THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

 

READINGS AT MASS 

Malachi 3:19-20

Psalm 98

2 Thess. 3:7-12

Luke 21:5-19

Theme: THE FATE OF WORLDLY BEAUTY 

Dear friends in Christ, N'wokafu YESU KRISTO...

The liturgical year is coming to an end, and as usual, the readings these days remind us of the finality of all things, including life itself.

Our Gospel reading this morning describes the scene of our Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples before the majestic Temple in Jerusalem. According to well-known historians, the Temple was a sight to behold. Its architectural design and decorations were awe-inspiring. It is no wonder the disciples were captivated by it.

Interestingly, however, the disciples and Jesus viewed the Temple differently. While the disciples admired its physical beauty, Jesus was contemplating its inevitable destruction and the end of its grandeur. Jesus foresaw the end of the magnificent edifice. Are we also able to see the end, or are we distracted by the temporary splendor of this world?

Beloved, everything we see around us will eventually come to an end. The perfection we often pride ourselves in will fade away. The end of all the beautiful structures we have built and which adorn our lives is unavoidable.

The revelation Jesus shares in this Gospel passage shows the reality of our lives. We are easily mesmerized by the temporary beauty of this fleeting life, often forgetting that it is destined to end. 

PRAYER

Lord, do not allow me to be preoccupied with the splendor of this temporary world and forget about its inevitable end. Amen.

May God bless you.

Fr. Kenneth Debre 

Sunday, November 16, 2025.

St. Peter Parish, Vakpo.

Sunday Gospel Reflection: Courage And Strength

 

“Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.” Luke 21:12–15

It could be said that these are among the least consoling words that Jesus ever spoke. Imagine what His disciples would have thought upon hearing this. Some of them might have changed their minds about following Jesus and walked away. Why would anyone want to be seized and persecuted, or thrown into prison? Jesus even went on to say that “they will put some of you to death.”

Though these words might not, at first, seem all that consoling, they were inspired words and, therefore, must be inspiring. By analogy, imagine an army general in charge of troops defending their families and homeland from hostile invaders. If that general were to say similar words to the troops, acknowledging that some of them would be captured and even killed, it would be a reality check for sure. But it would also inspire a certain courage and drive. In that moment, the soldiers would need courage to face the challenge that awaited them. Therefore, by being honest with them, the general would stir up their courage and strengthen their resolve to enter the battle.

We must hear Jesus’ words today as His battle cry, spoken to encourage us. He is warning us that the secular and unchristian world will be hostile. The leader of the kingdom of darkness, the devil, is very active and, with his legion of demons and followers, is seeking to destroy us. For our part, we must decide whether we will retreat and hide, or enter the battle for the salvation of souls.

Though most of us will not endure physical martyrdom for our faith, it will happen to some. But for most of us, the persecution we will endure will be on a different level. We may be mocked or even hated for our refusal to accept immorality within the culture. We may be called hateful when we stand up for the dignity of the unborn child in danger of abortion. We may be deemed superstitious or old fashioned by remaining faithful to Sunday worship and daily prayer. And we may be thought of as out-of-touch or behind the times for refusing to embrace the latest popular fads and secular values. Sometimes this happens even within the family.

Instead of shying away from the various forms of persecution we may experience, we need to allow our Lord to stir up a courage within us that is fueled by love. We must deeply desire the salvation of every soul and remain certain that the only way to salvation is through fidelity to Christ.

When you are challenged by others or by the world, you must trust in Jesus’ words. “I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.” When we resist and refute the errors of our age, some people will become hostile. But if we remain faithful to our Lord and speak by His inspiration, then those who are hostile will be affected for the good. Because Jesus said that people will not be able to “resist or refute” the words He inspires us to say, we must know that our words can make a difference in the battle for souls. We must engage the battle with courage and love and rely upon our Lord to lead.

Reflect, today, upon the fact that we are all in a battle for the salvation of souls, beginning with our own. We cannot be passive bystanders. We must move forward with much courage and strength. We must trust in the guidance given to us by our Lord. We must be open to the words He will inspire us to speak when needed. Resolve to follow our Lord into this holy battle, and He will equip you with all you need to be victorious.

My courageous Lord, You endured much suffering in life and embraced it with pure love. Please give me the grace I need to follow You wherever You lead and to be an instrument of Your voice to a world in need. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday Gospel Reflection: Being Shocked By Our Lord

 

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his Body. John 2:19–21

We celebrate, today, the Lateran Basilica in Rome, the mother church of the entire Roman Catholic Church. It was given to the Bishop of Rome in the fourth century and remained the pope’s primary residence until the building of St. Peter’s Basilica, at a time when the Lateran Basilica was falling into ruins. However, the Lateran Basilica to this day remains the most important Church in the world, since it is officially the Cathedral Church of Rome.

As we honor this church, we honor more than a building. The Lateran Basilica is a symbol of the one true Church of Jesus Christ. Its interior is beautiful and awe-inspiring so as to point us to the unimaginable beauty of the Church Herself, which is the Mystical Body of Christ.

Today’s Gospel depicts Jesus entering the Temple and driving the money changers out with a whip and the animals they were selling for profit. As He did so, He cried out, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” Psalm 69 is then quoted: Zeal for your house will consume me.

Jesus loves His Church as His own Body - because that is what it is. As His Body, the members of His Church are called and sent to act as His instruments, members of His saving action. Much more than a church building, today we honor the Church Herself - which means we honor you, insofar as you are a member of the Body of Christ. And in light of this Gospel passage for today’s Feast, we are reminded of the zeal that our Lord has for the cleansing of His Church.

