Light for the Living

 LIGHT FOR THE LIVING NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A 1 Kings 19:9, 11–13; Romans 9:1–5; Matthew 14:22–33 My beloved in Christ, In a riverside community in Bonny, Rivers State, there once lived a fisherman called Nwokedi, a man who believed that if God wanted to speak to him, God must first make enough noise for the whole village to hear. Whenever the church bell rang, Nwokedi would say, “That one is ordinary. If God wants to speak to me, let thunder strike!” Whenever the priest preached about helping the poor, Nwokedi would nod his head seriously and say, “God knows I am a good man. When I become rich, I will help everybody.” The only problem was that Nwokedi had been making this promise for twenty years, and nobody had yet seen the day when he became rich. One morning, an old fisherman called Papa Tamuno came to his house. “My son,” he said, “please give me something to eat. I have not eaten since yesterday.” Nwokedi looked at him. “Papa, I am waiting for God to bless...

  LIGHT FOR THE LIVING EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A (Isaiah 55:1–3; Romans 8:35, 37–39; Matthew 14:13–21) My beloved in Christ, In a peaceful farming community in Oyo State , there lived an elderly hunter called Baba Alao , whose kindness was almost as famous as his storytelling. Every year after the harvest, the whole village gathered under a giant òdan tree for the Festival of Thanksgiving . Families came from every corner of the community carrying baskets of food—yam, roasted corn, bean cakes, smoked fish, fruits and calabashes of palm wine. One particular year, the rains had not been kind. Harvest was poor, and everyone feared there would not be enough food for the celebration. As the villagers gathered, people quietly hid their food. One woman whispered to her husband, "If we share what we have, our own children will go hungry." Another man tucked his basket behind a tree and muttered, "Let us first secure our own stomach." ...

LIGHT FOR THE LIVING SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A (1 Kings 3:5, 7–12; Romans 8:28–30; Matthew 13:44–53) My beloved in Christ, In a peaceful farming community in Ogun State , there lived a wealthy cocoa merchant called Chief Adekunle . His compound had everything a man could desire—big houses, barns full of cocoa, dozens of workers, motorcycles, cars and even a loud generator that announced itself every evening before the village cocks had finished crowing. Whenever visitors came, Chief Adekunle would proudly stretch out his hands and say, "Look around! There is nothing money cannot buy." One afternoon, while he was boasting as usual, he noticed something that disturbed him. Across the dusty village square, a group of children were laughing so loudly that even the goats stopped chewing to look at them. The children had no toys. No expensive clothes. No mobile phones. They had tied empty milk tins together with rope, made a little cart, a...