“And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. ”’
Excerpt, Gospel Reading, Tuesday 5th Nov. 2024 – LUKE 14:15-24.
So, how will it seem to one, if the children of the house watch helplessly from afar, while former servants and known wanderers take possession of and enjoy their supposed inheritance?
Simply put in another way, Emeka and his siblings who grew up as privileged children would now be cast away from their father’s property. The people who formerly served them and some village loafers would now have privileged places in their supposed house. Whereas, he as well as his siblings will have to make do taking their bath at the village stream.
Tufiakwa! Olorun maje! Allah ya sauke! That is never gonna happen. Not in this life time.
Well, we can swear and reject it all we can. But such, my dear friend, is going to very likely be our lot at the gate heaven. Any which way depends on us.
See, there is a very distinct example in what played out with the two thieves crucified along side with Christ Jesus.
By the utterances of the thieves hanging crucified at the left and right sides of Christ Jesus one could risk to deduce their positions.
One of them possibly had heard about Christ before and knows something about him, his ways and teachings. So he mocked him.
The other, possibly just perceived that Christ was a good man. This thief whom we will later come to know Him as St Dismas – the Patron Saint of repented thieves, that very day made heaven, by virtue of what he made with the little he knew or just perceived about Christ Jesus.
My dear friend, whatever we make of what is constantly put before us daily in trying to shape our ways and our life will determine whether the lot of Emeka and his siblings awaits us, or the type of glory freely bestowed on St Dismas.
May God avail us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
5th Nov. 2024
True Generosity
“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Excerpt, Gospel Reading, Monday 4th Nov. 2024 – LUKE 14:12-14.
So, the message from today’s teaching excerpted above is simple and clear, but replete with meanings.
As it has become our culture to veil our conceit behind this severally abused statement, “Accept my widow’s might.”
Therefore, when we host our contemporaries as well those ahead of us. We may have possibly broken the bank to create an impression, or just fetched from our ‘bottomless till’.
We lavish the table with sumptuous cuisines and parade the most expensive wines and spirits.
Then, we stand before our invitees as their host and lying to our guests as well as to ourselves, we once again implore that highly abused assertion – “Please manage my widow’s might.”
In today’s first reading, the Apostle Paul says, “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” – PHILIPPIANS 2:1-4.
Well, Christ isn’t saying when we throw a party, we shouldn’t invite our contemporaries. Far be it from that. We must, by all means, invite all of them, or as much as we can.
Nevertheless, Christ says, we must also give special invitations as well to those whom we know cannot pay us back.
Likewise, while it is good to give gifts and be generous to our contemporaries as well as those above us, we must also give gifts as well as be generous to those whom we are aware that they can’t return such favours.
And while at it, we must be weary of St Paul’s counsel☝️above. Therefore, we must implore the same humility and disposition we assumed while giving to those at the top when we give also to the poor.
Dear friend, there ate some generosity that we do that we immediately get our reward there and then. Then, we go beaming a wide smile from ear to ear.
Nevertheless, true generosity is quite different from philanthropy. Christ says of it, in today’s teaching that, we will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.
May God avail us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day and a fulfilled week folks.
#SAINT_CHARLES_BORROMEO! #Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
4th Nov. 2024.
Excerpt, Gospel Reading, Monday 4th Nov. 2024 – LUKE 14:12-14.
So, the message from today’s teaching excerpted above is simple and clear, but replete with meanings.
As it has become our culture to veil our conceit behind this severally abused statement, “Accept my widow’s might.”
Therefore, when we host our contemporaries as well those ahead of us. We may have possibly broken the bank to create an impression, or just fetched from our ‘bottomless till’.
We lavish the table with sumptuous cuisines and parade the most expensive wines and spirits.
Then, we stand before our invitees as their host and lying to our guests as well as to ourselves, we once again implore that highly abused assertion – “Please manage my widow’s might.”
In today’s first reading, the Apostle Paul says, “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” – PHILIPPIANS 2:1-4.
Well, Christ isn’t saying when we throw a party, we shouldn’t invite our contemporaries. Far be it from that. We must, by all means, invite all of them, or as much as we can.
