KERYGMA - MAKING CHRIST KNOWN

THE ATTITUDE OF THOMAS Today, the second Sunday of Easter, the gospel presents us with Jesus post resurrection appearance first to the apostles without Thomas and secondly to all including Thomas (Jn. 20:19-31). This morning let’s reflect on the attitude of Thomas in this gospel pericope. Thomas was one of the disciples who loved the Lord with all his heart. After the crucifixion of our blessed Lord he was so heart broken that his “Lord and his All” has been taken from him.  Out of this brokenness he made one mistake many Christians continue to make. He withdrew from the Christian fellowship. He sought loneliness rather than togetherness. And because he was not there with his fellow Christians he missed the first appearance of Jesus to his disciples (Jn. 20:24ff).  We miss a lot when we separate ourselves from the Christian fellowship (church) and try to be alone. When life presents us with a lot of sorrow, bitterness and sadness, we often tend to shut ourselves up and refuse ...

  "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" I John 4:10 NKJV Our opening verse shows us one of the ways in which God has manifested His Love towards us. In the measure of His love He gave- He gave His only begotten Son to be the sacrifice to take away our sins. The New Living Translation Bible puts it this way; "This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins" (1 John 4:10 NLT). Beloved, nothing can compare with the promise we have in God's love. He shows us his love even when we are quite unlovable. In fact He sent his son to die for us while we were even still sinners.  Although we might be puzzled  by situations that are beyond us or be frustrated by problems we don't understand, just know this, God is on our side and because of this who can be against us.  God loves you souch my dear, STOP the WORRY and put a smil...

  THE FOURTEENTH STATION: JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.    B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world MEDITATION Lord Jesus, at your birth, you prepared for yourself the virginal womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary; at your death, your friends procured for you a 'virginal' tomb.   How wonderful you are! As you were laid in the tomb, you seemed powerless and helpless - you who were able to accomplish much more for the survival of others. But you deserve no pity at all - death does.  Death must have been the most miserable adversary. For, it walked off with a short-lived victory which lasted only three days. After this came its perpetual ruin through your ressurection, O Lord Jesus Christ. PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you died painfully for our sake. In this, you sought to solicit for our faith and hope in you. You promised that you will rise again, we know how true and unfailing your promise is, ...

  THE TWELFTH STATION: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.   B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world MEDITATION When Jesus’ hour had finally arrived, he said, "It is finished," and bowing his head gave up his spirit (pause). In the eyes of bystanders another young life had just been wasted; he had died for nothing at all. His own disciples, overcome by disappointment and fear, sought to hide.  We could just as easily miss the point when we fail to see that a death so longed for and a suffering so freely embraced could not have been a misguided vocation. Later, they understood more clearly, that God’s ways are not human ways; that Christ breathed his last, so that in him, we might draw the breath of new life, and that unless we too die to our flesh and to sin, there can be no glory for us. PRAYER: Lord Jesus, by your death on the cross you gave us new life. As we contemplate your demise, grant that we m...

  THE ELEVENTH STATION: JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.   B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world REFLECTION Jesus had all the power there is to save himself from being nailed to the cross. He had the power to disappear from the midst of the soldiers as they derided him and nailed him, spat on him, gave him a crown of thorns and nailed him to the cross.  He had the power, as he himself told us, “to ask his Father and he will send him, at once, more than twelve legions of angels.” And yet, with all the power willingly allowed himself to be nailed to the cross.  Of course, he felt the pain when they drove the nails through his palms, yet he did not fight the soldiers. For love of us and obedience to his Father, he allowed himself, freely and willingly, to go through all this excruciating pain that you and I may be saved.  Jesus, in this act, teaches us how to embrace, freely and willin...

  THE TENTH STATION: JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.   B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world REFLECTION Clothes gives a man social position. In our world today we wear nice clothes to portray our wealth, handsomeness and beauty. Jesus had all the advantages to also portray himself as such. He did not do it because of our sake. He allowed them to   strip of his garments so that he can use his own garment to clothe our nakedness, which is sin. He did that by showing us his ultimate love on the cross. He was embarrassed because of our sins.   He laid down his garments to show us that the glory of man, in the coming future, does not consist in accumulated wealth but consists in doing the will of God.  Jesus' glory was not limited to physical appearance but was beyond. We have to always be mindful that at our death, nothing will be added to us in our grave, as such let us seek the ...

  THE NINTH STATION: JESUS FALLS A THIRD TIME L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.   B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world REFLECTION The journey we make with Christ is full of falls and rise. God calls on us not stay on the ground when fall. Let us look at our Saviour Jesus, who falling a third time under the heavy cross still embraces the cross.  Let us remember that every fall would brings us closer and closer to God, if we rely on his grace. His Grace is sufficient for us and his strength is perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Sometimes, sin can make us believe God cannot help us. Sin can rob our conviction of God’s compassion.    All Christ want from us is to keep walking with our eyes focused on him.   PRAYER: Lord, give us the grace that will sustain us in our journey towards you. Help us to rise anytime we fall; knowing that you will not give up on us. Amen. by AGBENYEVOR FRANCIS (Theol...

  THE EIGHTH STATION: JESUS SPEAKS TO THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.   B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world REFLECTION It is easy to think that we are the only individuals going through a certain kind of unpleasant and deriding situations. So much that we become bitter towards everyone around us.  This is not uncommon to the Christian life. Whatever we go through is meant to strengthen us to face even greater challenges in life and become examples of perseverance.  Even in our moment of loneliness, dryness, seemingly hopelessness, let us not deny others the little offer we can give them. Just saying a word or two can bring someone back to life.    PRAYER: Lord Jesus help us to know that whatever we go through is meant for our good and those of others; so that we do not treat them with malice because of our pain, but speak words of hope to them at all times. Amen. by Agbenyevor...

