San Damiano Novitiate House - OFM Conv. Zambia

San Damiano Novitiate House - OFM Conv. Zambia San Damiano Novitiate House is a formation House of the Conventual Franciscans in Zambia.

During the Novitiate year, the novice is helped to deepen his understanding of the divine call to religious life and to the basic meaning and requirements of how to live this call in the Conventual Franciscan Fraternity.

26/07/2025

SUNDAY READINGS REFLECTION

17TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C

GENESIS 18:20-32, PSALM 138:1-3. 6-8, COLOSSIANS 2:12-14, LUKE 11:1-13

We celebrate today the 17th Sunday in ordinary time year C. The readings invite us to reflect on prayer as an important component of our life. Prayer is not just asking God for our needs but also reflects our intimate relationship with Him. Our intimate relationship with God can be nurtured through relentless prayer of confidence and trust in God. In prayer, we encounter a loving Father who knows us and takes care of our welfare. In the first reading, Abraham pleads to God not to destroy the cities of S***m and Gomorrah for the sake of the few righteous ones. Abraham’s boldness to bargain with God does not only reveal his profound confidence and trust in God’s loving-mercy but also expresses his intimate relationship with Him. Prayer is thus a relationship based on love and trust in God and the channel through which we communicate to God about our welfare and that of others. Our gospel passage expresses similar approach to God in prayer. The gospel of Luke presents Jesus always at prayer (Luke 3:21-22, 5:16, 6:12, 9:18, 29, 22:32, 41-44, 23:46) and thus makes him as a model of prayer for believers. In our gospel, after Jesus finished praying, one of his disciples asked him to teach them to pray as John taught his disciples. The disciples perhaps want to imitate Jesus, their master’s prayer life and intimacy with God. In the Lucan short form of ‘Our Father’, Jesus presents a profound and intimate kind of prayer his disciples ought to have. Luke begins the prayer addressing God as ‘Father’ and not ‘Our Father’ (Mathew 6:9-15), expressing intimacy with God. In the prayer, God’s holiness is revered and that his kingdom ought to reign in human hearts and in the world. Jesus also teaches them to depend on God for their daily needs (material and spiritual) for he loves them and cares for them. In prayer, disciples are to ask for God’s forgiveness and learn to forgive others as they are forgiven. The prayer invites them to ask for God’s help of not succumbing to temptation. Jesus further invites them to be persistent in prayer, in that through prayer, they will experience God’s generous gift of the Holy Spirit which surpasses human gifts. St. Paul in the second reading shows how believer’s intimacy with God has been made possible through baptism – a participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. In baptism, believers have been buried with Christ and raised to new life. As such, believers have their sins forgiven and are able to approach God with confidence and trust as his children.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s readings invite us to be men and women of prayer. Prayer is an important component of our faith life. Our life, both physical and spiritual depend on God in that in Him we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:28). As such, we need to be in touch with him always through prayer in order to experience his loving mercy and live with him. Prayer is therefore not just a communication with God or asking something from him but it is also an expression of our intimate relationship with Him; prayer should not be seasonal or situational…it should be constant and persistent (Matthew 26:41, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). In prayer, we come to know God and live in intimate relationship with Him, we come to understand fully our identity as His sons and daughters and the authority we have in Him (John 1:12, 20:17, Romans 8:15-17, Galatians 3:26), we adore and behold God’s Holiness through whom we are sanctified, we make request for our daily needs both corporal and spiritual, through whom we acknowledge our weakness and sins, ask for mercy and show mercy to others, through whom we find the grace to overcome temptations and remain faithful to him amidst temptations or life challenges. Our relationship with God can only thrive and become fruitful when we learn to pray every day without ceasing. The opposite is also true, our relationship with God can become ineffective when we stop praying. May Jesus teach us to pray in Spirit and in truth so that we can live in right relationship with God.

