by Fr. David Okolie | Apr 20, 2025 | CATECHESIS AND REFLECTIONS
Dearest friends,
The Easter/Paschal celebration is truly that of REBIRTH which makes both the new and old members of the Church NEW CREATURES through the sacrament of BAPTISM and the renewal of the Baptismal promises respectively (cf. CCC n. 1265).
The NEW LIFE that marks the Paschal celebration is a call to EFFECTIVE WITNESSING to the Death, Resurrection and the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ through our words and lifestyles. It is a life that bids farewell to the former SINFUL lifestyles; a life that seeks the things that are ABOVE and equally shines forth as LIGHT to our darkened world (cf. Col 3:1, CCC, 1243, 1254). Without the above NEW lifestyle, our Witnessing would not be Effective. Thus, Archbishop Fulton Sheen affirms: “Unless the world sees a DIFFERENCE in the places we frequent, in our activities, in the pleasures in which we indulge, in the language we use and in our dress, it will not respect our testimony…”
Therefore, dearest friends, as we rejoice in the NEW LIFE we have received through our Saviour’s victory, we should always avoid going back to our former SINFUL lifestyles which will certainly DESTROY our New Life, making us INEFFECTIVE in bearing Witness to the Risen Christ and then robbing us of our rewards; both here and hereafter. Remember that: “If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we ENDURE, we will also REIGN with him. If we DISOWN him, he will also disown us…” (cf. 2 Tim 2:11-12).
We pray the Blessed Virgin Mary to always support us with her powerful intercessions. Amen🙏🏽
Please, let the EASTER JOY continue😍
Remain blessed!
(CATECHESIS ‘NKUZI NKE OKWUKWE’ FOR EASTER SUNDAY (C)
READINGS: R1: Acts 10:34a. 37-43, R2: Col 3:1-4, Gosp. Jn 20:1-9)
by Fr. David Okolie | Apr 14, 2025 | CATECHESIS AND REFLECTIONS
Dearest friends,
At the CONFESSIONAL, we meet the MERCIFUL Jesus face-to-face. When we make a sincere confession, He forgives us through the ministry of the priest. This forgiveness is complete, relieving us of the burden of sin and renewing our entire being. We experience this through the joy and ease that overshadow us as we leave the confessional (cf. CCC, n. 1468).
The Church’s catechetical tradition teaches that confession made to a validly ordained priest, without INTENTIONAL CONCEALMENT of sins, is a good confession that blots out the guilt of sin, regardless of its GRAVITY. This teaching is based on God’s Boundless Mercy (cf. CCC, nn. 1493-1497, Igbo Catechism, nos. 453-455).
After making a good confession, Jesus tells the penitent, just as he told the adulterous woman, “Neither do I condemn you, go and SIN NO MORE” (cf. Jn 8:11). He urges the penitent to forget the past sins, no matter how grave, and see the new friendship he has established with him/her.
👉🏼Unfortunately, there are some Catholics who are yet to believe in the efficacy of this sacrament of CONFESSION. Such persons, after making a good confession, still allow the shadow of the sins they have confessed to haunt them. They feel some sort of doubt in them concerning the possibility of their heinous sins being wiped away just by the few words uttered by the priest. This is indeed an expression of FAITHLESSNESS. Remember that FAITH is a supernatural gift of God that enables us to believe without doubting whatever God has revealed (cf. CCD, no. 9, Igbo catechism, no. 9).
Jesus Christ demonstrated His authority to forgive sins during the healing of the paralytic (cf. Lk 5:17-26). He gave this same power to the apostles, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained” (Jn 20:22-23). This authority is still alive in the Church.
If you struggle to believe and frequent this holy sacrament, pray for the gift of FAITH, and God will grant it to you.
We pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Refuge of Sinners, to always support us with her powerful intercession. Amen🙏🏼
Remain blessed🙏🏼
by Fr. David Okolie | Apr 14, 2025 | CATECHESIS AND REFLECTIONS
Through Baptism, we are incorporated into Christ and the Church and so begin our Christian vocation (cf. CCC n. 1268, Can. 204). This vocation is one that marks us with a special seal that differentiates us from non-Christians. Thus, we are in the world but not of the world (cf. Jn 17:16).
