Igbo Catholic Community
New York  @ Angela Merici  Catholic Church
917 Morris Avenue, Bronx, NY 10451
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Na Aha Nna, Na Nwa, Na Muo Nso. Amen.
Welcome to Igbo Catholic Community


2ND SUNDAY OF LENT_B


SACRIFICE



The offering of religious sacrifices are not novel to us as people of various faith traditions. We remember vividly how our traditionalists offered goats and chickens to the gods of our ancestors and under serious circumstances, human lives are offered to placate and appease the gods. It was also the practice in the ancient pagan world of Old Testament to sacrifice sons and daughters to the gods or demons. (Ps106:37; Lev17:7; & Ezk. 16:20-21)Usually, there is a victim, offered and there is also the offeror. Abraham had option to say no at God's command in order to protect his loving and only child of promise. In total submission to the will of God, he was ready and willing to obey God and sacrifice his son and lose his descendants. This singular sacrifice earned God's special love and made him our father in faith. When we express our faith and trust in God we can pull through any difficult situations and we become conquerors and over-comers. Jesus Christ did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. (Mtt20:28) The ultimate and supreme sacrifice was needed to expiate our sins since the blood of bulls and goats could not take away our sins. (Hebrew 10:4) Lenten season is a period that calls for sacrifices of various kinds in order to save others and save ourselves. We really need to offer up something meaningful this season for someone else to be saved. We can become the victims and not the users. "You can't achieve anything in life without a small amount of sacrifice." It is in the light of the quantum achievement made by Christ through His sacrifice on the cross that Mahatma Gandhi wrote :"A man who was completely innocent offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and become the ransom of the world. It is a perfect act." Let us imitate Christ a little bit this season and become victims of sacrifices for the good of others.

Happy Sunday!!


BY REV. FR. STEPHEN OKEKE
Mission

Our mission is to establish a thriving Catholic ethnic community for the Igbo Diaspora in New York. We seek to build a community that galvanizes and serves as a rallying point, a fountain of hope, and a forum for the worship of Almighty God in Igbo language and in accordance with the Roman Catholic faith. We envision a community that preserves and perpetuates the Igbo culture, language, social values, charity, and our Roman Catholic heritage through evangelization, catechesis, Bible studies, and advancement of Catholic principles and ideals.