Tag: Catholic Diocese of Manzini

By: Fr Christopher Maseko

Click here for Sunday’s readings

The Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion marks the start and the holiest time of the liturgical year of the Catholic Church; the Holy Week. Today’s liturgy combines two contrasting moments, one of glory, the other of suffering – the welcome of Jesus and His entry into Jerusalem through the Last Supper to his crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

We are told that Christ came into this world to announce the Good News. What was the good news he came to announce? It was the proclamation of the kingdom. You have often heard the expressions ‘Kingdom of God’ and ‘Kingdom of Heaven.’ The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven mean one and the same thing. If someone we to ask you as to what it was that you understood by the expression ‘Kingdom of God’ I wonder what you would have to say. The Kingdom of God is not a territory like the kingdom of Eswatini. The Kingdom of God means the reign of God in our lives. It is the central petition of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ – Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. In fact, God’s Kingdom comes when His will is done in our lives. To belong to the Kingdom one must make a clear-cut decision. “no one,” said Jesus, “ who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.” There must be total commitment.

Continue reading “Reflection on Palm Sunday – Year B” →

By: Fr Christopher Maseko

Click here for Sunday’s reading

Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord; and where I am, there also will my servant be. The message we hear in today’s Gospel, this Sunday, will again help us to prepare ourselves for Easter. It will help us to understand more clearly what Christ did for us at Easter.

In the Gospel we hear of some Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. This was extraordinary. Greeks were not of the race as the Jews; they were regarded as strangers and heathens. Surprisingly, Jesus rejoiced that they wanted to see him. In his spirit, he saw himself dying on the cross, all races and nations assembled around the cross. Therefore he said: when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself. Jesus wanted to die for all races and nations and bind them to himself with bonds of love. For he once mentioned that there is no grater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Continue reading “Reflection on the Fifth Sunday of Lent – Year B” →

By: Fr Christopher Maseko

Click here for Sunday’s reflection

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” In the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan, God declared that he was well pleased with him because he intended to use him to play a significant role in winning back the whole of humanity that had strayed away from him. This aspect of being well pleased with his son demonstrates the undying love God has for those who would be followers of Jesus. The same is true of our parents when we are brought in this world, they are, of course, well pleased more so, if we are obedient to them. Our obedience will, inevitably have a positive impact on our parents and family at large. Many would even wish to have been members of this family.

Continue reading “Reflection on the Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B” →

By: Fr Christopher Maseko 

Click here for Sunday’s readings

Today’s Gospel presents the episode in which Jesus drove out the merchants from the temple of Jerusalem. He did this gesture by helping himself with a whip of cords and flipped the tables, saying” You shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” This decisive action carried out close to Passover, made a great impression on the crowd and aroused the hostility of the religious authorities. This action of Jesus was wholly different than His loving, gentle and kind previous actions. Perhaps, this has been our big question over the years. The temple has been the centre of spiritual power. The same time that believers are building temples to worship God, devil is trying to occupy them by religious people. The house of God is a house of prayer for all peoples. Unfortunately, the house of God had been changed into a den of thieves, and it was no longer a house of prayer.

Continue reading “Reflection on the Third Sunday of Lent – Year B” →