Therefore, we are called to perceive SUFFERING, no longer as the world does. Suffering, no matter where it is coming from, once offered to God in prayer, should be borne with peace and humble trust in God; who always comes to our help and will never allow us to be shamed (cf. Is 50:7). This is indeed the disposition that Jesus invites us to have when he said “If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his CROSS daily and follow me” (cf. Mt 16:24, CCD nn. 342-346).
Christ, having endured suffering, reminds us that “A servant is not greater than his master” (cf. Jn 15:20); since he suffered patiently, we too must follow his footsteps.
👉🏼Unfortunately, our generation is giving rise to a set of Christians who, though they want to follow Christ, but they don’t want to be associated with his suffering. Such persons so much detest suffering that they are ready to do anything just to avoid it, even if it means cursing Jesus Christ and choosing faith-threatening alternatives. Such persons are very much around us today; they indulge in all forms of immoralities and heinous crimes just to avoid the sufferings of poverty, childlessness, sickness, unemployment, delayed marriage or admission into higher institutions, exam failure, etc.
In the face of whatever suffering we may encounter, Jesus is teaching us today to always seek a Christian and just way out while humbly trusting in God thus: “Let your will be done and not mine” (cf. Lk 22:42). Thus , the Church teaches:
SUFFERING, a consequence of original sin, acquires a new meaning; it becomes a participation in the saving work of Jesus” (cf. CCC, no. 1521).
Also, as Christians, we must always bear in mind that ‘sufferings’ in our life are no longer ordinary but ‘SALVIFIC‘, i. e capable of leading us to heaven (cf. John Paul II’s Salvifici Doloris, no. 1).
👉🏼 Finally, while making choices in life, we should be careful to avoid SELF-IMPOSED SUFFERINGS. For example, a student who abandons his/her studies to be engaging in fraudulent or immoral activities is certainly blameworthy of whatever would be his/her ill lot as a result of such carelessness.
We pray the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of sorrows, to obtain for us always the grace of patient-endurance in the face of suffering. Amen🙏🏼
Happy Sunday and remain blessed!
(CATECHESIS (NKUZI NKE OKWUKWE) FOR THE PASSION (PALM) SUNDAY, YEAR C
READINGS: R1 Is 50:4-7, R2 Phil 2:6-11, Gosp Lk 22:14-23:56).
by Fr. David Okolie | Apr 2, 2025 | CATECHESIS AND REFLECTIONS
Dearest friends,
The Parable of the ‘PRODIGAL SON‘ makes clear to us the richness of God’s mercy and forgiveness made continuously available to you and I in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession); which is gradually being neglected by some Catholics today. The influence of Pentecostalism is largely contributing to the above situation. This influence goes a long way to assuring the faithful that they don’t need to confess their sins to any human being (Priest) but to God. The question then arises: Do Catholics confess their sins to Priests? This calls for an insight into the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession).
Catholics do not actually confess their sins to Priests but to God. However, this confession is made through the ministry of the Priest. God, again forgives the penitent through the same ministry of the Priest. It is a mystery that is beyond human comprehension; just as the healing of the Israelites who were bitten by the fiery serpents by a mere gaze at the bronze serpent remained a mystery (cf. Num 21:4-11). God uses what is contemptible in human eyes for the actualization of his designs.
👉🏼Nevertheless, according to the catechetical tradition, for a penitent to obtain forgiveness from God in this Sacrament of Reconciliation, THREE conditions are required, namely: Contrition, Confession and Satisfaction.
Contrition: is sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with a FIRM resolution not to sin again. Confession: is acceptance and disclosure of the sins committed before a Priest. Satisfaction: is doing the penance given by the Priest (cf. CCC nn. 1450-1459, Igbo catechism, nos. 436-454, CCD nn. 286-299).
Indeed, it appears unbelievable that immediately a penitent fulfills the above conditions, his/her sins are totally blotted out, by God through the ministry of the priest. However, that is exactly what happens. Note, the efficacy of this sacrament, just like the other sacraments, flows from the merits of Christ’s Paschal Sacrifice (His suffering, death and resurrection).
