The Cup

The Cup

“Put your sword back in its scabbard; am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11)

Jesus has now come to the supreme moment of crisis, the moment of decision.  He knows what his Father expects of him at this hour.  But there are other voices suggesting he takes a different approach.

In all of life-threatening crisis, we face the same temptation.  There is always more than one way:

• The way of “the cup that the Father has given.”


• The way of “the sword” for rapid victory or solution.

Every good general understands that for every battle, there is a corresponding and appropriate weapon.  It is an over-kill to kill an ant with a hammer just as it is useless to face a motorized armored division with one on a horse back.  Deep prayer, similar to the one Jesus said in the Garden of Olives gives us the spiritual freedom to make the right choice.  Without this support from God, the temptation to adopt the way of “the sword” will be overwhelming.

When we face a crisis, we should aim to discover God’s way of responding.  We can discover this, only through prayer and subsequent gift of spiritual freedom.  

“Lord, what is your will in this?  I seek your will and not my own.  Show me your will.  Amen”

St Patrick

"He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, a reward from God his savior. Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob."
(Psalm 24: 5-6)

Every 17th of March is remembered as St Patrick's Day in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and many other countries. Why is this saint who was born in 386 still remembered and honored today? St Patrick is remembered in history for bringing Christianity to Ireland. He is the patron saint of Ireland, a small country with great influence in the world. Ireland is best known for its missionary spirit. St Patrick survived many hardships and achieved his life's purpose because of a spirit of strong faith and tenacity.

Patrick was abducted from his home in Kilpatrick in England at the age of sixteen and enslaved in Ireland. He worked as a herdsman for six years before he got an opportunity to escape into Gaul, modern France. There he prepared for the priesthood and was ordained a priest. After his ordination, Patrick returned to Ireland and worked for the conversion of the Irish people.

St. Patrick died in 461. March 17 is the feast of St Patrick. March 17 is also my birthday. I was born on St. Patrick’s Day in St. Patrick’s parish at a time when the feast of St. Patrick was a school holiday in my country, Nigeria. But I was not baptized Patrick but Emmanuel. I had often wondered why. I never had the opportunity to ask my parents before they died. Most probably the reason may be that my parents chose the name Emmanuel before I was born.

Prayer of St Patrick
Christ is with me,
Christ is before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

BOOKS ON ST PATRICK

Consecrate me to the truth

Consecrate me to the truth

“Consecrate them in the truth; your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world, and for their sake I consecrate myself so that they too may be consecrated in truth.”  (John 16: 17-19)

Jesus prays to the Father to consecrate me in the truth.  To be consecrated to the truth is to be completely dedicated to the truth, fully immersed in truth.  This is a critical condition for being in the world and not of the world.  To be effective in God’s service in the world, one must be consecrated in the truth.  

What is the truth?  The truth is Jesus, the world of God.  I must be consecrated to Jesus , the truth in order to bear fruit in the world.  The world represents those whose priorities are other things apart from God.  We have three realms:  public sector, private sector and religion.  There are those in the public and private sector who by their lives and witnessing do not belong to the world.  And there are those in religion who are worldly.

Jesus also said that knowledge of God and his Christ constitutes eternal life.  Consecration to the truth is eternal life.  And the eternal life is for those who are in the world but not of the world.  

The Joy of Answered Prayer

The Joy of Answered Prayer

“I tell you most solemnly, anything you ask for from the Father he will grant in my name.  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.  Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete.” (John 16: 23-24)

I have said to myself many times that I have never experienced any joy as intense as the joy of answered prayer.  Jesus himself seems here to confirm my intuition that when the Father grants your heart’s desire, the joy is intense.  

One time I experienced this joy was in 1980.  I had desired to go to London to study Marketing.  All the odds were stacked against me.  But one day, God opened the way.  I landed in London on a September night.  The next morning when I left my hotel and stepped into the street of London, I experienced the intense joy of answered prayer.

July 18, 1992 was a day that will be difficult to forget in my life.  Seven months earlier, I embarked on building my own house from the scratch.  I had no clue of what was involved.  After I had committed a great deal of resources to the project, it seemed as if it was mission impossible.  I bent my knees in prayers.  I raised my hands before God asking for his assistance and favor.  On July 18th, the first night in the house, I had such a sweet feeling during my light sleep that I thought the whole thing was a dream.

