Joseph Osho

  EASTER SUNDAY Acts10:34,37-43:  Col. 3:1-4  John 20:1-9 WITH CHRIST’S RESURRECTION, WE GAIN ETERNAL LIFE The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the heart of our faith. As St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:17 has Christ has not been raised from the dead then our faith is futile. If you look at what happened after Christ rose from the dead that Easter morning. Mary of Magdala encountered Jesus, the women encountered the angel. This happened before his disciples started hearing that He was truly risen.  One thing remarkable was that It was so difficult for them to understand and of course, stories and news from the woman seemed to be not evident enough. The resurrection is beyond human logic. We have faith in coming alive and Jesus is going to prepare a place for us and he is coming back again not with wounds but with the scars of his redemptive work. The resurrection makes us live now not until Christ comes. When the priest absolves you or blesses you, that power is...

  EASTER VIGIL THE READINGS  1. Genesis 1:1-2:2 and Psalm 104 2. Genesis 22:1-18 and Psalm 16 3. Exodus 14:15-15: and Psalm: Exod.15 4. Isaiah 54:5-14 and Psalm 30 5. Isaiah 55:1-11 and Psalm: Isaiah:12 6. Baruch 3:9-15.32-4:4 and Psalm 19 7. Ezekiel 36:16-17a.18-28 and Psalm:42 8. Romans 6:3-11 and Psalm:118 9. Mark 16:1-7 REFLECTION  The ancient ceremonies of the Easter Vigil go right back to the earliest days of the Church. It is the longest liturgy in the whole of the Church’s year. The ceremonies speak to us about the glorious truth; that Christ rose from the dead, that He lives and reigns forever and that death and the afterlife need hold no fear for us, thanks to his definitive and permanent victory over the grave. We spent the forty days of Lent preparing for this celebration. We have been forming ourselves    for Easter and now it is here.  The readings begins with salvation history;    the creation story; of how God created the world and...

Good Friday  Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Hebrews 4:14-16,5:7-9 John 18:1-19:42 WE ARE SAFE NOT BY WHAT WE DO BUT BY WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE At the beginning of today’s liturgy, the celebrant lay prostrate, in silence, before the altar. There were no introductory rites as at Mass, no entrance song. The altar is stripped The sanctuary is bare. A silent prostration. It is as if the grief and sorrow of the Church, as she contemplates the sacrifice of Christ, are so great, that only this ancient expression to our feelings. In silent awe the Churches grief-stricken at the foot of the Cross. For three hours the sun is darkened. The natural lights of the heavens are extinguished, as the Light of the World hangs upon the tree, and dies thereon. All words at first seem empty and meaningless. God in the flesh has been tortured, crucified, mocked, taunted, and now has died. Christ has died and It seems as if evil has done its worst. But this is just the beginning of a new life in life. When Jesus says on ...

  Holy     Thursday Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 1 Cor 11:23-26 John 13:1-15 CAN YOU WASH THE FEET OF OTHERS? At the Last Supper, when our Lord Jesus Christ washed the disciples’ feet, he passed on a strong message to them that if He who is their Lord and Master did this supreme act of love and humility, they too must do the same to one another so that the faith that He founded on Peter and the apostles would thrive.  Jesus knew that without humility there was no chance for the faith to grow and blossom as it is today. However to live the virtue of humility is not easy to do, however, it is through our humility that we grow more in knowledge and friendship with Jesus. It is through our humility that we can convince others to follow Jesus.  It is through humility we become Christ like. It is through our humility we become saints. It is through humility we recognize that we are all the same. It is through humility we acknowledges God’s sovereignty and at the end it is hum...

  Wednesday of Holy Week   Isaiah 50:4-9 Matthew 26:14-25 SURELY NOT I LORD?  Most of the time when we read Scripture, or hear it read out loud.    We most often miss the intensity of the drama inherent in the situation described: the pathos, the poignancy, the passion. This is why reflecting upon it is so important because it allows us to see, hear, and feel things we otherwise wouldn't, and realize things that we might not otherwise realize. Consider today's gospel story. A poet once said that “sharper than a serpent’s tooth is a thankless child”; but what shall we say of a disciple who would betray his own Master: an apostle who could sell out his Lord? Surely this was not the least bitter part of the cup of suffering which our Lord drank. The Church recalls this event of betrayal so that we might realize that all of us are capable of behaving like Judas. Judas Iscariot had one of the highest possible religious privileges. He was a chosen apostle and compan...