Have a blessed Sunday

(Fr. Vincent Sichande, Ofm. Conventual)

19/07/2025

SUNDAY READINGS REFLECTION

16TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C

GENESIS 18:1-10, PSALM 15:1-5, COLOSSIANS 1:24-28, LUKE 10:38-42

We celebrate today the 16th Sunday in ordinary time year C. The readings invite us to reflect on true Christian service of hospitality centered on listening to Christ Word. By listening to Christ’s Word, we are transformed and formed into vessels of his divine work of salvation for others. In the first reading, Abraham shows hospitality to God through three mysterious men. Despite not knowing the three visitors, Abraham welcomed them, prepared water to wash their feed and provided them with milk and food. As a consequence of his hospitality, Abraham was promised a son the following year. In our gospel passage, Jesus is hosted and welcomed in the house of Martha and Mary. In the house, we are told that Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to his teaching while Martha was distracted with much serving. Martha them asked Jesus to tell Martha to assist her. However, Jesus scolds Martha for being distracted and anxious in her service and that her sister Mary has chosen the better part which will not be taken away from her. Jesus does not disregard Martha’s service but that in her service, she was distracted and anxious and thus she lost concentration. Mary on the other hand was focused by sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to his teaching…a posture of discipleship. In the second reading, we see Paul’s life as a perfect model of true discipleship. St. Paul writes in prison exhorting Colossians to hold on to their Christian faith and not to follow false teaching. Paul sets himself as an example on how he has labored in proclaiming the mystery of God’s salvation amidst suffering for their sake and the body of Christ without giving up. Paul thus sees his suffering as a means to continue spreading God’s saving message to all humanity.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s liturgy invites us to reflect on our Christian service of hospitality centered on sitting at Christ feet and listening to him. In the Bible, sitting at the feet signifies learning as a disciple from the teacher (Acts 22:3). In last week’s gospel of the good Samaritan, Jesus’ taught us that the love of God and neighbour can be lived concretely by reaching out to those in need regardless of their social, religious or ethnical affiliation. In today’s gospel, Jesus connects service with the theme of listening to his teaching or word. Martha who was doing service is scolded not because her work was unnecessary but that her service was filled with distractions which made her anxious and thus fail to focus in service. By exalting Mary’s action of sitting at his feet and listening to his teaching, Jesus seeks to remind us that we can learn true service when we sit at his feet and listen to his Words which are spirits and life (John 6:63). Our Christian vocation is a daily invitation to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn. Sitting at Jesus’s feet and listening to him is a perfect hospitality (like Abraham) we can give to God who comes to us in our faith journey. At Jesus’s feet, we are called to focus on him and give all that we are and have. When we do that, we will experience his gentle embrace of love which; understands our human weakness and struggles, nourishes our souls, fills our emptiness and longings, guides and directs our live towards things that matters most in life, fulfils our hope in moments of despair and uncertainties. Furthermore, at Jesus’ feet, we are conformed to the person of Christ like Paul and thus become true servant of others even in times of life challenges. Nevertheless, like Martha, we are overwhelmed by many responsibilities which often make us anxious, distracted, exhausted, frustrated and neglected. In such moments we feel discouraged and lose focus on the Lord we are serving; we begin to work for the Lord and not work with Him. We are therefore invited to nourish our faith at Jesus’ word from whom our life activities draw inspiration and strength from. In other words, when God becomes the only necessary need, our life will become orderly, peaceful and that we will learn to serve others with love
without complaining or feel agitated.

Have a blessed Sunday

(Fr. Vincent Sichande, Ofm. Conventual)

