WORD OF LIVING WATER DAILY INSPIRATION

LET GOD’S WILL BE DONE IN YOUR LIFE.

(GEN. 3:9-15,20, PS: PS 98, EPH 1: 3-6,11-12, LK 1:26-38)

My dear people of God, today’s solemnity celebrates Mary as the virgin who is “full of grace” as the angel Gabriel said at the Annunciation. From the early stage of Christianity, the church developed the belief that Mary was conceived without original sin, but it was only in 1854 that Pope Pius IX,proclaimed it a dogma as we have it as our belief now. This is a mystery for us which as human beings, we cannot fully understand unless it is revealed to us. We give thanks to God for having chosen the Blessed Virgin Mary as the mother of the Lord, and our mother, and having preserved her from sin. 

Mary who is considered as the Second Eve, who allowed herself to be used by God to bring forth the saviour to the world to amend for the consequences of the fall became a sign of hope for humanity. She became the New Ark of the Covenant, containing the Son of God who came to die in order to save humanity from our horrible state. In Gen 3:15 and I quote “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” is considered by many Catholic Biblical Scholars as a prophecy about the “New Eve”, who is Mary. The fact that through her bringing forth of the Son of God the ancient serpent would be defeated. This is what the church traditionally calls “Proto- Evangelium”(The first gospel or good news). God did not give up on humanity after the fall, but promised to bring a remedy of His original plan for man through Mary who did not disobey like the First Eve, but heeded to the will of God in her life. 

Mary was prepared from her birth to be the mother of God,even though her parents Joachim and Anne according to the teachings of the church were of original sin, but she was given this privilege because of Jesus. It is important to note that she was born without original sin because of Jesus. It is through our Lord Jesus Christ that she enjoys all the privileges in her life. The womb which was to contain the saviour of the world couldn’t have been tainted with sin. Because it was to carry something holy. Taking this analogy of food and dirty plate may explain it better. When you put food in a dirty bowl or a dirty plate, definitely the food will also be contaminated. If you want to avoid this, then you have to make the bowl to be clean. Once what she was to carry is holy, then it was necessary that she was preserved from original sin.

Even though the church teaches that Mary was preserved from her birth to become the Mother of God, her obedience to the word of God so far as her role in salvation history cannot be ignored. In the gospel reading, she gave her “Yes- Fiat” to the message of the angel. “And Mary said, Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word” Luke 1:38. Her yes was her yes and there was no change of mind. This is what I want us to learn from the Mother of God in this reflection today. She could have declined to bring forth the saviour to the world, since she did not know the consequences involved, but she accepted this calling whole-heartedly, without knowing the difficulties she will go through. She allowed the will of God to be done in her life.

In the same vein we should also allow the will of God to be done in our lives. God has a plan for everybody, but just like Adam and Eve, He gives us the freedom to make our own choices. We can either allow His will to be done in our life or go our separate ways as Adam and Eve decided to do. Each of these decisions has its own consequences which is either positive, that is if we agree or negative if we disagree. The disobedience of Adam and Eve thwarted the original intention of God for themselves and the entire creation for that matter. Refusing to allow God’s will to be done in our lives means we go against God and sin becomes the order of the day in our lives. In this case, we become disappointments as His creatures, because that is not the reason why He created us. We must allow the purpose of God to be realised in our lives.

His will in our lives mostly is not only for our own good but also for the good of others. Mary’s “Fiat” brought redemption to the entire humanity and she was not the only beneficiary. Even though it was not easy for her, but her name is mentioned everywhere for a good reason. God wants to use us to accomplish certain great things in our lives but sometimes we do not allow this to happen. We should know that we have freedom of choice but we did not create ourselves, someone created us and did so for a purpose. It is a blessing to allow the will of God to prevail in our lives.

Another point worth noting is the fact that the will of God in our lives needs our cooperation to prevail. Precisely why St. Augustine did mention that “God created us without us but He cannot save us without us”. God could not had forced Mary to become the Mother of our Saviour. And Mary’s strength alone couldn’t have accomplish this great task. God’s grace and that of the human effort are necessary so far as His will in our life is concerned.

It is my prayer that, the Blessed Mother Mary through her intercession will help us to always allow the will of God to be done in our lives just as she is a model for us all. AMEN. 

Let god’s will prevail in your life !A happy feast day! 

REV. FR. Akakpo Matthew

Tuesday, 9th December, 2025.
Theme: God wants all to be Saved
(Is 40:1-11, Ps 96, Lk 18:12-14)

God created all of us to be with him forever. But unfortunately, sin deprived man of this original plan of God. But God didn't give up on us, he finally sent his only begotten son to die in order to restore us to our original glory. Through Jesus we have the chance to be with God forever. Even after the supreme sacrifice of his son, man continues to sin to separate himself from God. But the good news is that, God never give up on us. He always takes the initiative to bring us back to himself.

