Sunday, 23 February 2020

THE SEVENS IN REVELATION

The sevens in revelation
1. The seven churches in Asia rev 1: 4, 1: 11, 1:20: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."
2. The seven spirits rev 1: 4, 3: 1, 4:5, 5: 6
3. Seven golden lamp stands rev 1:12, 1: 20, 2: 1
4. Seven stars 1: 16, 1: 20, 2: 1, 3:1
5. Seven flaming torches 4:5,
6. Seven seals 5: 1, 6: 1
7. Seven horns 5: 6
8. Seven eyes 5: 6
9. Seven angels 8:2, 8: 6, 15: 1, 15: 6, 15:7, 15: 8, 16: 1, 17: 1, 21: 9
10. Seven trumpets 8: 2, 8: 6
11. Seven thunders 10: 3, 10: 4
12. Red dragon with Seven heads 12: 3, 13: 1, 17: 3, 17: 7, 17:9
13. Seven crowns 10: 3
14. Seven last plague 15: 1, 15:6, 15: 8, 21:9,
15. Seven bowls 15: 7, 16: 1, 17:1, 21: 9
16. Seven mountains 17:9
17. Seven kings 17: 9
18. 

TEEN AGE

· Write in first person
· Make it personal
· Make examples
1***In human development, there are two stages each on its own extreme. These stages are childhood and adulthood. Childhood comes with almost no worries and less responsibilities that is mostly limited to house chores and school home works, but we won’t remain a child, we have to grow up. Adult stage comes with responsibilities and worries to be taken care of. However, there is no direct transition from childhood to adulthood. 2***There is an in-between. This is the teen age.

