WHO AM I?

JOHN THE BAPTIST [Mtt.11:11]-
“…Who are you? He declared, he did not deny but declared, I am not the Christ. So they asked, then you are Elijah? He replied, I am not. Are you the Prophet? He answered, No. So they said to him, who are you? We must take back answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself? So he said, I am, as Isaiah prophesied:
A voice of one that cries in the desert:
Prepare a way for the Lord.
Make his paths straight!” {Jn.1:19-23}

JESUS CHRIST; OUR GOD, SAVIOR, REDEEMER, IMMANUEL AND RIGHTEUOSNESS-
‘…who do people say the Son of man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But you, he said, who do you say I am? Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, You are Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus replied, Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human agency that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven’ {Mtt.16:13-17}

----from the perspective of John the Baptist, it takes humility (he who humbles himself will be exalted and vice versa) to accept our nothingness [“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I shall return again…” Job 1:21] before God in order to fill the power of His love urging us on thus ‘he who humbles himself will be exalted’. Without the virtue of humility and a host of other virtues we may be standing in the realm of lip-service Christianity (“this people honors me only with lip-service while their hearts are far from me. Their reverence of me is worthless; the lessons they teach are nothing but human commandments” Mtt.15:8) which makes our cry to God for healing [personal, family, country e.t.c] seem more of a mockery of ourselves ‘…those who honor me I honor in my turn and those who despise me will be an object of contempt’ {1Sam.2:30} and “if my people who bear my name humble themselves and pray and seek my presence and turn from their wicked ways, then I will listen from heaven and forgive their sins and restore their country” [2Chr.7:14]

----from the side of Our Lord and Master (Sirach 36:1) Jesus Christ; there is need for reflection and thought provoking questions to ourselves and others around us about what we depict in their presence as well as what we are to God Our Creator {Gen.1:27} in the absence of peoples observation (gaze) i.e the thoughts [“More than all else, keep watch over your heart, since here are the wellsprings of life” Prov.4:23] we feed our minds with when alone, the pictures/videos/books/songs we hold-unto {downloading via internet, camera phones} or share (uploading via internet, camera phones) when no one seems to be around [‘A word is not yet on my tongue before you, Lord know all about it’ Ps.139:4], the things we do with same/opposite sex behind closed doors (“The Lord says this, out of your own household I shall raise misfortune for you. Before your very eyes I shall you’re your wives and give them to your neighbor, who will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You have worked in secret, but I shall work this for all Israel to see in broad daylight” 2Sam.12:11-12) as well as with our body-parts when alone {‘…I know about your behavior: how you are reputed to be alive and yet ye are dead’ Rev.3:1}, the speech, gesticulations, dressing/eating/sitting-habit during the day in and around the house/streets/schools/office-apartments/church/institutions e.t.c what impression and thoughts does it promote on the hearts of passers-by [“ “no foul word should ever cross your lips; let your words be for the improvement of others, as occasion offers and do good to your listeners” Eph.4:29, ‘others you must save by snatching them from the fire; to others again you must be compassionate but wary hating even the tunic (clothes) stained by their bodies’ Jude 1:23] as well as personal accruals? (“To which Samuel said: is the Lord pleased by burnt offerings and sacrifices or by obedience to the Lord’s voice? Truly, obedience is better than sacrifice, submissiveness than the fat of rams. Rebellion is a sin of sorcery, presumption a crime of idolatry!” 1Sam 15:22, ‘a woman must not dress like a man, nor a man like a woman; anyone who does this is detestable to the Lord your God’ Deut.22:5)

