Monday, 3rd November, 2025.
Memorial of St. Martin de Porres
Theme: Don’t be generous because of a favor in Return
(Rom 11:29-36, Ps 69, Lk 14:12-14)
Jesus is inviting us today to check the motivations behind our acts of generosity. He was invited for a dinner by one of the leading Pharisees. But he noticed that almost all the guests gathered were family and friends, the rich and important personalities including he himself. The poor and the marginalized were not considered in such gatherings. This was the order of the day. These are people who will also invite us when they throw a banquet. Hence we are being generous to them because we will get a favour or a pay back later.
A number of us are not different from the Pharisees and the Scribes. We do good to people for our own personal interest. Our acts of generosity have various conditions attached to them. And mostly because we want something in return, that’s why we are doing good to such persons. This kind of generosity is not Christian. A Christian doesn’t perform acts of generosity in view of getting something in return. He does it because it is part of his nature to care and support people. His acts of kindness should be opened to all people especially the poor and needy.
There are some of us who only help people whom we can get help in return. We find it difficult to help people who can’t offer us anything in return. Sometimes you hear such people making comments like ” What benefits will I get for helping you or being generous to you? Or I will only waste my resources for helping you. This is the spirit motivating our acts of generosity these days. Some people are generous in the church because they want to become famous so that they can be given positions. Some people want to do that so that the church can give them contracts when there is one available. Some are generous to our priests so that they can become their favorites. There are many other reasons motivating the acts of generosity of people in the church. But you should do all these generous acts because it is part of your calling to support the work of God with your resources but not for personal gains.
When we come to our societies, the story is the same. People help because of positions and other reasons. We have some of these NGO’s who are using the opportunity to amass wealth, but not for the helping of the poor and needy in our societies. They are using the NGO’s as cover ups to achieve their personal gains. Other individuals are equally using the poor people to get rich.
Jesus is saying that there is no blessing in generous acts with condition. God blesses those who give and support people because it is their Christian duty to do so. Our acts of generosity opens a lot of doors in our lives. Sometimes you can be praying for a particular intention for a long time, but it takes a generous act to open that door or bring a breakthrough. Your future generations can come and enjoy your generous acts. Just concentrate and do good to people, the blessings will come from the Lord. Some people are enjoying the fruits of their generous acts today because of a good act they performed some years back. Sometimes we don’t even remember. I know a grandson of a man who is enjoying the good acts of his grandfather, who is dead long ago.
It is my prayer that God will remember us because of the generous acts of our family members or ourselves. I will also encourage us to show appreciation to people who support us in various ways.
May Jesus never forget you because of your acts of generosity to the poor and needy. Amen.
Have a Blessed Week.
Shalom.
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew.
WORDS OF LIVING WATER DAILY INSPIRATION
Tuesday, 4th November, 2025.
Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo
Theme: Be committed in Following Jesus
(Rom 12 :5-16, Ps 131,Lk 14:15-24)
The Parable of the Great Dinner depicts the response of both the Pharisees and the Gentiles to the message of Christ. The fact of his invitation to follow him.The message of Christ was first presented to the Jews but they rejected this invitation. The Lord then turned his attention to the gentiles who welcomed his message. The people in the parable who represent the Jews gave various excuses for not being able to make it to the banquet. These were flimsy excuses. The Jews gave all the excuses not to follow Jesus and accept his message.
We are not different from these people. Some of us love to follow Jesus, but worldly attachments is not permitting us to do so. For some of us, it is Jesus himself who is calling us daily in following him. But our hearts and minds are so centered on worldly things to the point that we always ignore this invitation. You have a strong desire to do the work of God, but your work always become an excuse. Meanwhile, you were always before God when you were jobless. Today, this same work is preventing you from dedicating yourself to God. Think about it!
Some of us can spend all our time for funerals, weddings, out dooring, and what have you. But we find it difficult to find time and attend church programs. We will find all the excuses not to go for such activities. But these worldly attachments can never win us our salvation. Let’s remember our creator when we have breath. You don’t know when you will die, hence be prepared and work for the Lord at all times.
For some of us we can spend all our money for other things, but not for God related things. Forgetting that it is God who has blessed us with such material possessions. But it pains us to serve him with these same gifts given to us. If you are not careful, you would lose what he has given to you. In fact, if I were God, all those who are refusing to serve me with what I have given them, I would have taken it from them.
We need to serve God with all our soul, mind, heart and strength. We can’t be lukewarm in following Jesus. You are either for him or not. Seek the kingdom of God and it’s righteousness, and the rest shall be added (Matt 6:33).
We shouldn’t also spend all our time in church without working. Expecting a miracle from God. It doesn’t work like that with God. There must be a balance between worshipping God and our worldly activities. But in all God should be at the center of all our daily activities, either religious or social. Jesus is inviting you today to follow him, don’t give any excuse but respond positively.
