Truth & Mercy Series - October 25th 2026

“If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the door of the church, you will not find Him in the chalice.” - St. John Chrysostom. 

I love this quote from St. John Chrysostom so much because it opens our eyes to some worthy polarization that can sip into our lives as Catholics. This polarization is driven by power and its acquisition. It is a political trap to hoodwink the unsuspecting Catholic who desires to serve God with all their hearts. The Love of God the Father sent Jesus to come to us. He came with a heart and manifests God’s plans and mission in very clear words right in Galilee. These are His words and they have never changed. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. He has anointed Me to bring the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to captives and sight to the blind; to free the oppressed and to announce the Lord’s year of mercy.” (Luke 4: 18-19). 

Some have the warped understanding that when you speak about TRUTH, you are not merciful and vice versa. The truth is that God is of Truth and Mercy. The Sacred Heart of Jesus through which He gives of Himself calls people from their sins by “hurting” them with the truth and also embraces them in His Heart of mercy in the confessional. Jesus who said, “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4: 17), is the same one who defended the woman caught in adultery, not because He approved of her sins, but because He smelled hypocrisy. He enjoined her, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”  (John 8:11). The Sacred Heart of Jesus comes in touch with a concrete person and flows out in Mercy to them. Divine Mercy is the practical manifestation of the Divine Love from the heart of Jesus. 

In the over two thousand years of the Church’s history, this has not changed. God’s ways are so unique, His ways are not ours as the prophet Isaiah states. The community of Faith that God fashioned and continues to inspire through His Holy Spirit, has a mission to reach those who are far away, those who are near, those without shelter, those without knowledge of Him, those blind either spiritually or physically. The Spirit of God comes to change the dynamics of every soul that opens his/her heart to Him. God’s love is constant for each soul. God never alters His plan for humanity. God elevates and maintains human dignity whether you are poor or rich. We have the same status in His sight. He has no favorites as the Apostle Peter recognized in the home of Cornelius. The Spirit of God descended on everyone in the home, not minding whether they were circumcised or not. 

This is why those who come in Adoration should always remember that the Jesus who is sacramentally present on the Altar, is the same Jesus walking the street without clothes and needing our help. The Church will not fall into that ideological confusion which seeks to separate them. Let those who serve the poor, remember that Jesus waits for them also in the Tabernacle. Let us not fail to remember that Jesus chided Judas when he said this oil would have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus told him, “You will have the poor always but you will not always have Me (Matthew 26:6-13). Our visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament predispose our hearts to serve the poorest of the poor. We do not want to fall into the error of being tagged social workers.

In union of prayers, 

Fr. Nicholas Akindele, JCL