Nevertheless, Christ says, we must also give special invitations as well to those whom we know cannot pay us back.
Likewise, while it is good to give gifts and be generous to our contemporaries as well as those above us, we must also give gifts as well as be generous to those whom we are aware that they can’t return such favours.
And while at it, we must be weary of St Paul’s counsel☝️above. Therefore, we must implore the same humility and disposition we assumed while giving to those at the top when we give also to the poor.
Dear friend, there ate some generosity that we do that we immediately get our reward there and then. Then, we go beaming a wide smile from ear to ear.
Nevertheless, true generosity is quite different from philanthropy. Christ says of it, in today’s teaching that, we will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.
May God avail us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day and a fulfilled week folks.
#SAINT_CHARLES_BORROMEO! #Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
4th Nov. 2024.
Hold Fast Till the End
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . . . . . . . . . . Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. . . . . . . . . . . . Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
Excerpts, Gospel Reading, Friday 1st November 2024 – MATTHEW 5:1-12.
So, today, the Church has set aside as a solemnity to commemorate the ‘Church Triumphant’. These are people who were once like us. However, after they transitioned from to the hereafter, they made it to heaven. These are the saints.
From today’s teaching, we must take away these three things – the poor in spirit, the pure of heart and those reviled and persecuted for righteousness sake.
To be poor in spirit means to acknowledge our deepest human need for God and to grow in that longing and that dependence on a daily basis.
A certain ‘keke’ operator in Kano who returned $10,000 someone mistakenly left inside his vehicle (and many more involved in similar incidence) is a shinning example of one who is pure in spirit.
Another perfect example of one with a pure spirit can be observed in children. Children, until adulthood comes to corrupt their innocence, have the purest of spirit. – And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. – MATTHEW 18:1-3.
It is the pure in heart that would be poor in spirit. Unfortunately, such a one would be reviled and persecuted by the world for the sake of their righteousness.
Nevertheless, my counsel to you this day my dear friend, is, despite the wrath of the world, we must hold on tightly to our faith and righteousness. That, it will be that shall decide our fate and destination when we too transition from this life.
May God avail us His grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Folks, have a fantastic day and a pleasant weekend.
#SAINT_AGABO! #Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
01 Nov. 2024.
Excerpts, Gospel Reading, Friday 1st November 2024 – MATTHEW 5:1-12.
So, today, the Church has set aside as a solemnity to commemorate the ‘Church Triumphant’. These are people who were once like us. However, after they transitioned from to the hereafter, they made it to heaven. These are the saints.
From today’s teaching, we must take away these three things – the poor in spirit, the pure of heart and those reviled and persecuted for righteousness sake.
To be poor in spirit means to acknowledge our deepest human need for God and to grow in that longing and that dependence on a daily basis.
A certain ‘keke’ operator in Kano who returned $10,000 someone mistakenly left inside his vehicle (and many more involved in similar incidence) is a shinning example of one who is pure in spirit.
Another perfect example of one with a pure spirit can be observed in children. Children, until adulthood comes to corrupt their innocence, have the purest of spirit. – And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. – MATTHEW 18:1-3.
It is the pure in heart that would be poor in spirit. Unfortunately, such a one would be reviled and persecuted by the world for the sake of their righteousness.
Nevertheless, my counsel to you this day my dear friend, is, despite the wrath of the world, we must hold on tightly to our faith and righteousness. That, it will be that shall decide our fate and destination when we too transition from this life.
May God avail us His grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Folks, have a fantastic day and a pleasant weekend.
#SAINT_AGABO! #Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
01 Nov. 2024.
Truthfulness
“Brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having fastened the belt of truth around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the Evil One. . . . . . .”
Excerpt, First Reading, Thursday 31st Oct. 2024 – EPHESIANS 6:10-20.
So, in today’s teaching, the Apostle Paul reminds us about how evil the times are and how terribly dangerous what we contend with is.
However, he goes further to enjoin us, that above any other thing, we must be truthful.
Firstly, we must be truthful to our self. One is only capable of truthfulness to another person if they are first truthful to themselves.
Truthful people are rare species. As much as they are dreaded and hated, that is how much more they are equally sought after.
