David Michael Okechukwu's Blog

6th Sunday of Easter Liturgical Colour: White. Readings at Mass If the Ascension of the Lord is going to be celebrated next Sunday, the alternative Second Reading and Gospel shown here (which would otherwise have been read on that Sunday) may be used today. ________ Entrance Antiphon Cf. Is 48: 20 Proclaim a joyful sound and let it be heard; proclaim to the ends of the earth: The Lord has freed his people, alleluia. ________ Collect Grant, almighty God, that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy, which we keep in honour of the risen Lord, and that what we relive in remembrance we may always hold to in what we do. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ________ First reading Acts 8:5-8,14-17 Philip went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them. The people united in welcoming the message Philip preached, either beca

Who l be? Based on say David Michael Okechukwu and Esther Okechukwu be which people na? You lovely friends didn't just make us smile, you left an unending happiness in our hearts and for this reason alone, we say a very big THANKS to you and pray that this same joy you gave us will also remain with you forever. I told Mama Mary to bless you too and asked her to talk to her Son Jesus to bless us and bless you as well. Words ain't enough to show the enormous joy you gave us on our special day but all the same God bless and remain Blessed now and forever. Amen.                                            Thanks once more.  #Davidmichaellovesyoumore

Happy Happy birthday to the most wonderful twins of all time though of different year. It our greatest pleasure to celebrate your today Boss and your kid sister (Esther). It's was just like yesterday when we celebrated you and here we are today repeating the celebration and our prayer today is that God bless you and your twin, spiritually, academically, morally, and financially. May God grant you your greatest heart desires today and give you more wisdom and understanding to live your life in a way that pleases God and also that people look at you and become more joyful, happy and be filled with joy. May you both be a mirror to the world that they look at and are inspired to greatness. We all at DAVID MICHAEL OKECHUKWU'S BLOG celebrate you Boss and your twin once. We love you and will always do. Keep up the good work and may God continue to bless all you do. Amen.  Happy birthday once more Boss. 

Thursday of the 4th week of Eastertide Liturgical Colour: White. Readings at Mass ________ Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 67: 8-9, 20 O God, when you went forth before your people, marching with them and living among them, the earth trembled, heavens poured down rain, alleluia. ________ Collect O God, who restore human nature to yet greater dignity than at its beginnings, look upon the amazing mystery of your loving kindness, and in those you have chosen to make new through the wonder of rebirth may you preserve the gifts of your enduring grace and blessing. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ________ First reading Acts 13:13-25 Paul and his friends went by sea from Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia where John left them to go back to Jerusalem. The others carried on from Perga till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went to synagogue on the sabbath an

Wednesday of the 4th week of Eastertide  or Saint Damien of Molokai Liturgical Colour: White. Readings at Mass ________ Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 17: 50; 21: 23 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will tell of your name to my kin, alleluia. ________ Collect O God, life of the faithful, glory of the humble, blessedness of the just, listen kindly to the prayers of those who call on you, that they who thirst for what you generously promise may always have their fill of your plenty. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ________ First reading Acts 12:24-13:5 The word of God continued to spread and to gain followers. Barnabas and Saul completed their task and came back from Jerusalem, bringing John Mark with them.     In the church at Antioch the following were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who

Saint George Preca (1880 - 1962) Malta He was born in Valletta, Malta, the seventh of nine children. He was ordained a priest in 1906. Horrified at the level of religious ignorance among the people, he set up the Society for Christian Doctrine in 1907. This was a society of laymen who would teach the catechism to the people while receiving instruction themselves. This was unheard-of at the time, and it took twenty-five years and much tension with the Church authorities (including at one point the closure of the Society’s houses) before the Society’s existence was officially approved. Today the Society has over a thousand members and is responsible for the teaching of some 20,000 young people in the Maltese islands, the UK, Australia, Peru, Albania, Kenya and the Sudan.     He lived a life of perfect unworldliness and evangelical poverty. He composed the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary in 1957. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on 3 June 2007, being described as “Malta’s

Tuesday of the 4th week of Eastertide Liturgical Colour: White. Readings at Mass ________ Entrance Antiphon Rv 19: 7, 6 Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to God, for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns, alleluia. ________ Collect Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, celebrating the mysteries of the Lord’s Resurrection, we may merit to receive the joy of our redemption. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ________ First reading Acts 11:19-26 Those who had escaped during the persecution that happened because of Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they usually proclaimed the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, who came from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch where they started preaching to the Greeks, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord Jesus to them as well. The Lord helped them, and a great number believed

Monday of the 4th week of Eastertide Liturgical Colour: White. Readings at Mass ________ Entrance Antiphon Rm 6: 9 Christ, having risen from the dead, dies now no more; death will no longer have dominion over him, alleluia. ________ Collect O God, perfect light of the blessed, by whose gift we celebrate the paschal mysteries on earth, bring us, we pray, to rejoice in the full measure of your grace for ages unending. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ________ First reading Acts 11:1-18 The apostles and the brothers in Judaea heard that the pagans too had accepted the word of God, and when Peter came up to Jerusalem the Jews criticised him and said, ‘So you have been visiting the uncircumcised and eating with them, have you?’ Peter in reply gave them the details point by point: ‘One day, when I was in the town of Jaffa,’ he began ‘I fell into a trance

4th Sunday of Easter Liturgical Colour: White. Readings at Mass ________ Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 32: 5-6 The merciful love of the Lord fills the earth; by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, alleluia. ________ Collect Almighty ever-living God, lead us to a share in the joys of heaven, so that the humble flock may reach where the brave Shepherd has gone before. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ________ First reading Acts 2:14,36-41 On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed the crowd in a loud voice: ‘The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.’     Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we do, brothers?’ ‘You must repent,’ Peter answered ‘and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and

Saturday of the 3rd week of Eastertide Liturgical Colour: White. Readings at Mass ________ Entrance Antiphon Col 2: 12 You have been buried with Christ in Baptism, through which you also rose again by faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead, alleluia. ________ Collect O God, who in the font of Baptism have made new those who believe in you, keep safe those reborn in Christ, that, defeating every onslaught of error, they may faithfully preserve the grace of your blessing. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ________ First reading Acts 9:31-42 The churches throughout Judaea, Galilee and Samaria were now left in peace, building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.     Peter visited one place after another and eventually came to the saints living down in Lydda. There he f

The English Martyrs England On 4 May 1535, at Tyburn in London, there died three Carthusian monks, the first of many martyrs of the English Reformation. Of these martyrs, forty-two have been canonized, and a further 242 have been declared Blessed; but the true number of those who died on the scaffold, perished in prison, or were tortured or persecuted for their faith cannot now be reckoned. The persecution lasted a hundred and fifty years and left a permanent mark on English culture: to this day Catholics continue to suffer certain minor disabilities under English law.     The martyrs celebrated today came from every walk of life. There were rich and poor; married and single; men and women. They are remembered for the example they gave of constancy in their faith and courage in the face of persecution.     From 2001, there are also celebrated on this day the forty martyrs of England and Wales who were canonized on 25 October 1970 and formerly celebrated on that day. They in

Thursday of the 3rd week of Eastertide Liturgical Colour: White. Readings at Mass ________ Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ex 15: 1-2 Let us sing to the Lord, for he has gloriously triumphed. The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation, alleluia. ________ Collect Almighty ever-living God, let us feel your compassion more readily during these days when, by your gift, we have known it more fully, so that those you have freed from the darkness of error may cling more firmly to the teachings of your truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ________ First reading Acts 8:26-40 The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.’ So he set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an

Sts. Philip and James St. Philip was one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. He was from Bethsaida. He was chosen by Jesus when Jesus was on his way from Judea to Galilee. When Jesus said to Philip 'Follow Me', Philip simply obeyed and followed Jesus. Philip later brought Nathaniel to Jesus. During the Last Supper, Philip only asked Jesus 'Lord, show us the Father and it is enough'. When some Greek speaking people wanted to meet Jesus, they approached only Philip for this purpose. When Jesus wanted to feed more than 5000 people who gathered to hear the sermon of Jesus, Jesus asked only Philip 'where can we buy bread to feed these people'. As per tradition Philip died a martyr at Hierapolis in Phrygia. St. James was also one of the apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Alpheus, brother of St. Jude and also a cousin of Jesus Christ Himself. St. Paul recorded in 1-Corinthians-15:7 that Jesus gave a special apparition to James after Jesus’ Resurrection. Due to

Saints Philip and James, Apostles - Feast Liturgical Colour: Red. Readings at Mass ________ Entrance Antiphon These are the holy men whom the Lord chose in his own perfect love; to them he gave eternal glory, alleluia. ________ Collect O God, who gladden us each year with the feast day of the Apostles Philip and James, grant us, through their prayers, a share in the Passion and Resurrection of your Only Begotten Son, so that we may merit to behold you for eternity. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ________ First reading 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.     Well then, in the first place, I

He was born in Alexandria. He assisted Bishop Alexander at the Council of Nicaea and later succeeded him as bishop. He fought hard against Arianism all his life, undergoing many sufferings and spending a total of 17 years in exile. He wrote outstanding works to explain and defend orthodoxy.     Athanasius’s passion for the truth seems tactless to many of us today, to the point where some Catholic devotional works even express embarrassment over it. This is grotesque. Before we congratulate ourselves on being more gentle and civilised than Athanasius and his contemporaries, we should look at the lack of charity that characterizes academic controversies today (from string theory to global warming) and the way that some of the participants are willing to use any weapon that comes to hand, from legal persecution to accusations of madness to actual assault. The matters in dispute with the Arians were more important than any of these scientific questions. They were vital to the ver

Tuesday of the 3rd week of Eastertide  (Saint Athanasius, Bishop, Doctor ) Liturgical Colour: White. Readings at Mass ________ Entrance Antiphon Cf. Sir 15: 5 In the midst of the Church he opened his mouth, and the Lord filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding and clothed him in a robe of glory, alleluia. ________ Collect Almighty ever-living God, who raised up the Bishop Saint Athanasius as an outstanding champion of your Son’s divinity, mercifully grant, that, rejoicing in his teaching and his protection, we may never cease to grow in knowledge and love of you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. ________ First reading Acts 7:51-8:1 Stephen said to the people, the elders and the scribes: ‘You stubborn people, with your pagan hearts and pagan ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Can you na

St. Joseph the Worker He was born in Bethlehem in about the year 70 B.C. He was betrothed to Virgin Mary, when the arch-angel Gabriel appeared to Virgin Mary and told her about the God’s plan of conception of Jesus to Virgin Mary through Holy Spirit without any human father. St. Joseph was a carpenter by profession. When he came to know that Virgin Mary was pregnant, he wanted to secretly send her away. But God’s angel appeared to him in a dream and told him to accept Virgin Mary because she was pregnant due to the grace of Holy Spirit. Jesus was born at Bethlehem, when Virgin Mary and Joseph were there for enumeration in the Roman census. As per the Gospel of Mathew, Joseph was the descendent from King David. So Herod thought that Jesus, the son of Joseph may claim the throne and usurp his kingdom later. In order to safeguard his kingdom he took the savage action of killing all the male children under age 2 years at that time. To safeguard Jesus from the killers, an angel