May the Holy Spirit give us the grace to always follow Jesus with our whole being . Amen.
Have a blessed day.
Shalom 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew
Wednesday, 5th November, 2025.
Theme: The cost of Discipleship
(Rom 13:8-10, Ps 111,Lk 14:25-33)
Jesus in the gospel of today is pointing out to his disciples, the demand of sacrifice in following him. There were a lot of people who were following him, may be because of material gains and not for their salvation. Am sure some of them thought it was easy to follow him. But he made it clear to them the fact of denouncing oneself before following him. To follow him, they must choose Jesus over everything, which includes family relations. In short, Jesus was telling them that they shouldn’t allow anything to be an obstacle for them in following him. Anybody who loves family and other relationships, and other things in the world more than Jesus is not fit to be his disciple.
Jesus told them to even hate themselves before they can follow him.To hate oneself here shouldn’t be taken in the literal sense. It means that one must not choose to follow his fleshy desires. We must not allow our human desires to control us as his disciples. The fleshy desires bring a lot of joy and happiness to us, but of course not a lasting one. You and I would always like to follow the things of the world, because the body enjoys it. But Jesus is saying that we cannot become his true disciples if we are not ready to sacrifice all these enjoyments.
Again, he invites us to carry our own crosses and follow him. The crosses are the difficulties and the challenges we have to bear in life because we have chosen to follow him. The insults, the shame, the ridicule, the persecutions, all for the sake of Christ. I know some of us are suffering a lot because we have chosen to follow Christ.
My dear friends in Christ, the Christian journey is not one that is so rosy as some pastors are making their members to believe in our days. For some of these churches you do not mention suffering once you are a Christian. Once you are a Christian, you and suffering are on opposite sides. This has made a number of their members to be frustrated in life when they are now facing the realities of life. Because psychologically they are not prepared for such circumstances in life. This is a wrong Christian theology and for that matter it is unchristian to think that way.
Jesus who is our Redeemer was not spared of crosses in life. He who was God faced a lot of challenges in life, but the good news is that He was able to overcome them and was victorious. Jesus has given us hope that we have the strength to overcome the mountains, the Red Seas, the Goliaths in our lives. No problem in this world is bigger than God, because to Him all things are possible (Lk 1:37). Sometimes we belittle the power in us too much as if the devil is so powerful than God. Through His cross on Calvary, He overcame the powers of darkness.
The sickness you are going through, the failures you are having in your marriage, the lack of success in your job search, the failures in your academics, the financial crisis, do not think God is not aware of it. He is aware of all your challenges and He will respond at the appropriate time. Jesus only needs us to trust Him as the Lord of our Lives.
Please Jesus is not encouraging us to bring certain crosses upon ourselves because of our own bad behaviours. Some of us have brought certain sufferings to ourselves, because of wrong decisions and bad ways of life. These are what I called “Self-inflicted crosses” or “Self – imposed crosses”. You are the cause of your suffering, therefore don’t bring Jesus into it. It means that we shouldn’t make it appear as if we are suffering because of our faith in Christ. We are the cause of it and we should take responsibility of it. Of course, Jesus will not abandon you even in such situations.
May God help us with His grace to take up our crosses and follow Him daily in our lives. Amen
Have a blessed day.
Shalom
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew
Thursday, 6th November, 2025.
Theme: Avoid Spiritual Pride
( Rom 14: 7-8,Ps 27, Lk 15:1-10)
In the gospel of today, Jesus teaches about the fact of guarding against spiritual pride. He mingled himself with tax collectors and sinners and even sat at table with them. And that was the problem of the Pharisees and the Scribes as usual. They wondered why a holy man like Jesus will mingle with sinners.These were people the Pharisees and the Scribes have classified as public sinners.They looked down upon them as the worst sinners on earth. In fact, they didn’t consider themselves to be sinners. They were full of themselves. The holier than thou attitude is their identity. Jesus told them by using the Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin that, he came to save sinners and not the righteous. There is more joy in heaven for the repentance of one sinner than over ninety righteous persons who need no repentance..
We need to accept the fact that we are all sinners before God, and no one is righteous. Beloved in Christ, some of us have become God, condemning and judging others. This was exactly what the Pharisees and the Scribes were doing. Some of us are not different from these people. We keep quiet about our own sinful lives and make other’s chewing stick everyday. We even go ahead and condemn some people to hell. As if to say that those people have no chance of repenting from their sins. We are all sinners who need to plead for mercy and the grace to do better always. The posture of the Pharisees is a bad character and attitude which we must all avoid.
It is also true that some of us may be better or stronger in faith than others. But it doesn’t give us the chance to look down upon them as sinful and faithless fellows. We are rather to help them to also grow and get closer to God, as we are. It is also true that some of us parade ourselves to be more spiritual than others , but in fact we are the worst sinners than those we are classifying as most sinful people. This is what Jesus was pointing out to the Pharisees and their parties.
