The Son of Man Has Come to Seek and Save What is Lost

10-30-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

At the time when Jesus walked the earth, tax collectors were not the most loved people in Israel. They were considered social oppressors, collaborators with the oppressive and dictatorial foreign Roman Government and so they were despised by the rest of the chosen people because they perfectly fit into the group categorized as “public Sinners.”’

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I Have Finished the Race, I Have Kept the Faith

10-26-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

There are many who believe that other than Christ, St. Paul had the most significant influence on the Theology, Liturgy and life of the early Church. His description of his personal encounter with faith in Christ and his reaction to that encounter amidst great persecution and hardship shows why many believers hold him in such high regard.

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...Israel Had the Better of the Fight

10-16-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

Ora et Labora, pray and work; this is the famous motto of St. Benedict, Patron Saint of our parish. This motto is providentially the theme of the Readings at the liturgy this weekend.

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Where Are the Other Nine?

10-09-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

The First Reading and the Gospel passage this weekend can be placed side by side for our reflection, not only because both tell the story of the healing of lepers, but also because both focus on gratitude for God’s salvation and how it should be expressed.

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Fan Into Flame

10-02-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

This weekend, the Readings from Holy Scripture invite us to reflect upon the theme of faith. We are presented with Israel’s faith experience at the time of the Prophet Habakkuk in the old covenant, and the faith to which we are called in the new dispensation.

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They Have Moses and The Prophets, Let Them Listen to Them.

09-25-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

We often think of sin as the evil that we do, the uncharitable words that we say and the evil thoughts that we cultivate in our hearts. What we leave out most times is the good that is within our competence, which we know, yet fail to do. When we attempt an examination of conscience, the failings that readily come to mind are the things we did which our good conscience rightly judges as inconsistent with Divine precepts and so, offensive to His Holy will and to our neighbor.

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You Cannot Serve God and Mammon

09-18-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

The Readings this weekend prescribe for us the right attitude a Christian should have towards the acquisition of, and the disbursement of, wealth. The Prophet Amos, one of the champions of social justice in the Old Testament, offers a descriptive rendition of prevailing dishonest, arrogant and oppressive attitudes of the wealthy towards the needy.

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Rejoice With Me Because I Have Found My Lost Sheep

09-11-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

The world and time we live in makes a sincere practice of our Christian faith very difficult. We are surrounded by standards and ideas that facilitate easy fall into idolatry. The idols of our time include (but are not limited to) money, intellect, power, connections, family, the state, false religion, and even self. Whatever we are quick to ascribe our successes and accomplishments to, whatever we cannot do without, whatever we prioritize above everything else, is a candidate for the replacement of God in our lives.

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A Reflection by Fr. Manasseh

09-04-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

Two Sundays ago, we heard Jesus admonishing His followers to enter the Kingdom of God through the narrow gate. By this, Jesus revealed that only the difficult and costly way of discipline can lead to eternal bliss. In the Gospel passage this weekend, Jesus teaches on the cost of discipleship, that is, what one would necessarily need to forego in order to successfully navigate life under the banner and standard of Jesus.

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The Greater You Are, The More You Must Humble Yourself

08-28-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

The fall of man in the Garden of Eden was orchestrated by the sin of pride. Man wanted to be like God, in fact, to be God unto himself and this led humanity to disobedience. It was only through the humility of Christ, who though was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, was all humanity gifted redemption.

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Strive To Enter Through The Narrow Gate

08-21-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

The Readings this weekend emphasize the universality of God’s reign, the Divine intent to replace the inadequate worship of God by ethnic Israel with perfect worship by all humanity in the future, and the absolute necessity of suffering of some kind as a means of self-training for acceptance into heaven.

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I Have Come to Set the Earth on Fire

08-14-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

Most times, truth is not popular and those who stand for and live by the truth experience unpleasant encounters with those who choose to resist or reject it. In the First Reading, the Prophet Jeremiah is labeled unpatriotic and considered a traitor for advising Israel to surrender to the Babylonians who had surrounded and technically conquered Jerusalem but were yet to destroy it.

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For Where Your Treasure Is, There Also Will Your Heart Be

08-07-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

The theme of “waiting” runs across the three readings this weekend. We are accustomed to listening to readings themed with this concept at the beginning of Advent each year when the Church invites us to watch and pray as we wait for the coming of Christ. However, the sudden appearance of the Savior’s directive to wait underscores the essential nature of spiritual vigilance in the life of every Christian.

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