Yes, indeed, God our Father answers prayers in Jesus’ name.  And when he does, how great and how intense is our joy.

The Birthing Process

The Birthing Process

“I tell you most solemnly, you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.  A woman in child birth suffers, because her time has come; but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering in her joy that a man has been born into the world.”  (John 16: 20-21)

I wrote the reflection below on the above scripture in 1996 during my Desert experience:

“What does this scripture say to me today?  I relate it to my present condition and I find it a great encouragement from Christ, my Lord.  I weep and wail today while some of my friends in the world are rejoicing.  I am also sorrowful and bewildered.  Jesus is saying to me today that this sorrow will turn into joy and I believe him.  Thank you Jesus.  He also compares my present situation to a woman in childbirth.  The process of birthing or transformation is taking place in me.  The old me is dying.  This is painful and the cause of the weeping, wailing and sorrow.  But this necessary process and stage will not last forever.  After the rain comes the sunshine.  After the test, the testimony.  The cross must precede the crown.  Lord Jesus, I believe in your word.  I can see my crown even now.”

Ten years have gone by since I wrote the above.  What is my testimony today?  Very simple!  Jesus Christ is faithful yesterday, today and forever.  The Desert experience and the birthing process are over.  But the pilgrimage continues.  I can sincerely sing with Mary:  
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham, and to his descendants forever.”(Luke 1: 46-47; 54-5.)

The fullness of truth

The fullness of truth

“But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learned; and he will tell you of the things to come.  He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine.” (John 16: 13-14)

The Holy Spirit has come to me.  I do not wait for any other coming.  What I do now is to grow in the Spirit through the word of God, the sacraments and prayer.  As I grow in the Spirit, he leads me more and more into the truth about Christ, his mission and his teaching.  The complete truth will not be revealed all at once.  But I have the promise that I will be led to the fullness of truth as I develop spiritually.  The means are laid down by Christ Jesus himself:  word of God, the Eucharist and prayer.

The Spirit will teach me about Jesus.  Everyday I pray to know the heart of Jesus intimately, to love him passionately and to follow him everywhere.  It is the Spirit who inspires me to pray thus.  It is the same Spirit who will accomplish these ideals in me.

Thank you Jesus for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  I recognize that he is your greatest gift to me.  His presence is a guarantee that all your promises to me will be fulfilled.

The fullness of truth

The fullness of truth

“But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learned; and he will tell you of the things to come.  He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine.” (John 16: 13-14)

The Holy Spirit has come to me.  I do not wait for any other coming.  What I do now is to grow in the Spirit through the word of God, the sacraments and prayer.  As I grow in the Spirit, he leads me more and more into the truth about Christ, his mission and his teaching.  The complete truth will not be revealed all at once.  But I have the promise that I will be led to the fullness of truth as I develop spiritually.  The means are laid down by Christ Jesus himself:  word of God, the Eucharist and prayer.

The Spirit will teach me about Jesus.  Everyday I pray to know the heart of Jesus intimately, to love him passionately and to follow him everywhere.  It is the Spirit who inspires me to pray thus.  It is the same Spirit who will accomplish these ideals in me.

Thank you Jesus for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  I recognize that he is your greatest gift to me.  His presence is a guarantee that all your promises to me will be fulfilled.

When I am afraid...

When I am afraid….

“I have told you all this so that your faith may not be shaken …..  But I have told you all this so that when the time for it comes you may remember that I told you.”
(John 16: 1-4)

What is it that Jesus has told me so that my faith may not be shaken?  What has he told me that should help me in times of crisis?  What are the things that Christ says to me today that sustains my faith in the Enterprise?  Here are a few:

• I give you peace.


• I am with you; I am for you.


• My grace is always with you.


• Ask and you shall receive.


• If you want to be my follower, take up your cross and follow me.

These are some of the things that Jesus says to me today that sustains my faith.  I am encouraged to seek from God’s word: peace, courage and strength.  Psalm 56: 3-4 puts it so well:

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you,
in God, whose word I praise
in God I put my trust and have no fear,
what power has human strength over me?”