3***SHAPE YOUR TEEN WORLD
The teen age is the world between childhood comforts and adulthood responsibilities. 4***The most important stage of transition with regards to growth, between childhood and adulthood. 5***A mid-way between two extremely different worlds. This stage of life is a moderation between no or less worry and extreme responsibility, but it is an entirely new world.
6***YOUR TEEN WORLD
What could be more wonderful than the feeling of being accepted?
That feeling of belongingness
After all, a person can put up with a lot of things if he knows that the people who count with him approve the way he or she is handling his life.
On the other hand, perhaps the cruelest torture a person can experience is to have been rejected by those he or she want to be with. 7***It really hurts to be scorned by those you admire.
Somehow the lowest feeling you can have is the feeling that you are not in tune with everybody else. The sting of rejection by the group hurts far more deeply than a bawling out by a parent.
8***There is nothing wrong with the need to belong. We have to belong in our own world. It is natural. Its god’s way of leading us naturally into the world of adult sharing, giving and loving.
The problem is that some persons go too far in seeking the approval of others. They never act on their own. They are always guided by what others will think, or do or say.
Many go to excessive length to make sure they won’t be considered out of tune.
Some girls for instance will wear almost anything to get approval of the group; in our modern term we call them slay queens. Some boys will do or say anything to get applause or admiration from their own gang or a group they would want to be a part of or a girl they admire.
Just look at the way some boys and girls dress and act. They want attention and they seek it by how they dress, how they act and by what they say, rather than by who they are.
*Some girls are like mobile pornography, sexy is not a compliment, it simply means sex related, whatever it is provokes and promotes sex activity
Its important that we dress and act so that we get approval from others. But you can go too far. If your clothes rather than you are the attention-getters, then there is a problem. It’s the same with language and actions. If we do or say something to get approval, then its our language and actions that gets attention not ourselves as persons.
The need to belong is especially strong in the teen world.
9***Teenagers have a sphere of their own from which children are excluded and adults are not expected to enter, otherwise it would account as a carryover. Teens have a language, a dress code, habits and actions which belong to them. This is as it should be because they are no longer children, so they should not act as children. But neither are they adults. Because they often feel uncomfortable and insecure among adults, so they build for themselves a world where they can fill secure among those who like them, want and need to belong.
10***THE TEEN WORLD IS BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Even though you are not a child any longer, you don’t feel like a full-fledged adult, either. Far from it! More than likely, you feel suspended somewhere in between two worlds: the world of childhood at home and the world of adulthood outside.
You want to break the apron strings a bit, but you aren’t ready yet to have your own family or hold down a full-time job. The step from childhood to adulthood is too big to take all at once. So in stepping out of one world, you want to be sure there is one you can step into. There is your teen world. 11***Here we find ourselves getting more interested in people of our own age, wanting to be with them more often, to do more things with them. They become your home away from home. We gradually try out new activities here which can help us towards adulthood at our own speed.
Here we are able to find independence and belongingness. The independence comes in choosing your interests. The belongingness comes with being with the people who have the same interests you do.
12***WHAT ARE YOUR TEEN YEARS FOR
For some the teen years offer the chance to grow and develop. They enable teenagers to learn, to acquire new skills, to add to the store of knowledge they already have. Teen age give us the chance to move towards the goal we have in mind and develop our interests. For others , teen age offer the chance to start anew, to make up for lost time, and catch up with opportunities that slipped by. For a few, unfortunately, they may become lost years, wasted years, years of frustration.
But for all, there are new opportunities, new challenges, and new directions. With those new opportunities and challenges, there are choices to be made. You have to decide how to relate to adults, you have to decide how hard you are going to work, you need to decide whom you will choose for your friends and how to start shaping your destiny, most importantly you have to decide what you will do with your growing freedom and your leisure time. All of these will determine what kind of teen world you will live in.
13***YOU CAN’T WALK DOWN EVERY PATH AND TRAVEL WITH EVERY CROWD.
You have to choose your priorities; what is more important to you. The friends you choose and the things you do are going to shape you into a certain kind of person. Look at your models and see what their success story is like.
14***ITS IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION THE PATH YOU START WALKING NOW IS LEADING TO WHERE YOU WILL WIND UP.
Do you know what this means? You are helping God create you, by the choices you make. You and God are working together on you. Good provides the raw material, it is up to you to put them in shape. Here, you consciously choose the direction of your life.
15***THE TEEN YEARS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GROW
As we begin to decide the direction of our lives; who and what we will be, we see people with different talents, opportunities, drives and motivations. We are gifted in different ways, however some people seems to have lots of luck, some seem to make their own luck, and some work hard for what they want to achieve. Some have a hard time, while some seem to get by without too much effort. We should find out which group we belong to, so that we don’t make mistakes.
Some are healthy, a few have troubles with their health, and some have physical impairments which prevents their being able to do all they do like. And because of circumstances, some cannot make use of the talents they have or the opportunities afforded them.
16***In other words every person has his or her own talents, opportunities, ambitions and motivations. So the law of nature requiring you to be yourself, does not mean that you are allowed to be selfish, egotistic, self centered, domineering, or do whatever comes to your own mind. It means becoming what your talents, your capabilities, your opportunities, and your limitations enable you to be.
Your teen years are your opportunity for you to grow into the kind of person you were created to be. The question is, will you use that opportunity to become that kind of person or will you squander it and fail to be the person God created you to be?
But, to become the kind of person you were created to become, you have to reflect on who you are and why you are.
17***THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO REALLY LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF. ONE IS TO JUST SIT AND THINK AND THE OTHER IS TO GO OUT OF YOURSELF AND TRY TO FIND OUT WHY YOU FAIL AND WHY YOU SUCCEED AND WHAT YOU SHOULD DO TO BE A BETTER PERSON.
When we realize the persons we are meant to be, we will find it more interesting to live. Strange as it may seem, many people don’t reflect on their own reality. They just exist from day to day. So they are never becoming what their talents, opportunities and purposes in live could have helped them to become.
This doesn’t mean that most people don’t accomplish anything in life; rather it means that many people do not accomplish what they are capable of accomplishing. They work at half speed, using half their talents and letting their opportunities slip away. They accomplish only part of what they could because they do not reflect on who they are or why they are. Most of the time they just exist. They don’t really live!
18***WHO ARE YOU IN YOUR TEEN WORLD?
To really be ourselves, we need to know who we are and why we are. Only you can answer the question. At this point, we are young human beings who happen to be Christians.
19***THE TENAGE WORLD AND ITS CHALLENGES
The challenges of the teen world are like hurdles in a race. If you negotiate them successfully you reach your goal. If you don’t, you stumble and possibly ruin your chances to success. If we seek growth in our teen world, we need to face the challenges that it present.
SOME OF THE CHALLENGES ARE
· PEER PRESSURE
· FALSE POPULARITY
· REBELLION AGAINST SOCIETY’S LAW
· EXCESSIVE WITHDRAWAL
· IRRELIGION
· LACK OF SENSITIVITY

However these are called challenges because we face a choice of how we respond to them. Our desires can so cloud our vision that we may actually see the challenges as opportunities; we may see them as means to attain status, to be somebody in the eye of certain persons.

