THURSDAY 29TH APRIL 2021
MEMORIAL OF ST CATHERINE OF SIENA
FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER
Acts 13:13-25
John 13:16-20
GOD CAN MAKE USE OF ANYONE
Many of us may have seen a video that went viral last year, about a mad man who was preaching in the street, calling people to repent from their sins. When those listening to him offered him money, he refused it and told them to give it to the poor. It is obvious that not many people took him serious because of his mental state. It also happens in our society; some people may just suddenly repent from their sins and get converted to the faith, but we may not take them serious because of the life they had lived. How will you feel if a notorious armed robber or kidnapper or a terrorist suddenly enters the church or street and begins to preach? This was the image of Paul among the early Christians. Paul was very brutal to the Christian faith and wanted to eliminate it because he thought it was a deviation from the Jewish faith. I wonder how the people will be feeling today to hear him preaching, explaining the scriptures from the time of Abraham to that of Christ.
There are many people who we have written off in life and think that they are already doomed and are of no use. St Paul in his letter to the Romans, 2:11, tells us that God has no favourite. He can use anyone to accomplish his plans and goals. God has not given up on anyone just as he did not give up on Paul.
St Catherine whom we celebrate today, entered the third order of the Dominican order in her teenage years. She received a vision to leave her secluded life, and engage in more active life in 1370. She wrote many correspondences including to Pope Gregory XI, telling him to reform the church, the clergy and the papal states. She wrote many doctrinal and spiritual books. She died in 1380, and she was declared a doctor of the church in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.
Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP
No comments:
Post a Comment