The Enterprise

The Enterprise

“If this enterprise, this movement of theirs, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord; but if it does in fact come from God you will not only be unable to destroy them.  Take care not to find yourselves fighting against God...”  (Acts 5: 38)  - New Jerusalem Bible.

“If what they have planned and done is of human origin, it will disappear, but if it comes from God, you cannot possibly defeat them.  You could find yourselves fighting against God.”  - Good News Bible.

“If this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them – in that case you may even be found fighting against God!” – New Revised Standard Version.


“For it what is being planned and done is human in origin, it will collapse; but if it is from God, you will never be able to stamp it out, and you risk finding yourselves at war with God.”  - Revised English Bible.

“For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself.  But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them, you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” – New American Bible.

Acts 5: 38 is one of my key scriptures.  It is one of the scriptures found in my top ten scripture list.  I received the message of this scripture early in 1995.  The person, who gave it to me, gave me the message in a paraphrased form.  It was more than a year later that I found the actual reference.  Below is what I wrote in my journal entry that morning in 1996 when I discovered the actual chapter and verse of the message.

“This morning, I discovered what I believe is the scripture that Peter meant to give me last year.  He had said Acts 6:8 but after a year I did not see Acts 6: 8 as applying to my situation.  I was then in a cross road in my life as I am still today.  But what applies intimately and what I believe he meant to say is:  Acts 5: 38 which in New Jerusalem Bible says:
“If this enterprise, this movement of theirs, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord; but if it does in fact come from God you will not only be unable to destroy them.  Take care not to find yourselves fighting against God...”  (Acts 5: 38)  

I had decided on a new direction for my life which I call the Enterprise.  Where is the origin of the idea of the Enterprise?  If the origin of the Enterprise is human, that is, Avila or myself, then I should forget it.  But if in fact it comes from God, rejoice for it is accomplished.  I had always believed that the origin is from God.  Although the initial idea of the Enterprise came from Avila in 0595, I had no doubt in my mind that Avila was inspired.  Later, when I used my mind and “counted 10 to win,” following  Robert Schuller’s formula, the Enterprise emerged as number one and the most practical solution in my situation.  

Over one year after I received Acts 5: 38, my belief that the Enterprise is from God is stronger today than ever.  My faith in its success is very strong.  If it is from God, it is accomplished.  

Thank you Jesus for Acts 5: 38.  You have strengthened my faith in the Enterprise through it.  I know for certain that you will bring to a successful conclusion what you initiated over a year ago.  Lord, grant me the patience that confirms my faith in you in this project.  I have taken a comprehensive insurance with you with regard to every detail of the project.  Dear Jesus, my Lord, my King and Boss, my best Friend, please take charge.”

Ten years later, today, 2006, where am I with the Enterprise?  My faith has not diminished that this project is from God.  I am working on it everyday.  There have been too many signs of grace to mention during this time.  I live one day at a time and place the future completely in the hands of God.

You have been with me

You have been with me

“When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness.  And you too will be my witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset.” (John 15: 26-27)

The Holy Spirit witnesses to the presence of Jesus in the world.  How?  Through the activities of the Church:  teaching, preaching, feeding and healing.  How does the Holy Spirit witness to the presence of Christ in the individual?  I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in me through peace and tranquility, joy and consolations, light and guidance, encouragement and patience.  The deep attraction to the word of God and facility in prayer are also signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus tells me in John 15: 26-27 that I too shall be his witness.  How?  I can witness to Christ today through my kind and considerate words, encouragement of others, selfless service, bearing my crosses patiently and cheerfully.

Lord Jesus, thank you for your words.  I know that today you will present me with many opportunities to witness to you.  Help me not to fail.  

Commissioned to bear fruit

Commissioned to bear fruit

“You did not choose me, no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name.”  (John 15: 16)

In 1987 when I returned home from internationalization with Unilever in Paris, I was sent to work in a division where I had a great Dutchman as my boss.  I was conceited and often spoke of how much I loved the products and services the division provided its customers.   I implied I chose the division because of this.  One day, Mr. Han (not his real name) said to me:  “You did not choose me.  I chose you.”  It was a brutal,  appropriate and humbling reminder of the truth.

