Sweet Little Curious Fellow

Yesterday's Sunday Gospel read:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you anxious about clothes?
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.
They do not work or spin.
But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was clothed like one of them.
If God so clothes the grass of the field,
which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,
will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’
or ‘What are we to drink?’or ‘What are we to wear?’
All these things the pagans seek.
Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.” (Mt 6)

This passage brought a fond and fresh memory of a recent event. 

In the final couple of days of the visit of my friends from Poland last month (this also explains why I kept away from the blog for so long), one of them, Peter, ventured out around my house to try to get some decent macro shots, trying out my macro gear - Canon 100m f2.8 L lens on Canon Eos 5d mark II and Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX. 

With his permission, I present one of the great shots he was lucky to take. This sweet little curious fellow on the rock actually is the size of the half of the fingernail! Yet his gorgeous presence makes me speechless at the masterpiece of God's creation.  The splendor of God's creation does not mean only birds or flowers. Little curious spiders are the part of this splendor also if you dare to have a closer look at their regal attire.

Slave In Master's House?

The Gospel reading of today's Sunday posed a valid question to ponder on in my personal reflection upon my own life and attitude. When I come for Sunday Mass to the church, do I enter it as a slave in the Master's house? Or do I enter it as a beloved son of God in the Loving and Merciful Father's House?

We have asked this question ourselves today in the Holy Mass when we reflected upon this Gospel's passage in the homily. And it appeared to many of us that we feel and act as slaves in the Master's House, trying to fulfill our duties and obligations, God's and Church commandments out of fear of God, fear of sin or pure sense of responsibility. Perhaps we have stopped in developing our living relationship with God at the point where this kind of cold, accountant-like, business-like relationship is the ultimate what we can think of.

Where is the space for love in this kind of relationship with God?

What is our treasure to which our hearts are powerfully drawn? Is it Loving and Merciful God? Or someone or something else?

What is my genuine motivation to be and live as Christian, the Child of God and the living member of His family - the Holy Church?

Is my keeping God's commandments, Church commandments and fulfilling my duties in the community based on sense of responsibility and duty rather than genuine love of God?

Food for thought.

Forgotten Sons

Today's Sunday Gospel brings to our attention the true commandos of the Lord, thirty six SEAL teams in the service of the Lord, carrying His Gospel to the people as the groundbreaking mission in preparation of the coming of the Lord and His Apostles:

Two Small Coins

“Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."” (Mk 12:41-44)

A couple of weeks ago a letter came for the youth of Musoma Cathedral who asked me for a retreat here in Kiabakari, in the diocesan shrine of Divine Mercy. Some of those youth I worked with back in 2002-2006 when I was a pastor there. The letter brought back memories of that period and one particular moment of it, when the youth group of Musoma Cathedral asked me for a retreat day for them. I complied and we had a recollection day in the cathedral...

Such Faith

The Gospel of Saint Luke, chapter 7, verses 1 to 10, is read today. It is all about a simple yet powerful faith in Jesus and His tender merciful Heart, which is touched by the people's misery. It is all about Jesus' praise of such faith and His rebuke that He did not find such faith in the Children of the Chosen Nation:

False Prophet

While I was reading today's Gospel I felt uneasy. And I noticed that those present in the morning Mass were still and quiet and their face expression changed...

Misfire

Tomorrow's reading of the Twenty Third Sunday of the Ordinary Time, cycle B, highlights the issue of God's priorities in our lives. When we read all readings, in particular the Apostle Jacob's letter and Mark Evangelist Gospel, in the light of agendas and priorities of our own prayer, we will have to admit in honesty that God's priorities and ours differ quite significantly. Simply, we misfire badly in prayer. Most of us focus on earthly goods and possessions, instant solution for our needs and problems. But the Liturgy of the Word of tomorrow's Sunday tells us loud and clear that on the top of the list of God's priorities is faith which is the ultimate treasure we should go after.