12/07/2025

SUNDAY READINGS REFLECTION

15TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C

DEUTERONOMY 30:10-14, PSALM 69:14.17. 30-31. 33-37, COLOSSIANS 1:15-20, LUKE 10:25-37

We celebrate today the 15th Sunday in ordinary time year C. The readings invite us to reflect on God’s love and our love him for him and our fellow human beings. God revealed and demonstrated his love through Christ’s paschal mysteries and invites us to love others selflessly and unconditional (1 John 3:16). In the first reading, Moses in his farewell discourse (before his death) implores the Israelites to remain faithful to God’s commandments. Moses tells them that God’s commandments is neither hard nor remote from them but that it is imbedded in their being…in their mouth and in their hearts. By keeping God’s commandments, they acknowledge God’s love revealed to them and respond with willing heart to live according to it and thus remain faithful to the Covenant. In the second reading, Paul expounds on the mystery of God’s selfless love centered on Christ Jesus. Paul implores believers not to follow the false teaching prevalent at that time concerning cosmic spirits believed to control the universe, human beings and alleged to be powerful. In the Christological hymn, Paul presents Christ’s divine identity and superiority over cosmic spirits; Christ is superior to cosmic spirits in that he is the embodiment of God’s presence through whom all things (both visible and invisible) exists. As a result, all created things are subject to him and that he has dominion and power over them. Furthermore, Christ is the head of the Church and that through his death on the cross, they have been reconciled and have life in God. In the gospel, Jesus gives a practical way of keeping God’s commandment of love through good actions that goes beyond laws and rituals. In the passage, Jesus responds to the lawyers testing question with regard to how he can inherit eternal life. Jesus responds with a question on what the Law says…the lawyer responds by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 which summarize the Law as ‘love of God and neighbour’. To justify himself, the lawyer asks who his neighbour is (probably thinking of a neighbour as fellow Jew). In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus does not tell the lawyer who is his neighbour is but on how he can be a neighbour to others. For Jesus, to inherit eternal life, one ought to go beyond legalism, rituals or ethnic boundaries and be a good neighbour to all especially those in need. In other words, sharing in God life implies imitating God’s selfless and unconditional love that embraces all and wills for their good.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s readings invites us to reflect on our love for God and neighbour. Love is the deepest desire of every person. We all want to love and to be loved. The Bible tells us that God is love and that whoever dwells in God ought to love others (1 John 4:7-21). The questions we can ask are; how do we know that we love God? Who should we love? Do those who hate us or have done bad things deserve our love? Many of us think we love God and others because; we pray and fast, we go to church and participate in church programs, we offer financial or material support to the church, we give alms to the poor. All the above activities are indeed pious acts of love for God and others. Nevertheless, our love for God and others will become genuine and fruitful when we begin to reflect God’s selfless and unconditional love (Romans 5:8, 15; John 3:16, 1 John 3:16. 4:9, Luke 6:27-36) in our relationship with others; when we begin to break all forms of barriers that divide us (race, ethnicity, religious, social, political or financial status); when we begin to love, pray and forgive all those who have injured us; when we begin to help others regardless of their identity or status in life; when we begin to heal, console and give hope to others even when our wounds are fresh and painful; when we create time for the people we love and all who need our help despite our busy schedule and various commitments; when we begin to share our resources fairly with others no matter how big or small they are; when we begin to push to the peripheral all forms of injustice, hatred, discord, war, conflict and pave way for peace, unity and respect for human dignity; when we begin to fight and support agendas or laws that promotes the common good and not our selfish motives; when we begin to show sympathy and empathy to the weakness, suffering or pain of others and are moved to help them; when we go an extra mile in helping others even when they do not deserve it; when we are driven by values and ideologies that promotes and safeguards human life and creation, and looks forward with hope to a better future together. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us open our hearts to receive God’s love from whom we can learn to love others selflessly and unconditional. May we as Jesus instructed the lawyer to imitate the Good Samaritan by becoming a neighbour to others especially those in need.

Have a blessed Sunday

(Friar Vincent Sichande, Ofm. Conventual)

