How to make a good confession

The season of lent is a wonderful opportunity for repentance and reconciliation with God, one’s neighbour and even one’s self. To do this, we must appreciate the sacrament of reconciliation by making a sincere and valid confession within this period. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf has tried to share with us useful tips for making a good confession and they are:

We should…

1) …examine our consciences regularly and thoroughly;
2) …wait our turn in line patiently;
3) …come at the time confessions are scheduled, not a few minutes before they are to end;
4) …speak distinctly but never so loudly that we might be overheard;
5) …state our sins clearly and briefly without rambling;
6) …confess all mortal sins in number and kind;
7) …listen carefully to the advice the priest gives;
8) …confess our own sins and not someone else’s;
9) …carefully listen to and remember the penance and be sure to understand it;

Reflection/Homily: Sixth (6th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (February 12 2012)

Looking at the world, I think the world is suffering from IGNORANCE in PHD. PHD stands for Poverty, Hunger and Disease. Ignorance means lack of knowledge or awareness. It also includes lack of skills to solve a particular problem even if there is awareness of it. Poverty means the state of being extremely poor and we can confirm that most people in the world are not only financially poor but technically, structurally, academically, medically, etc poor. Hunger means among other things, a strong desire for something and we can see in people the hunger for food, basic amenities, wealth, fame, political positions, etc. Disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism and we can see the abnormal conditions like terrorism (especially the boko haram insurgence in Nigeria, ), war, pride, kidnapping, sickness, fraud, even ignorance, affecting man. These problems are in chains because a poor man is a hungry man, a hungry man is an angry man and an angry man is a sick man. Most often we lack something, hunger for something or suffer something but it becomes a big problem when one is ignorant of these situations or lacks the skills to confront them. Of all these, the worst is 

Reflection/Homily: Fifth (5th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (February 5 2012)

At one moment or the other in our lives, life may have been very unbearable for us because of the miserable conditions we find ourselves in. Sometimes, it could be as a result of vocation crises, medical problem that the doctors cannot help, or an emotional problem or a spiritual or financial difficulty or even a family problem. At such moments, we regret our coming into the world. We then begin to look around for solutions to our problems, sometimes, with myopic eyes and not even being able to meet those who can help us.

Such was the condition Job found himself in the first reading. His problem was psychological, physical, emotional, financial and whatever you can imagine. Job was certain he didn’t offend God but wondered why he was in such a horrible condition. He lost the hope of rising again and caused everything about him. He eventually realized it was only God who created him could rescue him. Often times, we find ourselves in such conditions and we begin by blaming God instead of going to him for healing.

The gospel reading of today teaches us what best to do when we are challenged by difficult situations. Peter had to invite Jesus to heal his mother-in-law when she was terribly sick because of the faith