In my relationship with Jesus, I might from time to time forget this truth and believe that I chose Jesus.  Today Jesus is reminding me that it was he who chose me and not the other way.  He called me as he called Peter to a life of friendship, companionship and spiritual productivity.  

Lord Jesus, I know you have chosen me to be with you and work for you.  Have you commissioned me or is it something that will happen in the future?  I understand that we live our mission every moment of our life.  Our God given purpose is always there for us to work on.  

On the feast of Assumption, August 15, 1995, I became aware of a second call to follow Jesus.  Jonah was reluctant the first time he heard the call to go to Nineveh.  So was I.  But the second time the call came, I was ready.  The Lord had prepared me for this moment through suffering.  He had also prepared me for it through elevation.  Having given me an unmerited opportunity to climb high in the corporate ladder, I have seen and observed life from the upper floors.  In August, 1995, I had decided that there was nothing there that deserved my losing my life to gain.  

When Mary was commissioned at the Annunciation, the Word started to bear fruit in her womb right away.  I am commissioned by Christ to go out and bear fruit that will last.  I do so today by faithfulness in little things.  Help me Jesus.

Keep My Commandments

Keep My Commandments

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.  Remain in my love.  If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” (John 15: 10)

The words of Christ are living words. Jesus is addressing these words to me right here, right now.  These words are not like dead words of literature and history.

Today Jesus is saying to me:  Just as the Father loves me, so do I love you.  Incredible words!  But remember who is speaking.  He is the truth.  Jesus loves me as I am.  He loves me with all my assets and all my liabilities.  He wants me to remain in this love.  He does not want me to do anything that might separate me from this love.  The way to remain in his love is to observe his commandments.  His love is greater than silver and gold.

Thank you Jesus for your love for me.  May nothing ever separate me from this love.

Bearing much fruit2

Bearing much fruit

“It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples.”  (John 15:8)

What an incredibly astonishing statement!  Jesus is saying to me here that the Father will be glorified by my success in life, which is “bearing much fruit.”  Sometimes we act as if God is hostile to our desires, plans and ambitions.  But I am learning here that my success will glorify God.  If my success will glorify God and if God is the first cause of everything, shouldn’t I align myself with God as my partner?  

When we align our thoughts and actions with God’s will for our life, everything cooperates to the accomplishment of our purpose in life.  God cannot oppose the mission he has given.  If we seek his help, he will provide it.

What is the lesson for me in John 15:8?  My purpose in life is to learn and communicate Jesus.  Everyday I ask God for the grace to do it well through whatever means may present themselves to me.  I remember that he who is faithful in little things will be faithful in big ones.  I have solid faith that with God’s grace I will succeed and that the project will glorify God.

"Remain in me"

“Remain in me”

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is like a branch that has been thrown away – he withers.” (John 15: 5-6)

What is Jesus saying to me this morning? He is the vine and I am the branch. I am linked to Jesus and I am one with him. The way to bear fruit is to continue to be in Jesus.

What fruits? Spiritual fruits, fulfillment of one’s life purpose, the abundant life that Jesus promises to his followers. This is a remarkable promise. It teaches me that Jesus is an indispensable help to me in life and not a constraint. The deeper I am in him, the more fruitful I become.

How do I remain in Jesus? Jesus himself indicates two means:

1. “Dwell in my words.”


2. “Eat my flesh.”

This is the only way to bear fruit in plenty.

Lord, I thank you for your message and your promise this morning. I desire to remain in you and with you in me. Grant me the grace to do this everyday so that I may bear abundant fruit. Amen.

Bearing much fruit

Bearing much fruit

“I am the vine, you are the branches.  Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty.”  (John 15:5)

Jesus is the big tree trunk.  I am the healthy branch at his side, sapping life and vitality from the juicy tree.  This is the sap I need for life and fruitfulness.  Christ’s grace is always there for me.  It is inexhaustible.  

How do I get the sap of life from Christ?  I can think of two ways suggested by Jesus himself:

1. “Make my word your home.”


2. “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.”

His word is always there, available, open and inviting.   His flesh is also readily available.  If we truly desire it, we can always partake of it everyday through the Eucharist.