How is the Church purified? It is purified by the cleansing of Her members. That means that Jesus desires, with perfect zeal, to drive out every sin from your soul, cleansing the filth that keeps you from fulfilling your essential role as a member of His Body.

Sometimes we become slack in our own commitment to be purified. We can easily become comfortable with the sins we commit, and we can form habits that are hard to break. When this happens, it is useful to ponder this story of the cleansing of the Temple and see it as Jesus’ desire to cleanse our own soul. At times, we need to be shaken up, challenged, confronted and encouraged with the unwavering zeal in the heart of our Lord.

Reflect, today, upon this powerful image of Jesus cleansing the Temple. As you do, apply it to your own life. The people selling and buying in the Temple must have been shocked at Jesus’ zeal and actions. If you have become complacent with your sins, try to allow this holy shock to also wake you up. Allow our Lord’s zeal to affect you, and know that His purifying actions are acts of love by which He desires to free you to become a more fully functioning member of His holy Church.

My zealous Lord, Your heart burns with a deep desire to cleanse me and all Your children from sin. Your zeal reveals Your deep love and Your willingness to do all that You can to make me a fuller member of Your Body, the Church. Open my mind and will, dear Lord, to all that You wish to say to me and give me the grace to respond to Your purifying action in my life. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday Gospel Reflection: Commemorating All Souls

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” John 6:40

Yesterday’s Solemnity of All Saints gave us an opportunity to celebrate and rejoice in the fact that there are countless people who have gone before us who are now enjoying the glories of Heaven. These faithful souls lived lives that were grounded in God’s grace and have been fully purified of all sin. They now gaze at our good God face-to-face.

Today, we commemorate the fact that many who die in a state of grace are not immediately ready to stand before the glorious throne of God and see Him face-to-face. The only way this is possible is if every sin and every attachment to sin is purged from our souls. We must have nothing but pure charity alive within us if we are to enter the eternal glories of Heaven. But how many people die in such a state?

The Church, in her wisdom and holiness, has taught clearly through the centuries that when a person passes from this world to the next while still attached to less serious sin, they need to be fully purified in order to enter Heaven. This is Purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned” (#1030–31a).

For some, Purgatory can be a frightening and even confusing thought. Why doesn’t God, in His infinite mercy, simply take all our loved ones who followed Him straight to Heaven? The answer is simple. He does! And the path for them to Heaven is this incredible mercy of their final purification.

Purification of all attachment to sin within our soul is a mercy beyond what we can imagine. Through this final purification, God prepares the holy souls who have died for an eternity of joy. But this purification is necessary because God, in His love, does not want any soul to live eternally with even a minor attachment to sin. God wants us all free. The truth is that every sin on our soul, even the smallest one, is reason enough for us to be excluded from Heaven. So Purgatory must be seen as a final mercy from God by which He lifts every last burden that keeps us from perfect love, so that our eternity will be one of utmost freedom and ecstasy. God wants us to be filled only with the purity of love forever. Thus, upon our death, we are graced to enter into a final and intense purification of every minor sin, so that when we see God in all His glory, we will see Him with the perfection to which we are called. Purgatory is a gift, a grace, a mercy. It will be painful to go through in the same way that overcoming any sin is painful. But the good fruit of freedom from sin makes every final purification we must endure worth it a hundredfold and more.

Reflect, today, upon the spiritual truth that God wants you to be a saint. If you are among those few who die in a state in which you are purified from every sin, then be assured that you have already completed your purgatory on earth. But if you or your loved ones are among the many who still hold some minor attachment to sin at the time of death, then rejoice that God is not done with you yet. Anticipate with much gratitude the final purification that awaits and look forward to the freedom that ultimately comes from that purification.

My merciful Lord, You desire that my soul and the souls of all your faithful be purified of every sin, even the smallest imperfection. I thank You for the mercy of Purgatory and pray that I will continually work toward that purification here and now. I pray, also, for all those who have gone before me and are still in need of these purifying fires. Pour forth Your mercy upon them so that they may be counted among the saints in Heaven. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday Gospel Reflection: Humility In Prayer

 

“Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector.’” Luke 18:10–11

What a sad prayer. Of course it wasn’t even a prayer to God since the Pharisee “spoke this prayer to himself.” The prayer of the tax collector, however, was a perfect model for all prayer. We read that the tax collector “stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’” Which prayer more resembles your own prayer?

To honestly answer that question, let’s examine both prayers. First of all, the contrast of these two prayers is a contrast between humility and pride. The Pharisee was clearly full of pride. Pride blinds us from true self-knowledge. Saint Teresa of Ávila teaches us that the very first thing we must do on our journey to God is obtain self-knowledge through humility. Without that, we will never grow in holiness.

The sin of pride is obvious in the prayer of the Pharisee and, therefore, his lack of true self-knowledge is also evident. Note that even his physical posture of standing depicts pride. Throughout the Scriptures, kneeling, or even falling prostrate, is the disposition of the humble. In addition to standing, the Pharisee’s prayer was a list of his own goodness. He very well may have fasted twice a week and paid tithes on his whole income. But his prayer suggests that he did this by his own effort. He did not ascribe those acts to the grace and strength of God, which means they were not true acts of charity. His prayer suggests that he doesn’t need God in order to do good. This is also seen in the fact that he asks nothing of God. Instead, he simply thanks God for how good he is through his own effort. The result is that God gives him nothing, since he asked for nothing.

