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THE SACRILEGE OF COMMUNION IN THE HAND
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The Holy Eucharist ~ Our Sure Route to Heaven
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BEING EUCHARISTIC 24/7
Every Roman Catholic Priest is aware of his vocation to be Eucharistic, every day of his life. Celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should be uppermost in his mind, nothing should ever stop him from celebrating this Sacrament of God's love to humanity. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we all know the benefits of the Mass, for whom and why they are offered.
It is not about you, the Priest; it is about the Holy Will and Plan of God, our Creator. Like every child of God, your guardian Angel and hosts of Angels surround you, particularly being the Alter-Christus, these Spiritual Beings accompany you, everywhere. As St Pio of Pietrelcina {Padre Pio} once said: "feel free to send your guardian Angels on errands..." They are there to 'serve' us as they serve God. Personally I have often tried to do this: ask my guardian Angel to keep Jesus company after I begin my holy hour, before the Blessed Sacrament, and suddenly have need to step out of the Chapel. I simply genuflect on two knees before the Blessed Sacrament, turn and bow towards the kneeler I feel my Guardian Angel is staying and say: "please, keep the Lord company while I step out.... thank you" I have always had the feeling that I have not left Jesus - the Prisoner of Love, alone. My guardian Angel kept Him company in my brief absence.
Our awareness of this ever-presence and company of our Guardian Angels, should help keep the Priest, by God's grace, conscious of the avoidance of mortal sin.
You Are On Your Own
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Tracy Chapman - Full Concert - 12/04/88 - Oakland Coliseum Arena (OFFICIAL)
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BEING IGBO - A MORAL LESSON
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Just A Meal
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Once Upon A....
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We Are The Church Militant
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Once Upon a Day
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Talking About Love
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Once Upon A Day: THE PERFECT PASTOR
"The Perfect Pastor preaches exactly ten minutes, He condemns sin roundly, but never hurts anyone's feelings. He works from 6:00 a.m. until midnight, and is also the Church's janitor.
The Perfect Pastor makes $40.00 per week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, buys good books and donates $30.00 a week to the parish. He is 29 years old and has 40 years experience. He is, above all else, handsome....
The Perfect Pastor has a burning desire to work with teen-agers, and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens. He smiles all the time, with a straight face, because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his parish. he makes fifteen calls a day on his people and is always in his office to be handy when needed.
The Perfect Pastor always has time for the Parish Council and all its committees and sub-committees. He never misses a meeting of any parish organization, and he is always busy evangelizing the un-churched....
The Perfect Pastor is always in the next parish over !
(The Priest, December 1977, Represented from Parish Bulletin,
St Francis of Assisi Church, Allentown, Penna. Aug. 3rd, 1980)
My dear Priest friend, kindly read and reflect on the article: how "realistic"? Or is it altogether funny?
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Once Upon A Day
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Ndi Anya Ukwu
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A New Planet
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Vocation To The Priesthood
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Peoples' Person
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Talking About Mary
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Origin Of The Igbo
Several encounters with persons of academic/curious minds have left me with the challenge of writing this article, brief as it may be, for time. The article below in Red Italics are culled from an article published some years ago. The facts are credible and verifiable. Anthropologists agree that a people could easily be identified by their culture and religion. A peoples' culture would include but not limited to food and agriculture, music and dancing, trade and enterprise etc Their religion would include but not limited to the notion of a deity and/or Supreme Being, worship rituals, festivities, child naming etc. From any direct encounter with an Igbo man will almost immediately reveal these factors of Igbo identity. Without saying it directly, some early European authors on the Igbo life and community portray a people with lots of common threats between the Jews and Igbo people of West Africa. If one would take some time to research, it will pay off real fast on this reality which lots of Jewish Archeologists have testified to, after their visit and research in Igboland. Evidently our wonderful search engines today will furnish the enquirer more and related facts as the following: In his recent article of Friday March 2, 2007 titled “Where did the Igbo come from?” Mazi Nweke wrote: “To make this view more acceptable, Olaudah Equiano, an Igbo ex-slave in
"According to Moreh Herman Taylor of the The Shalom Congregation (House of Israel),
Origins
Some encounters I have made with persons of curious mind have challenged me into writing an article on my blog on this issue of the Origin of the Igbo in West Coast of Africa. In his recent article of Friday March 2, 2007 titled “Where did the Igbo come from?” Mazi Nweke wrote: “To make this view more acceptable, Olaudah Equiano, an Igbo ex-slave in
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Create?
