when those who lived right there in Bethlehem did not know this fact; not even the wise men in the court of King

READING: Second Sunday In Ordinary Time Last Monday, we celebrated the Baptism of our Lord, which holds great importance for us as Christians. So, we will reflect on it on this 2nd Sunday in ordinary time. We are taught that Baptism is the Sacrament that cleans 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 by a virgin, and born without original sin. So, why was Christ baptized? The Baptism of the L

READINGS: The Epiphany of the Lord This Sunday, we celebrate the visit to Bethlehem of the three Wise Men from the East. I have always wondered why these rich and non-Jewish merchants left Persia and traveled hundreds of miles to Bethlehem in search of this newborn king. There is truth in the saying that one may have more than enough to live on but not enough to live for. Were they in search of someone who could give meaning to their lives? Scripture says, “I have come that t

READINGS: Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Today is the first Sunday of the Year, the Solemnity of the Holy Family. The 1st reading (Sir 3:2- 6, 12-14) and the 2nd reading (Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17) come together to paint a picture of how a Christ-centered family should function by outlining how each member of the family ought to act in their various roles. In the first reading, St. Paul writes, “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the

READINGS: 4th Sunday of Advent On this fourth Sunday of Advent and as we celebrate Christmas, the gospel reading tells the Story of how our Blessed Mother, Mary, came to conceive Jesus; an unknown, nonimportant, unrecognized, slightest thought of, and a nobody village girl from an obscure village called Bethlehem; a village considered to be too small to be among the clans of Judah. Yet, from her was to be conceived and to give birth to the King of kings, Emmanuel, the Savior

READINGS: 3rd Sunday of Advent My dear friends, we are already into the third week of Advent, and Christmas is upon us. So, this is a good time to catch a breath if we have not already done so, to ask some basic questions about this life God has given to us. Who am I? Who is God for me? What does life on earth mean? Am I happy with where I am in life? Am I happy with where I am with God? Am I happy with where I am with others?” What sort of person ought I to be? With all the.

READINGS: 2nd Sunday of Advent Saturday, December 8th, is the celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a day we celebrate Our Blessed Mother as conceived without Original Sin. The declaration of this solemnity was inspired by the 1830 apparitions of Our Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Catherine Laboure in France. Catherine was a novice (studying to become a Nun) in the Religious community of the Daughters of Charity in Paris. On the nig

READINGS: First Sunday of Advent This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent; the beginning of a new liturgical year, and the first of the four Sundays preceding Christmas. Advent is the time that we prayerfully remember the first coming of Christ, His birth, while being ready for his second coming, judgment day. The gospel (Mark 13:33-37) therefore urges us: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come…May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.” A good

READINGS: Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe This Sunday is the last Sunday in ordinary times, Year A, and is also the Celebration of the Christ the King. Throughout the Old Testament, God promised to send a deliverer; a savior of humankind. It was the fulfillment of this promise that made the Wise Men travel all the way from the Far East to Bethlehem to worship the newborn King, made King Herod slaughter innocent children, out of jealous rage, in his bid to kill Jes

READINGS: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time On this 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Times, year A, the gospel reading (Matthew 25:14-30) highlights some essential values that we should consider as we live out the glorious life God has given us. The story is about a man who invested in his three servants (one he gave five talents, another he gave two talents, and the last he gave one talent), all according to their abilities, and on his return, from a journey, called them in to give him an

READINGS: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, his teachings were not meant only for His immediate audience; they remain true for all ages. In the gospel of this 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Times, Year A (Matthew 25:1-13), Christ presents a parable that illustrates how people succeed or fail in the face of similar conditions and circumstances; how what we do in managing opportunities in life impacts upon success and failure; how r

READINGS: 30th Sunday Sunday in Ordinary Time On this 30th Sunday of Ordinary Times, Year A (Matthew 22:34-40), Christ tells us that to know God is to have a personal relationship with Him and to have a personal relationship with Him, we need to love Him the way He wants to be loved—with all four aspects of our humanity— our heart (emotions), our soul (psych), our mind (intellect), and our strength (ability, physicality). To love God with all our heart means that God wants an