Joseph Osho

  Our Lady, Mother of Africa  - Feast   Acts 1:12-14 Luke 1:26-38 Today is the last day of the month of April, and we are celebrating the feast of our Mother Mary , Queen of Africa as we are about to enter into the Marian month of May. In the gospel, we read the story of Mary and the Archangel Gabriel's appearance at the Annunciation. Mary accepted God's will completely and willingly. However, there were tough times ahead of her. She had to flee to Egypt together with her Son and her Most Chaste Spouse-St. Joseph, they will look for the child Jesus for three days in Jerusalem. There would be days when the wine would run out, and life seems empty and dry yet all fulfilled and leading to salvation. This is also the story of our lives, where    challenges faces us at dusk and our salvation comes at dawn.  The Easter story is the story of our salvation. We all have a story to tell about our encounters with God and the challenges we face. It could be about ...

  Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin, Doctor   Acts 14:5-18 John 14:21-26 “Love transforms one into what one loves.”-St. Catherine of Siena.  Today is the memorial feast day of St Catherine of Siena, one of the doctors of the Church. St. Catherine was a humble and prayerful woman who utilized all the gifts that God had given her in service of the Church. She had a great influence on Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from Avignon, France, which was considered a divine intervention because she listened to God with deep love and was open to the Holy Spirit. Reflecting on the image of Christ on the cross, St. Catherine of Siena said, “The crucifix is an open book all can read. The crucifix is an infinite declaration of love.” Christ took our failures, our sufferings, and our pain upon himself. He became an outcast and a curse. He knows no corruption for God the Father raised Him from the dead. Therefore, we are saved and justified by faith in Jesus Christ. During this time of E...

  FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTERTIDE   Acts 9:26-32 Psalm:21(22):26,28,30-32 1John 3:18-24 John 15:1-8 WITHOUT JESUS, YOU CAN DO NOTHING  Next month is May, a time when we traditionally deepen our devotion to Our Blessed Lady. However, we should remember that devotion to Our Lady should be a daily feature of our spiritual lives all year round. Mary, the Mother of Christ, should be a constant presence in our spiritual lives, woven into the fabric of all our efforts to keep faith in Almighty God. We too should keep our faith deep and strong, like Mary. To be a true disciple of Jesus is to be united with his body, soul, and spirit. Jesus said, "I am the Vine, and you are the branches. Cut off from me, you can do nothing." In this extended metaphor, Jesus draws our attention to a fruitful vine and provides two primary applications for us to learn from - pruning the branches and abiding in the vine. The Vine was one of the quintessential plants in Israel, representing national peace a...

  Saturday of the 4th week of Eastertide   Acts 13:44-52 John 14:7-14 DO YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS THE SON OF GOD?  As the discourses continue, Jesus begins to emphasize on who He is and what he does in and through us rather than what he himself had done among them. These discourses are building a bridge between Him and faith in Him. In this passage, we hear the familiar words of God spoken to Moses, "I am." Jesus repeats three times, "I am in the Father," "I am in the Father," and "I am going to the Father." The disciples found it difficult to believe that they could do greater works than Jesus. They couldn't understand how they could do what Jesus had done, let alone do greater things than Jesus. Just show us, they asked. Jesus had to explain to the disciples, and perhaps we need to understand it too. Our challenge is the same as the disciples' challenge: to confront the world with the Word of God and bring people to faith. The disciples kne...

  Friday of the 4th week of Eastertide   Acts 13:26-33 John 14:1-6 NEVER FORGET THAT GOD HAS PLANS     FOR YOU The profession of faith we recite at Sunday Mass, known as the Nicene Creed, starts with the statement: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.” Our faith is based on a loving relationship between the Father and the Son. Although we do not use the word “beget” frequently nowadays, its meaning goes beyond just giving birth - it implies creating and generating. In today’s psalm response, the Lord tells us: “You are my son, you are my daughter, you are my beloved; this day I have begotten you.” This does not refer to our birth, but to the unbreakable...

  Saint Mark, Evangelist  - Feast   1 Peter 5:5-14 Mark 16:15-20 Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Mark, whose Gospel is the earliest of the four evangelists. Mark’s Gospel is symbolized by the ‘winged lion’ mirroring courage. We imagine the courageous person as one possessing valor or guts, but the word actually comes from the Latin,  cor  (heart) and  agere  (to act); so, to be courageous means to have the strength of “acting from the heart.” In the liturgical readings during these days of basking in the shadow of Eastertide we keep hearing those stories about the early followers of Jesus being transformed… converted from being a scattered group of frightened and suspicious independents, they were suddenly galvanized into a believing community. Perhaps one of the reasons many young people today are drifting away from the structures of participation — in politics and government and church — could be a call for all of us to be more auth...

  Wednesday of the 4th week of Eastertide   Acts 12:24-13:5 John 12:44-50 THE HOLY SPIRIT ASSISTS US TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS WITH GREAT JOY In today's first reading, we witness the power of the Holy Spirit as the Gospel spreads from Cyprus to Europe and eventually reaches us. This was all God’s initiative. As they were praying and fasting, Barnabas and Paul were chosen by God for a special duty-to be an apostle to the Gentiles. God calls us and it is up to us to obey. The message of the Gospel brought down by Paul and Barnabas through the action of the Holy Spirit changed the world and provided the grace to make it a better place. Thanks to the power of God, the Church has become universal. God is in charge. Have you discovered a special duty that God calls you for? Are you doing the work placed on your shoulders? Are you following the dictates of the Holy Spirit? Are you living your life according to the Word of God, knowing that there are consequences of there is deceit? Is ...