The pressure we face from our own group and the influence on our thinking of Tv, radio, movies, magazines, records and some adults, may sometimes cause us to make decisions based on values that are not worthy of us as persons.  We need to see things for what they are, evaluate their influence on our lives, and determine how we will face them. How we respond in general determines how we shape our world.

20***PEER PRESSURE
This is the strong influence that a particular age group or social group exert on persons of that age group or social group to  conform to its standard, codes and methods of behavior. Peer pressure is at once social, emotional and psychological. It demands conformity. Or you will not be regarded as a real nigga.

All age groups and social groups exert pressure to conform on those who belong to them. Middle aged groups have their ways of acting, young adults have their way of acting, and teens have their way of acting. All conform more or less to social demands.

Conformity is not a bad thing in itself. In the right sense, it leads to harmony and unity of purpose. It make people feel comfortable among themselves. But when conformity means doing what everybody else does if to the point of betraying one’s ideals or principle or conscience, then its bad. This kind of conformity is finding out what everybody wants (the ones we want to most be accepted by) thinks and likes, and then telling ourselves that we think and like it too, just to avoid being labeled as odd. We should bear in mind that right is right, even when nobody is right, and wrong is wrong even when everybody is wrong.
This kind of conformity has smothered many growing personalities. Persons who could have developed a talent or given a new idea to the world or helped someone, have become empty shells. They did not dare to stand out and take criticism for what they knew was right.

The worst form of conformity is giving in to the misuse of drugs, alcohol, or sex because everybody pushes them to you. Then we give excuses to justify our abuses and excesses, like, everyone is doing it, my boyfriend introduced me to it, I wanted to see what it feels like to be high, what’s wrong with it? Adults do it why can’t I?, it won’t hurt me, I can stop any time I want to (ok its like you have not heard of addiction) Etc. we will see ourselves making such excuses if we are not able to control the overpowering pressure of conformity. Excessive conformity is the fear of being different. But I challenge you, dare to be different, don’t violate your own self.

How can we be ourselves if we are always allowing other people make us into themselves? It will take us away from who we are meant to be.

BE YOUR OWN PERSON
Don’t be fooled by those who try to pressure you into these, or other, anti social or anti-personal actions. Be your own person. How? By being bold enough to say NO when we need to say NO.

21***FALSE POPULARITY
Another major challenge facing young teens is seeking popularity.
Like conformity, there is nothing wrong with being popular. The difficulty and problem lies in seeking to be popular at any cost. This is seeking false popularity. Some of us can do anything to gain praise and notice.

This particular challenge leads us to confusing friendship with popularity. Some teens try to buy friends with a constant display of easy money and what it can buy. It may take a long time before the empty feelings dawns on them that their friends are more interested in what they have than in what they are personally.
More pitiful are those who don’t have money or privileges to buy friends. Rather than develop and share their true self with solid friends, they spoil their own lives by moping over what they don’t have rather than develop what they are. This is the case with us guys,

For the case of girls, many of you succumb to judging your personal worth by your sex appeal (attractiveness to the opposite sex). So they try to impress boys more in the body they have than in the person they are only to be deeply hurt later when they find out that the boys were actually just using them.
Young girls who let boys use their bodies are not only risking pregnancy and disease. They are also setting themselves up for the psychological and emotional shock that will follow when they discover that they are popular only because their bodies are available. Pepper them gang, take note.

22***REBELLION AGAINST SOCIETY’S LAWS
A third major challenge that teenagers face as they grow into maturity is observing the laws they don’t like or think are not fair, or they think are not for them. Laws are necessary for the good of the society. This is the challenge of observing the rules and laws that we think interfere with our fun.

