John ESENE

Continue from Part 2 of last Sunday!

    Please read all these meditatively to enable you value this article! Psalm 139:1-6, 13, 15-16, 24 says, “Lord, you have examined me and you know me. You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. You are all round me on every side; you protect me with your power. Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding.

    “You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother’s womb. When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother’s womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there-you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way.”

   You are what your heart is: a good heart produces good results; an evil heart produces evil results. Luke 6:45 says, “A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart; a bad person brings bad out of his treasure of bad things. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

    Life becomes sweeter when you add value to others’ lives and they too add value to yours. Those you help today become your soldiers in the battle of life tomorrow. It is far better to invest in people than properties. Try to make money but try also to make people great. Your greatest achievements are the tears you wipe away from people’s faces and not the things you possess. Yes! Your greatest achievements should be raising achievers. People will defend you, stand by you and honor you when they realize you value them. Please, do not let a personal and ungrateful actions stop you from making others great!

     Proverb 3:5-8 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way. Never let yourself think you are wiser than you are; simply obey the Lord and refuse to do wrong. If you do, it will be like good medicine, healing your wounds and easing your pains.”

    The Catechism in A Year 407 answered the question, “What is the Common Good?” By the common good, it means the sum total of those conditions of social life which allows people as group and as individuals to reach their proper fulfillment. Further reading: CCC 1905-1906, 1924.

     Same Catechism In A Year answered the Question “What is involved in the Common Good?” it says, “The Common Good involves respect for and promotion of the founder metal rights of the persons, the development of the spiritual and temporal good of persons and society and the peace of all.” For further reading: CCC1907-1909, 1925.

    Rather than influence the weak to be strong, those going astray and many more you go about exposing or mocking them. Share their problem with them because a problem shared is half solved. By the way, how are you sure that you are holier than those around you? God is holy and we all know that as the truth! And no one is perfect except God.

    Pope Frances once said, “There is no perfect family. We do not have perfect parents. We do not have perfect children. You are not perfect yourself.  We have complains from each other. We cannot live together without offending one another. We are constantly disappointed. Yes, for so many reasons at different times we are disappointed by one another. There is no healthy marriage or healthy family without the exercise of forgiveness. Forgiveness is the medicine of family joy and happiness.” He added, “A family is a place of support and not of gossip and slander of one another. It must be a place of welcome not a place of rejection. Shame to those who plant evil about others! We are family and not enemies.”

    The Pope’s words have pointed to the fact that we have to accept the fact that we are gift to one another and so compensate each other in our sojourn. This done, there will be no need for parents to sell or betray their children; children will have no reason to kill their parents in anger or for money ritual. Husbands will avoid killing or humiliating their wives while their wives will love and make them happy as directed by God when He gave Eve to Adam. When spouses see themselves as one flesh and see their children as gifts from God, family will truly be a place of welcome and peaceful.

     St Paul warned us in Ephesians 6:1-4 saying, “Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. Respect your father and mother is the first commandment that has a promise added:’ So that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land. Parents do not treat your children in such a way as to make them angry. Instead, bring them up with Christian discipline and instruction.”

     God work miracles in many ways. Through visions, dreams and many other ways, He reach us and give us the grace to decode them to enable us follow Him. But most times, we waste so much time refusing to do so and wonder away in our ignorance. So, make haste to hear and do God’s will and you will not regret it. Lord, you have taken us this far, do not leave us alone for we are weak. You are merciful, loving and forgiving, pick us up and lead us to the way that leads to life eternal.