Some of those people have their bad deeds made public, whiles ours is still secret so we think we are better than them. You and I are not better than those in prison,the difference is that they have been caught whiles we have not been caught.
May God help us to avoid spiritual pride so that we can see ourselves as sinful people who need the mercy of God. Amen. Have a blessed day
Shalom🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew
Friday, 7th November, 2025.
Theme: Be wise in the Lord
(Rom 15:14-21, Ps 98,Lk 16:1-8)
The Parable of the Dishonest Steward seems to ring confusion in our minds, especially when Jesus uses the dishonest steward as an example for us. This is someone who has mismanaged his master’s properties and about to be sacked. But he used his master’s properties to gain favour from his master’s debtors in order to secure a future for himself. This decision is what Jesus considers as a wise one, using what you have to secure a future for yourself.
The servant was very smart about his future. Even though he used a foul means to achieve what he wants, Jesus wants us to imitate his gift of smartness in the situation he found himself. In the first place we are all stewards of God. God has puts us in charge of various gifts and talents. He has blessed us with various material possessions in life. But just like the steward, we have also equally failed to manage these resources well according to the purpose of God. Daily and every moment our attention is drawn to the fact of changing from our mismanagement of God’s properties that he has given to us. But we tend deaf ears to these warnings.
The steward quickly did something to secure his future. He realized that he can’t afford to lose his future after being sacked. He knew that his very existence depended on his future, hence he didn’t joke with the situation which presented itself. Quickly he took a wise decision to salvage his situation.
This is exactly what Jesus wants from us. To secure our future here, implies securing a place for our souls in heaven. Jesus wants us to take issues concerning our salvation very seriously. We must be serious with our salvation. But unfortunately, some of us are not serious with our salvation. We don’t take the opportunity to repent from our evil lives and change for the better. A wise Christian is the one who pays attention to messages of repentance and changes for the better. He knows that he only has the now but not the future. If he doesn’t change, he will land himself in hell.
Many people are in hell because they were not smart. There were many opportunities for them to change from their bad ways, but they took it for granted. Their own foolishness has sent them to hell fire. If there are signs of a bad future for yourself, the only thing is to do something to change that future. Especially when you have the capacity to do that.
Jesus called the five virgins foolish, because they had all the time to prepare for the bridegroom (Matt 25:1-13). But they failed to use all the opportunities they had. The bridegroom arrived before they were now trying to prepare, which was too late. The wise virgins had prepared in advance for the bridegroom. Are you a wise virgin or a foolish one? Your way of life will tell where you belong.
Beloved, non of us know when we will die, therefore we need to prepare at all times. Like I know they say is the philosophy of the fools . Be wise and prepare a place for your soul in heaven. It is never too late once you still have breath. It becomes late when you die. Don’t allow things of this world to blind you and make you a foolish person. Be a wise Christian not a foolish one.
May God help us with His grace to live wisely in this world. Amen
Have a blessed day.
Shalom
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew
Thursday, 6th November, 2025.
Theme: Avoid Spiritual Pride
( Rom 14: 7-8,Ps 27, Lk 15:1-10)
In the gospel of today, Jesus teaches about the fact of guarding against spiritual pride. He mingled himself with tax collectors and sinners and even sat at table with them. And that was the problem of the Pharisees and the Scribes as usual. They wondered why a holy man like Jesus will mingle with sinners.These were people the Pharisees and the Scribes have classified as public sinners.They looked down upon them as the worst sinners on earth. In fact, they didn’t consider themselves to be sinners. They were full of themselves. The holier than thou attitude is their identity. Jesus told them by using the Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin that, he came to save sinners and not the righteous. There is more joy in heaven for the repentance of one sinner than over ninety righteous persons who need no repentance..
We need to accept the fact that we are all sinners before God, and no one is righteous. Beloved in Christ, some of us have become God, condemning and judging others. This was exactly what the Pharisees and the Scribes were doing. Some of us are not different from these people. We keep quiet about our own sinful lives and make other’s chewing stick everyday. We even go ahead and condemn some people to hell. As if to say that those people have no chance of repenting from their sins. We are all sinners who need to plead for mercy and the grace to do better always. The posture of the Pharisees is a bad character and attitude which we must all avoid.
It is also true that some of us may be better or stronger in faith than others. But it doesn’t give us the chance to look down upon them as sinful and faithless fellows. We are rather to help them to also grow and get closer to God, as we are. It is also true that some of us parade ourselves to be more spiritual than others , but in fact we are the worst sinners than those we are classifying as most sinful people. This is what Jesus was pointing out to the Pharisees and their parties.
Some of those people have their bad deeds made public, whiles ours is still secret so we think we are better than them. You and I are not better than those in prison,the difference is that they have been caught whiles we have not been caught.
May God help us to avoid spiritual pride so that we can see ourselves as sinful people who need the mercy of God. Amen. Have a blessed day
Shalom🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew
