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.