WAIT FOR AND HASTEN THE COMING OF THE DAY OF GOD" (cf. 2 Pet 1:4)

⏰Tuesday of the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time 2 (04 June 2024)

📖2 Pet 3:12-15a, 17-18; Ps 90:2, 3-4, 10, 14 and 16 (R.v.1); Mark 12:13-17

🎤"WAIT FOR AND HASTEN THE COMING OF THE DAY OF GOD" (cf. 2 Pet 1:4)

Beloved in Christ, do you remember what we said yesterday concerning the blessings of God? We noted that God's blessings are always available to us. But in order to reap them, we must cooperate with that grace, which has been made available to us by shunning worldly pleasures and corruption and embracing divine nature (cf. 2 Pet 1:4).

For a very long time, we have been praying for God's intervention in the situation of things in our nation and the world at large. A lot of prophecies are being made from time to time with respect to better time in the future. But the question had always been, When is this future? Will it ever come? Most of us are indeed waiting patiently for it, and we pray that it may come in our lifetime.

At some time in their history, the people of Israel were waiting like us. They were waiting for the day of the Lord, which to them means the day the Lord will grant them victory over their enemies. The prophet Amos came and gave a new meaning to that. It really means the day the Lord will come victoriously upon his enemies, including sinners.

As we join numerous of our countrymen in keeping prayerful vigil for a better Nigeria, are we making an effort to see that our moral lives are better than what we condemn in others in society? Or are we like the hypocritical and lukewarm believers who worship both God and mammon, depending on which favours them at any given time?

By the way, when anyone by your side would want to use Mark 12:13-17 to justify allegiance to syncretism or lukewarmness, remind the person that even Caesar belongs to God. Therefore, everything we have must be used to worship God faithfully.

Let us pray: "Lord, teach us your ways and make us walk in your path." Amen.

Have a blessed day ahead. Peace be with you.

http://www.fadajbcezeonwumelu.com/wait-for-and-hasten-the-coming-of-the-day-of-god-2-pet-312/

The Numbering of the Ten Commandments

I have received questions on why the numbering of the Ten Commandments in protestant teaching is different from that of the Catholics. 

The second commandment in some Pentecostal and protestant teaching is not the second commandment in the Catholic teaching yet both used the same Exodus 20 as their source. 

Why this difference?

If you are interested in learning the reason, you can continue reading. Though, it is a bit long.

The first thing we should all remember is that the original writing of the books of the bible does not have chapters or verses.

The chapters and verses in the bible were all later additions. The chapters were added in the 13th century by Cardinal Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The verses were added in the 16th century by Robert Stephanus, a protestant layman.

The second thing to note is that, though it is called the Ten Commandments, it was not numbered from 1 to 10 and given to Moses to deliver.

With the above in mind, if you go back to Exodus 20 and read the Ten Commandments again, you will discover something. You will discover that by merely counting, the number of times you will see the phrase "Thou shall not. . ." Or "You shall not" is ten times. Two other commands did not carry the "thou shall not" phrase. They are: Remember to keep the Sabbath day Holy and Honour your father and mother.

So, in all, you will be getting about 12 commandments. Let me itemize them for you:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything.

3. You shall neither prostrate yourself before them (graven images) nor worship them.

4. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

5. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

6. Honor your father and your mother.

7. You shall not murder.

8. You shall not commit adultery.

9. You shall not steal.

10. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

11. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife.

12. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house or anything that is your neighbour’s.

As far back as the 3rd century, from the record, Origen (a great theologian and exegete of the early Greek Church) was the first to distinguish the Ten Commandments and itemized/numbered them from 1 to 10. When he did this, he did not include the one I listed as number 3 above. Also, he combined numbers 11 and 12 as one commandment. 

This was what he came up with:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything.

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5. Honor your father and your mother.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

10. You shall not covet.

As you already know, this is what the protestants of today and modern-day Pentecostal denominations adopted.

In the 6th century, St Augustine came up with a different numbering. He maintained 11 and 12 as separate commands and combined 1, 2 and 3 as one commandment to have something like this:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

3. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

4. Honor your father and your mother.

5. You shall not murder.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

9. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife.

10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house or anything that is your neighbour’s.

As you already know, this is what the Catholics and even Lutherans are still using.

What is the reason behind all these?

Is a long history, but I think to be fair to all, everyone has reasons for the choice of their numbering.

For Catholics, the last two commandments on not to convet your neighbour's wife and not to covet your neighbour's goods are separated because the former is about lust and the need for purity of thought and freedom from concupiscence. The latter talked about inordinate greed, fraudulent acts, and manipulation to gain earthly possessions.

For the Catholic church, these two are different and can't be joined together as one since they express two different things God is against.

Then on the commandment on images. . .The teaching of the Catholic church is that "Thou shall not make for yourself any graven image", is already contained in "Thou shall not have any strange God except me."