People of questionable characters usually seek the truthful person known commonly to both parties to witness, be an umpire or mediate between them.
Curiously, those who acquire some ill-gotten wealth yet seek truthful people to manage it for them.
The world has not reduced to a complete chaos and free for all because of the subsisting nature of truthful people.
Dear friend, truthfulness is not a schedule that can be turned on and off at convenience. It is a nature, in one’s character and an attitude. It is also a decision that can equally be imbibed.
So, my dear friend, if we make that decision today, the world would be one person more safer, secure and better.
May God grant us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo. 31st Oct. 2024.
Excerpt, First Reading, Thursday 31st Oct. 2024 – EPHESIANS 6:10-20.
So, in today’s teaching, the Apostle Paul reminds us about how evil the times are and how terribly dangerous what we contend with is.
However, he goes further to enjoin us, that above any other thing, we must be truthful.
Firstly, we must be truthful to our self. One is only capable of truthfulness to another person if they are first truthful to themselves.
Truthful people are rare species. As much as they are dreaded and hated, that is how much more they are equally sought after.
People of questionable characters usually seek the truthful person known commonly to both parties to witness, be an umpire or mediate between them.
Curiously, those who acquire some ill-gotten wealth yet seek truthful people to manage it for them.
The world has not reduced to a complete chaos and free for all because of the subsisting nature of truthful people.
Dear friend, truthfulness is not a schedule that can be turned on and off at convenience. It is a nature, in one’s character and an attitude. It is also a decision that can equally be imbibed.
So, my dear friend, if we make that decision today, the world would be one person more safer, secure and better.
May God grant us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo. 31st Oct. 2024.
The Right Time is Now
“Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us. ’ “He will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. ’“But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!’ There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out.”
Excerpt, Gospel Reading, Wednesday 30th Oct. 2024 – LUKE 13:22-30.
So, how would it seem if we, and say three other friends go for an event. Let say the event could be a party or a wedding reception or something. Then, the three of our friends are allowed free passage into the venue of the event, but we are thrown out.
We could have possibly planned very well for this event. We got new clothes, a pair new shoes and had a special haircut. We also smear ourselves with enough deodorant body spray so that when we start digging it out on the dance floor and begin sweating, our body wouldn’t ooze out a foul odour. We also wore a sweet smelling perfume.
We have fully decked up for this event and spoiling for it to start already.
Then, at the door, out of the four of us, three of our friends who are not even half as decked up like us are allowed in.
We on the other hand are not just blocked from entering inside the venue of the event, we are violently thrown out, far away and given a stern warning never to get any closer to that place again.
The above analogy is akin to one who plans to relocate to another country.
They fulfilled all regulatory requirements and are given the appropriate visa. They sell all their belongings and have all their assets now in liquid.
They get their ticket for each member of the family, bid all friends and family goodbye, board their flight and the plane takes off.
On arrival at the country of destination, one is informed that the purpose of their visa was inappropriate for their current usage. Every other person has a good visa, but ours isn’t. Hence, we would be denied entry, while other members of the family will have safe passage.
My dear friend, in these two scenarios above, one can only imagine how very disappointing it may turnout for us.
Dear friend, if we do not check, double check and triple check and ascertain our spiritual life, such disappointment may await us as heaven may be denied us on our own last day.
We have only now to ensure we do not face any such disappointment at the gate of heaven when we arrive there.
May God grant us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
– Akase F. Agabo
30th Oct 2024.
Excerpt, Gospel Reading, Wednesday 30th Oct. 2024 – LUKE 13:22-30.
So, how would it seem if we, and say three other friends go for an event. Let say the event could be a party or a wedding reception or something. Then, the three of our friends are allowed free passage into the venue of the event, but we are thrown out.
We could have possibly planned very well for this event. We got new clothes, a pair new shoes and had a special haircut. We also smear ourselves with enough deodorant body spray so that when we start digging it out on the dance floor and begin sweating, our body wouldn’t ooze out a foul odour. We also wore a sweet smelling perfume.
We have fully decked up for this event and spoiling for it to start already.
Then, at the door, out of the four of us, three of our friends who are not even half as decked up like us are allowed in.