True prayer must begin with the humble recognition of our weakness and need for God. The tax collector expressed this humility by bowing his head to the ground, not even daring to look up to Heaven. This reveals he did not consider himself worthy of God’s grace. Truth be told, he wasn’t worthy of it. That’s why God’s grace is a mercy. It is all mercy in that He bestows that which we are not worthy to receive. And He only bestows it on those who know they are not worthy of it. The words spoken by the tax collector are the perfect model of prayer because his words depict these truths. As a sinner, he doesn’t deserve mercy but begs for God’s grace as an act of God’s mercy.

When you pray, how do you pray? What is the disposition of your heart and for what do you pray? Begin by considering the physical position in which you pray. Though we can pray standing, sitting, kneeling or even lying down, there is something very good about kneeling or even lying prostrate. It doesn’t mean we have to do so the entire time we pray, but it is a good practice to kneel, bow your head or fall down prostrate before God at least for a moment each day. Do you do this? If not, consider making this a daily habit.

When you pray, do you begin your prayer with humility? We begin the Mass by examining our conscience and confessing our sins. This is a good example of how to begin your prayer every time you pray. Humble yourself by calling to mind your sins and weaknesses. Confess them to God and acknowledge the fact that, because of your sins, you are unworthy of God’s mercy. Humility like this will help you to see yourself as God sees you, and this will help you open yourself to the grace you need from God to grow in holiness.

Reflect, today, upon the humility found in the prayer of this tax collector. As you do, look at your own practice of prayer and discern whether you imitate this tax collector’s disposition and prayer. Try to commit to physically humbling yourself before our Lord every day. Kneel, bow your head, or fall down prostrate every day. When you do pray, beg for mercy as one who doesn’t deserve anything from God. This is the humble truth on which all prayer must be based. The more you can humble yourself this way, the more God will lift you up and pour forth His mercy upon you.

O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I bow before You, most glorious and merciful God. I offer You my praise and gratitude for Your abundant mercy in my life. I am not worthy of You and Your grace, but You bestow it anyway. For that I thank You with profound gratitude and beg for the ongoing gift of Your grace. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday Gospel Reflection: Praying For More Than Our Needs

 

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” Luke 17:11–13

This story begins very well for all ten of these lepers. For nine of them, it ends tragically. For one, it ends in an even better and more glorious way than it began.

The lepers represent us all. Their illness was a symbol of all sin and the consequences of sin. When the disease began, the lepers began to experience the effects of their disease. Discolored and thick dry skin, sores, and rashes would set in. Once detected, each leper was removed from the community to stop the spread of the disease and was only free to associate with other lepers. They no longer could gather freely with their loved ones as the lepers entered isolation and shame. Analogously, all sin has similar effects. Sin causes pain within our souls as we discover the growing wounds it causes. Sin affects our relationships and our ability to freely relate to those whom we love.

The initial cure for sin is simple. We cry out, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on me!” But that is only the first step. By curing the lepers, Jesus was showing us that He had power over our sin. He could forgive us and will forgive us when we seek His mercy. But forgiveness will end in tragedy if it does not lead us to faith and to a following of the will of God with zeal and determination. If we take the forgiveness of sins for granted, then we will be in an even more miserable state than before. The nine lepers who failed to return and give thanks to God represent those who do not convert their lives when touched by God’s merciful hand.

This story highlights the importance of our response to God when He does touch us. We must glorify God with a loud voice, fall on our knees before Him and express our deepest gratitude. When the one leper does this, Jesus says to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” That mercy from our Lord was a mercy that touched his soul. It imparted the gift of faith and enabled this man to go forth and be healed with eternal graces.

Too often we turn to God in prayer only when we have a problem. Then, once the problem is taken care of, we pay little to no attention to our Lord. God’s role in our lives is not to fix our problems so that we can then go about our daily lives as normal. His mercy must evoke ongoing and profound gratitude. Gratitude to God is nothing other than an acknowledgement of the truth. We owe everything to God. Without Him, we are nothing. We are dead in our sins. Just one leper realized this and was blessed with the gift of faith that saved not only his body, but also his soul.

Reflect, today, upon the ways in which you turn to God in prayer. It is good to come to Him with your needs and problems. It is good to cry out “Jesus, Master! Have pity on me!” It is good to come to Him as the Physician of your soul and the source of healing you need. But that is not enough. In fact, if you stop there in your life of prayer, you will end in a most miserable state. You will be using God for your selfish advantage. Reflect upon whether you are able to take the next and most important step in faith. Do you come to Him when all is well? Do you praise Him with all your might for all that He has done for you? Do you fall on your knees before Him with the deepest gratitude in your heart? Reflect upon your prayer and seek to imitate this one leper. If you do, your faith will also save you and our Lord will invite you to rise and go forth, healed in the truest way possible.

Most merciful Lord, You are able to do all things. You are able to heal all my wounds, forgive my sins and solve every problem I encounter. As I cry out to You in my need, please do heal me. In response, may I always turn back to You with the deepest gratitude and praise so that my faith in You will grow and my love for You will truly flourish. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday Gospel Reflection: Nourished By Faith

 

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Luke 17:5–6

Is it possible to completely uproot a tree and plant it in the sea? It’s certainly hard to imagine how. It is especially hard to imagine doing so with a simple command of faith. Uprooting a tree is hard enough to imagine, but it is even more difficult to imagine a tree being planted in the sea. Though water is necessary, one cannot plant a tree in the sea and expect it to grow. But that’s partly the point. We often underestimate the power of true faith. Saint Matthew’s Gospel says that faith can move mountains. Saint Luke’s says it can uproot a tree and replant it in the sea. All it takes to do so is faith the size of a mustard seed.