Choose Wisely

This morning I read one my favorite passages from the Sacred Scripture in today's Gospel:

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.

Hate For Life

St. Lawrence feast today. Astonishing words of Jesus in the feast's Gospel: "Whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life." (Jn 12). Hating owns life and at the same time preserving it for later, for eternal life. Quite a difficult idea to grasp and comprehend. What does it mean actually to hate one's life in this world? The Hindu saying comes to mind - 'Only fool builds a house on a bridge'...

So Sad

Read carefully the Gospel of tomorrow's Eighteenth Sunday of the Year B. The follow up of last Sunday's Gospel. But this time we do not ask ourselves if we follow real Jesus or prefer to create a fake Jesus according to our expectations or convenience. This time we ask - what are we looking for in our life of faith? Do we look for Jesus and the truth He revealed to us? Or we follow Him because He gives us something - food, money, things we desire... "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled."

Real Or Fake?

The question I raised in today’s homily was - whom actually am I following as a Christian? Do I follow Jesus of Nazareth, a real one from the Gospel, Son of God; true Jesus as He presents himself to us? Or do I follow Jesus created by my expectations, shaped by the father of the lie, nature of this world and people’s criteria which tell me what kind of leader, messiah, savior our acceptable Jesus should be? Let me explain...

 

It All Comes To This

Yet another sentence from today's Gospel of St Mark, chapter 6, caught my attention and came to me with unique force as I continue to struggle with this flu and was forced to stay home and celebrate the Holy Mass in private in the house chapel this morning: 'The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught'...

Rest A While

Tomorrow's Gospel, taken from Mark 6:30-34:


"The apostles gathered together with Jesusand reported all they had done and taught.
He said to them,
"Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."
People were coming and going in great numbers,
and they had no opportunity even to eat.
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.
People saw them leaving and many came to know about it.
They hastened there on foot from all the towns
and arrived at the place before them.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things."

Rest a while...

Dunes

I had no time to reflect upon the last Sunday's Gospel. As it touched me deeply, I wanted to share with you a few thoughts on this. Since I am homebound and sick with flu, this is an opportune time to fulfill my desire...

Connected Vessels

Solemnity of Epiphany we celebrated yesterday gave me a lot to think about which I shared with my community during the homily of the Holy Mass last evening. Jesus gave Himself totally to us. And He proved His unconditional love to us on the Cross and in the Mystery of the Eucharist. What kind of passionate love is this to not only abandon His divine glory becoming a man like us, but going even further - abandoning His humanity becoming a Bread preserved in tabernacles across the world, most of the time left alone, visited only from time to time by few and during the liturgical celebrations in our churches...

Eight Routes Up The Mountain

As the majority of solemnities of the liturgical calendar which occur on weekdays are moved to the nearest Sunday in Tanzania, today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. The Gospel of today's liturgy speaks of Eight Routes up the mountain of God (The Eight Beatitudes).

The Seed

When we communicate with God, we tend to ask Him for prefabricated goods, final products, toys that do not demand much input or effort on our part, but bring us instant pleasure and gratification. Unfortunately, God has only one thing to offer. The seed...

Hello!

Sadly, the English translation does not have the same translation as swahili one of Easter Vigil Gospel. It's a pity as in swahili the whole story of Risen Lord meeting women on the road and greeting them sounds quite different as Jesus greets the women using a common phrase used in daily life conversations...

Schizofrenia

A Sunday with two names and two Gospels. Palm Sunday / Passion Sunday. Same crowd, same mouth. Two contradicting messages. 'Hosanna, Son of David!'...then 'Crucify Him!' A valid lesson of ongoing and thriving spiritual, moral and social opportunistic schizophrenia in our lives as followers of Christ. Shame on us. 

Guardian Angels

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.” (Mt 18:9-10)  The words of Jesus from today's Gospel of the Feast of the Guardian Angels come with a particular force today in the light of all scandals and abuses in our Catholic Church in recent years...