Acts 5:12-16 / Apocalypse 1:9-13, 17-19 / John 20:19-31

Abeg, normally i de write only for pidgin for nairaland, but i come get too much work and now i no get time translate to pidgin the homily wey i do for English and Portuguese. Next time

Nowadays every house is well protected and secured. No one leaves his house without locking the house securely with big padlocks. This is because we are in economic crises and there are some who would be happy to cure their financial crises by stealing in our houses. So, people even use three padlocks to lock the doors and windows. We do this because we are afraid.

In the gospel we see the apostles as they are in a room and locked all the doors. They were afraid because Jesus was dead and they thought that the authorities would catch them and kill them too. They were also scared because they thought that Jesus, who was their only hope, had abandoned them. Jesus entered into their midst and they were filled with joy. Finally their hope is back.

Jesus then breathed the Holy Spirit on them. The Holy Spirit was to give them strength and kill the fear that was in them, because he asked them to leave that room and announce the good news to all. So that fear must be conquered and that what the Spirit does. We remember how God created man out of clay and it was nothing until he breathed into the clay and it came into life. That’s how we are nothing unless the Spirit is blown into our life.

At times, we are like the apostles. We are so scared, dejected and disappointed that we forget our faith and forget God too. Right now, people are dying everywhere, economic crises and no money to feed the family. It’s easy for us to abandon God and forget our faith because we would say that we pray daily yet God does not help us. So we lock ourselves away from God and run to sin. We look for money in illegal ways and do many evil things since we think God can’t help us.

The good news is that we have a merciful God. No matter where we run too, Jesus will come there to call us back. No padlock or closed door can stop him. But we can only return to him if we recognize him and listen to his voice. He speaks through other humans, through events and through the Holy Scriptures, and through the church. He is there telling us “Peace be upon you”. Despite our sins, he wants to help us but we need to listen to him in order to get that peace.

The same way that God is merciful to us, we need to be merciful to others too. Jesus said in the gospel of Luke “Be merciful as you heavenly Father is merciful”. We have the 14 acts of mercy with all of us must show to others since the resurrected Jesus continues to show us mercy. These are:

To feed the hungry.
To give drink to the thirsty.
To clothe the naked.
To harbor the harborless (Presently interpreted as Shelter the Homeless)
To visit the sick.
To ransom the captive (Presently interpreted as Visit the Imprisoned)
To bury the dead.

To instruct the ignorant.
To counsel the doubtful.
To admonish sinners.
To bear wrongs patiently.
To forgive offences willingly.
To comfort the afflicted.
To pray for the living and the dead

Pidgin Priest

Thank you.

Samyj247:
Thank you.

Oga mi, nothing do you!