When you ask questions about whom you are to people in and around your world; you will get both positive and negative answers: thank God for both responses as they are his secrets revealed only to the innocent and child-like (‘at the time Jesus exclaimed, I bless you Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father for that is what it pleased you to do’ Mtt.11:25-26) then focus more on the negative comments, without sentiments and bias as well as openness to Grace (‘none of the trials which have come upon you is more than a human being can stand. You can trust that God will not let you be put to the test beyond your strength, but with any trial will also provide a way out by enabling you to put up with it’ 1 Cor.10:13) and the Holy Spirit [Jn16:8-11, Jn.8:32] work on it by rejecting such behaviors, attitude, thoughts, ideas as well as renouncing/fleeing the environment [unholy tie with a man/woman/spirits via internet/physical realm, pornographic pictures/videos/books/leaflets/songs, clothes that promote lust/scandal amongst other people who are weak (women; tight-skirts/tops /mini-skirts/transparent clothes/visible under wear lines/strapless gowns/sleeveless tops/V-neck &show-back tops/trousers/bomb-shots)\ (men; boxers/short knickers/sleeveless tops/sagging & tight trousers) ], unforgiving spirit, slander, back-biting, pride, anger, jealousy, drunkenness, lying lips {Hell-fire; Rev.21:8}, smoking, idolatry, haughty look, abortion, glutton, partying-spirit, spite, heresy (leaving the One, Holy & Apostolic Church of Christ for miracles; Jer.14:14-16, Lk.17:21). The renouncement of these environments is followed up by a replacement of the above attributes with virtues of reading, meditating, and living on the word of God [Col.4:5], building up decent friendship with those who are desirous of righteousness (Mtt.5:6) within the foundation laid on the apostles and prophets {1 Cor.3:11, Eph.2:20} with Christ as the corner-stone in order to consistently maintain a righteous path with God till the end (‘but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved’ Mtt.24:13)
WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?

LEGACY:

“That is why I will always go on recalling the same truths to you, even though you already know them and are firmly fixed in these truths. I am sure it is my duty, as long as I am in this tent, to keep stirring you up with reminders, since I know the time for me to lay aside this tent is coming soon as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I shall take great care that after my own departure you will still have a means to recall these things to mind” [2 Pet.1:12-15]
The call to share the message of Christ in all its richness (‘let the Word of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God’ Col.3:16) to the whole world starting from the lost sheep of the house of Israel i.e your primary base; family-members, classmates, office-colleagues, lodge-mates, neighbors, village-members, place of residence, church-members (priests as well as lay faithful) e.t.c {Mtt.10:6} is not for some people but for everybody (“and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to bear witness that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead” Acts.10:42) through the various forms of prayer:

Contemplative; by way of praying for those making ourselves both the good and the bad; “I urge then, first of all that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving should be offered for everyone” {1 Tim.2:1} and ‘you have heard how it was said; you will love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ (Mtt.5:43-44)

Outreach; by way of reflecting Christ (Christ centric behaviors) on every single activity, routine and habit [thoughts of our hearts; Prov.4:23, words of our mouth; Eph.4:29, Passions; Sirach 18:30, use of body parts; Rom.8:12-13] within the 24-hrs of the day and everyday of our lives {“and whatever you say or do, let it be in the name of the Lord Jesus, in thanksgiving to God the Father through him” Col.3:17} and [‘whatever you eat, then or drink and whatever else you do, do it all for the glory of God’ 1 Cor.10:31].

For when we are able to offer this type of prayer for others we will receive a bountiful fold (‘… and the standard you use will be the standard used for you’ Mtt.7:2), leave an impression on those around you that will always remind them of God when you are temporary out of sight (work transfer, change of marital status, away from home e.t.c; “I write this to you in the hope that I may be able to come to you soon” 1 Tim.3:14) or gone to the world beyond (‘since human beings die only once, after which comes judgment’ Heb.9:27) while failure to offer this type of prayer of glory to God which yields short and long term blessings (‘a blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I enjoin on you today’ Deut.11:27) means disobedience to God {“for my part, far be it from me to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you or to instruct you in the good and right way” 1 Sam.12:23} and a display of foolishness (‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools spurn wisdom and discipline’ Prov.1:7)

