Reflection from Friar Nicholas

S ATURDAY, SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP Acts 28:16-20,30-31; Ps 11:4-5,7; Jn 21:20-25 Theme: The Holy Spirit and our Personalities On this last day of our Novena to the Holy Spirit, we consider the uniqueness of each  person's  relation, gifts, and cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Because no two persons are the same, due to variation of time and space, biological, emotional, psychological, and spiritual constitutions, the Holy Spirit enables each person to freely contribute to the beauty and growth of the Church of God. These variations imply different responses elicited by the same Holy Spirit given to each of us. The Holy Spirit is God; he knows the intricacies of each  person’s  constitution and modifies his inspirations and gifts to suit these different personalities. Though he knows each  person’s  constitution and variabilities, his knowledge never determines us, for he respects the free will he has given ...

FRIDAY, SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP Acts 25:13-21; Ps 102:1-2,11-12,19-20; Jn 21:15-19 Theme: Holy Spirit Our Purifier In addition to the internal fortification the Holy Spirit provides against evil, which we have considered at length, we also have an external structure that he puts in place for the safety and guidance of the faithful. The external fortification works hand in hand with the internal structure to ensure the safety of those on the way to eternal life. The internal structure consists of our growth and development in the mysteries of Jesus Christ, led by the Holy Spirit. He guides us through our daily meditation on the word of God to strengthen our  faith;  through prayer and contemplation of the mysteries to inflame our love; through these, we attain a deep knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. He also makes Jesus real in our lives by pouring the love for Jesus and the Father daily into our souls. Our faithfulness to the...

THURSDAY, SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP Acts 22:30,23:6-11; Ps 16:1-2,7-11; Jn 17:20-26 Theme: Holy Spirit our Unity and Communion The portion of the priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ given in the gospel stressed the unity among the disciples. Our Lord strongly desired and prayed for the unity of Christians. What he desired and asked from the heavenly Father is a union similar to what exists between him and the Father. This kind of union is possible only through love; hence, he asked the Father for the same love in each Christian as exists between the Father and himself. “Father, may they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.” For the type of unity Jesus prayed for to exist in us, we need to be in Jesus Christ just as the Son is in the Father. The realisation of this unity depends on the two parties and not just on one. In the case of the Fathe...

WEDNESDAY, SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP Acts 20:28-38; Ps 68:29-30,33-36; Jn 17:11-19 Theme: Holy Spirit our Protector We reflected on the subject of predestination yesterday, pointing out that the Holy Spirit unites us to God as our last end by filling our hearts with the love of God. In this regard, the Holy Spirit performs two  important  tasks in us: First, working through our profession of faith in Jesus Christ  which  makes us children of God and worthy of his indwelling, he gradually leads us into the mysteries of Jesus Christ. These mysteries are, at the same time, the knowledge of the Father, for they are the same.  This  is what our Lord promised when he said that the Holy Spirit will give  to  us what is his, for all that the Father has belongs to the Son. Second, corresponding to these illuminations, he fills us with the love of the Son and the Father. This love prop...

THE FEAST OF ST. MATHIAS THE APOSTLE  Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP Acts 1:15-17,20-26; Ps 113:1-8; Jn 15:9-17 Theme: The Spirit of Predestination We celebrate the feast of the apostle Mathias, added to the college of apostles to replace Judas Iscariot, who abandoned his exalted office as an apostle of his own volition. To a noncritical mind, it would seem that Judas  was destined  to  be lost  according to the scriptural prophecies. Such a thought or conclusion from the scriptures quoted by St. Peter would destroy the infinite justice of God.  This  would be the case if God were to destine a soul he made to hell even before the soul  was conceived . “Brothers, the passage of scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit, speaking through David, foretells the fate of Judas, who offered himself as a guide to the men who arrested Jesus—after having been one of our number and actually sharing this ministry of ours.” The...

OUR LADY OF FATIMA Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP Acts 19:1-8; Ps 68:2-7; Jn 16:29-33 Theme: The Spirit of Peace and Our Lady of Fatima Our Lord Jesus Christ is the source of peace that results from justice. True and lasting peace comes when we have satisfied the requirement of justice. As St. Augustine explains in his work on the City of God, a man cannot be said to be just who removes himself from the Lordship of his maker. Hence, justice involves our coming to God in deep repentance. It also requires our making atonement for our offenses against his divine Majesty. Since no one can worthily atone for our grievous sins against God, justice is outside our reach, and peace follows the satisfaction of justice.  This  is part of the heavenly bounty we have received from the Father who gave us his only Begotten Son to be the atonement of our sins and the satisfaction of the demand of divine justice. Thus, we read about the encounter between St. Paul and the twelve...

SUNDAY, Seventh Week of Eastertide Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP Acts 1:15-17,20-26; Ps 103:1-2,11-12,19-20; 1 Jn 4:11-16; Jn 17:11-19 Abiding in the Presence of the Lord Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed for us in the gospel of today. He said this prayer before he went to his passion and death. It is a solemn prayer for his flock for which he assumed our human flesh. He outlined the purpose of his mission on earth in that prayer and what constitutes its success. He came to bring us men back to the communion we lost through our disobedience to the Father’s will. His humanity was the visible bond of communion between God and man. It was the Sacrament of our coming together with God. In this unique sense, the Maiden and her Son constitute the Sacrament and the reality of the communion of God and men. We will continue to reiterate this essential truth because of its salvific import for us. Coming to the end of his earthly mission, the Lord took stock of what he had achieved be...