When we eat his body and dwell in his word day after day, we cannot help but remain in him and thus bear much fruit as he promised.  What does bearing much fruit mean?  I think immediately of the parable of the seed.  The good seed and falls on good soil bears abundant harvest. God created each of us with a mission, talent and purpose.  

My purpose in life is to learn and communicate.  I am a student of life and the truth, which is Jesus Christ.  When I learn my subject well, I communicate the knowledge to people through writing and publishing.  Christ is saying to me today that if I want to bear much fruit in learning and communicating him, I must do first things first.  And the most basic and first thing is to learn to remain in Christ as a branch remains in the trunk and saps life from it.  This means that we cannot find fulfillment in our vocation without Christ.  

The lesson for me today is this:  I desire greatly to succeed in life.  I want to fulfill God’s purpose for my life.  First thing:  I make the word of Christ my home.  I receive him frequently in the Eucharist.  Then I accept in faith that in due season, I will bear much fruit.  I walk in faith and not by sight and do not evaluate my success through sense evidence.  I accept the word of Jesus as true that because I am in him, I am bearing fruit.

Are you being pruned?

Are you being pruned?

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more.  You are pruned already by means of the word that I have spoken to you.”  (John 15: 1-3)

Many Christians who love the Lord have lots of suffering in their life.  They cannot understand what is going on.  I suspect that many are not even aware of John 15: 13, that gives an encouraging answer to their questions.  About ten years ago, the Lord placed me in the desert for more than two years.  His faithful love and mercy revealed the above scripture to me.  When I knew through his word that the Lord is pruning me, I became calmer and less rebellious.

One Sunday during my desert experience, I heard this scripture read at Mass:
“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.  Endure your trials as ‘discipline’, God treats you as sons.  For what ‘son’ is there whom his father does not discipline?  If you are without discipline, in which all have shared, you are not sons but bastards.”  (Hebrews 12: 5-8)

John 15: 1-3 and Hebrews 12: 5-8 transformed my attitude to pruning and discipline.  I welcomed it in 1996 as I welcome it today.  The seed that yielded a harvest is the word that fell on good soil.   Others that fell on the path, rock or among thorns were left to their fate.  

In our afflictions, Jesus gives us the consolation of the truth found in holy scriptures..  Thank you Lord Jesus for your word.  May the Father continue to prune me so that I can bear much fruit.

The Peace of Christ

The Peace of Christ

“Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”  (John 14: 27)

This is one of the most delightful promises of Jesus.  His gift of peace.  Christ spoke a great deal about peace.  After his resurrection, peace was the special gift he bestowed on his demoralized followers.  Today again, apart from offering me this special peace, not like the world’s, Jesus also exhorts me not to let my heart be troubled nor to be afraid.

What does the peace of Christ, shalom mean to me?   It means interior calm, a restful mind, unruffled by any event; it means confidence that God is directing me step by step in everything and that God is protecting me moment by moment everywhere and at all times.  It means the opposite of what satan induces in people:  anxiety, worries, feverish restlessness.

Do I have the peace of Christ?  I thank Jesus that I do.  I want more of this peace.  I still find my heart troubled or afraid about certain things.  The day I wrote the above in my journal in 1996, my heart was troubled by family relationship, money and food.  My first reaction on that day was not calm.  But my anxiety was healed when Jesus said to me that morning:  “Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”  (John 14: 27)

  

The Holy Spirit My Senior Partner

The Holy Spirit – My Senior Partner

“I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.”  (John 14: 25 – 26)

When Jesus said the above words to his disciples, it was only a promise.  This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost.  Today, everybody has the opportunity to verify whether this promise is true or false.  I became conscious of the presence of the Holy Spirit within me on June 1, 1996.  

How did this happen?  First, I had the intimation that the Holy Spirit will change my life.  Next, I searched for information on the Holy Spirit from the Bible and spiritual books.  The information I got from my research confirmed the truth that the Holy Spirit was what I needed most in my life at that time.  My desire for him began to grow.  I searched for how to get the Holy Spirit.  I found a slim pamphlet containing a nine day novena on the Holy Spirit.  I made the nine day prayer.  On the final day, after I said the concluding prayers, I accepted in faith that the Holy Spirit was in me.