Let us therefore make efforts to extricate ourselves from any tie to sins (‘with so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us, we too, then should throw off everything that weighs us down and the sin that clings so closely and with perseverance keep running in the race which lies ahead of us’ Heb.12:1), reconcile with God {“if you come back Israel, the Lord declares, if you come back to me, if you take your horrors out of my sight, if you go roving no more, if you swear, As the Lord lives! Truthfully, justly, uprightly, then the nations will bless themselves by him and glory in him” Jer.4:2} and open up to Grace and the guidance of the Holy Spirit (‘may he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people and how extraordinarily great is the power that he has exercised for us believers; this accords with the strength of his power’ Eph.1:18-19) in order to be found worthy in the eyes of God if death comes the next second (“You too must stand ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect” Lk.12:40).

SABBATH-SUNDAY; THE SHIFT:

In the days of old before the coming of Christ, the seventh {7th} day of the week (saturday)  was honored as the day God rested after creation (On the Seventh day God had completed the work he had been doing. He rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day he rested after all his work of creating; Gen.2:2-3) this being the fundamental derivation of the 3^rd commandment

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT:

“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath for the Lord your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor your son nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals nor the alien living with you. For six days the Lord made the heavens, earth and sea and all that these contain but on the seventh day he rested; that is why the Lord has blessed the Sabbath day and made it sacred” [Ex.20:8-11]. After the resurrection of Christ from the dead on the first day of the week; Sunday (‘after the Sabbath and towards dawn on the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to visit the sepulcher. And suddenly there was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it’ Matthew 28:1, 9, 10; Mark 16:9; Luke 24:1, 13, 15; John 20:19, 26Jn.20:1). Our early Fathers called it ‘the day of the Lord’ {“it was the Lord’s Day…” (Rev.1:10) the day after the Sabbath, and the Feast of Firstfruits—which is why Paul calls Jesus’ resurrection the firstfruits of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20). Since it is the first day of the week, it is also the eighth day of the previous week, the day of the new creation (the allusion in 2 Corinthians 5:17) as we feel it symbolically represents the acceptance of Christ as Messiah, and his broadening blessing and redemption to the whole world}

 And they worshipped on that day (‘on the first day of the week we met for the breaking of bread. Paul was due to leave the next day and he preached a sermon that went on till the middle of the night’ Acts.20:7 AND “Now about the collection for God’s holy people; you are to do the same as I prescribed for the churches in Galatia. On the first day of the week, each of you should put aside and reserve as much as each can spare; do not delay the collection till I arrive” 1 Cor.16:1-2) and this is one of the traditions handed on to the first Christians with strict adherence by the apostles. For them, this was "the truth" from which they ought not to deviate ... Acts 2:42, Jude 3f, 11 Timothy 2:2, Titus 1:9, Romans 6:17.

Once upon a time all Christians were Catholic, the official decree of Emperor Constantine (321 A.D) for Sunday as a day of worship was approved by the 33^rd Pope of the Church (Sylvester I; 314-335) with the positional authority of St. Peter {‘…whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven…’ Mtt.16:18-19} and Catholic bishops later made this church dogma at the Council of Laodicea (363 A.D.) though with this scriptural passage “Each day, with one heart, they regularly went to the Temple but met in their houses for the breaking of bread; they shared their food gladly and generously” (Acts.2:46) it became more defined for Christians to worship everyday thus every priest must offer Holy Mass for the life of the world  (‘…and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world’ Jn.6:51) each day with or without the congregation. Sunday is seen as a special day of honor and worship to God through Christ the Head  and Corner-stone of the foundation laid on the apostles and prophets; the Church (Eph.2:19-22, 5:23)as Sabbath was with the Israelites who offered direct sacrifice to God the Father in the old testament.

Must one go to Church on Sunday?