How much faith is equal to a mustard seed? A mustard seed is small, very small. It measures only about one millimeter in length. People who worked the soil at that time would have known that it was among the smallest of seeds they planted. For that reason, Jesus uses this familiar image to teach the apostles that faith, even a little faith, is powerful.

Jesus’ teaching comes in response to a prayer on the part of the apostles. “Increase our faith,” they said. Jesus’ response, inviting them to have only a little faith, implies that their faith was quite weak. To increase their faith to the size of a mustard seed suggests that they did not even have a little faith yet. Most likely they were aware of that fact, and that was the reason they asked Jesus to increase their faith. They perceived their lacking and turned to Him Who could help.

One of the first steps to increasing faith is to humbly admit our lack of faith. In our pride, we often want to convince ourselves and others that we are filled with faith. But if that were the case, God would be doing incredible things through us. He would be doing that which is otherwise humanly impossible.

Obviously, faith does not give us magical powers by which we can literally command a tree to uproot itself and plant itself in the sea. This imagery is meant to tell us that faith will work miracles of faith, not necessarily physical miracles. In fact, if God ever did use us and our faith to work a physical miracle, it would only happen because it was a motivation for the far more important gift of the increase of faith.

What, then, can a little faith do? It can uproot sin from your heart and from the hearts of those around you. It can nourish you and others in ways that seem impossible. Just as a tree cannot normally be planted in the sea and survive, the gift of faith, even a little faith, will enable the soul to be nourished and strengthened in ways that otherwise seem impossible. A martyr perfectly illustrates this fact. Normally, persecution and death are not considered to be nourishing to a person. But when a person has faith and suffers martyrdom on account of Christ, then their soul will be fed by the persecution itself. And that is among the greatest of miracles possible. Suffering, persecution, illness, poverty, and every other difficulty imaginable are transformed by God into a source of nourishment when we endure them with true faith.

Reflect, today, upon the prayer of the apostles: “Increase our faith.” Some of the greatest mystics taught that faith darkens the intellect. By this darkening, they mean that, by faith, God will lead us into the unknown, on a path that He alone is aware of. We will become instruments of His transforming grace in ways that are completely beyond our natural abilities. Pray for an increase of faith. When our Lord hears your humble prayer, by which you also confess your lack of faith, He will increase that faith, uproot sin and evil, and plant your soul in places in which you become nourished in ways that you could have never imagined possible.

Most glorious Lord, Increase my faith. Give me a pure faith—a faith that enables You to lead me down the unknown path to Your glory. With this gift of faith, please use me to bring forth Your miraculous power by which sin is uprooted and souls are nourished by You alone. Jesus, I trust in You.

Gospel Reflection: Spiritual Riches

Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.” Luke 16:19–22

No rational person would want to go to hell. The rich man in this parable certainly did not desire hell, but his actions led him there. Most people, however, do want to be rich in this world. In fact, many people would think it  irrational not to desire wealth. It is very rare to find a person who chooses to live in simplicity as a means to deeper spiritual fulfillment and as a preparation for the riches of Heaven. But one clear message from our Gospel story today is that the life that Lazarus lived on earth was far better than that of the rich man. So which life do you prefer here and now? While it is true that the rich man’s riches were not the exclusive cause of his eternal damnation, it is also true that his riches imposed upon him a temptation toward selfishness and indifference to the needs of others, which ended in his eternal demise.

Imagine that you won many millions of dollars. What would you do with it? As a good Christian, you might immediately profess that you would use that money for good, to help the poor and make a difference in the lives of others. What would the ideal response be to winning many millions of dollars? Would it suffice to give away ten percent and then use the rest for yourself? Probably not.

One thing that this parable teaches is that material wealth not only adds nothing of value to our eternal reward, it also adds much temptation to our lives. True, if you received a lot of money and then used that money exclusively for good in accord with God’s will, that would be a holy act of charity on your part and good for your eternal soul. But doing so would be very difficult. It would be very difficult to resist the temptations that come from material wealth.

Is it good to be rich? It is certainly good to be able to take care of your basic needs in life and those of your family. Having money helps you do that. But once our basic needs have been met, the money left over is far more of a temptation than it is a blessing. We have to believe that. And if you are among those who want to become rich so that you can help others, consider this scenario. If that is your motivation, and if you did win a large amount of money, would it be possible for you to continue living the way you are living now? Imagine staying in the same home, driving the same car, having the same lifestyle, and using all the money you obtained 100% for the glory of God and the good of others. That would be hard to do. But if you could do it, not only would it be good for others, it would be exceptionally good for your own soul. Though this Gospel story has many valuable lessons in it, one of the clearest messages is that earthly poverty benefits a soul far more than earthly wealth. Many people will find that hard to accept.

Reflect, today, upon the stark contrast between Lazarus and the rich man. One dined sumptuously every day, was clothed in fine linen and purple garments and then spent eternity in the netherworld where he was tormented. The other longed to eat the scraps from another’s table, had no home, was covered in sores, but spent eternity in Heaven after being carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. Choose to imitate Lazarus rather than the rich man. If you have many material possessions, work hard at being detached from them. Live simply, be generous, and never neglect those in need. If you have very little, do not covet more. Eliminate envy, don’t despair, trust in the providence of God, and rejoice that, like Lazarus, you are able to build up eternal riches within your soul that will remain with you forever.