05/07/2025

SUNDAY READINGS REFLECTION

14TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C

ISAIAH 66:10-14, PSALM 66: 1-7.16.20, GALATIANS 6:14-18, LUKE 10:1-12.17-20

We celebrate today the 14th Sunday in ordinary time year C. The readings remind us of our apostolic
mission of proclaiming the kingdom of God centered on Christ self-emptying love on the cross. In the first reading, prophet Isaiah invites the Israelites to rejoice in that God will make them anew and fulfil his
promises despite the challenges they are facing after the Babylonian exile. Prophet Isaiah invites them to
rejoice for God’s promises will be fulfilled in them; God himself will nourish them, comforts them and
bless them with prosperity and peace that will extend to other nations. My dear brothers and sisters, as
Christians we are invited to trust in God and rely on his Word no matter the situation. God is able to work
in us even in our hopeless or challenging situations of life. Sometimes God’s promises seem to delay but be assured that he is working on them, creating in us into a new creation, worth of experiencing his blessings, peace, joy and prosperity. May we hold on to his Word with a serene heart and wait with patient for its fulfilment in us. In the gospel, Jesus commissions 72 (70 in other manuscripts) other disciples and sent them ahead of him in pairs to proclaim the kingdom of God. The gospel of Luke adds a second commissioning of disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God beside the 12 disciples (Luke 9:1-10). The
number 72 echoes the descendant of Noah who lived in different places after the flood (Genesis 10) and the
70 elders appointed to help Moses lead the Israelites (Numbers 11). The number 72 (or 70) therefore shows
inclusiveness of all people to share in God’s life and proclaim it to the world. Before sending them, Jesus
instructs them; to pray in that the mission is from God and that only through his intervention their mission can thrive; to be cautious of their vulnerability (lambs) among hostile people (wolves) who are against their message or way of life; to travel light without a purse, bag or sandals in that they are to trust in God and depend on the generosity and hospitality of those they will proclaim the message to; to commit themselves wholehearted without idle chatter in that the message is urgent and demands focus; to proclaim the peace of God; to be content by not moving from one house to the other and to eat what will be provided to them; to heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God. In addition, Jesus prepare them for the inevitability of rejection by the hostile society. The passage concludes with the successful return of the 72 with joy from the mission. Jesus reminds them that their success is a result of God’s grace granted them to participate in his power. As Christians and apostles of Christ, we are commission to proclaim God’s kingdom in our actions and deeds. In our proclamation, we are expected to preach God’s peace that transcends life challenges, wars or injustices, to depend of divine providence and openness to others generosity, to commit ourselves wholeheartedly without losing focus of the Christian message we bear, to dispense God mercy and healing to the world wounded by sin and evil, to always be ready to face life challenges which at times threatens our faith. In our mission, our success and joy will always come when we remain faithful to Christ word and abide in his love.
In the second reading, Paul gives the theological message central to Christian faith that is the crucified Christ. Here, Paul opposes Judaizers whose faith was based on external observance of the law of circumcision. For Paul, true faith is rooted in Christ’s saving love on the cross from whom he shares his life. True Christian life thus entails becoming a new creation in Christ through death to sin and external rituals. It means united and reflecting the image of the crucified Christ; giving one’s life for others in love. My dear brothers and sisters, St. Paul reminds us that our Christian life is empty when we find delight in external or worldly things that are contrary to Christ’s love exemplified on the cross. From the crucified Lord, we are transformed, made anew, sent to bear witnesses and find true meaning and fulfilment.

Have a blessed Sunday

(Friar Vincent Sichande, Ofm. Conventual)

28/06/2025

SUNDAY READINGS REFLECTIONS

SOLEMNITY OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL

ACTS 12:1-11, PSALMS 34: 2-9, 2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8, 17-18, MATTHEW 16:13-19

We celebrate today the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. In today’s feast, we celebrate two important pillars in our Christian faith who helped to shape and spread the Good News. Today’s liturgy invites us to reflect on our Christian faith and calling in the light of the above important apostles who were transformed by Christ’s love, responded to the call of discipleship, went to spread the good news and died as martyrs. In the gospel, Jesus confers power and authority to Simon Peter as head of the Church. Jesus’ conferring the keys (symbol of authority and power) of the kingdom of God to Peter at Caesarea Philippi came after Peter professed him as ‘the Christ Son of the Living God’. For Jesus, Peter profession is as a result of God’s revelation and not of human knowledge or wisdom. The Church which Jesus will build on Peter, the rock will be firmly established forever and that the destructive power of Satan (hell) will not prevail it. In the first reading we see the persecution of early Christians by Herod in which some bore witness to their faith as martyrs. During the persecutions, James, son of Zebedee, brother of John was killed by the sword. After John’s death, Herod arrested Simon Peter, the head of the believing community and put him in prison. However, through the prayers of the Church, Peter was miraculously released by the angel of the Lord. God’s intervention to release Peter from prison shows care towards messengers of his Good News. When Peter was released, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark and later went to another place. In the second St. Paul writes to Timothy about his situation in prison in which he foresaw his life coming to an end. In the passage, Paul reflects on his life as an apostle which is soon going to end in martyrdom and awaits God’s just reward. For Paul, his success in proclaiming the good news to the end of his life is as a result of God’s power. Paul thus gave thanks to God for standing by him, giving him the strength to proclaim the Good News to the Gentiles and for rescuing him from every evil.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s feast of Saints Peter and Paul, we celebrate two important figures who helped to spread and shape the Christian faith. In saints Peter and Paul, we celebrate the faithfulness of God who loved them and chose them as vessels despite their weakness and died martyrdom for him. On one hand, Peter who was weak in faith and denied Jesus...was later strengthened by Jesus and proclaimed the gospel mostly to the Jews. Paul on the other hand who before his conversion persecuted believers...was converted and become an apostle to the gentiles. Despite their human weaknesses and life challenges, they allowed God to transform and use them for the salvation of others. Their submission and fervent commitment to God’s salvific message to the end has enabled the Christian message to spread to the whole world and made the Church what to be what it is today. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the life of Saints Peter and Paul is the story of God’s faithful love and mercy, of human weakness, conversion and commitment to God’s call. Their life story can be our own life story when we allow God to transform us, to use us despites our weaknesses and life challenges. Our life which is often characterized by sin, lack of faith, fear, hypocrisy and despair can be transformed and bear true witness to God’s Word when we sincerely believe in Christ and allow him to transform and use us as his instruments. That our unpleasant past can become history and our present become an inspiration and hope to others when Christ becomes the centre of our Christian faith and life. Let us pray today for the Church established by Christ himself on Peter, the Rock (governed today by the Pope, the successor of Peter in corroboration with bishop) to be firm and true to Christ’s saving message and be a beacon of faith and hope to the world characterized by sin, injustice, suffering and conflicts.