Do you want the shame of your sins to be taken away? Do you want to be beautifully dressed up, as when you were baptized? Do you really want to be a new creature? Approach this sacrament today and the rest would be testimonies. Remember:
Individual and integral confession of grave sins followed by absolution remains the only ordinary means of reconciliation with God and with the Church (cf. CCC, no. 1497).
👉🏼Please, do not be discouraged by the GRAVITY of that sin you are battling with but trust more on the mercy of God, repent and go for Confession. Thus, the Catechism teaches:
There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. “There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his REPENTANCE is HONEST (cf. CCC n. 982).
We pray the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Refuge of Sinners, to always obtain for us the grace of true repentance. Amen🙏🏼
Remain blessed!
by Fr. David Okolie | Mar 29, 2025 | CATECHESIS AND REFLECTIONS
Dearest friends,
In this our heavenly journey, God offers us opportunities to return to him when we stray. This is so because SIN is a reality that cannot really be denied.
It is true that a number of persons in this contemporary world no longer believe in the reality of SIN. Many have reduce biblically condemned sins to mere myth. Others now see what the Christian tradition calls sin as forms of freedom of expression. However seemingly deep this self deception is, the reality of sin is always deeply rooted in man.
SIN is an offence against reason, truth and right conscience ; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbour caused by PERVERSE attachment to certain GOODS. Sin wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It is thus love of oneself even to contempt of God (cf . CCC nn.1849-1850, Igbo Catechism, 1996 ed. no. 184, CCD n. 113).
SIN is made concrete in such acts like: fraud, idolatry, sorcery, sexual immorality (fornication, adultery, masturbation, homosexuality, pornography), abortion, euthanasia, murder, false witness, stealing, kidnapping, etc. All the above and their likes, no matter how we uphold different ideologies, are sinful acts. They destroy charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law; they turn man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him (cf. CCC, no. 1855).
👉🏼Now, in the SACRAMENT of RECONCILIATION (CONFESSION), God offers us SECOND CHANCE to return to him whenever we mistakenly fall into SIN. But do we really recognize this love of God or do we think that we are smart? Well, the truth remains that whenever we fail to come back to God as soon as we find ourselves in sin, we expose ourselves to unimaginable calamity, thus Christ says: “Unless you repent, you would likewise perish” (cf. Lk 13:5).
We pray the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Refuge of Sinners, to always support us with her powerful intercession. Amen🙏🏼
Remain blessed!
by Fr. David Okolie | Mar 29, 2025 | CATECHESIS AND REFLECTIONS
Dearest friends,
In the gospel, God explicitly made Jesus the harbinger of the message and means of salvation in these words: “This is my Son, the Chosen One. LISTEN to him” (cf. Lk 9:35). ‘To listen’ presupposes spoken words. The question then is: _“What are the words of Jesus that we must listen to?”_ One of the words of Jesus that readily comes to mind here is: “If any man will come after me let him deny himself, and take up his CROSS daily and follow me” (cf. Mk 8:34). The above constitutes one of the great rules that Jesus Christ has given us (cf. Catechism of the Christian Doctrine [CCD], n. 342).
How then are we to carry our CROSS daily? We do that by submitting daily with patience to the labours and sufferings of this short life and by bearing them willingly for the love of God; also by loving as he has loved us, even our enemies (cf. CCD, n. 345, Matt 5:43-48). Abram, by listening to the word of God and obeying it, despite its cross-like nature, was greatly blessed.
Though Jesus, after he had shown us the value of the cross and recommend it for our well-being, yet, many Christians still allow themselves to be Enemies of the Cross of Christ. They allow themselves to be continuously deceived by the illusions of this passing world and the words of preachers who are interested in their stomach. They gratify their empty carnal desires and boast of the things they should be ashamed of. Such persons are actually straying from the path of Truth and have to come back, especially during this Lenten Season (cf. Phil 3:17).
As committed Christians, we must always listen to the words of Jesus Christ which invite us daily to the cross and holiness of life.
We pray the Blessed Virgin Mary, to always support us with her powerful intercession. Amen🙏🏼
Remain blessed!