Don’t allow anyone deceive you with words like, who is going to know? or we won’t get caught or what’s the matter with it,  or the popular ‘you too dey fear’. Some people do the things they know is wrong just for the hell of it. This may be fun for a while. It gives a sense of freedom, power or the impression of not being under anybody’s thumb, but it leads to trouble.

What we don’t realize with this challenge is that the society creates laws to protect people’s rights, not to interfere with their basic freedom. In breaking some rules we may think to ourselves that nobody gets hurt so what’s the big deal.
Senseless rebelling against society is directly opposed to the basic law of nature which requires us to build society if we are to be what we were created to be.

23***EXCESSIVE WITHDRAWAL
 This fourth challenge affects very few teens, but it can affect anyone. This particular challenge makes for a very miserable life. We all need to be alone at times, we are all unique and its natural that we have some interests that other persons don’t share. Also a certain amount of aloneness is good for us because it helps us to discover our real self. On top of that, some people are naturally quieter than others, and some like to be alone from time to time just to enjoy their own thought and do their own things.

There are others who withdraw excessively from social contact and pretend that they don’t really care. They exaggerate their uniqueness and pretend that they are against conformity, but in reality they are afraid of the normal struggle to adjust to others. They expect everyone to come to them, to accept them immediately, and to make them the center of attention. If this doesn’t happen they are deeply hurt. Meanwhile, if they continue to withdraw, they become loners. They go on their own way and pretend not to care because they cannot stand not having their own way or being accepted on their own terms.

This type of persons can get into serious trouble with themselves, by excessive withdrawal, by freezing out everybody, by being hard to get along with, by refusing to cooperate or even be civil, by not even responding to the most generous offers of friendship, the loner retreats more and more into himself and becomes his own worst enemy. Instead of being his best self, his social self in which he shares and have fun with others, he craws into a shell and dos not let himself develop into what he can be.

He may resort to drugs or alcohol to relieve his loneliness.

24***IRRELIGION
 This fifth challenge poses a question of what to do with our religious life. There comes a time in almost all our lives when we ask, is there a God? Each answers this question in his own way. Some just kind of ignore God, treating him as a nice thought, but not really of much consequence. Some retain their childhood ideas of God and regard religion as a Sunday thing. Some give up the search entirely and act as if God didn’t really exist.

Some teen are afraid to show any interest in developing a healthy religious life because  they are afraid others will make fun of them. So that they don’t call them sister mary, or holy nweje or santa nwege. This particular challenge make the teens not to flex their religious muscles. Such irreligious teens drift away from a basic truth of life. There is a God whether we belive in him or not. God is always at home, its we who have gone astray.

LACK OF SENSITIVITY
Young people can be terribly cruel towards others less fortunate than themselves. Many people suffer for years because of the way they were treated as young teens.

The five challenges I have discussed deals with pressures affecting people to a greater or less degree depending on the circumstances of their lives. However lack of sensitivity to other people’s feelings and need is exhibited by the small sins of being uncharitable to others in seemingly small ways. Little acts of uncharitable character can have terrible serious consequences, yet most people don’t give them a second thought.

People have been socially crippled because they were made fun of. Those people who were objects of laughter or were excluded from some things over which they have no control like their size, their appearance, their voice, their mental ability, their lack of coordination, their colour or religion.

Reputations have been destroyed by lies, half truths, innuendoes, hints, suggestions, or even truths that a person has no right to tell. People as socially excluded because of their poverty, on daily basis we make people the butt of cruel jokes, we taunt people because of their differences,. These are all acts of uncharity.

But actually, making fun of someone else is a form of cowardice. Because you hide in the crowd and points out someone else to be laughed at. We often feel we achieve a sense of power by making another person feel inferior. This goes directly against the golden rule. Do unto others what you will like them to do to you. For example, some people would come and slap you in the name of joke and the day you will do the same to them they will roar like a tiger.

Its not enough that we avoid deliberate acts of uncharity. We need to be on the lookout for occasions to be a real friend. Let go out of our ways and make people feel at home.
Look around there are lot of people who need what you have to offer. Some are obviously shy, while others cover up their insecurity by obvious bragging

CONCLUSION
Somewhere in the challenges facing us as young people are the keys to your becoming the person we are created to be. Think about them and resolve how we will handle each as it comes along.

THE IMPACT OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS IN THE CHURCH

THE IMPACT OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS IN NIGERIA
The impact of women religious in the church is a very visible one, because of the roles of men and women in the church are more clearly stipulated than in the Secular World. This is because the church seems to have more ideas than in the secular life where women are sometimes taken for granted. The role of the women religious in the church cannot be ignored. To this effect, the saintly Pope John Paul II in his post synodal apostolic exhortation Vita Consacrata says “the church fully reveals her varied spiritual richness when she overcomes all discrimination and welcomes as a true blessing the gifts lavished by God upon both men and women, considering them in their equal dignity.
The church is the home of communion. Each individual within the church is linked to the other, because its Gods will to make the faithful into one people according to Jesus’ prayer: ‘that they maybe one’. To this effect both the hierarchy of the church are co-responsible in building up the church and furthering her mission. However, the impacts of the women religious to the church cannot be undermined, even though they lack the clerical competence, there impact to the church is massive and unique. Women have been prominent in the church and the church in Nigeria is not an exception. The impact of the women religious can be considered in the light of their specific apostolate.
The women religious have impacted so much in Nigeria generally by being signs of God’s tender love towards the humanity and they have borne special witness to the mystery of the church. The impacts of the women religious in the different sectors of the society and the church in particular cannot be denied. The self-awareness of the women religious have impacted on the men by triggering them to reconsider their way of looking at things.
The women religious have worked so hard in impacting the basic human values to the system of Nigeria. These human values bother majorly on human dignity and the dignity of labour. In the areas of human dignity, they have been able to bring to the consciousness of the people, especially the ignorant one, that each individual person deserve and ought to be treated with dignity. The women religious have worked out this goal in a tangible way that goes sometimes unnoticed; some of the women religious congregations raise and manage motherless baby’s homes and a special care for the destitute, feeding and caring for them. Some of these religious women engage in prison apostolate too.
One of the greatest impacts of the women religious in Nigeria is in the field of education. Majority of the women religious in Nigeria had taken upon themselves the responsibility of improving the education standards from the grass roots. Many of the women religious groups in Nigeria instituted schools, ranging from primary to secondary school, and many more are managing already instituted schools. These women religious who institute or manage schools ensure that the standard and quality of education imparted on the pupils or students are the best. Some of these women religious also lecture in different tertiary institutions there by contributing to the improvement of the standard and quality of education in the country.
The women religious in Nigeria have impacted so much in the areas of health.  Many women religious run the apostolate of health caring, making health facilities available, especially to the remote places, where there is little or no hope of proper medical attention. The religious sisters provide standard hospitals for health maintenance, and they go to the extent of giving free medical care and check-ups to the ones that can’t afford it. Health is wealth, and the women religious in the country have made serious impacts on this area. Some of the women religious seriously working towards the improvement of health includes the daughters of divine love, handmaid sisters, ola etc when facilities for good and basic health care is provided and afforded to the people, mortality rate reduces.
The impact of the women religious to liturgy cannot be underestimated. Many of them many of them actively participate and help out in the liturgy. A good number of the religious in Nigeria have their little ways of making their contributions to the liturgy of the church. Some do some by their production of liturgical materials, like vestments for mass and production of host for while many others help out in different ways in the church; impacting the faith by way of teaching the children catechism and so many other ways.
With the establishment of their different apostolic centers, the women religious have massively provided job opportunity in the country. The apostolic centers established by some of the women religious include hospitals, schools, host making units, production of clerical wears etc. The sectors in these apostolic centers have individual working in them and earning their living there.
As a crown of their impact, the women religious have gone a long way in fostering ecumenism in the church in Nigerian with their individual and communal efforts in the apostolic and mission field. They impact morality and sensitivity within the youths, this is with special reference to the apostolate of the university sisters of assumption, who counsel the youths and guides them; helping them out with some difficulties of their daily lives.