Have a blessed Sunday

(Friar Vincent Sichande, Ofm. Conventual)

21/06/2025

SUNDAY READINGS REFLECTION

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (CORPUS CHRISTI) YEAR C

GENESIS 14:18-20, PSALM 110: 1-4, 1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26, LUKE 9:11-17

We celebrate today the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) year C. Today’s readings, invite us to reflect on the Eucharist as eternal food that nourishes us, satisfies us and unites with Christ and with one another as members of Christ’s body. As Catholics, we believe that the Eucharist is the real presence of Christ; body, blood, soul and divinity (John 6:35-59, Matthew 26:26-28). In the Eucharis, we not only remember Christ’s saving death and resurrection, we make it present here and now and relive it sacramentally. In the first reading, Melchizedek, king and priest of Salem offers bread and wine to Abraham and his men. After Abraham defeated 4 kings and rescued his nephew Lot and other prisoners, he met Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God most high. Melchizedek offered Abraham (and his men) bread and wine and blessed him while invoking the name of God. Abraham in turn offered Melchizedek 10th of the spoils. Christians perceive Melchizedek as the figure of Christ the High priest of the New Covenant who offered his body and blood on the altar of the cross as a sacrificial offerings to save humanity (Psalm 110:4, Hebrew 5:6, 6:20, 7:17). Today’s gospel passage presents Jesus’ miracle of multiplication of 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed 5, 000 people. In the miracle, Jesus seeks to teach his disciples about divine providence and care for those in need as reflected in Exodus 16:35 and II Kings 4:42-44. That with Jesus at work in them, they can experience God’s abundant providence that can be shared and satisfy all. It is important to note that the words used by Jesus in the miracle of the multiplication loaves and fish are similar to the words he used at last supper when he instituted the Eucharist; Jesus took 5 loaves and 2 fish and looked up to heaven, blessed them, broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. Therefore both events point to Christ’s salvific action on the cross. Immediately after the miracle of multiplication and feeding of 5, 000 people, Luke connects it with Jesus first passion prediction, thus making a strong link between the Eucharist and the cross. In the second reading, Paul presents the earliest account in the New Testament of the celebration of the Eucharistic. In the letter, Paul uses Jesus words of the last supper as memory and command received from Christ to scold believes at Corinth who were divided based on social and economic status. The division among believer escalated such that even at common meals before the Eucharistic meal, the rich will sit by themselves with nice food and drinks while the poor will have little or nothing to eat. Paul therefore reminded the Corinthians that the Eucharist meal which is Christ’s command and memorial of his paschal mystery implies their communion and unity with Christ and with one another. Division within members of Christ’s body is ridiculous and should not be tolerated. Paul thus urges believers to celebrate the Eucharistic meal in a worth manner that shows love and unity with Christ and with one another.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s feast is the source and summit of our Christian life in that it focuses on God’s saving love to the world through Christ. In the Eucharist, Christ is truly present (take, this is my body…take, this is my blood…do this in memory of me) to us and by receiving him we become one with him. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). The Eucharist thus helps us to foster love and unity with Christ and with one another. In addition, the Eucharist is our spiritual food and drink that nourishes us for eternal life (John 6:48-51. In his self-giving to us, Christ invites us to share our life, giftedness, our resources with others. As presented in the gospel, Jesus wants us to be aware that whatever we have is enough if it is in his hands. He can use what we have, bless and multiply it for others to benefit. Furthermore, in the Eucharist, Christ’s body is broken and his blood poured out in order to free us from sin and death. By partaking the Eucharist, we acknowledge and offer our life - brokenness, weaknesses, our suffering, our pain, our sins, our shame, our sorrows to God who gives us the grace to experience his love and mercy (Psalm 51:16). Not only that, in the broken body of Christ, we too are broken and poured out as sacrifices to draw others to God (Psalms 51:19. 4:5, Philippians 2:17, Colossians 1:24, 1 John 3:16). May we therefore open ourselves to receive Christ in the Eucharist who is the source and summit of our Christian faith; in which Christ forgives and heals us, nourishes and sustains us, unites us to himself and to each other as one family.

