Truth & Mercy Series - July 12th 2026

Truth and Mercy series (July 13th)

“Thus says the LORD: They made kings in Israel, but not by My authority; they established princes, but without My approval.” (Hosea 8:4). 

God makes choices of those to serve Him and He establishes means of calling them. In this regard, God wants us to always use the means pleasing to Him in the choice of servants, apostles, disciples, priests and consecrated religious. This is because the choices must bear the stamp and authority of Heaven. The choices God makes for those to serve on the altars must accord with the wishes of His Most Sacred Heart. Hence, Jesus says, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send laborers into His vineyard.” (Matthew 9:38). The vision is His. It is the vision that determines who is called or chosen to serve. The choice of the 12 was testimony to this. 

The choices God makes continues His living vision and spiritual manifesto clearly made known in Saint Luke’s Gospel; “The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free.” (Luke 4:18). Precisely, Jesus has come to liberate from all the shackles that enslaves humanity. He has come to free us from all sins and death, the darkness of unbelief which stifles and kills. This ministry continues to this day through the Church and her sacred ministers. We cannot afford to change the winning formular. This formular won in the past and it will continue to win forever. This is premised on the fact that we keep faithfully to the path He has laid out for us. This path means that we do not “make priests, not by His authority or establish princes without his approval.” 

The way through which we know that we are threading on another path or an unsustainable path is when we begin to see the consequences of the choices we have made. The word of God says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16-17). This is the reason we are called to ask and pray to make informed choices as to who presides on the altar. Because we know too well that “A blind man cannot lead another, or else both will fall into the ditch”. The fruitfulness of the mission of the church today is tied to fidelity to Christ and His teachings. Jesus did not mince words when He told His Apostles on the eve of His departure that, “Without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). The reason Jesus and Mary grieve is because of the infidelity and disobedience of priests and consecrated religious people today and in the past too.

Jesus has sent to us Our Mother, the Maria Rosa Mystica, to remind us and call us back to Prayer, Penance, and Sacrifice. This not only helps us with the shortage of priests and religious but will also help reduce the ones who leave the ministry. This weekend in the parish, we shall be praying for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. I also invite you to our Marian procession in honor of Our Lady of Fatima and Maria Rosa Mystica on Monday July 13 at 5:30pm.

In union of prayers, 

Fr. Nicholas Akindele, JCL