Lord of true riches, the spiritual wealth of true virtue, charity, faith and hope are all that matters in life. Material possessions mean little in this life and are a source of many temptations. Please free me from the desire for wealth. Free me from greed, selfishness and envy. Fill me with a spirit of detachment and generosity, and help me to build up true treasure in Heaven. Jesus, I trust in You.

Bishop Fianu Urges Priests, Teachers And Catechists To Use Wednesday Services To Teach Children About The Diocese

 

The Catholic Bishop of Ho and Vice President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD, has called on priests, teachers, and catechists to dedicate Wednesday religious services to teaching children about the history and life of the Catholic Diocese of Ho.

Speaking at the grand finale of the Inter-Deanery Quiz Competition held in his honour as part of activities marking his 10th Episcopal Anniversary, Bishop Fianu emphasized that while doctrinal knowledge is essential, understanding the diocese’s heritage is equally important. “Children must know they are part and parcel of the diocese and not just at the periphery.”

The vibrant competition, organized by the Regional Directorate of the Catholic Education Unit in collaboration with the Central Planning Committee and the ADM Quiz Foundation, showcased the faith and intellect of pupils drawn from three deaneries Ho, Hohoe, and Kpando.

After a keenly contested battle of wits, Ho Deanery emerged champions with 53 points, edging out Hohoe Deanery, which scored 45 points, and Kpando Deanery, which followed closely with 44 points.

Bishop Fianu commended the contestants for their impressive command of Church doctrine and encouraged them to share the insights they gained with peers in their parishes to deepen appreciation of the diocese’s rich history.

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Komla, Chairman of the Anniversary Planning Committee, announced that the 10th Anniversary celebrations will continue with a Grand Anniversary Durbar on Friday, October 10, 2025, at the same venue. The event will feature the presentation of the Diocesan Report and a special fundraising drive in support of the ongoing Cathedral project at Bankoe.

Source: Catholic-Trends

Gospel Reflection: Supernatural Prudence

And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” Luke 16:8

These lines conclude the Parable of the Dishonest Steward. At that time, there was a Palastinian custom in which agents acted on behalf of a wealthier master’s money, making loans and obtaining them back with interest. It is similar to our modern banking system. The problem presented in this parable was that the steward was dishonest, skimming some of the profits for himself. As a result, the master told the steward to get his financial affairs in order because he was going to fire him. The shrewd steward, acting on the authority he still had for the moment, then went forth and reduced the debt of each of his master’s debtors so as to win favor with each of them so that he could do business with them after he was fired by his master.

Obviously, Jesus does not tell this parable because He approves of dishonest and shrewd deception in business practices. Instead, He tells it to illustrate the fact that many people who are motivated by selfishness and worldly goals use the natural gift of prudence with much more zeal than many of the “children of light.”

Think about your goals in life. If you were to make a list of your goals, what would it look like? And if you were to order that list according to the importance of those goals, what would be first? Hopefully, on the top of that list, you would have as your primary goal the love, service and glory of God. In the end, that is all that matters in life. Every other goal in life will fall into place when that is our central goal. 

However, if you were to order your list according to how much time, energy and prudence you put into each endeavor, how would it look? Would it look different? Most likely. Many people go about their lives putting a tremendous amount of time and effort into the passing things of this world. Many make their financial advancement the goal with which they spend the most time and energy. Others devote countless hours to hobbies, entertainment, home improvements, sports, and even wasteful activities such as binging on television. When it comes to the practice of the faith, it is a rare person who devotes a significant amount of time and energy to daily prayer, studying the Scriptures, learning the Catechism, and studying the lives of the saints. Many experience Sunday Mass as a burden. Charitable service can become undesirable. Many rarely work at the proclamation of the Gospel.

Though it is true that much of your time might need to be devoted to the ordinary duties of life, such as making a living and caring for the home and family, it is also true that most people need to reorder their priorities by making sure that the will of God is the central mission of their lives. How is this best accomplished? It begins with the virtue of prudence. Prudence is both a natural virtue and a supernatural one. On a natural level, prudence is called the “mother of all virtues” because it is the quality by which every other virtue, all our time and energy, goals and ambitions are directed. Prudence is the act of vigorously using our minds to creatively and zealously work to achieve the most important goals in life. Supernatural prudence is a spiritual gift by which our natural abilities of prudence are infused with the grace of God, and we are better equipped to know how to accomplish God’s will for our lives.

Reflect, today, upon what your list would look like if you were to make it honestly. What do you spend the most time and energy doing? Even if you need to spend most of your time on the ordinary aspects of life, this becomes a holy endeavor when you do it because God is inspiring you to do so. In that case, even the ordinary becomes grace-filled and becomes a way by which you glorify God. The only way for you to know if you are using your time and energies properly is by being open to the gift of supernatural prudence. Pray for that gift today and ask our Lord to more directly order your life so that everything you do is for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Lord, You are perfect Wisdom; You are Prudence Itself. Please flood my mind and will with Your divine presence and fill me with a desire to make Your perfect will the central mission of my life. Please help me to know how to order my days so that everything I do gives You glory and works toward the salvation of souls, beginning with my own. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday Gospel Reflection: The Transforming Power of the Cross

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.  John 3:16–17

If Jesus would never have given His life on a cross for the salvation of the world, then a cross would never have been seen in “exultation.” A cross, in and of itself, is an instrument of death, a horrific and violent death. It’s also an instrument of humiliation and torture. Yet, today, the Cross is seen as a holy and blessed object. We hang crosses in our homes, wear them around our neck, keep them in our pocket on the end of the rosary, and spend time in prayer before them. The Cross is now an exalted image by which we turn to God in prayer and surrender. But that is only the case because it was on a cross that we were saved and brought to eternal life.