AMIMA CHRISTI PRAYER
Body of Christ sanctify me. Body of Christ save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ strengthens me. O Good Jesus, hear me. Within your wounds hide me. Permit me not to be separated from you. From the wicked foe, defend me. At the hour of my death, call me and bid me come to you, that with your saints I may praise you forever and ever. Amen.

Have a blessed Sunday

(Friar Vincent Sichande, Ofm. Conventual)

14/06/2025

SUNDAY READINGS REFLECTION

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

PROVERBS 8:22-31, PSALM 8:4-5. 6-9, ROMANS 5:1-5, JOHN 16:12-15

We celebrate today the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity year C. Today’s feast is central to our Christian faith and life. It is the source of all other mysteries in that it is the mystery of God in Himself. In the mystery of the Holy Trinity, we believe that in One God, there are three persons (though one in essence) the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; One God and not three God’s. Trinity is a circle of intimate relationship bound by love without division or confusion. In the encyclical Laudato Si (238) Pope Francis writes, “The Father is the ultimate source of everything, the loving and self-communicating foundation of all that exists. The Son, his reflection, through whom all things were created, united himself to this earth when he was formed in the womb of Mary. The Holy Spirit, infinite bond of love, is intimately present at the very heart of the universe, inspiring and bringing new pathways. The world was created by the three Persons acting as a single divine principle, but each one of them performed this common work in accordance with his own personal property.” Although God cannot be comprehended or known completely in his transcendence (in Himself), we can know something about him in his immanent (in his self-revelation). Our scripture passages thus help us to reflect on the nature of God and his self-revelation to us. In the first reading, we hear about the personification of wisdom (lady wisdom) being present at creation as God’s companion. Lady Wisdom affirms that God’s creation, including the human race, is in accordance with God’s plan and that all created things reflect God or points to God. The second reading talks about the effects of God’s justification through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul asserts that through Jesus Christ believers have been made to live in right relationship with God (righteous/justified) and thus share in his peace and glory. Furthermore, Paul sees suffering as joy in that it enables believers share in Christ’s suffering, the ultimate manifestation of God’s love poured into believer’s hearts through the Holy Spirit. In the gospel, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to his disciples who will bring to completion his work as well as the work of his Father. The Holy Spirit does not speak on his own, but communicates to humanity what belongs to Jesus and to the Father. As such, we see the harmony in the Triune God.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s feast we wrestle with the paradox of our Christian faith, Trinity. How can God be One and yet Three in Persons? The challenge to understand Trinity lies in thinking of God as a mathematical or a scientific problem to be solved. We cannot know God in his transcendence (in Himself) in that he is beyond our human comprehension. Trinity is a truth of faith revealed to us by God through sacred scriptures (Lk 3:21-22, Matt 17:1-9, 28:19, 2 Cor 13:14). Our readings today reveals God as our creator (first reading), as our redeemer and righteousness (second reading) and as God’s outpouring love (Holy Spirit) in us. Despite the Godhead being distinct in persons, they are one in essence and work together. Trinity Sunday thus draws into the profound and eternal relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit characterized by love, communion and unity. It is this profound, love, communion and unity we are called to share in. We are created in God’s image and likeness (Gen. 1:27, Eph 4:24), baptized in a Trinitarian name (Matt 28:19) and become adopted children (John 1:12-13), live in him and have our being (Acts 17:28). Therefore, our life is centered on Trinity and ought to reflect the Trinitarian relationship (of love, communion and unity) with one another. We can only live the Trinitarian life in a profound manner and experience true peace, justice and prosperous world when; we embrace each other with love regardless of our social, ethnic, political or economic situation, we learn to appreciate each other’s gifts and uniqueness, uplifting and supporting each other; learn to forgive and work for the common good.

Have a blessed Sunday

(Friar Vincent Sichande, Ofm. Conventual)

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