Yes; in obedience to the 3^rd commandment (‘I rejoiced when I heard them say let us go the house of the Lord’ Ps.122:1) because it is the fundamental classroom for gaining true knowledge about God and morality {“many people will come to it and say, come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths...” Isaiah 2:3, ‘the church of the living God, pillar and support of the truth’ 1 Tim.3:15, “better one day in your courts than a thousand at my own devices, to stand on the threshold of God’s house than to live in the tents of the wicked” Ps.84:10, ‘listen to the entreaty of your servant and of your people Israel; whenever they pray in this place, listen from the place where you reside in heaven; and when you hear, forgive’ 1kgs.8:30} as well as offering the thanksgiving sacrifice (Holy Mass; …do this in remembrance of me…Lk.22:19-20) without which there will be no remission of sin (Heb.9:22).

The Didache, is also known as "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles".  It is an ancient Christian text that was probably a catechism, used by the early Church.

 And on the Lord's own day gather yourselves together and break bread and give thanks, first confessing your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure.  And let no man, having his dispute with his fellow; join your assembly until they have been reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be defiled; for this sacrifice it is that was spoken of by the Lord; Didache, paragraph 14 (probably written between 70-140 A.D.)

Buying and Selling not permissible on Sabbath and Holy days of Obligation:

“…If the people of the country bring goods or foodstuff of any kind to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy anything from them on Sabbath or holy day…” {Neh.10:31-32} unless in the cases of emergency on life issues with regards to drug dispensation and medical attention for pharmacist, hospitals and doctors including transporters and Gasoline sellers (Filling-station dealers) that provide easy movement to and fro the Church hence ‘…for the Son of man is master of the Sabbath’ [Mtt.12:1-8]

Cooking and eating is permissible on Sabbath and Holy days of Obligation:

‘He then said, You may go; eat what is rich, drink what is sweet and send helping to the man who has nothing prepared. For today is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold’ (Neh.8:10) nevertheless glutton, drunkenness, orgies and partying spirit is not encouraged (Gal.5:21) as those who indulge in such actions will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Cathechism and Benediction in the Evening:

“In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for the fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, Peace be with you” {Jn.20:19} hence the church calls her members for evening instructions on faith, morality and doctrines of the church in order to gain knowledge which will help them pull through our different endeavors while maintaining our integrity with our God (Job 27:5) for those who will not be opportuned to attend daily Mass within the week which is sealed with the ‘peace’ Our Eucharistic Lord himself gives to all present for a blossoming week ahead.

THE FOUR LAST THINGS:

THE FOUR LAST THINGS:
The way in which we dress, talk, behave, think (thoughts of our hearts; Prov.4:23) sing, dance, read {the type of books we read}, visualize [people’s appearance we gaze at, videos and pictures we watch and keep around us], relationships (we indulge in), beliefs (religion/denomination) e.t.c are prayers (‘and whatever you say or do, let it be in the name of the Lord Jesus, in thanksgiving to God the Father through him’ Col.3:17) we make to God either to honor HIM (‘a blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I enjoin on you today’ Deut.11:27) or insult the Spirit of Grace within us {“and you may be sure that anyone who tramples on the Son of God and who treats the blood of the covenant which sanctified him as if it were not holy and who insults the Spirit of grace, will be condemned to a far severe punishment” Heb.10:29}. Those who commit sin with the intention of going to attend the sacrament of reconciliation within the week be careful because you might die in the act or about to engage in the act [‘you too must stand ready, because the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect’ Lk.12:40] and there is a punishment for effects of the sins we have been forgiven (‘if, after we have been given knowledge of the truth, we should deliberately commit any sins then there is no longer any sacrifice for them. There is only the dreadful prospect of judgment and of the fiery wrath that is to devour your enemies’ Heb.10:26), {“Lord our God, you answered them, you were a God of forgiveness to them but punished them for their sins” Ps.99:8} hence before you engage in any of the above behaviors and attitude think about death, judgment, Hell and Heaven.