We on the other hand are not just blocked from entering inside the venue of the event, we are violently thrown out, far away and given a stern warning never to get any closer to that place again.
The above analogy is akin to one who plans to relocate to another country.
They fulfilled all regulatory requirements and are given the appropriate visa. They sell all their belongings and have all their assets now in liquid.
They get their ticket for each member of the family, bid all friends and family goodbye, board their flight and the plane takes off.
On arrival at the country of destination, one is informed that the purpose of their visa was inappropriate for their current usage. Every other person has a good visa, but ours isn’t. Hence, we would be denied entry, while other members of the family will have safe passage.
My dear friend, in these two scenarios above, one can only imagine how very disappointing it may turnout for us.
Dear friend, if we do not check, double check and triple check and ascertain our spiritual life, such disappointment may await us as heaven may be denied us on our own last day.
We have only now to ensure we do not face any such disappointment at the gate of heaven when we arrive there.
May God grant us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
– Akase F. Agabo
30th Oct 2024.
Be Prayerful, Be Aware.
“Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, . . . . . . . . . . . Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, . . . . . . . . . . . . For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the Church,. . . . . . . . . . . . “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, . . . . . . . . . . . . let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”
Excerpts, First Reading, Tuesday 29th Oct 2024 – EPHESIANS 5:21-33.
So, this is issue about love and respect in marriage ordinarily shouldn’t be one that should be debated. It is already a given and there’s nothing further from it.
However, with the debilitating trend of wilting and downwards tilting of the economy, some men unfortunately lose their shield.
And once the shield of a man is affected, so, also goes his respect. First from his beloved wife, then, from others. Though, in truth, not all women are like that. Some women have proved to be very supportive. May God bless such women.
On the other hand, some of us who were struggling, once fortune starts smiling on us and the family’s economy starts changing for the better, we will start carrying little girls about. Our beautiful wife will now suddenly seem too old for us.
Dear friend, that☝️is betrayal of trust and of the love we once shared and disrespect of the highest order.
And some sisters, when what they bring home becomes more than the man’s, they will also want to start calling the shots in the house.
My dear sister, that is disrespect. No matter the situation, as Christ says, the man remains the head of the family.
When we indulge in adultery, we disrespect our wife and knowingly or unknowingly, by our actions, we perfect the settings to also be disrespected.
When a woman becomes promiscuous, she has disrespected her husband. By her actions, she willingly relinquishes her position as his wife pending when the pronouncement would be made.
When the both couple engage in adultery, they disrespect themselves as well as their children (if they have any), bring disgrace and sin into their marriage. And by their actions, they have already determined the ill-fate that will eventually befall their family.
Sexual promiscuity is not necessarily getting naked and having penetrative engagement. The act starts long before it culminates there.
There’s no man who is too broke to fornicate or too pious to be tempted. Neither is there any woman too contented to be tempted or too decent to be deceived.
The devil is conning and very patient. He comes at us with familiar things and other things that look and seem far from his intentions.
The family is the bedrock that knits and holds the fabric of the society together. Once the family is successfully attacked, the society becomes vulnerable.
The devil is aware of☝️that which is why he works tirelessly to spoil and destabilize the family.
It therefore behaves on us all, the man, woman, children, the singles hoping to be married one day, the clergy, Christians, Muslims, to constantly continue in prayers and beware of the lures and traps of the devil.
Dear friend, self-respect and self-discipline are the hallmark of loving and respecting one’s self. Once we conquer these, we can also then love and respect others.
May God grant us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
– AkasebF. Agabo
29th Oct. 2024.
Excerpts, First Reading, Tuesday 29th Oct 2024 – EPHESIANS 5:21-33.
So, this is issue about love and respect in marriage ordinarily shouldn’t be one that should be debated. It is already a given and there’s nothing further from it.
However, with the debilitating trend of wilting and downwards tilting of the economy, some men unfortunately lose their shield.
And once the shield of a man is affected, so, also goes his respect. First from his beloved wife, then, from others. Though, in truth, not all women are like that. Some women have proved to be very supportive. May God bless such women.
On the other hand, some of us who were struggling, once fortune starts smiling on us and the family’s economy starts changing for the better, we will start carrying little girls about. Our beautiful wife will now suddenly seem too old for us.
