May 24, 2026. Solemnity of Pentecost (Year A)

Readings: Acts 2:1-11; 1Cor. 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23

The Spirit came to sanctify the Church!

1.     Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the church. On this day, the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles like flames of fire. “Being filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.” (Acts 2:1-4). According to the Constitution of the Second Vatican Council on the Church, “When the work which the Father had given the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost that he might forever sanctify the Church. In this way, all believers would have access to the Father through Christ in the one Spirit. He is the Spirit of life, a fountain of water springing up to eternal life. Through him the Father gives life to men who are dead from sin, till at last he revives in Christ even their mortal bodies.” The Holy Spirit filled the apostles with zeal and courage so that they became Christ’s witnesses beyond the frontiers of Jerusalem, “Throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). That is Luke’s account of the descent of the Holy Spirit. John, however, reported the same incident, which apparently took place on the same day of the resurrection, thus: “On the evening of that first day of the week when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Christ wished his disciples peace before He gave them the Holy Spirit, and then He sent them on the mission of forgiveness. The Holy Spirit is directly associated with the forgiveness of sins.

2.     There is a story told of a man who was suffering from acute back pain for years. He had undergone all types of treatment – allopathic, ayurvedic, etc. During one of his visits, his doctor prescribed a lot of medicine but told him that he would have the pain all his life and that it was his purgatory. With resignation, he purchased the medicine. While on his way back, he met a Sister who had the gift of healing. Sister asked him to forgive everyone, and she prayed for him for about an hour. The patient felt great relief and took all the medicine back to the pharmacy. Till now, he has not experienced back pain again. Most of our ailments are indeed caused by unfinished business relating to forgiveness. Therefore, if we are to be witnesses of Christ, we must forgive the hurts done to us. The Holy Spirit will assist us with the gift of forgiveness.

 

3.     The Penny Catechism defines Confirmation as “A Sacrament by which we receive the Holy Spirit, to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.”  If the apostles needed the fire of the Holy Spirit to shake them up and transform them into warriors for the faith, so do we. When Jesus received the Spirit, he exclaimed, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Lk. 4:18-19). We are called to do no less. We are faced today with so many cases of injustice, abuse of human rights, violence, and indiscriminate taking of human lives on our streets. There is total disregard for the rule of law in our society, and yet many of us Christians, born again in the water of rebirth and the Holy Spirit, stand quietly by and watch as our brothers and sisters are being killed. What is the Spirit sending us out to do today?  Jesus calls the Holy Spirit another Advocate. What type of advocate is the Holy Spirit calling us to be? Yes, the Holy Spirit calls us to forgive the hurts done to us, but it is difficult to forgive repeated acts of injustice when no solution is in sight. So, as people of faith, we ask Christ to send the Spirit of tolerance into our hearts to fight our indifference and build a community of love and peace.

4.     Let us ask the Holy Spirit to come with his gifts of “Wisdom and understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord.” (Is. 11: 2-3). We pray the Spirit to plant in our hearts his fruit of “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23). Come, Holy Spirit, and conquer the indifference in our world and help us fight the battles of our hearts and the internal battles of the flesh, such as: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.” (Gal. 5:19-21). But most of all, we pray that the Holy Spirit may help us to forgive those who hurt us so that we may be holy as God our heavenly Father is holy. Let us pray that we may be filled with the fire of the Spirit and be transformed into a people of faith, courageous preachers, lovers of God and his people. Amen. God bless you! 

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

May 17, 2026. 7th Sunday of Easter - Ascension of the Lord. (Year A)

Readings: Acts 1:1-11; 1 Ephesians 1:17-23; Gospel Matt. 28:16-20

 

Obeying the Divine Mandate

1.    Today, we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord into heaven. Article 6 of the Creed states: “He Ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Christ’s body was glorified at the moment of his Resurrection, as proved by the new and supernatural properties it subsequently and permanently enjoys. But during the forty days when he eats and drinks familiarly with his disciples and teaches them about the kingdom, his glory remains veiled under the appearance of ordinary humanity. Jesus’ final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time forward at God’s right hand” (CCC 659). After the ascension, the task of preaching the Gospel was passed on to the apostles. Christ promised that he would be with them through his Spirit to accomplish the work of evangelization. The disciples were asked, therefore, “Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky?” (Acts 1:10-11). “Ascension is not a time to commemorate Christ’s departure from us, but rather a time to recall Christ’s presence in our midst. This presence is made manifest in the work of the people of God, the Church.” (The Word Alive by Eugene H. Maly).

 

2.    The feast of the Ascension is like taking part in a relay; the baton is passed on from one runner to another. Christ passed on the baton to his apostles and his apostles to us. There is no time to stand idle and watch others. We must obey the divine mandate: “Go make disciples of all nations.” (Matt. 28:19-20). We can do this by making Paul’s instruction to Timothy ours: “I solemnly urge you to preach the message, to insist upon proclaiming it, whether the time is right or not, to convince, reproach and encourage, as you teach with patience.” (2Tim. 4:2). There are many people out there who are unaware of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. They do not know that God loves them passionately, intimately, and personally. This, then, is our mission: to make Christ known and loved, and to be His witnesses to all nations. We must teach and convince the world of Christ’s love and the need to give our lives in return for his love. In doing this, however, we are not alone. Christ promises to be with us till the end of time. He is with us even during the worst circumstances of our lives. He is with us in his Spirit, who is an agent of evangelization. His Spirit will teach us how to be his disciples, in word and in deed. Our lives must speak much more eloquently than our lips do when it comes to witnessing and teaching. People would much rather see a sermon than listen to one.

