The Gospel parable today gives us insight to who our God is and his desire for all of us to spend eternity with him. How might you have felt if you were the first to be picked that day by the landowner? In the beginning, you might have felt grateful that you were picked, because you would know that you and your family would have money to sustain your needs for that day. It was a very common practice to be paid each day that you worked, so that your family would have their needs met. At the end of the day, when getting paid along with everyone else; I know that I would have been growing in excitement thinking that I was going to be paid more then those who came in at the end of the day. Only to be let down because my wage would be the same as everyone else's. I probably would have been envious of those who came in at the end of the day too! If I would have been one of those who was picked at the end of the day, I would have been very grateful because I knew that I would have something to give to my family. Even if I was one of the first one's paid, seeing that I got a full day's wage, I would have been overjoyed.

"Forgive your neighbors injustice, then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven" This quote from today's first reading sounds a lot like "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Sirach goes on to say that the way we treat others, particularly those with whom we are angry, is what we can expect from the Lord. "Can anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the Lord?"

When the forgiven man went to demand payment from his debtor, he heard from him the very same words and actions that he had so recently offered to the king. But the forgiven man did not recognize his own voice in the debtor. He did not see his plight in the debtor's plight. What he did not or would not see brought him to condemn himself with his own words and actions. He only made an inescapable demand on himself when he spoke to the debtor.

Today’s Readings are all about relationship. God expects all of us, every human being, to have the same relationship with each other and with God, as God has with us. And God has only one expectation concerning relationships, that they are relationships of love. Love as God sees love as an action, not as humanity sees love, defined as an intense feeling of deep affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth, intimacy,and other fuzzy feelings. These are simply feelings not love. It is the action of love that generates all the fuzzy feelings; an action that calls us to give of ourselves. Then through this self-giving we generate an array of warm fuzzy feelings for those to whom we give and for ourselves.

One of the important and more meaningful parts of Catholic doctrine that is often neglected or not so well developed in some Christian denominations is the incredible value of suffering. Many Christians believe that Jesus suffered and died for us so that we will not have to suffer at all. This is only partially true. When we go through the gospel, we see that Jesus never shies away from reminding his disciples the challenge of following him, and this includes suffering. He declared in the gospel: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."

Dear Parish family,

What is your commitment to Jesus Christ? Let me be clear, I'm not asking what your commitment used to be when you were younger, or what you would like it to be someday in the future, or what you wish it was like if only circumstances were different. The question really is what does my commitment to Jesus Christ look like today, this week, this month, and this year?

Up to this point in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has been challenging his disciples regularly with hard lessons, dispelling their false ideas with his truth, pointing out weaknesses they didn't know they had, and calling them to mature discipleship. Now Jesus brings them to Caesarea Philippi and asks them for a commitment. "Who do you say that I am?"

Today’s gospel presents us with the story of a Canaanite woman who seeks Jesus’ help for herdaughter who is under demonic influence. Jesus’ response and the woman’s faith challenge us onhow to respond when we seek God’s assistance in moment of need, trial and difficulty.

Jesus is Lord of all the winds and waves, of all nature. To believe in Jesus Christ is to believe in the Son of God, as God.

Whether control over nature, the healing of sickness, the raising of the daughter of Jairus from death, the multiplication of loaves of bread to feed 5000 people, or Jesus himself rising from the dead, we see His great signs and wonders. How slow are we to faith! We are afraid of so many things. Yet to trust in God is to know that his only Son will help us to walk out on the water as we face the storms of life.

Mary’s love for Jesus was surpassed by none other. She had a special love for her Son, who is God, that made a claim on her entire being, body and soul. It is no wonder then, that upon her death Mary was taken body and soul into heaven so that she in her totality could dwell forever with her Son. Our celebration gives us the opportunity to ponder what heaven may be like and help us to long, even more fervently, for the fulfillment and joy that only God can eternally provide.

Jesus speaks of himself as the 'son of man.' He used the generic expression that simply means 'man.' He used this expression to avoid misunderstandings that other titles say; king or messiah, might have caused.

He used the term also to refer to the vision in the book of Daniel in the first reading: 'son of man' refers to the one, who brings salvation to the world, which is a clear prophecy of the coming Messiah (Mt.20:28; Jn.3:13; 18:36).

“The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’” From the beginning, the Eucharist has been a source of controversy. Some people have always found the teaching difficult to accept. But as Catholics, the Blessed Sacrament is at the heart of our worship and our spirituality; we go to Mass to share in the holy sacrifice of Jesus’ body and blood, and we receive spiritual nourishment from partaking of this heavenly food. As Jesus himself tells us in today’s Gospel, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

Dear Parish Family,

Today, we celebrate not only an empty tomb, but the One who opened the tomb and left it empty.Jesus the Christ destroyed death; His death and our death. Fear of death may once have hadpower over us. But, for Jesus’ disciples, then and now, faith in Jesus Christ conquers that fear. Itis His gift of faith that brought us here today to celebrate His victory and worship Him as Lord ofthe world.

Dear Parish Family,

Today we carry palms. We wave them to welcome Jesus the messiah to take his throne in Jerusalem. Let us not miss how close we are to those who first waved these palms. We share thesame human nature and have the same need for this messiah to save us from our failings. In fact,we wave our palms together with them to welcome the same Jesus and proclaim him king of ourworld.

The Diocese of Zaria, Nigeria was erected on March 3, 2001 via promulgation by Blessed John Paul II with Bishop George J. Dodo appointed as first bishop. The Diocese of Zaria is located in Kaduna State of Nigeria with the majority of the population as Muslims. Zaria town has a total population of about 1.8m people and out of this 68,000 are Catholics.

God has created us and breathed his own life into us. He created this world for us to live in, supply all of our needs and to commune with him. We begin in a garden of God’s own design.

But, when the ancient serpent persuades us to doubt God by tempting us with the power to define (or redefine) good and evil according to our own will or desire, we find that his advice only leads us to a war within ourselves and between ourselves. Before Adam and Eve took the serpents advice we knew an inner peace and harmony. Our thoughts, our will, our passions were all working together. As people at peace with God and at peace within ourselves, we were always at peace with one another. But when we betrayed God’s gift by trying to take control and define (or redefine) human nature according to our own will, by deciding the definition of good and evil for ourselves, our mind, will and passions began to turn on one another. We lost God’s peace within ourselves and between ourselves. Adam and Eve covered themselves because they no longer trusted each other completely.