Light for the Living

  LIGHT FOR THE LIVING SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A (Wisdom 12:13, 16–19; Romans 8:26–27; Matthew 13:24–43) My beloved in Christ, In a quiet farming community in Ekiti State , there lived an elderly cocoa farmer called Baba Adebayo . He was famous, not because he owned the largest farm, but because his harvest was always the cleanest and richest. One planting season, his young apprentice, Tunde, came running into the farm with a cutlass. "Baba! Baba! The weeds have invaded our farm. Let me clear everything immediately before they destroy the cocoa!" Baba Adebayo looked at him, smiled, and said, "My son, easy! When a young goat is given a cutlass, even the yam begins to pray." The old man walked slowly into the field. He knelt down, pulled aside some leaves, and asked, "Tunde, can you tell which one is the young cocoa and which one is the weed?" Tunde bent over. He scratched his head. He looked again. Finally he c...

  LIGHT FOR THE LIVING FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A (Isaiah 55:10–11; Romans 8:18–23; Matthew 13:1–23) My beloved in Christ, In a farming community in Katsina State , there lived an old farmer called Malam Audu . He was famous throughout the surrounding villages because, year after year, his farm produced the biggest harvest. Whenever people admired his barns, they would say jokingly, "Perhaps Malam Audu has a private agreement with the rain!" One planting season, a group of young farmers gathered around him to learn his secret. One young man asked eagerly, "Baba, which seed gives the biggest harvest?" Another interrupted, "No! Tell us the fertiliser you use." A third whispered, "I heard you pray facing east before planting!" The old farmer laughed so heartily that even his goats stopped chewing to look at him. "My children," he said, "if seed alone produced harvest, every market where seed...

  LIGHT FOR THE LIVING FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A (Zechariah 9:9–10; Romans 8:9, 11–13; Matthew 11:25–30) My beloved in Christ, In a quiet farming community in Katsina State , there lived two neighbours, Malam Musa and Bala . Whenever they travelled to the market, Bala would carry everything he owned on his head—his bag of grain, his tools, even a calabash tied around his neck. One day, a wealthy cattle owner driving a large ox-cart stopped beside him. "Bala," he called, "climb into my cart. I am going to the same market." Bala happily climbed aboard. But to everyone's surprise, he continued balancing the heavy load on his head while sitting inside the cart. The cattle owner laughed. "My friend, why are you still carrying your load?" Bala answered, "I don't want my load to become an extra burden for your oxen." The whole cart erupted in laughter. An old woman walking behind shook her head an...