If you step back and consider the amazing truth that one of the worst instruments of torture and death is now seen as one of the holiest of images on earth, it should be awe inspiring. Comprehending this fact should lead us to the realization that God can do anything and everything. God can use the worst and transform it into the best. He can use death to bring forth life.

Though our celebration today, the “Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross,” is first and foremost a feast by which we give glory to the Father for what He did in the Person of His divine Son, it is also a feast by which we must humbly understand that God can “exalt” every cross we endure in life and bring forth much grace through them.

What is your heaviest cross? What is the source of your greatest suffering? Most likely, as you call this to mind, it is painful to you. Most often, our crosses and sufferings are things we seek to rid ourselves of. We easily point to crosses in life and blame them for a lack of happiness. We can easily think that if only this or that were to change or be removed, then our life would be better. So what is that cross in your life?

The truth is that whatever your heaviest cross is, there is extraordinary potential for that cross to become an actual source of grace in your life and in the world. But this is only possible if you embrace that cross in faith and hope so that our Lord can unite it to His and so that your crosses can also share in the exaltation of Christ’s Cross. Though this is a profoundly deep mystery of faith, it is also a profoundly deep truth of our faith.

Reflect, today, upon your own crosses. As you do, try not to see them as a burden. Instead, realize the potential within those crosses. Prayerfully look at your crosses as invitations to share in Christ’s Cross. Say “Yes” to your crosses. Choose them freely. Unite them to Christ’s Cross. As you do, have hope that God’s glory will come forth in your life and in the world through your free embrace of them. Know that these “burdens” will be transformed and become a source of exaltation in your life by the transforming power of God.

My exalted Lord, I turn to You in my need and with the utmost faith in Your divine power to save. Please give me the grace I need to fully embrace every cross in my life with hope and faith in You. Please transform my crosses so that You will be exalted through them and so that they will become an instrument of Your glory and grace. Jesus, I trust in You..

My merciful Lord, You came to earth to serve, not to be served, and to give Your life to others in an act of the most pure and holy love. I open myself to that gift of Your divine love and pray that, as I receive Your love, I may love You and others in the same selfless way. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday Gospel Reflection: “Hating” So As To Love

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:25–26

Why would Jesus exhort the “great crowds” to hate their families? In fact, Jesus went even further than that. He said they must also hate their own lives. If they do not, then they cannot be His disciples. One thing that this shocking teaching did was to shake people out of their lukewarm faith. Sometimes we think of Jesus only as a kind and gentle soul Who always brightens people’s days. We see images painted of the smiling Jesus Who always made people feel welcomed and loved. And though these images have truth, it is also true that one way He brightened their days was by challenging them to the core of their being to convert. And that is what Jesus does today in our Gospel.

To hate your father, mother, children, siblings and even your very self is obviously not a reference to the sin of hate that flows from anger. In this case, the word “hate” refers to the best way to love others and to love even your own self. To begin, let’s look at the conclusion. Jesus said that this form of hate is a requirement of being His disciple. This is the key. Unless we are first and foremost a disciple of Christ, we cannot love others and we will not even love ourselves in the proper way. “Hate” in this context refers to selfish attachments. This means that people and things can easily get in the way of our love of God. When they do, we must see them as an obstacle to both the love of God, as well as to the authentic love of others and even ourselves. For example, if a family member were to demand in some way that you love them more than you love God, then this must be rejected with passion. This could be referred to as holy hatred of the temptation, not the person. Say a spouse criticizes you for attending Mass and tries to stop you from doing so. If you listen to them, then you are placing them before God. Or say someone hurts you and you choose to forgive them, only to have a family member challenge you and try to stir up anger in you toward that person. If you listen to them, then you are not listening to God. In these cases, we must “hate” in the sense that we reject the temptation.

What about yourself? How do you hate yourself? This is a reference to the many ways that our disordered appetites are drawn to sin. If we indulge in the disordered desires, or even worse, if we treat those disordered desires as normal and good for us, then we have chosen the disordered desire over God. In that case, we must learn to hate and reject the selfish and disordered desire, choosing God and His will alone.

When we are able to choose the love of God first and foremost in our lives, rejecting the temptations that come through others and even the temptations within our disordered desires, then, and only then, are we in a position to love others and ourselves, in the right way. Jesus obviously wants us to love others and ourselves. But this is only possible when our love is pure and holy and flows from the love of God. Any other form of “love” is not love at all. It is a selfish attachment that hinders our true mission as lovers of God and instruments of that love to others.

Reflect, today, upon the passion that you must have to reject all forms of sin. This includes sin that  tempts you through the mediation of your family and friends. It also includes every form of temptation that arises within you on account of your disordered human nature. This holy hatred is an act of love in that it seeks to eliminate everything that keeps you from true love. Choose, today, to be a faithful disciple of Jesus and commit yourself to reject all that seeks to interfere with this choice. Doing so will not only increase your love for God, it will also increase your love for others, and even your love for your own soul.

