The Solemnity of Corpus Christi (the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ).

"Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink." (John 6: 53 - 55).

Sunday June 14th 2020, Solemnity of Corpus Christi (the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus). Today, the Church demonstrates her faith in the most precious Eucharist: the source, center and summit of her life. It is also the occasion of great thanksgiving for this immense gift and the radical faithfulness of Jesus to His Bride all these 2020 plus years.

Jesus I believe in Your Real Presence.
Jesus I believe in Your Real Presence in the Eucharist.
Jesus I believe in Your Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
Jesus I believe in Your Real Presence in me in the Sacrament of the Present Moment.

The mode of Christ's presence in these three forms is unique and very real. The whole of Jesus is present in each of these modes.
Thank You Jesus. Thank You Jesus. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

"This is Jesus, Emmanuel. God is with us, in this sacrament, come receive him, adore him, This is Jesus, our Lord."

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

The Feast of St Anthony of Padua.

"Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one." (Matthew 5: 37).

Saturday 13th June 2020, 10th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Anthony of Padua (1195 - 1231), Franciscan Priest and Doctor of the Church. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, trained in Italy, his outstanding talent as a preacher took him to Africa and France. Anthony is a great miracle worker but is fondly remembered for his help in finding lost objects. After he helped me find an important object I lost some years ago, he became one of my patron saints.

Are you a person of your word? Do you confess regularly the sin of untruth, exaggeration, white lies, etc. If we do not work to make truthful speech our standard, we may not be able to appreciate the faithfulness of God. God's Yes is always a Yes. His No is always a No. "His faithful promises are our armor and protection." (Psalm 91: 4). David prays in Psalm 51:12, "A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit."
Two causes of a lying tongue are:
#1 Lack of purity or clean heart.
#2 A spirit that lacks stability.

The remedy for the above is to pray often Psalm 51 to Jesus who is Truth Himself. "It [Psalm] is medicine for our spiritual health. Whoever reads it will find in it a medicine to cure the wounds caused by his own particular passions." (St Ambrose of Milan).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Wait for the Lord. Again wait for the Lord.

"I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord." (Psalm 27: 13 - 14).

Friday 12th June 2020, 10th Week in Ordinary Time.

Are you waiting for any favors from the Lord? Any promises to be fulfilled by God? If you are not, why not?  Are you self satisfied and feel you have everything you need from life?  "Man's extremity is God's opportunity. Man's prosperity is Satan's opportunity," says an adage.

Our Scripture verse from the Responsorial Psalm 27 urge us to develop a habit of waiting for the Lord because it is in waiting for the Lord that we come to learn that the Lord is faithful. The Psalmist exclaimed in wonderment at God's faithfulness:  "Your faithful promises are my armor and protection." (Psalm 91: 4).

I have found that life is made up of a series of waiting: waiting for small things and waiting for the big items. We are all waiting all the time. This is life. No one is excused from waiting. Another word to wait is hope. We wait for the Second Coming of Jesus. We rejoice in Hope for this.

Let your waiting be strengthened by the unfailing promise of God:
"I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord."

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

The Feast of the good man filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.

"When Barnabas arrived [in Antioch] and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart, for he was a good man, filled with the holy Spirit and faith." (Acts 11: 23 - 24).

Thursday 11th June 2020, 10th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of the Apostle Barnabas (+ 61).

St Barnabas, a Jew from Cyprus is profiled in Sacred Scripture as: "a good man, filled with the holy Spirit and faith." You won't find many Bible characters profiled with similar language. What else do we know about St Barnabas?
He was a levite. He discipled Paul the Apostle and mentored John Mark. He was generous in using all his time, talent and treasure in serving the Lord. He was a prophet, teacher and evangelist. Barnabas was martyred in Cyprus under the reign of Emperor Nero in 61 AD.

"While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13: 2).

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Evangelization and Mission commissioned the first Missionary Journey of Paul and Barnabas.

"O God, who decreed that Saint Barnabas, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, should be set apart to convert the nations, grant that the Gospel of Christ, which he strenuously preached, may be faithfully proclaimed by word and by deed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son." Amen.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Who do you serve? God or Baal?

"If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.” (1 Kings 18: 21).

Wednesday 10th June 2020, 10th Week in Ordinary Time.

The apostate people of Israel had gathered with their leader, the apostate-in-chief King Ahab for a face off between the Prophet Elijah and the 400 plus prophets of Baal. Elijah threw the challenge to the people and their king: If Yahweh is God, follow Him. If Caesar is God, follow him. You must choose today whom you must serve. As for me and my household, we must serve the Lord. "The God who answers with fire is God.” (1 Kings 18: 24).

We know that only one God can answer with fire. We know how it fares with the gods of this world. Just a few months ago, Dubai was the center of attraction for investments of all sorts, technology magnets, tourism, night life and all illicit pleasures. The pandemics have changed everything and thrown a stable country into a wild spin.

Do you court other gods? You will only multiply your sorrows.
As for me, the Lord is my allotted portion and cup. He is my Prize. All that belongs to me is safe in His hands.

"Stockpile heavenly treasures for yourselves that cannot be stolen and will never rust, decay, or lose their value." (Matthew 6: 20 TPT).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Feast of the Illustrious St Ephrem the Syrian.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?...... You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden." (Matthew 5: 13 - 14).

Tuesday 9th June 2020, 10th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Ephrem the Syrian (306 - 373) Deacon and Doctor of the Church. There is so much to write about the accomplishments of Ephrem the Syrian. I will pick a few:
Ephrem had a keen intellect. His pen was like a sharp sword. Part of his genius is that he used poems and hymns to combat the heresies of his time. He expounded the mysteries of Christ and the Glorious Virgin Mary. Ephrem had a great devotion to Mary and was not shy about it.

In our core Scripture for today, Jesus said to His disciples: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
What is salt? What is uncorrupted salt? Salt is doctrine. The core and unbending truth which the Church offers to the world, season and out of season; welcomed or not. This salt of the earth is found in the Creed of the Church which was fleshed out at the Council of Nicaea during the life time of St Ephrem the Syrian. It has not changed one iota.

What does Jesus our Teacher mean when He says that we are the light of the world? Jesus Christ Himself is the Light of the nations. The light of Jesus shines through missionary evangelization. We saw how this works in the lives of saints we celebrated recently. Pope St Gregory the Great sent [missio] St Augustine of Canterbury to evangelize England. Mission accomplished. Pope St Gregory II sent St Boniface from England to evangelize Germany. And so forth and so on.

Who is Jesus sending you to? The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Mission. Let us ask God the Father to send the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth and missionary spirit in the Church.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

When the Brook dries up and the Ravens stop coming..

“Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You [Elijah] will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” (1 Kings 17: 3 - 4).

Monday 8th June 2020, 10th Week in the Ordinary Time.

Do you serve God with all your heart? Do you make His Kingdom and His righteousness your first priority? Then you should be comforted by what happened to the Prophet Elijah when he was on the run for his life from King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel.

"So he [Elijah] did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.  The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook." (Verse 5 - 6).

Ravens brought Elijah food morning and evening. What happened when the brook dries up and the ravens stopped coming? God's care and provisions for Elijah did not cease. God upgraded the sources. This narrative is in the Scriptures to give the man of God deep trust in God’s providence and provisions.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; Do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, And he will show you which path to take." (Proverbs 3: 5 - 6).

As I enjoy divine provisions and providence in my ministry, my heart is warmed up by the experience of Elijah in the Brook and the Ravens narrative. God Never Fails!

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com