Let's look at this:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything.

3. You shall neither prostrate yourself before them (graven images) nor worship them.

A good summary will come to the conclusion that the three are talking about one thing, which is already contained in number 1 of the command.

But,

If your understanding is that God is explicitly against the use of images, as in LITERALLY, and you feel the number 2 command in some protestant teaching (You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything) must be there to emphasis that fact, then it make mess of the fact that just five chapters after Exodus 20, God commands Moses and the Israelites to build the Ark of the Covenant, moulding two cherubim of gold and instructing them on how to place them, which totally contradict his command on not having images of ANYTHING (Exodus 25:18-19.)

Or even more dramatic is when God instructed Moses to mould a fiery serpent made of bronze and place it on a pole to cure snake bite. (Numbers 21:8-9). 

How can God give a command not to make images of ANYTHING, and go ahead to command that images should be made?

So, the right understanding of that command is not that images are forbidden, but that they should not take the place of God.

#PurestPurity

*LIFE STORY OF THE* *SERVANT OF GOD* *(SAINT IN MAKING)*

*LIFE STORY OF THE* *SERVANT OF GOD* *(SAINT IN MAKING)* 

 *VIVIAN UCHECHI OGU*

 *(1995 - 2009)* 

 *#ARCHBISHOP AUGUSTINE OBIORA AKUBUEZE, THE_ARCHBISHOP_OF_BENIN_CITY* 

 *#FR. STEPHEN DUMBIRI,* *DIRECTOR_OF_THE_VIVIAN_OGU_MOVEMENT.* 

 *#VIVIAN_OGU_MOVEMENT.* 

 *Vivian Uchechi Ogu was a 14-year-old girl* who lived an exemplary holy life through her missionary works and died a heroic death by opting to be killed rather than being sexually defiled.

 *BIOLOGICAL BACKGROUND* 

Vivian was born in Benin City on the 1st of April, 1995 to the catholic family of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Ogu of *Enyiogugu of Aboh-Mbaise Local government area of Imo State, Nigeria.* 

She was the second out of four children.

 *CHILDHOOD* 

Vivian attended Air Force Nursery and Primary School where she distinguished herself as the most intelligent pupil in her class.

She was a parishioner of St. Paul Catholic Church Airport Road Benin City., a member of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, the choir mistress of the children's choir, and the president of the Holy Childhood Association in the parish, where she made a remarkable impact both at the parish and Archdiocesan level.

She was always found instructing and guiding other kids on the necessary of maintaining their purity and defending their virginity, even if it meant giving their lives.

 *WORKS* 

 *The Servant of God, Vivian Ogu Engagements in Pastoral activities at the age of Nine.* 

Vivian began to publicly demonstrate her zeal and courage in speaking to other children on the dignity of purity and virginity.

She had a self-determined goal to live an exemplary Christian Life, with which she inspired other young people to greater spirituality and love for humanity.

When the Holy Childhood Association (HCA) wad inaugurated in the parish of St. Paul in 2006, Vivian was unanimously elected as the first president.

As the president of the holy childhood association, at the age of nine years, she mobilized funds to pay the bill of many poor children in the Central hospital, Benin City. She organized several visits to orphanage homes where she touched the lives of so many poor orphans.

The Servant of God Vivian was quite young but very committed both at Church and School.

She joined the Sunday school community and later the choir.

Through her inspiration, the Parish council approved the children's choir which grew from about twenty children to nearly sixty children at the time of her death.

This choir frequently won first place in the various musical competitions organized by the Holy Childhood Association, from 2007 right up to the most recent ones.

She almost always took part in special events organized by the Church, such as the yearly Children's day celebration, the Annual children mission day, the Christmas carol service as well as the end-of-year Thanksgiving.

In addition she took part in almost all the activities in the parish community where the children are given the responsibility of organizing liturgical activities for the day, she will take either  the reading or prayer of the faithful.

As a renowned preacher, she inspired and mentored so many children and even youths, especially in her parish and her School in following the path of holiness and defending the dignity of virginity, following the footsteps of *St. Maria Goretti, her favourite saint,* of who she always teach other children about.

At the age of thirteen, she already embarked on the development of her commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. She had reached the 16th chapter of that Gospel before her death.

Vivian played a prominent role in the yearly Teen Camp meetings which began in 2007 where they encouraged young people's active participation in the Sunday Eucharist and further catechesis on the liturgy.

She was in Senior Secondary II in Greater Tomorrow Secondary School and the assistant prayer leader in her school before her death.

 *DEATH* 

On Sunday, the 15th of November, 2009, after preaching about purity, virginity, and martyrdom to her fellow children in the church in the morning, the opportunity came for her to put into practice what she preached all her life.

While at home that evening, three armed robbers came to rob her family and afterward took her and her elder sister to a nearby bush and attempted to rape them.

She kept telling her sister not to allow them, even if it meant they would be killed.

They were distracted by her insistency and in the process, her sister was able to escape.

Following the struggle with her assailants,

She vehemently refused and opted to be shot instead and indeed she was martyred and her body was found the following day.

 *GOVERNMENT HONOURS* 

Having learned the news of her heroic death, the government of Edo State granted the land where Vivian Ogu was martyred to the Catholic Archdiocese of Benin City.

Two years later, the local government council of Ikpoba Okha officially named the street on which she was killed “Vivian Ogu”.

On the 17th of September 2019, the Edo State government launched the Vivian Ogu Sexual Assault Referral Centre which provides services and support to survivors of sexual assault in Edo State.

 *CATHOLIC HONOURS* 

Since the death of Vivian Ogu, the Catholic Archdiocese of Benin City has consistently celebrated Memorial Day for Vivian Ogu on the 15th of November every year.

The Vivian Ogu Movement was inaugurated in 2014 by the Catholic Archbishop of Benin, Most Rev. Dr. Augustine Obiora Akubeze with the task of:

Promoting the story of her exemplary life and heroic death so that many more may strive towards her heroic virtues and seek her intercession.

Preserving and developing the land where she was killed.

To celebrate the extraordinary missionary month in October 2019, the Holy Father Pope Francis asked for the biography of possible saint figures, canonized or not, to be used as heroic missionary examples for the whole world. Vivian Ogu was one of the twenty-five saint figures selected from the entire countries of the world.

Consequently, on the 26th of October 2019, the entire Catholic Church in Nigeria gathered at Vivian Ogu Animation Centre (VOMAC) for the national celebration of the extraordinary missionary month of October. *The Holy Father Pope Francis was represented by the president of the Pontifical Mission Society, Archbishop Giampietro Dal Toso.*

 *VIVIAN UCHECHI OGU, PARY FOR US*🙏

 *Thanks for reading* 

 *Please share* 

 *Let people know about* *Her.* 

 *The young Nigeria Saint of our time.* 

 *God Bless you.* 

 *MAKE US HOLY OH LORD*🙏

WORLD MENSTRUAL HYGIENE DAY- MAY 28

May 28th every year is set aside by the United Nations to mark World Menstrual Hygiene Day.

To mark the day, a member of the JDPC Issele-Uku in St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Agbor, Mrs Anwuli Ukwamedua engaged the female students of Ogbemudein Model Secondary School, Agbor in an interactive session on the theme of this year’s celebration; Period Friendly World.

She stressed the fact that Having Monthly periods are very normal and natural events that every female must experience from the age of puberty. She debunked some myths surrounding monthly periods like the old beliefs that ladies having their monthly periods are unclean and should be treated as such. She went further to explain ways to maintain good hygiene during the monthly periods including taking regular baths, changing the sanitary napkins regularly as well as using appropriate underwear. She also showed them a sample of disposable sanitary napkin and explained the proper way to use them.

There were questions from the students which the speaker answered satisfactorily and the students got value from the session.

The high point of the session was the handing out of packs of sanitary napkins to some students who answered questions during the session.

SURVEY ON MAMI WATA CONTINUES

The picture you are seeing here is that of a mermaid, as known in European mythology. 

Origin of the word mermaid: The English word "mermaid" is a compound of "mere" (an Old English word for "sea") and "maid" (a girl or young woman). 

Mami wata is nothing but a corruption of the word mermaid. 

Mermaids are common in European ancient mythologies, where they are also called sirens.

Today, in Europe, the mermaid exists only in their fairy stories and legends, where it is depicted as a woman with a fish's tail instead of legs who lives in the sea.

The first picture of a mermaid is said to have been brought to Nigeria by a British colonial agent in 1901.

Now my question for clarity: did our precolonial African ancestors believe that a mermaid, that is, a woman with a fish tail or even human legs, lived inside their waters?

Fada Angelo Chidi Unegbu

MARINE SPIRITS AND AFRICAN WATERS

The River Niger takes off from the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea, near the Sierra Leone border. "It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Niger, on the border with Benin, and then through Nigeria, discharging through a massive delta, known as the Niger Delta, into the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean." To this point, the water spirits are in charge. 

That is why when someone is drowned by the water around Nigeria, the spirits demand to have their bodies or that the relatives pay ransom. 

Again, in case of a mishap the African water spirits protect those who give them Fanta and drown those who do not. 

African marine spirits also love rams, goats and chickens. The more you bring these to them, the happier they are with you.

But as soon as the water leaves the shores of Africa, all the spirits retreat and move back to the African waters. 

That is why our brothers and sisters who drown in Italian waters in search of greener pastures are not buried beside the water nor pay ransom to any water spirit but are buried in an Italian cemetery.

With these few points of mine, I hope I have been able to convince you and not confuse you about why the water spirits love living in African waters. Thank you!

Fada Angelo Chidi Unegbu