Dear friend, that☝️is betrayal of trust and of the love we once shared and disrespect of the highest order.
And some sisters, when what they bring home becomes more than the man’s, they will also want to start calling the shots in the house.
My dear sister, that is disrespect. No matter the situation, as Christ says, the man remains the head of the family.
When we indulge in adultery, we disrespect our wife and knowingly or unknowingly, by our actions, we perfect the settings to also be disrespected.
When a woman becomes promiscuous, she has disrespected her husband. By her actions, she willingly relinquishes her position as his wife pending when the pronouncement would be made.
When the both couple engage in adultery, they disrespect themselves as well as their children (if they have any), bring disgrace and sin into their marriage. And by their actions, they have already determined the ill-fate that will eventually befall their family.
Sexual promiscuity is not necessarily getting naked and having penetrative engagement. The act starts long before it culminates there.
There’s no man who is too broke to fornicate or too pious to be tempted. Neither is there any woman too contented to be tempted or too decent to be deceived.
The devil is conning and very patient. He comes at us with familiar things and other things that look and seem far from his intentions.
The family is the bedrock that knits and holds the fabric of the society together. Once the family is successfully attacked, the society becomes vulnerable.
The devil is aware of☝️that which is why he works tirelessly to spoil and destabilize the family.
It therefore behaves on us all, the man, woman, children, the singles hoping to be married one day, the clergy, Christians, Muslims, to constantly continue in prayers and beware of the lures and traps of the devil.
Dear friend, self-respect and self-discipline are the hallmark of loving and respecting one’s self. Once we conquer these, we can also then love and respect others.
May God grant us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
– AkasebF. Agabo
29th Oct. 2024.
Now is the Best Time
“You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, . . . . . . . . . . . .”
Excerpt, First Reading, Monday 28th Oct 2024 – EPHESIANS 2:19-22.
So, saints, simply put are those who have passed on from this world and are believed to be in heaven.
That notwithstanding, at the early times of the Church, the followers of Jesus Christ who dedicated their time and life to the cause of Christianity also referred to themselves as saints.
It is in the light of the above☝️assertion that the Apostle Paul referred to the Ephesians (and by extension, us) as saints while addressing them that time.
Among those Ephesians of St Paul’s time, there must be some who were dubious with nefarious intentions, prostitutes, thieves as well as cheats, liars and gossips. There were also good as well as extremely pious people among them.
Together, these people bonded into a formidable force, bettered themselves and formed the Church that succeeded till this day, surviving well after 2,000 years.
The Apostle Simon was a Zealot, yet, Christ chose him and named him as one of his Apostles.
The Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judaea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms.
Simon the Zealot’s primary intention of following Christ was with the Zealots’ intentions. Hoping that Christ’s proposed kingship was an earthly one and his reign shall dislodge the Romans.
Nevertheless, the teachings and ways of Christ were able to permeate Simon the Zealot and get him to adjust his expectations and bring them in sync with the mission of Christ Jesus.
My dear friend, if the supposed nefarious Ephesians as well as an anxious and dangerous Zealot like Simon can change their ways and today they are saints, we, too, have hope.
Christ called Paul while he was in the middle of sinning. Even while Simon the Zealot was still carrying a knife, Christ chose him to be one of his Apostles.
Dear friend, there mustn’t be any need for some unusual preambles or any theatrics that may herald our call for us to abandon our old ways and fall in sync with the saints.
Dear friend, today, and now might be the only time available. Use it wisely.
I pray the grace of God for us to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day and a fulfilled week ahead folks.
#SAINTS_SIMON_AND_JUDE! #Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
28th Oct. 2024.
Excerpt, First Reading, Monday 28th Oct 2024 – EPHESIANS 2:19-22.
So, saints, simply put are those who have passed on from this world and are believed to be in heaven.
That notwithstanding, at the early times of the Church, the followers of Jesus Christ who dedicated their time and life to the cause of Christianity also referred to themselves as saints.
It is in the light of the above☝️assertion that the Apostle Paul referred to the Ephesians (and by extension, us) as saints while addressing them that time.