I felt two emotions immediately.  One was a deep feeling of peace and joy.  The other was an urge to read the Bible.  The first words I read were:   "Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me." nbsp; (Wisdom 7:7).   I needed no further confirmation.  The Holy Spirit truly was within me.  I am his temple.  He is the Advocate who pleads my cause with the Father.  How great!  How wonderful!  His presence is peace and tranquility.  I knew that whenever I pray in the Holy Spirit my prayer must have a hearing.  

In John 14: 25 – 26, Christ also promised that the Holy Spirit will teach me everything in connection with God’s kingdom.  So the Holy Spirit is indeed more than my Senior Partner.  He is my Teacher, my Guide, my Motivator, the Source of all my achievements.

The Holy Spirit will also remind me of all that Christ has told me at the time I need this information most.  For example:  “My grace is always with you.” “Be still and know that I am God.”  Thank you O Blessed Spirit.  Make me open and docile to you.

Who is St. Augustine?

"Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarelling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires"(Romans 13: 13-14).

"Thou has made us for thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in thee" wrote St Augustine (Confessions, 1,1). As a young man, Augustine's heart was restless and on many occasion rested on illicit sex. Augustine came slowly to realize that sex and other forbidden pleasures could not fill the void in his heart. After a long resistance to the nudgings of grace, he succumbed to the charm of Christ. He described his conversion experience in his own words: "I felt myself still enslaved by my iniquities, and therefore did I groan to myself, 'How long? How long must I continue saying Tomorrow, tomorrow? Why not now? Why not, at one instant, make an end of all uncleanness?' [...]And behold I heard a voice, like that of a child in the house next door, repeating in a sing-song tone, 'Take up and read. Take up and read.' [...]I rose up [...]and returned to where I have left the book of the Apostle; I took it quickly into my hand, opened it and read in silence the first passage on which my eye happened to fall." Augustine wrote down the verses: "Let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarelling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires"(Romans 13: 13-14). Augustine continues: "I read no further, nor was there any need to; for with the end of this sentence, as by a clear and constant light infused into my heart, the darkness of all former doubts was immediately driven away" (Confessions, VII, 12, 28-28).

Christ said: "I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners"(Matthew 9:13) Once he answered the call of Jesus, Augustine gave it his whole heart. He turned his prodigious intellectual capacity to Christian heology. Augustine became the Qoheleth of the early Church: "Besides being a sage, Qoheleth taught the people what he himself knew, having weighed, studied and emended many proverbs. Qoheleth took pains to write in an attractive style and by it to convey truths..(Ecclesiastes 12: 9-10)NJB He wrote many books, Confessions and City of God being the most popular. His influence on Church doctrine has not diminished with time. He is vastly quoted in the Documents of Second Vatican Council.

St Augustine of Hippo was born in North Africa in 354. He died in 430 as bishop of Hippo. God sustained him in the priesthood till the end in keeping with His promise: "The Lord has sworn an oath and he will not retract; you are a priest forever, in the line of Melchisedech" (Psalm 110:4)

St Augustine is the patron of printers and theologians. His feast day is the 28 of August.
Quotes from St Augustine
"God who created you without your cooperation will not save you without your cooperation" (Sermon 169, 11).
"Our entire life on earth should take the form of praise of God, for the never-ending joy of our future life consists in praising God, and no one can become fit for that future life unless he trains himself to render that praise now" (Enarrationes in Psalmos, 148).

The Spirit of truth

The Spirit of truth

“If you love me you will keep my commandments.  I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever, that Spirit of truth whom the world can never receive.  Since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you.”  (John 14: 13-17)

I believe the words of Jesus.  Thank you Jesus for the marvelous gift of the Holy Spirit.  I know his presence in me through his activities:  peace and tranquility, light and guidance, joy and consolation.  These graces have been the dominant environment of my life since 060195.  

Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will be with me forever.  I delight in this promise.  At the same time, I understand that the promise is conditional of my keeping the commandments of Jesus, notably the commandment of love.  I know that the Holy Spirit is with me to help me to keep God’s commandments and to make me holy.  He is the Spirit of truth, the giver and protector of my charism.  I love the Holy Spirit very much.

Lord Jesus, thank you very much for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Help me to always show appreciation for this wonderful gift.  May I grow steadily in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Amen!