My passionate Lord, You exhorted the crowds to reject every form of temptation that interfered with their love of You. Please fill my soul with a holy hatred for sin and all temptation so that I can reject them with passion. May I love You above all things and from that love, love others and even my own soul with Your Sacred Heart. Jesus, I trust in You.

My merciful Lord, You came to earth to serve, not to be served, and to give Your life to others in an act of the most pure and holy love. I open myself to that gift of Your divine love and pray that, as I receive Your love, I may love You and others in the same selfless way. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Sunday Gospel Reflection: Motivations of Love

 

“When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:12–14

This Gospel passage goes to the heart of our motivations in life. Because of our fallen human nature, we can easily do what we do for selfish reasons. We want payment for our labors and acknowledgement for our acts of kindness. We want to get ahead in life and try to elevate ourselves over others. But Jesus makes it clear that our motivation for everything we do must only be the glory of God and the love of others.

The poor, crippled, lame and blind in this passage refer to those who are in need of our love. This certainly will include friends and family. When we encounter those in need, we must offer our love, not because we get something out of it, but because it is the right thing to do. The payment we receive in this case comes directly and exclusively from God. It’s not a payment of societal recognition or praise. It’s not a payment of material things. It’s not a payment that helps us get ahead in life. It’s a payment of grace that makes us holy. This is the only motivation we should have in life—a motivation for holiness by glorifying God through our love of Him and others.

Think about your motivations in life. Why do you do what you do every day? Clearly we all have certain responsibilities that must be met, such as earning a living, caring for the home and family, strengthening our relationships, etc. But why do you do these things? What is the source of your motivation? Is your motivation based on pure love?

When our love is pure, we are motivated to act in one way or another because we see that it is our holy duty toward God or an act that will benefit another. For example, a loving and holy parent will work hard to earn a living not because they want to get rich so as to indulge in the things of this world, but because they love and care for their family and want to provide for their material needs. Or a friend will seek to be there and listen to another friend not because it is advantageous for them, but because they love their friend and want to provide a listening ear when they need it. True love always looks at the good of the other, looking for the ways they are spiritually poor, crippled, lame and blind so that they can help them in accord with God’s will. True love always seeks to fill a void with what is needed at that moment.

The good news for us is that when our motivations are pure and selfless, looking only to glorify God and care for others, God will lavish upon us eternal rewards that begin now. We will grow rich in virtue and rich in the fruits of the Holy Spirit. We will obtain joy, peace, strength, courage, love, goodness and so much more. These good things are the true riches in life and can only be bestowed by God upon a soul whose motivations in life are pure, selfless, sacrificial and merciful.

Reflect, today, upon what motivates you each and every day. Do you think more about yourself when acting or more about God and others? Hopefully you will discover within your motivation a burning desire to serve others and glorify God in everything you do. But where you do see selfishness, know that this motivation can never fulfill you. Humble yourself by turning your attention to the love of God and the needs of others, and make serving them your exclusive mission. Doing so will result in God lavishing upon you more than you could ever imagine.

My merciful Lord, You came to earth to serve, not to be served, and to give Your life to others in an act of the most pure and holy love. I open myself to that gift of Your divine love and pray that, as I receive Your love, I may love You and others in the same selfless way. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday Gospel Reflection: Perceiving the Dignity of Others

 

Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” Luke 13:22–24

The context of this passage provides insight into Jesus’ mission and His concern for each and every person. Note that Jesus was traveling toward the large and populous city of Jerusalem. But as He traveled, He passed through “towns and villages” and taught the people as He went. This might seem like a small detail, but it is also a significant one.

A city like Jerusalem was large and often had wealthy, influential, and “important” people. The less-populated towns  had borders and often some form of local government. Villages were much smaller rural areas, often made up of poorer, less educated, less influential, and simpler people. One historian, Josephus, wrote that there were about 240 villages throughout Galilee at the time Jesus lived. It’s interesting to note that Jesus wanted to teach everyone. He didn’t care if they were wealthy and powerful people in the large city or peasant farmers and shepherds from the countryside. His mission was to all.

One thing this teaches us is that we, also, must have love and concern for everyone, regardless of their social status. Each and every person is equal in dignity. From the president of a large country, to the beggar in an alleyway, everyone deserves our respect and attention in an equal way.

Our fallen human nature experiences various forms of temptation. Among them are temptations for riches, power and prestige. For that reason, we tend to admire those who have obtained worldly success because we want it for ourselves. As a result, we tend to show greater respect for those who have achieved what we covet and give less attention to those who do not have that success. This, of course, goes to the heart of the problem.

When you think about the people whom you have encountered recently, what comes to mind? Perhaps your “encounter” was to read about someone’s great success in the financial world. Or perhaps it was to read about someone’s demise in another way. Perhaps a neighbor has done well and purchased a new car, or a friend got fired from a job. Whatever the case may be, it is important to consider the level of personal respect and love you show for each person. It must be equal. Worldly status cannot determine how we treat others. This is hard to avoid.

The teaching that Jesus gave to those in the towns and villages was an exhortation to holiness. “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” And at the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” The latter statement must have especially resonated with those who felt somewhat insignificant and unimportant in life. Those who felt like they were “last” would have received a certain hope. This tells us that God never measures us by our successes from a worldly standpoint. He measures us only on the level of our fidelity to His holy will.

Reflect, today, upon how you look at all people. Do you see every person in the way that God sees them? Do you see everyone with equal dignity and worth? Or do you elevate those whom you envy and whose success you covet? Seek to eliminate all worldly ways of looking at others so that you will only look at others through the lens of their dignity and fidelity to the will of God.