Among those Ephesians of St Paul’s time, there must be some who were dubious with nefarious intentions, prostitutes, thieves as well as cheats, liars and gossips. There were also good as well as extremely pious people among them.
Together, these people bonded into a formidable force, bettered themselves and formed the Church that succeeded till this day, surviving well after 2,000 years.
The Apostle Simon was a Zealot, yet, Christ chose him and named him as one of his Apostles.
The Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judaea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms.
Simon the Zealot’s primary intention of following Christ was with the Zealots’ intentions. Hoping that Christ’s proposed kingship was an earthly one and his reign shall dislodge the Romans.
Nevertheless, the teachings and ways of Christ were able to permeate Simon the Zealot and get him to adjust his expectations and bring them in sync with the mission of Christ Jesus.
My dear friend, if the supposed nefarious Ephesians as well as an anxious and dangerous Zealot like Simon can change their ways and today they are saints, we, too, have hope.
Christ called Paul while he was in the middle of sinning. Even while Simon the Zealot was still carrying a knife, Christ chose him to be one of his Apostles.
Dear friend, there mustn’t be any need for some unusual preambles or any theatrics that may herald our call for us to abandon our old ways and fall in sync with the saints.
Dear friend, today, and now might be the only time available. Use it wisely.
I pray the grace of God for us to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day and a fulfilled week ahead folks.
#SAINTS_SIMON_AND_JUDE! #Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
28th Oct. 2024.
Who Created Me?
“When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? “
Excerpt, Gospel Reading, Friday 25th Oct. 2024 – LUKE 12:54-58.
So, man has since evolved and now has vast knowledge of geography astronomy, oceanography, medicine and the latest, Artificial Intelligence AI.
AI which is capable of creating robots with the look-alike of a person that can also perform various tasks as does a human being.
Man is really conquering knowledge.
Nevertheless, despite these successes of man, we still grapple with the mystery of creation, humanity and eternity.
Some of us are still contemplating these questions:
– Was I created or I just evolved from nature?
– If I was created, who created me?
– Why was I created?
– Is it true that I am different from an animal because I have a soul?
– If truly I have a soul, what becomes of my soul after death?
– Will my soul just be drifting about aimlessly in some endless void?
– Is there truly a heaven and a hell fire?
– Suppose by a stroke of chance heaven and hell truly exist, could it be where souls of the dead go to?
– Will the world truly come to an end?
– If as the Christian Bible says that Christ will come at the end of the world to judge the living and the dead, where then has all the souls long dead have been awaiting the last judgement to determine their final destination?
– These, as well many more are still being contemplated by man.
My dear friend, we did not just evolve. We truly have a soul and we were privileged (out of over 40million that we bit to it ) to embark on this sojourn.
Our instructions on this journey are very simple – love God, love man and live right.
At the end of the time allotted to each of us to travel through this space, we shall definitely go back to render an account of our pilgrimage here.
Until such a time, my dear friend, be aware that there is God. So, believe in Him, and love Him. Also, Love your fellow man as you love yourself. Then, Live right and do the right thing at the right time always.
May God avail us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Folks, have a fantastic day and a pleasant weekend.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
– Akase F. Agabo
25th Oct. 2024.
Excerpt, Gospel Reading, Friday 25th Oct. 2024 – LUKE 12:54-58.
So, man has since evolved and now has vast knowledge of geography astronomy, oceanography, medicine and the latest, Artificial Intelligence AI.
AI which is capable of creating robots with the look-alike of a person that can also perform various tasks as does a human being.
Man is really conquering knowledge.
Nevertheless, despite these successes of man, we still grapple with the mystery of creation, humanity and eternity.
Some of us are still contemplating these questions:
– Was I created or I just evolved from nature?
– If I was created, who created me?
– Why was I created?
– Is it true that I am different from an animal because I have a soul?
– If truly I have a soul, what becomes of my soul after death?
– Will my soul just be drifting about aimlessly in some endless void?
– Is there truly a heaven and a hell fire?
– Suppose by a stroke of chance heaven and hell truly exist, could it be where souls of the dead go to?
– Will the world truly come to an end?