  THE SEVENTH STATION: JESUS FALLS A SECOND TIME L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.   B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world REFLECTION The language of Love is found in the action of humility.  As the beam of contradiction draws our Lord to the dust the second time,  we see what our wills which contradict God's will did to our Lord Jesus  Christ.  It did not only draw him to earth, but also to the dust out of which he made man.  He is drawn to the dust to breath into man the breath of life; He is drawn to the dust to inspire man again to get up from where he has fallen.  Jesus Christ through his fall is inspiring us to realize God in our weaknesses, and know that his grace is sufficient for us. All that is left for us is to submit our ways to God's will, so that we don't create another contradictory beam, the Cross. You may have fallen several times, see God's breath in your lower state and arise fr...

  THE SIXTH STATION: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.   B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world REFLECTION When love is physical, when love is visible, it speaks to hearts.  Already at creation of man, God communicated with himself to create man in his Image and likeness.  Jesus Christ who is the image of the invisible God came to show us the physicality of God's Love; the love image which we have disfigured out of the freedom God gave us. Love is impossible without freedom, so God wanting us to be freed from the slavery to sin has become flesh. The face was beautiful before, but in this journey it has lost all its beauty, and wounds and blood have disfigured it.  In his Passion, as his face is disfigured, he restores ours.  Through the love that Veronica shows Jesus by wiping his face for us to see his image clearly, we are invited to see the image of love in those suffering...

THE FIFTH STATION: SIMON OF CYRENE HELPS JESUS TO CARRY HIS CROSS L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.   B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world REFLECTION Have you helped anybody in your life before or  you been on the received end before? Help is an action given to provide assistance or aid. Help makes us know our human limitedness or where we get to give room for another to assist or continue with what we are doing to arrive at a perfect end. Man is not an island, the adage states, thus, in one way or the other, no matter who you are or what you have, you will indeed surely need someone either below you or above you or your equal to help you to achieve your goal or aim. In this station, Jesus is helped to carry His Cross by Simon not because He could not carry it but to teach us how to humble ourselves when help is offered to us (1 Peter 2:21).  As we reflect on the fifth station, let us draw our minds to the theme of HELP ...

  THE FOURTH STATION: JESUS MEETS HIS SORROWFUL MOTHER L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.   B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world MEDITATION Mary is rightly described as sorrowful. She had witnessed the turning of the same people who hailed her son against him. She saw the religious leaders she undoubtedly held in high esteem lead the condemnation party against her son, even handing him over to Gentile law.  She saw the way he was brutally beaten, hit, spat upon, insulted. She met him weary under the weight of the cross. She must have shown her son her brave side. She could not break and compound his pain.  She must have remained resilient, a great encouragement to Christ. PRAYER: Lord Jesus, may we follow the example of your mother. Give us the strength to journey with those who suffer without adding to their burden. Help us also face our own sufferings bravely. By Michael Owusu-Amponsah (Theology 1 Seminarian)

THE THIRD STATION: JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME UNDER THE CROSS L.     We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you A.   B ecause by your cross you have redeemed the world REFLECTION He loved us so much that, sinless himself, he suffered for us the punishment we deserve.  Jesus went the way of the cross and fell the first time under the heavy weight of the cross. it is the weight of our sins that caused Jesus to fall under the 'heavy weight' of the cross.  We participate in the journey to Calvary through the various stations to remind ourselves of the fact that Jesus accompanies us at every step of our Christian journey, as such, lets us be steadfast. PRAYER:  May Christ always give us the strength to rise up after every fall in our Christian journey of life and continue steadfastly to the Ultimate goal.  Amen by David Martey (Theology 2 Seminarian)

  THE SECOND STATION : JE SUS CARRIES HIS CROSS We adore you, O Christ and we praise you! Because by your cross you have redeemed the world. REFLECTION Look at how the heavy cross is carried on Jesus' neck in this journey. Jesus knows it wouldn't be easy to carry it to Calvary. He thinks of us and entrusts the death he is about to die to his Father for our sake.  Sometimes we feel that our responsibilities and the struggles we go through in life are too much than we can bear.  Let us take inspiration from Jesus, who, irrespective of how large and heavy the cross was, for our sake, embraced and carried the cross.  PRAYER : My love Jesus, I embrace the struggles and the responsibilities you have given me in my life. I pray you, that through the suffering that you underwent in carrying of the cross, grant me the needed grace, so that I may carry my own in patience and to reach out to others. Lord Jesus crucified! Have mercy on us!  Reflection by Daniel Baah (Theolo...

Today we begin the holy Triduum. The days in the Triduum are called holy because they help us relive the central event of our redemption, the crust of our Christian faith which is the passion, death and resurrection of our lord Jesus Christ.  Today, being Holy Thursday, I would like us to reflect on Pilate, the one who passed the final judgement for Jesus to be crucified (Jn. 18:28-40). During the trial, Pilate was very convinced of the innocence of Jesus. He himself realized the Sanhedrin had only brought him to be crucified to protect their unregulated interests. He also had the power to set him free but out of fear of the loud voice of the people,  he confirmed the unjust death sentence which the Jews demanded.  Today, anytime someone speaks about the passion of Christ, Pilate is named as the one who passed the judgement. There are several legends surrounding his name because of what he did. Popular among them is that, after the trial his conscience troubled him and he...