GIVE GENEROUSLY TO THE LORDHE WILL REPAY YOU SEVENFOLD (Sirach 35:9-10)

⏰Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time 1 (30 May 2023)

📖Sir 35:1-12; Ps 50:5-6, 7-8, 14 and 23 (R.v.23bc); Mark 10:28-31

GIVE GENEROUSLY TO THE LORDHE WILL REPAY YOU SEVENFOLD (Sirach 35:9-10)

Beloved in Christ, we give thanks to God for his grace and strength to continue in this journey of faith together. I plead with you to accompany me with your prayers for the sustenance of the grace and strength, and of being a true example of the gospel that I preach.

Do you remember the story of that rich young man that came to Jesus to find out what he must do to gain eternal life? The rich young man was obviously living a righteous life, but he lacked charity (cf. Mark 10:19-21). 

On account of his righteousness, the disciples wondered whether they can gain anything from following Jesus (cf. Mark 10:28). But Jesus reassured them that none of their efforts would go unrewarded (cf. Mark 10:29-30).

So my dear fellow pilgrim, continue steadfastly in your effort to do the will of God, living in generosity and in righteousness. Do not mind those who tell you that your effort does not count for your salvation because Jesus had already won that for you. St. Augustine says that the God who created you without your knowledge will not save you without your cooperation.

However, you must not see your effort as a great contribution that MUST be rewarded by God. That is reward-centered morality and it is a faulty kind of morality.

May God grant us the grace of living generously with others and making our world a better place. May he save our country from the present confusion and hardship it has been thrown into by greed and selfishness. Amen. 

Peace be well with you.

http://www.fadajbcezeonwumelu.com/give-generously-to-the-lord-he-will-repay-you-sevenfold-sirach-359-10/

THE BOOK OF JOB

Based on the discussions we had today on Jesus and wealth,  I think we have to treat in the next few days the most ancient book of the entire Bible called the Book of Job. 

The book of Job was written about 400 years before the book of Genesis. 

It was written in a language that is no longer spoken today. Some of the things or features it talks about are also no longer in existence today. 

To understand the historical settings of the book of Job will help us to understand that of many books of the Bible.

It will help us in interpreting the Bible the way it should be.

Stay tuned. 

Fada Angelo Chidi Unegbu

THE HISTORY OF THE RELIC OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS IN WEINGARTEN GERMANY

According to legend, "the Relic of the Holy Blood in Weingarten contains the blood of Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified in 30 or 31 AD on the hill Golgotha."

"A Roman legionnaire, later known as Longinus (according to legend), pushed his lance deep into the side of the crucified to make sure he was dead." 

"The blood of Jesus Christ dripped on the face of Longinus and enlightened him; this was, according to the legend, the origin of the miraculous healing force of the blood of Jesus."

"Longinus collected some drops of the blood, mixed them with the soil of Golgotha and stored them in a lead box."

"After being baptized by the Apostles, he left Jerusalem and traveled on a ship to the Italian Mantua where he preached Christianity and was consequently prosecuted."

In hardship and distress, he hid the casket (in which he stored the blood) and died as a Martyr later on."

"One day the place of hiding was revealed to the blind Adilbero, and the news of which reached the Emperor."

"The Emperor, the Pope, and the Duke of Mantua let Adilbero show them the relic's hiding place and he got his eyesight back."

"However, a bloody conflict broke out about the relic. As a consequence, the object of dispute was apportioned: one piece for Pope Leo IX, one for the Duke of Mantua, and a third for Emperor Henry III."

To cut the story short, in 1056, part of the relics was bequeathed to Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, (1035–1067).

"He gave it as a present to his relation Judith of Flanders (1032–1094) who was married with her second husband Welf I, Duke of Bavaria."

"In 1094, Judith gave the Relic of the Blood to Walicho (1088–1108), abbot of Weingarten Abbey." 

The abbort kept it in their Church called St Martin where it stays till date.