– If as the Christian Bible says that Christ will come at the end of the world to judge the living and the dead, where then has all the souls long dead have been awaiting the last judgement to determine their final destination?
– These, as well many more are still being contemplated by man.
My dear friend, we did not just evolve. We truly have a soul and we were privileged (out of over 40million that we bit to it ) to embark on this sojourn.
Our instructions on this journey are very simple – love God, love man and live right.
At the end of the time allotted to each of us to travel through this space, we shall definitely go back to render an account of our pilgrimage here.
Until such a time, my dear friend, be aware that there is God. So, believe in Him, and love Him. Also, Love your fellow man as you love yourself. Then, Live right and do the right thing at the right time always.
May God avail us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Folks, have a fantastic day and a pleasant weekend.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
– Akase F. Agabo
25th Oct. 2024.
Enkindled with the Fire
“Jesus said to his disciples, “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! . . . . . . . . . . . . Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three . . . . . . . . . . . .”
Excerpts, Gospel Reading, Thursday 24th Oct. 2024 – LUKE 12:49-53.
So, in today’s teaching, Christ is quite contrasting with what we joyfully accepted and celebrated at Christmas when he was born.
Right from of old, it was said of him that, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – ISAIAH 9:6.
So, that, which very much resonates with us regarding today’s teaching is the part that says, he will be, “The Prince of Peace.”
How comes Immanuel – the Prince of Peace has suddenly begun brimming fire and brimstone and threatening division?
Of course, the Wonderful Counsellor would come and set fires in our hearts burning for him. As we have been enkindled with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
That is why over 2,000 years after his resurrection and ascension into heaven, there’s yet an estimation of over 2.4 billion adherent still following him. Is that not setting the world on fire enough?
He came down from heaven, suffered and died for the redemption of our sins and resurrected from the dead giving us new life and has since ascended into heaven to prepare our permanent home and from where he will come again to take his adherent to be with him.
Now, this☝️ truth is not acceptable to all. While some are willing to live and die by it, others still posit it to be some kind of fairy tale or fallacy.
Hence, he assures us that we have to live right and always do the right thing if we must spend our eternity with him.
However, those that doubt or are averse to this truth believe that we just have to eat and drink for tomorrow we die.
However the Apostle Paul puts a lie to that☝️assertion, when he says, “If (according to man) I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me, if the dead rise not again? Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we shall die.” – 1 CORINTHIANS 15:32.
Some do actually believe in this truth and really want to keep living in the truth, but their obfuscating attachment to the world gets them divided.
Therefore, the strife as well as contention Christ talks about in today’s teaching is between those for this truth and the others who are averse to it.
Nevertheless, we must be assured of one thing, my dear friend, the truth will set us free.
Have a fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
24th Oct. 2024.
Excerpts, Gospel Reading, Thursday 24th Oct. 2024 – LUKE 12:49-53.
So, in today’s teaching, Christ is quite contrasting with what we joyfully accepted and celebrated at Christmas when he was born.
Right from of old, it was said of him that, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – ISAIAH 9:6.
So, that, which very much resonates with us regarding today’s teaching is the part that says, he will be, “The Prince of Peace.”
How comes Immanuel – the Prince of Peace has suddenly begun brimming fire and brimstone and threatening division?
Of course, the Wonderful Counsellor would come and set fires in our hearts burning for him. As we have been enkindled with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
That is why over 2,000 years after his resurrection and ascension into heaven, there’s yet an estimation of over 2.4 billion adherent still following him. Is that not setting the world on fire enough?
He came down from heaven, suffered and died for the redemption of our sins and resurrected from the dead giving us new life and has since ascended into heaven to prepare our permanent home and from where he will come again to take his adherent to be with him.
Now, this☝️ truth is not acceptable to all. While some are willing to live and die by it, others still posit it to be some kind of fairy tale or fallacy.
Hence, he assures us that we have to live right and always do the right thing if we must spend our eternity with him.
However, those that doubt or are averse to this truth believe that we just have to eat and drink for tomorrow we die.
However the Apostle Paul puts a lie to that☝️assertion, when he says, “If (according to man) I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me, if the dead rise not again? Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we shall die.” – 1 CORINTHIANS 15:32.