Lord, as You journeyed through life, You looked only at the hearts of those You encountered. You treated each person with dignity and love. Please help me to shed all temptations to see others through the eyes of the world and to show full respect to all of Your sons and daughters. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday Gospel Reflections: Spiritual Unity

“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Luke 12:51–53

Jesus introduces this passage by saying, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” The “fire” of which He speaks is His purifying fire of mercy that He poured forth from the Cross as He offered His life for the salvation of the world. His mercy is given to free us from our sins and to cleanse our souls so that God Himself can come to dwell within us. This is why we exist. God wants to dwell within us, and He wants us to be in perfect union with Him.

One of the glorious effects of uniting yourself to God is that this union also brings about a spiritual bond with others who are united to God. We are made for communion with God, but also for communion with each other. God especially invites family members to share in this unity. Though there are many levels of friendship and unity we can have with each other, the deepest bonds come from two souls each being united to God. For example, two people may both like the same sports team or have the same interests, resulting in a bond or form of friendship. This is good. But when each of those friends also is deeply united to God, the unity comes from God and not from something more superficial.

The challenging Gospel passage above reveals to us what happens when one or more members of a household fail to open themselves to the cleansing fire of God’s love and, therefore, fail to live in union with God. The result is disunity, at least on the deepest and truest level. God is not the cause of disunity; sin is. When one person is united to God and another is immersed in a life of sin, true spiritual unity is not possible. Of course the two might still share some common interests and might even superficially get along each day, but there will never be an experience of authentic spiritual friendship and communion if God is absent from one or both hearts.

When Jesus says that He has come to establish division within a household, He is simply pointing out that there will indeed be a division within a household when all are not united to God. Additionally, Jesus is warning us that if someone within our household tries to draw us into a life of sin with them, that person’s invitation must be rejected. And when that happens, that rejection is often experienced as a rejection of the person and results in even greater disunity. The bottom line is that it is not possible to be authentically united in sin or any form of lie.

Reflect, today, upon the deepest spiritual desire you have. If you are honest with yourself, you will discover that this deepest desire in your heart is the desire for love. We are made to give and receive love. First, this desire is fulfilled by opening ourselves to the love of God. When that happens, we will be able to share God’s love with others and receive God’s love from them. Nothing in life could be more fulfilling than this.

Most merciful Lord, You came to unite all people in Your love, but when Your love is rejected we live in disunity. Please come to me and dwell more fully within me so that Your presence in my life will not only bring about a spiritual communion with You, but also with those who share this same love. Jesus, I trust in You.

Sunday Gospel Reflections: Vigilance, Attentiveness, Action

 
Jesus said to his disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.” Luke 12:35–37

Vigilance, hard work, determination, attentiveness, fidelity—these are some of the qualities that Jesus is speaking about. To “gird your loins” means that you are immediately prepared for some challenging task. You are ready for the hard work ahead and are committed to it. To “light your lamps” implies that you are not in the dark but that your mind is enlightened in such a way that you are able to see that which is the will of God.

As we go through life, it is easy to become complacent in the things of faith. It is easy to become lazy, disinterested, distracted, and unfocused. This parable goes on to speak of a thief who tries to break into a house in the middle of the night. This is Jesus’ way of saying that the evil one, with his lies and attacks, is constant, vicious, forceful, and unpredictable. For that reason, we must never grow tired of being vigilant in the spiritual life and must always be attentive to the light of God’s voice.

How attentive are you to the mission of Christ on a daily basis? This is an essential question to answer honestly. Most people will find that they become distracted from the mission God has given to them. We experience countless things every day that compete for our attention. Many of those competing voices might not appear to be sinful. For example, perhaps a certain hobby has become the dominant focus of your free time. Or perhaps responsibilities at work have spilled over into your family time. Or perhaps some painful or even enjoyable experience has had your full attention for some time. Though it is obvious that sinful distractions in life are evil, it might not always be as obvious that there are many other neutral distractions that are a real problem. The problems they can produce are a lack of attentiveness to the will of God and a lack of readiness to engage the will of God the moment He calls.

Imagine, for example, that a very important person calls you to ask for a favor. Most likely you would drop all you were doing and respond immediately. But, sadly, when the King of the Universe attempts to speak to us and inspire us to some mission, we can be too distracted to even listen, let alone respond with immediacy and zeal. This is a problem. If, however, a person is continually attentive to the voice of God and responds to His interior promptings as soon as they are received, then Jesus says that this person is truly blessed and that He will “have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.” In other words, the result of being vigilant in our attentiveness to the inspirations of God is that God Himself will reward us with His service. He will invite us to the table of spiritual rest, peace, joy, and fulfillment. He will serve us His mercy, which will be more than we could ever imagine.

Reflect, today, upon the call from God to always be attentive to His voice the instant He speaks. Reflect upon how aware you are of His constant presence in your life and His ongoing communication. Know that if you can form a habit of always listening, then you will never miss out on the grace-filled mission given to you by our Lord. Always listen to Him, seek out His still and gentle voice, and be ready to respond to Him every time He calls.

My ever-speaking Lord, You have so much to say and so much to reveal. Please enlighten my mind and strengthen my resolve to always listen to you and respond with all my heart. Your will is perfect and will lead me to a life of the deepest joy and fulfillment. May I believe this with all my heart and act accordingly. Jesus, I trust in You.