The relic was said to have been handed over to the abbot on the Friday after Ascension Day. This is the reason a procession is held on its honour every first Friday following the ascenion.

This is a true story that was given birth by a legend. 

We all have legends in our various communities. The legends may not be true but the celebratios or festivals sorrounding them are important especially when they have grown into traditions and culture.

Do not neglect your village festivals because of the history sorrounding their beginnings. There is hardly a tradition  with a clear beginning.

Fada Angelo Chidi Unegbu

SIX (6) WAYS MEN CAN ESCAPE POVERTY.

1. Get the right woman - Forget the slay queens and women with looks but zero brains. Get a woman who will not only support your vision but will also push you to achieve more. A woman who will inspire you to work hard and not a woman who just makes you hard. He who finds a real woman finds a good thing and obtains favour and power to create wealth.

2. Stop Taking Cheap Drinks - I have no problem with having drinks during social interaction and networking. However, when you drink cheap drinks or drink in cheap places, you hang out with cheap people who have cheap ideas and a cheap future. Big business opportunities are found in places where the drinks are expensive. In fact, in places where they sell cheap drinks, the only people you will find there are people who will be asking you for money. They even clap when you come knowing 'big buyer' has come.

3. Stop being Lazy - "Man ooh Man, why art thou Lazy?" You are too lazy for your own good. You sleep the whole day and blame the government for your poverty. "A Little Sleep, a Little Slumber, poverty shall overtake you like a political cadre in overalls". A lot of men are just lazy when it comes to making money. They have enough energy to give a woman five orgasms, but have no energy to start one organization, that's why it is so easy for men to manufacture children than it is to make even pegs for putting children's clothes on the line..

4. Know Productive Things - If you keep too much junk in your head, you get a junk life. I know a lot of men who are so sharp when you are talking about girls, about soccer and about street politics, Who is Rich who is not,Who has a good house but you can't bring a topic about investment, innovation and business, they start looking at their phone, yawning or saying bye.. Useless things, videos and memes go viral fast than constructive things.. A man must know how to do at least one productive thing (have one skill) even without having gone to college.

5. Get Connected to Big Men Who are better than you - A lot of men are failing because they are not mentored. They don't have anyone to whom they can sit down and listen, with obedience. In the old days, old men would sit young men down and show them how to hunt and kill animals... and no man was considered a man enough until he has personally killed an animal... now these men of nowadays are not mentored and can't even kill a bird. There are men out there who have made it in life, find a way to get mentored by big men who are making waves and impacting people in our community.

6. Work - Stop Spending your whole day just praying and fasting yet you know that both Quran and Bible tells you that God will bless the work of your hands. Yes yes The blessing finds you on your way doing something,Stop using Prayer as an excuse not to work. Work hard.

It’s an error for your pockets to be empty and your brain to be empty too.

WHAT WOMEN NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MEN.

WHAT WOMEN NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MEN.

1. HE WANT'S TO BE APPRECIATED 

    Just like must women, men want to be appreciated, even if they are not satisfying you or meeting all your need as you want, show appreciation. He wants to know that you appreciate him for everything he does for you. He wants to know that you appreciate for who he is.

   When you complain about all of the things he does not do right, it is hard for him to feel that you value him.

2. THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO TO A MAN IS TO PUT HIM DOWN. ( RESPECT HIM )

   Men need respect and they value respect. ( Sarah called Abraham my LORD ) whether you are financially okay more than him respect him because God has made him the head. Respect him and don't criticize him. Criticism is a man's worst nightmare. The commandment from God says that. Women should love their husband and be submissive.

3. DON'T COMPARE HIM TO BE OTHER MEN.

    Men hates comparison. Appreciate him for who he is and stop comparing him to anybody. Nothing weaken men like comparing them with other men, they will feel as if they are worthless and senseless and it can lead them to take some negative decision that can later affect the relationship.