Some do actually believe in this truth and really want to keep living in the truth, but their obfuscating attachment to the world gets them divided.
Therefore, the strife as well as contention Christ talks about in today’s teaching is between those for this truth and the others who are averse to it.
Nevertheless, we must be assured of one thing, my dear friend, the truth will set us free.
Have a fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
24th Oct. 2024.
Be Awake Always
“Know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would have been awake and would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”. . . . . . . . . . . . Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more.”
Excerpts, Gospel Reading, Wednesday 23rd Oct. 2024 – LUKE 12:38-48.
So, today we are once again reminded and cautioned on the need to be constantly at alert and to be ready at all times.
We have a classical example in that part of the Holy Bible that says, “Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other will be left.” – MATTHEW 24:41.
Assessing us by the way we live our lives, so flagrantly, as if our end will never come suddenly one day. One would be tempted to allude that those who fall ill before passing on seemingly seem to be among the luckiest.
During the time of their ailment, they may have had the opportunity to make peace with God.
Fair as that may seem, it is yet not completely a given.
Sometimes, we could be required to make restitutions for some of our wrong doing, as well as to physically ask for the forgiveness of those we knowingly, wilfully and deliberately offended, and to get it. The agent may inhibit such movement.
While not trying to play God here, I want to however speculate that it is among such little or minor impediments that result to one finding themselves in purgatory.
My dear friend, our end must not meet up with us while in the midst of our wiles. Woo betide one that continues their suffering into eternity after the temporal one we are now experiencing here.
We should and must live our life daily as if we are going to be awarded with an inestimable laurel for having an outstanding day despite the odds.
Conscious of the fact that our end may come at any time, it is graciously advised and highly recommended that one must live their life daily as if it were their last.
Dear friend, if you’re capable of building a road and providing other infrastructure and amenities for your community and neighbourhood, by all means, go ahead and do it.
However, if you’re only capable of positively touching one life at a time a day, a week or in a month, by all means do it.
Such indelible marks we effect in people’s lives is what the world gets to remember about us even long after we have passed on. None of us is leaving here alive. Only, we depart at our individual times.
Remember, God is more persuaded by our daily and constant deliberate positive efforts to become better.
May God grant us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
23rd Oct. 2024.
Excerpts, Gospel Reading, Wednesday 23rd Oct. 2024 – LUKE 12:38-48.
So, today we are once again reminded and cautioned on the need to be constantly at alert and to be ready at all times.
We have a classical example in that part of the Holy Bible that says, “Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other will be left.” – MATTHEW 24:41.
Assessing us by the way we live our lives, so flagrantly, as if our end will never come suddenly one day. One would be tempted to allude that those who fall ill before passing on seemingly seem to be among the luckiest.
During the time of their ailment, they may have had the opportunity to make peace with God.
Fair as that may seem, it is yet not completely a given.
Sometimes, we could be required to make restitutions for some of our wrong doing, as well as to physically ask for the forgiveness of those we knowingly, wilfully and deliberately offended, and to get it. The agent may inhibit such movement.
While not trying to play God here, I want to however speculate that it is among such little or minor impediments that result to one finding themselves in purgatory.
My dear friend, our end must not meet up with us while in the midst of our wiles. Woo betide one that continues their suffering into eternity after the temporal one we are now experiencing here.
We should and must live our life daily as if we are going to be awarded with an inestimable laurel for having an outstanding day despite the odds.
Conscious of the fact that our end may come at any time, it is graciously advised and highly recommended that one must live their life daily as if it were their last.
Dear friend, if you’re capable of building a road and providing other infrastructure and amenities for your community and neighbourhood, by all means, go ahead and do it.
However, if you’re only capable of positively touching one life at a time a day, a week or in a month, by all means do it.
Such indelible marks we effect in people’s lives is what the world gets to remember about us even long after we have passed on. None of us is leaving here alive. Only, we depart at our individual times.
Remember, God is more persuaded by our daily and constant deliberate positive efforts to become better.
May God grant us the grace to permit His will to be realised in our life.
Have a fantastic day folks.
#Blessed_Carlo_Acutis! #Pray_for_us!
-Akase F. Agabo
23rd Oct. 2024.