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Love of Giving
An associate and friend, Mrs Loree Collins, sent gifts of clothing through me to the less privileged as I travelled home to Mother Africa, this past August. Though I had more photos of the beneficiaries of the gifts, I could not download all of them. Wish I could, so all could share. The Nuns, their house helps, the orphans were all smiles in those photos. They prayed for their benefactoress, Mrs Collins, with very deep gratitude. Over and above all gifts, let us all pray for peace and justice in God's world that is under attack from opposing forces. God's reign will triumph in the end. May God be praised. Amen and Amen.
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Happy Guardian Angel Day
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Music For The Soul: Gregorian Chant, Recorded Sound: Music
It is my wish this great piece of Plain Chant comes off OK on my blog page. If it does not, please cut and paste the site on your browser.
Ukachukwu S. A. Onyeabor
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Once Upon A Culture
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Made In China
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I dearly, deeply and truly love gay/lesbian persons
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The Cow and The Fly
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Chant: Music For The Soul: Gregorian Chant, Recorded Sound: Music
There are still some souls in serious search for God in this apparently materialist world. These are the men and women whom Mother Church refers to as "The Power House of the Church" There is no mistake about this - they truly are. May God continue to preserve them and grant them the graces of perseverance in their vocation or reminding us that "This world in not our Home" no matter how good it may look, now.
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Igbo Names: So Meaningful !!!
350 N. Silverbell Road, Unit # A-21
Tucson, AZ 85745
Email: ukachuks@gmail.com
9th April, 2008
God's grace, peace and love be with all, now and always. Amen.
I thought it wise, once and for all to enter this article into my blog page so I could simply refer persons to this blog for further reading. This was triggered by people's expressed interest/curiosity, asking for the meaning of our Igbo names as well as mine. I have always found it an opportune moment to state with "pride" that our Igbo names have lots of meaning and significance. As found in Holy Scriptures: there is power in the word and/as in a name: they are significant. Which biblical name has no significance associated with it? When God enters into a covenant with His people or their leaders, there often follows a name change. Abram became Abraham and Jacob became Israel. In the New Testament Peter got a "new name" after his great confession. After the Resurrection, when Jesus called: "Mary !!" Magdalene knew exactly Who called her.
To those asking of my name: my first name is UKACHUKWU which could take either of these meanings = related to the Supreme Being (God); concern of the Supreme Being; business of the Supreme Being; issues of the Supreme Being etc. Till date, most of my Igbo people believe in the existence of many deities as well as the Supreme Being. One is aware that this is not peculiar to the Igbo people of Africa. St Paul encountered this in Athens. The small deities are called "chi" in Igbo, while the Supreme Being (God) is qualified with the word UKWU which means GREAT OR ALMIGHTY. So the Supreme Being is CHI-UKWU; however in writing GOD in IGBO language, we drop the first vowel "I" so we now have CHUKWU. Incidentally the Igbo word for PRIEST is Ukochukwu. Note the difference UKACHUKWU and UKOCHUKWU. To perform the role of an UKO is to be a go-between, a mediator, a middle person. At my priestly ordination my people said: "Ukachukwu aburula Ukochukwu" which means Ukachukwu has now become a priest of God. My family name (last name) ONYEABOR literally means: SECOND PERSON. This could be translated to mean either "a companion"; "a helper"; "an assistant"; "an associate"; "other half"; "an auxiliary" or "a back-up" It makes good sense when my people say: otu onye a naghi aga nta, which translates: "no one man goes hunting". For a successful gaming/hunting session, you need a companion so while one person is at one end, the other is at the other. No one person can be at both ends at the same time. "The crowd begins with a second person". My Igbo people do not generally acquiesce with a lone-ranger mentality; this is because they believe that power is in the group. "Igwe bu ike"
The Down Side: It was very very unfortunate that colonialism as well as a generality of early missionaries to Igbo land and other parts of the colonized/evangelized world felt/thought their language and/or religion was better/superior to those of the people they came to colonize or evangelize. Is there any doubt most of these places were taught to drop their language in favour of the language of the "white" man? One recalls when you were penalized for speaking in the vernacular; you could receive corporal punishment lest the teacher be fired by the "white" manager of schools. Later this took the form of financial fines. It is interesting to note that some very wise cultures who foresaw the effects of this, fought the white man's superior mentality. Such peoples insisted on their language and culture; today we see and read literature in those peoples' language and not first in English and then later in theirs.
Offended? This article is not meant to offend/upset anyone; by no means. Incidentally, we are victims of the English language seen as an easier means of expression. I could write faster in English than in Igbo language. The good news is that today a sizeable number of Igbo families in diaspora are waking up to be proud of the Igbo language. Some struggle to speak/teach to their children in their mother tongue. My Igbo people keep the flame of what we cherish - our Mother Tongue, burning bright. Peace to all, especially to those who read and appreciate this article.
Ukachukwu S. A. Onyeabor (Rev. Fr)