That's why in the Parable of the Lost Sheep, he leaves the 99 holy ones in search of the one sinner. God doesn't want any of us to perish in sin. God doesn't take pleasure in the death of the sinner, but that the sinner should repent and live(Ez 33:11).He didn't create us to perish. He hates sin but not the sinner. No matter how sinful we are God still loves us. If God hasn't given up on you,why do you give up on yourself? No sin is too big for God to forgive. It is a matter of accepting our sinfulness and coming to him with a contrite heart. God is inviting you today to come back to him, he still loves you.

Beloved, it is our duty for those of us who are strong to bear with the failings of the weak. We have a duty to help them to come out from the bondage of sin. Unfortunately, some of us take delight in the plight of the sinner. Left to us the person should perish in his sins. We find it even difficult to accept such people into the community of believers when they repent. Why, is heaven for you alone? Can you alone stay in heaven and be happy? Salvation is community based. It means we work hand in hand to attain salvation. Your efforts alone can't help you to achieve it. You need people around you to help you to go to heaven. So far as salvation is concerned,no man is an Island. We need each other in this journey.

Sometimes somebody needs to prompt you about a particular sin in your life. Sometimes, a brother or sister needs to reprimand you, correct you, notify you of the danger of a particular temptation and so forth. We don't have it all. It also calls on us to humble ourselves to accept our mistakes when they are pointed out to us. This is a major challenge for most of us, accepting our short-comings. It doesn't take anything away from you if you accept a particular sin and repent from it. Some of us will always justify our sinful behaviours.How would you then encourage others to always correct you? But we shouldn't also give up on such people, because God never give up on us as well.

May the spirit of God touch us today to help others to attain salvation. Amen .
Have a Blessed day.
Shalom. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr.Akakpo Matthew

Wednesday, 10th December, 2025.
Theme: Come to Jesus with your Burdens
(Is 40:25-31, Ps 103, Matt 11:28-30)

Beloved in Christ, Jesus in the gospel is inviting us to come to him with all our worries, our problems,our difficulties. He says he has the power to transform the situation into a hopeful one. I don't know what you are going through in life, that you think nothing can be done about it. Just invite him into that situation. Maybe you are fed up, you are even attempting to end it all. All powerful Jesus beckons you today to come. Some of us our pillows are soaked with tears. We have prayed for so long and we have finally given up. The problems are too much for us to bear. Life seems to be unfair to us. We have questioned God severally. Jesus says be calm,relax, be cheerful and hopeful,he is in control. It is a matter of time.

Beloved the Jesus' effect is very necessary in our lives. You need him to change things for your good. In fact, life without him is a failure. Indeed, life without Christ is full of crisis. He makes all things possible. He is a God of possibilities. He makes impossibilities to be possible. We only need to allow him into that hopeless condition. Don't be discouraged because all hope seem to be shattered. Jesus is in the boat of life with you. Sometimes we don't need to invite him because he is already with us , but the problem is we are not able to recognize him.

As people of faith, we should know that only Jesus can do certain things in our lives. Hence we need to obey his commands. If we truly want to see the hand of God in our lives, then we got to allow him to take charge of our lives. We should allow him to drive the car of our lives. As the Author of our lives, he alone has the power to drive us to a safe destination. The problem is that, most of us wants to drive the car of life ourselves. We want our own will to be done and not that of Jesus. Then how can we experience his transforming power in our lives? Of course not. His presence changes everything in our lives. I want you to know that Jesus is in that boat with you. Only ask for his grace to recognize him all the time. Never ever give up. Remember what God can't do doesn't exist.

May the spirit of God grant us the grace to always look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith in moments of crisis. Amen .
Have a Blessed day.
Shalom. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev.Fr. Akakpo Matthew

Thursday, 11th December, 2025.
Theme: Give Honour to whom Honour is Due
(Is 41:13-20, Ps 145, Matt 11:11-15)

John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus whiles he was in prison to go and find out whether he was the Christ to come or they should look forward to another person. Already he had proclaimed Jesus as the Promised Messiah to his disciples and the Israelites. He pointed at him as the Lamb of God. In other words, the Savior of the world (Jn 1:29,36).

After the disciples leaving Jesus, and having responded to their question, Jesus was full of praise for John. According to him, John was greater than anyone born of a woman. He declared him as greater than any prophet. When John was on the stage, he directed the heart of the people to Jesus and not to himself. He didn't take the glory of the Christ for himself. He made the people know that he was only a forerunner of the Christ,he is not the Christ. This is truly a man of humility,who accepted who he was and his level in comparison with Jesus.He could have called himself the Christ, since the people thought he was the one.

This teaches us that God will exalt those who humble themselves. And Jesus will honour those who don't feel shy to honour him before men. John didn't shy in honouring Jesus before the people, hence Jesus also didn't mince his words in honouring him. And above all he appreciated his ministry as a forerunner of him the Christ. He acknowledged his contribution in preparing the hearts of the people for his coming.