4. HIS WAYS OF SHOWING LOVE ARE DIFFERENT THAN YOURS.

Your idea of showing love may include romantic gestures and compliments, but just because that's not the way he behaves does he love you any less. Sometimes men do not always have an easy time expressing his feelings or sharing verbally, though he does show you in other ways. While you may prefer a hug or words of endearment, he may demonstrate his love when he buys your favorite snacks.

5. MEN ARE NOT THE TALKING TYPE.

    We all know that women talks more than men, sometimes me find it difficult to express or address issues. They think a lot. They don't like talking sometimes so you need to teach them.

Comr  Pirousky.

Why do Christians fast?

Why Do We Fast? 

I read a story of a man from Ebonyi state Nigeria, that fasted for 41 days and nights. In the photographs of him which I saw, he was looking skinny, almost all his bones were visible as though he is a living skeleton. He lay on the mat with his Bible opened as he seemed to be reading it. Obviously, he was looking like someone who was already dying. And report has it that he has beaten the record of Christ who fasted for 40 days and nights.

When I read stories like this, many things come to mind. One of which is the length of time it will really take to correct so many wrong teachings people pass across in the name of Christianity. 

People are made to fast for 21 days for the intention of attracting life partners. People fast for 30 days so as to break what they call generational curses. Christians even use fasting to threaten people whom they consider their enemies, claiming that if they fast with them in mind, they will die. And during Lent, some Catholics fast to make a show that they are holy and faithful to the church's teachings.

In summary, we can say categorically that Christian fasting has been greatly abused to the extent that we have lost the essence of fasting.

As such, we must at this point ask ourselves this very important question: why do Christians fast?

As humans, we are made up of body and spirit. As Christians, we aim at having a relationship with God. Unfortunately, God is not bodily, rather, he is Spirit. We can not sincerely reach the spirit unless we make ourselves spirits. And as St John even clarified in John 4:24, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

What does it mean?

For example, if knowledge is immaterial, it therefore means that to attain knowledge we must make ourselves immaterial. And if God is Spirit, to really have a deeper relationship with him, we must make ourselves spirits.

This is where fasting comes to play. In fasting, what we are simply doing is to make our spirit-self more active by playing down on the bodily part of us. So, we deny ourselves of bodily desires (things that we cherish most which might not be bad in themselves) so that we could gradually have a connection to our spirit self and invariably relate with God who is Spirit.

It is like an app, I can't send you anything through the app called Xender unless you have the same Xender on your phone and it is active. I can't use Bluetooth to send you messages on WhatsApp. It has to be WhatsApp to WhatsApp. Bluetooth to Bluetooth. Etc.

Fasting is not just about deciding not to eat. There is a consciousness in fasting, the consciousness of connecting with the Divine. And of course, some are still able to connect even without fasting from food. But the point is, one necessarily has to suspend so many bodily desires if the person is interested in having a deeper union with a being that is not bodily.

For Catholics, when fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal.

Fasting is not a suicide mission or a goal to achieve a certain number of days without food. Some people fast to lose weight. You can Google the name, Angus Barbieri. Reportedly, he went without food for 382 days just to reduce his weight. Check also, Dennis Galer Goodwin. He went without food for 385 days to prove his innocence over a rape allegation. There are hungry people in my parish who only eat once a day, do we call that fasting because they usually don't see food to eat sometimes until it is 2 pm or 4 pm?

Fasting helps us to connect quickly with the Divine. It is exactly what Christ told John's disciples in Matthew 9:15, that his disciples will have no need of fasting as long as the bridegroom is still with them. In essence, he was saying, why will they struggle to connect with me when I am already here in body with them? Maybe once I leave, they will.

Dear friends, 

It is not fasting that brings you life partners. It is not by fasting that you get a job or your business will flourish. Fasting does not kill those you consider your enemy. 

When you fast, spend time to connect with the Divine in silence and develop that sweet union with him in which both of you could deeply talk and listen to each other just like how friends do. Stop this parade of showing off how spiritual you are because you fast.

Some of the things some of you do and call it Christian fasting could be better-called starvation. It will be better if you just go and eat instead of deceiving yourself.

#FacebookTelevision