THE COMMON DECLARATION OF POPE PAUL VI AND PATRIARCH ATHENAGORAS I


INTRODUCTION

A goal towards restoring unity among Christians is a major concern of the Vatican II church. The church as founded by Christ is one. Therefore division the Christian church contradicts the will of Christ and causing harm to the mission of the church as a mandate given by Christ. However, in recent times, irrespective of the different denominations, the Christian churches all over the world seek a common ground for unity. Also by the working of the Holy Spirit, the impulse of God’s grace is being felt for the restoration of unity among all Christians. This paper bothers on the Vatican II decree on Ecumenism, the first article of the Unitatis Redintegratio; The common Declaration of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras.

THE COMMON DECLARATION OF POPE PAUL VI AND PATRIARCH ATHENAGORAS I

This declaration started with a grateful acknowledgement of the favour of God which was mercifully granted in the brotherly meeting in the holy areas that are significant to the mystery of our salvation accomplished or made possible by the paschal mystery of Christ. The Pope and the patriarch still acknowledges they haven’t lost sight of the intentions of the beginning, and still holds they will not on their individual parts omit, in the future, those gestures that were inspired by charity and which contributes to the unity and fraternal relationship initiated between the Roman Catholic church and the Orthodox Church of Constantinople. Both the Holy Father and the Patriarch are of the believe they are responding to the call of divine grace which requires the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, with all the Christians inclusive, to overcome their respective differences in order to be one again according to Jesus prayer to his Father, thus “that they may be one”. This it is an ecumenical understanding between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Church which in turn reaches out to all Christians.

However in the establishment of ecumenical understandings, there are obstacles found in the way of the development of the brotherly relationships of trust and esteem. The memories of those obstacles; the painful decisions, acts and incidents led to the sentence of excommunication delivered against Patriarch Michael Cerularius and two other persons by the Roman legate led by Cardinal Humbert. These legates were themselves object of a similar sentence from the side of the patriarch and the synod of Constantinople. Thus, while the roman legates pronounced excommunication on the Patriarch, the patriarch pronounced excommunication on them too. Thus it was mutual excommunication from both parties. This is to say there is a possibility of the lack of mutual understanding in the pursuit of ecumenical unity among Christians.

The pains and troubles of these cannot be ignored. We can’t pretend these events of history were not what they were and are devoid of trouble. However today we have a more calm and equitable judgment of these matters. However, it is important we recognize the excesses and the consequences that come with them. Most of the time they go further than what was intended or expected by the authors. These censures however, are not aimed at the churches but at the persons concerned, nevertheless, they were not meant to break ecclesiastical communion between the Sees of Rome and Constantinople. This is to say, these actions are not to jeopardize the relationships between the afore mentioned churches.

In a quest to solve these difficulties, troubles and challenges, the Holy Father Paul VI and the Patriarch Athenagoras I and the synod were certain that they are expressing a common desire for justice and unanimous sentiment of charity on the part of the faithful and remembering the command of the Lord that one should reconciliation should be made prior to sacrifice. Thus the Pope and the Patriarch declared their regrets for the offensive words and reprehensible gestures that accompanied the sad events of that period. They also wish to erase from the memory of the sentences of excommunication which followed them, and they also deplore the troublesome precedents and the later events which under the influence of lack of understanding, and mutual hostility which led to the rupture of ecclesiastical communion.

However this act of justice cannot put an end to the differences which is between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, but they would be overcome by the action of the Holy Spirit with the purification of hearts there would be effectiveness in arriving at a common understanding and expression of the apostolic faith and demands. The holy father and the patriarch hopes it pleases God who pardons us when we forgive each other and express a mutual desire for reconciliation, however, as an invitation they pursue with a spirit of mutual trust, esteem and charity, the dialogue which with the help of God would lead them to live the greater good of soul and coming of God’s kingdom, the full communion of faith, brotherliness and sacramental life as was in the first millennium of the Church.

INSTRUCTION ON MIXED MARRIAGES

Matrimony is a sacrament established by Christ as a symbol of his union with the church. Here, husband and wife express in their lives the love by which christ gave himself for the church, thus marriage demand perfect agreement between partners. The links between souls are weakened when they cease to be of one mind and heart regarding the ultimate and highest value. The church therefore takes its obligation serious in guarding the faithful, ensuring that Catholics marry Catholics.

The church discipline with regards to mixed marriage according to the canons demonstrates this careful vigilance. Its impediments include mixed religion and disparity of worship. The former forbids marriage between a catholic and a baptized non-Catholic, the later renders invalid the marriage between a catholic and a non-baptized person. Thu pastors are to be guided by these traditions and they should teach the faithful the religious values and worth of the sacrament. And should warn them against the dangers of marrying a non-Catholic, and much so a non-Christian.

Changes have occurred in the social and family life and thus the observance of canonical discipline regarding mixed marriage is hard to observe now. There is more frequent contacts between catholics and non-catholics and friendship more easily develop among them. Today the pastors solicitude that the sanctity of marriage according to catholic teachings and faith of the partners should be safeguarded with diligence and effectiveness. This pastoral care is more necessary in view because among non-catholics there are diversity of views regarding both the essence of matrimony and its properties especially the indissolubility.

It is therefore the duty of the church to protect the faith of her members from endangerment, to avoid damages. Therefore those planning to get married should be carefully guided and instructed about the nature, properties and obligations of marriage and the dangers to be avoided. However, the code of behavior towards our separated brethren which was established by the council should not be ignored. The council fathers had a lot to say regarding this matter and it has been attentively considered. This is with special regards to existing ecclesiastical regulations which our separated brethren find offensive.

The pastors were therefore consulted; those concerned with these matters and things were carefully considered. The impediments of mixed religion and disparity of worship are always enforced by the local ordinaries and they also possess the power of dispensing from them in accordance with the apostolic letter, Pastorale Munus numbers 19 and 20. The law of the Oriental Churches remains likewise unaffected. The below provisions have been established by the authority of Pope Paul VI to be inserted into the code of Canon Law with the condition for them to stand the test of experience.

Firstly is the need to safeguard the faith of the Catholic partner must be constantly kept in mind and educating the children in the catholic faith must be ensured. The catholic partner’s local ordinary or parish priest must be careful to impress on them seriously the obligation of ensuring the baptism and education of the children in catholic religion. The Non-Catholic partner should with delicacy be informed of the catholic teaching on the dignity of marriage with special regards to the principal characteristics, unity and indissolubility. The non-Catholic party should be made aware of the serious obligations on the catholic party to safeguard, preserve and profess his or her faith and to baptize and educate the children to be born in it. However, in order to ensure the fulfillment of this obligation, the non-Catholic part should promise sincerely and openly that he or she will not impede the obligations. But is he or she feels the promise would be against his or her conscience, the matter should be referred, with details, to the Holy See. These promises should be in writing. But the ordinary can decide, in general or individual instances whether the promise would be in writing or not by any of the parties or by both. He too should decide how they are to be inserted in the marriage documents.

Secondly it does happen in some places that the catholic education of the children are impeded, not so much by the parents’ choice following the laws and customs, which those who intend to get married must obey. In this case the local ordinary can dispense from the impediment provided the catholic partner is prepared to his best to ensure catholic baptism and a catholic education for the children, and guaranteeing the goodwill of the non-catholic partner. However in granting this concession, the church hopes that the civil laws which run counter to human liberty would be repealed. These laws include those that forbid catholic education or the practice of the catholic religion. The church hopes the natural law with come into force in these matters.

Thirdly the canonical form, prescribed in canon 1094 is to be observed in mixed marriages. This is thus necessary for validity. However, if difficulties arise, the ordinary should refer the matter to the Holy See and outline the circumstances.

Fourthly, regarding the liturgical form, setting the canons 1103, paragraph 2 and 1109, paragraph 3, to a side, the ordinaries may permit the celebration of mixed marriages with sacred rites and with the customary blessings and sermon.

Fifthly, it is absolutely forbidden to celebrate marriage before a catholic priest and a Non-catholic minister, with each performing his own rite at the same time. However, when the religious ceremony is finished, the non-catholic minister is allowed to deliver an address of congratulation and encouragement and recite some prayers with the non-catholics. However, this needs the approval of the local ordinary and the danger of provoking comments must be avoided.

Sixthly, the local ordinary and the priest priests should ensure that mixed marriage families should lead holy lives in keeping with their promises especially f imparting catholic doctrine and morality to the children.

Seventhly, the excommunication incurred in accordance to canon 2319, paragraph 1, number 1, by those who marry before a non-catholic minister, is thus abolished and the effects of this abolition are retroactive.

The thoughts and intentions behind these regulations are to meet make sure that the  needs of the faithful are met in our day and also to promote a cordial relation between catholics and non-catholics. However, those charged with imparting catholic doctrine to the faithful, most especially the parish priests should be devoted to this wholeheartedly and with constancy. They should do this in charity towards all catholics and with due reverence to the nn-catholics. Catholics on their part should endeavour to strengthen and increase their own faith. They should follow the path of Christian virtues in their family lives; they should be a shining example to their non-catholic partners and to their children.

CONCLUSION

Divisions among the Christian denominations are denial of the Christ’s reconciling love on the cross. The concern for restoring unity involves the whole church, faithful and clergy alike. It extends to everyone, according to the talent of each, whether it be exercised in daily Christian living or in theological and historical studies. This concern itself already reveals to some extent the bond of brotherhood existing among all Christians, and it leads toward full and perfect unity, in accordance with what God in his kindness wills.

In the work of ecumenism, catholics must be concerned for the separated brethren, praying for them, keeping them informed about the church, making the first approaches towards them. But their primary duty is to make a careful and honest appraisal of whatever needs to be renewed and done in the catholic household itself, in order that its life may bear witness more clearly and faithfully to the teachings and institutions which have been handed down from Christ through the apostles.

HOMILY ON PHIL 3: 8, AND LUKE 15:1-10


TITLE: THE MYSTERIOUS BEAUTY OF GOD’S LOVE

INTRODUCTION

God goes to extraordinary lengths to rescue the lost. The grace of salvation is directed toward those who need to be saved. If anyone is going to level a judgment on another, it must be the judgment of love. What kind of shepherd would leave 99 sheep alone in the wilderness to find just one which is lost? Thus I title this homily “the mysterious beauty of God’s love.

BODY

My dear people of God, the love of Christ for us is amazing, it knows no bounds. Searching for the lost sheep of the house of Israel is the principal mission of Christ and of Christianity. Jesus desires that no one should be lost. In the gospel of Luke 19:10 He says “the son of man has come to seek and to save what had been lost”, and in the gospel of John18:9 it was affirmed that he didn’t loss any of those given to him. Christ cares for the repentance of the sinner, He says in the gospel of Luke5:32, He has come not to call the just, but to call the sinners to repentance. Unfortunately, there is a school of thought in today’s version of Christianity that thinks otherwise. They insist on over-bloating the rules and demands of Christianity and end up scattering the sheep with sanctions rather than gathering them.

The parable of the lost sheep is very applicable to the great work of man’s redemption. The lost sheep represents the sinner as departed from God, and exposed to certain ruin if not brought back to him, yet not desirous to return. Christ is earnest in bringing sinners home. In the parable of the lost piece of silver, that which is lost is one piece, of small value compared with the rest. Yet the woman seeks diligently till she finds it.

Through the two short parables, Jesus presents the essential nature of our God: benevolent in his love, generous in his mercy, kind towards the wayward, extravagant in his celebration when the lost one is found. For God, when it comes to his children, one is equal to ninety-nine. He does not wish that even one of his children gets lost. St Paul is one of those who experienced the joy of being ‘lost’ and ‘found’ and so is able to say: “indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”.

God always seek to find us when we stray but on our part, we must realize that we are lost and recognize our need for God and begin the journey home to the embraced by divine mercy. When God’s offer of mercy is met by our repentance, all in heaven rejoices. God’s feast is about rejoicing over the repentant sinners. Today the lord beckons us to be found by him through the sacrament of reconciliation.

CONCLUSION

Occasionally we develop a feeling of self righteousness which may cause us to look down on others for not reaching the level of spiritual heights that we have reached. Another extreme is when we are too conscious of our failings and live in extreme self condemnation; we feel we have no right to God’s love. However, the gospel of today tells us what makes God beautiful and different: God does not abandon us when we stray but rather he does everything possible to bring us back to his love and fold. As Christians who know the worth of the Father’s love for us, we should sign up for the attitude of St Paul; we should be ready to count everything as loss just to gain the love and knowledge of Christ.