Beloved, our world is gradually losing this important value. Appreciating what people do or honouring those honour is due. It will not take anything away from you. If someone has done better than you acknowledge it, it doesn't make you less important. If generally and objectively the person is excellent than you in all respect, acknowledge it. Because you can never become that person.That is who he is and how God has created him. You can never change that. Whether you accept it or not, he is still that person with such gifts endowed in him by God. The fact is that God created us differently. Each and everyone is unique. You are also good at something that, that person is not good at. So why bother?

Unfortunately,we tend to rather jealous such people and destroy their reputations. Some of us will never see anything good about some people, because we think they are better than us. The only way to satisfy our ergo is to tarnish their image. Please if you are that type then repent. You are only destroying yourself. It's not even a good Christian spirit. In fact, jealousy is a strong evil force. But if you are also a victim of such negative comments, don't give in to these detractors. Focus on what you are doing and make good impact on society. Those people are only jealous of you, and they don't have the courage to admit it. If you give in to their negativity,you have made them triumph over you. Don't allow them at all. Keep on okay.

May the spirit of God grant us the grace to always appreciate and honour those to whom honour is due. Amen .
Have a Blessed day.
Shalom. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew

Friday, 12th December, 2025.
Theme: Don't live to please the Crowd
(Is 48:17-19, Ps 1, Matt 11:16-19)

Beloved, the human being is a complex and a funny creature at the same time. Hence we don't live to follow what people say or live to please people. Don't allow people to determine the direction of your life. This is what Jesus was telling the people. John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and the same people said he was possessed. Jesus now came eating and drinking, and the same people said he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of sinners and tax collectors. This same people were condemning John for being anti-social, another came and is social and they have problem with that. If you follow the crowd you will surely lose focus in life and become a hypocrite.

That's human nature for you. The same people will say stand, but when you stand that very people will now say sit. So you will surely be confuse not knowing what to do. Do I sit or I should stand? Maybe you don't have to do any of them, but because you want to please them you choose to follow their position. You need to follow your conscience and not the people. That's why Paul will say that,the one who knows that what he is doing is right, should continue to do it. Once you know that what you are doing is the right thing before God, don't follow human complains and unnecessary pressure.Some of these people are even agents of the devil sent to confuse you, discourage,misdirect you, make you lose your blessings from God. Ignore them quickly.

There is one thing in life that we must all know. You can't please everybody in life. You must know that not everybody will like you. Some people will hate you for no reason. If you ask them why they hate you,they can't give any tangible reason. They just hate you, and that's it. If you are a human being and everybody loves you then you are not normal. At least some people should dislike you. Don't allow your detractors to mislead you. Know what you are about in life and focus on what you are doing. Some people have given up because of negative comments of people concerning a promising project or initiative they have taken. I encourage you to go back and start it again. This same people if you are able to make it will be the very people who will congratulate you.Then you will be wondering why were they against you from the beginning, when you really needed their support? Ah well, such is the irony of life.

Some of us our lives are directed by the comments of people. It is just like the chaff which the wind blows it wherever it wants it to go. If you allow people they would treat you like that. Meanwhile those very people don't allow others to determine the direction of their lives. So why should you allow them to mess up with your life? It is your fault, because it is your life and not theirs. Please wise up and take charge of your own life. You are not a robot. Even modern robots you can't control them like that, not to talk about a human being.

Whatever you do people will comment about it. Therefore have a clear conscience of what you do and be convinced about it. Don't live to please people, because you will become a disaster in your life. These same people will mock you. Be wise.

May the spirit of God grant us the grace to live by our conscience and not by what people say. Amen .
Have a Blessed day.
Shalom. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew

Saturday, 13th December, 2025.
Memorial of St. Lucy
Theme: Lord, heal our spiritual Blindness
(Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11,Ps 80, Matt 17:10-13)

Elijah was prophesied to come and be a forerunner to the coming of the Messiah. This is a common knowledge among the Israelites, which was always taught by the scribes. This was in the person of John the Baptist, but the Israelites couldn't recognize him. It took Jesus to open their eyes to know that John was the Elijah who was to come. Because they were spiritually blind, they couldn't recognize the very person they have been expecting.

The case is not different for the coming of the Messiah. These were people who were expecting a savior to come and save them from the power of their enemies. Their Messiah came but they couldn't recognize him. They were blinded spiritually,so they failed to see in Jesus the Messiah.

You and I are equally blinded, hence we fail to recognize Christ in our lives. Christ is always present to us, but we fail to recognize him. In your moments of difficulties, he journeys with you, but we can't recognize him. The scripture says he is nearer to us than our soul. How many of us know this? It is time we ask the Lord to open our eyes to recognize him always. Jesus is standing by you, can you see him?

Sometimes we are just like the Israelites. Our expectations are too high. Hence when he comes to us we fail to recognize him. We shouldn't forget that sometimes he comes to us through people. The very person you least expect God to use to communicate to you is the very instrument of God. We shouldn't expect him in extraordinary way or through extraordinary individuals. God can use anybody to carry his message.

May the spirit of God heal us from all forms of spiritual blindness so that we can recognize him in all situations. Amen .
Have a Blessed Weekend.
Shalom. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Rev. Fr. Akakpo Matthew