 

3.    The Ascension means that Christ leads us from heaven through a shared mission of leadership. He now involves all of his people in the work of the kingdom. In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us that we have been given gifts for ministries. Some of us are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, or teachers. We are all equipped for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Our gifts must assist us in the task of evangelization. Therefore, we must be the living gospel for people to read. We are called to be good Christians, to have the love of Christ in our hearts, and to share it with others. We must be kind, hospitable, compassionate, and forgiving. We must show mercy and avoid uncharitable acts. We are not to peddle rumors and unkind words about others. Gossip can ruin without killing, it can tear down homes, break hearts, and wreck lives. It brings confusion and suspicion where distrust is unperceived. Let us spread the message of love instead.

 

4.    In the document, Evangelization in the Modern World, Pope Paul VI admonished: “The truly evangelized individual must eventually go out to evangelize others. Such a person cannot keep his faith to himself. The power that Jesus has given to us so that we might indeed lead the victorious life of grace must eventually become vocal. The way of life must lead to a proclamation of the word of life.” Pope Francis, on the other hand, stressed, “The Church has to go out onto the streets. I want us to resist everything worldly, everything static, everything comfortable, everything to do with clericalism, everything that might make us close in on ourselves. Our parishes, schools, and institutions are all made for going out…if they don’t, they become an NGO, and the Church cannot be an NGO. You are bearers of hope…You are the protagonists of the future, artisans for the future…Make the future with beauty, with goodness and truth…Have courage. Go forward. Make noise.” Though Christ is no more with us physically, he is very much around us spiritually. He said goodbye to his disciples so that they may grow into mature witnesses. His Spirit, working in and through his disciples, taught them the way of love and discipleship. May this same Spirit dwelling in us show us the way to true discipleship. Amen!

 

 

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

May 10, 2026. 6th Sunday of Easter (Year A)

Readings: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21

Love is the Fulfilment of the Law

1.     Christ told his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth.” (Jn. 14:15). Our love for Christ is made manifest in our obedience to His commandment of love. But why does Christ equate our love with the keeping of his commandments? What are these commandments? Listen: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” (Jn. 13:34-35). The timing of this discussion is of note. This took place shortly before his arrest. Knowing that he would soon be taken away, Christ urged his disciples to love one another. We are identified as followers of Christ by the way we love one another. Hence, the disciples were called Christians in Antioch because of their life in Christ. The commandment to love is not new; the children of Israel were told, “Love your neighbor as yourselves.” (Lev. 19:18). To his disciples, Christ said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Hear him, “Greater love than this no man has that a man should lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn. 15:13). Christ’s love is agape love.

 

2.     Agape is the highest form of love. It is God’s love for man and man’s love for God. Christ’s love for us is sacrificial, redemptive, merciful, and gratuitous. He died so that we may live in freedom and peace. Agape love seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love of God working in the lives of men. Because of Christ’s love, the early Christians chose to live together, sharing what they had in common (Acts 2:42-46). A true Christian is not only interested in his own salvation, but also deeply concerned about the salvation of others. Merely giving alms does not constitute the virtue of charity. Being interested in Church matters and parish activities, to strengthen the faith of members, is the obligation of every Christian. The early Christians proved their undying love by accepting hardships and martyrdom for the faith. This love is patient and kind; not jealous or pompous. It is not inflated or rude; it doesn’t seek its own interests; it is not quick-tempered, nor does it brood over injury. It doesn’t rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. It never fails. (1 Cor. 13:4-8). This is the kind of love that draws people to Christ. 

 

3.     Because the Apostles were filled with the Spirit, they were not defined by their particular apostolate but shared equally in the mission of preaching the Gospel. In the first reading, for instance, Philip, one of the seven deacons designated to share food, preached Christ in Samaria. The manifestation of which was the signs and wonders he worked in the city. Sick people were cured. When Peter and John arrived in Samaria and saw the glory of the Lord, they prayed so that they might receive the Holy Spirit. When we obey the commandment of love, miracles happen, and joy and peace are restored and experienced.

 

4.     The Spirit will teach us to love as Christ loves and to forgive as he forgives us. There are broken families in our society that would not have experienced brokenness if family members had lived in love. Marriages failed because spouses forgot the meaning of love and friendship. Men, women, and children are in jails and on the streets because their caregivers failed to keep the commandment of love. Thousands are poor, hungry, oppressed, enslaved, victims of sex trafficking, and victims of war because people refused to love them. Some do not know Christ and his teachings because we failed to show them love and point them to the Way, the Truth, and the Life. When there is love, our families, institutions, Country, and the world will experience it, because love is the one creative force that can transform the world. It enriches the recipient without impoverishing the giver. Hence, Mother Theresa reminds us to “Spread love everywhere you go, first of all in your family. Give love to your children, to your husbands, and to your next-door neighbors.” Truth be told, if there are problems in our families, it could be that we have forgotten to obey the commandment of love. If our churches are empty, it is because we have failed to show love. And if there are problems in our homes, schools, workplace, our communities, and our nation, it could be that we have ignored, failed, or forgotten to put the commandment of love into practice. So, the time to keep that commandment is now! If today you would listen to his voice, harden your heart. (Ps. 95). May God give us the grace to show how much we love him, by keeping his commandment of love; and may the Eucharist we celebrate lead us to discover the Lord of love and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen

 

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP