SUNDAY REFLECTIONS FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2026

SUNDAY REFLECTIONS FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2026

FIRST SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER 01 (SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS)

READINGS: Apoc. 7:2-4,9-14; Ps. 24:1-6; 1 John 3:1-3; Matt 5:1-12

THEME: LIKE THE SAINTS, KEEP YOUR ROBE ALWAYS WHITE!

The solemnity of all saints reminds us of the faith of the Church that our life does not end here on earth. When the Church sings “Indeed for your faithful Lord, life is changed not ended, and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven” she is not just singing the beautiful preface for the dead, rather she is making her firm profession of faith in the life of the children of God hereafter. Celebrating the solemnity of all the saints makes it clearer of the communion that exists between the Church Militant (Ecclesia Militans), Church Suffering (Ecclesia Penitent) and Church Triumphant (Eccleia Triumphans).

In this month of November, these different arms of the Church are seen in communion. Today, the whole church celebrates and rejoices with her triumphed sons and daughters. Tomorrow, 02 November, the church, the mother, remembers and prays for her penitent children who are still undergoing period of purification before the glorious reunion with the Lord. In this way, the church reminds and prepares her militant children for the life hereafter.

WHO ARE THESE TRIUMPHED BRETHREN?

In the first reading of today (Apoc. 7:2-4,9-14) we are given two groups of those John saw: the numbered and sealed sons and daughters from the tribes of Israel; and the innumerable ones from every nation, tribe, race, language.

Hence, we have people from the covenant race (Israel) and people from other races. The picture John tries to create here is that the saints are not only those whose number is known, those whose records are with the church, those who belong to the new covenant people, but that there will be many others, unknown and uncounted, who will come from other places outside the tribe of Israel, that is, outside the covenant nation. This idea is not new here because already in the gospel of John 1:10-13 we see what I may call the

Deconstruction and the Reconstruction of those to be called Children of God. Jesus Christ, the Word made Flesh, deconstructed the normal criterion of becoming children of God, that is, those born of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man (v.13), those who belong to

Abraham’s race, the circumcised children of Abraham; and reconstructed it to be those who accept him, those who are born of God. Such people, no matter their race and genealogy, who belong to Christ through their faith in him and their acceptance of him, Jesus Christ gives the power to be called children of God (John 1:12).

1. ‘THE SAINTS ARE THOSE DRESSED IN WHITE ROBES’ (Apoc. 7:9)

However, there is something common for both the hundred and forty-four thousand Triumphant from the tribes of Israel, and the innumerable others from every nation and race.

These people whom John saw have their common identity: they are all dressed in white robes.

And these white robes were not already made and given to them. Rather, they themselves made their robes white by washing it in the blood of the lamb. In this way, the scripture makes us to understand that the saints, the Triumphant, are those who, upon waking up in the other world,

will find the robes they are wearing to be white. This means that while on earth, each one of us is given a white robe which is expected to be white when we wake up in the other world. b. ‘THEY MADE THEIR ROBES WHITE IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB’ (Apoc. 7:14b)

One thing which this statement teaches us is that while on earth, every one of the saints had a robe. Hence, all of us in this world have a robe given to us.

Furthermore, the statement that these men and women made their robes white suggests that their robes were not white before. It became white only after they had washed it in the blood of the Lamb. The explanation we can have is that all of us received a dirty robe, a robe stained by the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. In the baptism, these our inherited stained robes are washed in the water of baptism and given to us. We are instructed by the Church to make sure that the robes remain white throughout our lifetime. But then, along the way, as we go through the stumps and rugged ways of life wearing our white robes, we fall into dirt of sin, into mucky pit of fornication and adultery, into pungent water of abortion, anger, jealousy, envy, slander etc., and the robes become stained again. Whenever we get up and approach the merciful throne of God in the sacrament of reconciliation, our robes become white-washed again.

Hence, the saints are those who, receiving the stained robe from Adam, our first parent, washed it white in the blood of Christ, the Lamb, our new Adam. They are also those whose robes, having been stained by sin, do not delay approaching the throne of God and to endure life hardships and persecutions for the sake of God. Hence, we have the common saying that the saints were once sinners. The difference is that they kept on struggling, making sure that their robes are always white. When they were stained, they did not waste getting it whitewashed in the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ.

1. THEY ARE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH GREAT PERSECUTION

John described the saints as those who have endured great persecution. But then the question is “what can be qualified as a persecution? The persecutions are highlighted in the gospel reading.

In a world where people canonize riches in whatever form it comes, poverty of any form becomes a rejection. In a world where might is celebrated, the humble and gentle becomes something of ridicule. In a world where people hunger for many things but the things of God, the hunger for righteousness becomes a self-deception. In a world where an eye goes for an eye, preaching of mercy becomes a message for the weak. In a world where people no longer care for purity and sanity, where people celebrate nudity and impurity as celebrity, the one who struggles towards purity becomes a backward person. In a world where war is being promoted directly and indirectly, a peacemaker becomes a weakling and a loser.

To live in our world today according to the details of the Beatitudes presented to us in the gospel, is to face great persecutions of different kinds. Yet, in them lies the blessedness of life and the whitewashing of our robes. The saints we celebrate today were known for either one or more of these beatitudes. And by living them out, they gained the eternal reward of the children of God.

Dear friends, the saints remind us of the great privilege we have to be called children of God (1 John 3:1). They call on us and challenge us to live every day of our lives as God’s children, so that after our life here on earth, we can behold him who owns us and be like him in his immortality and live with him in his eternity. Amen

Fr. Henry Chukwuezugo Nnamah.

THEMES FOR FURTHER TEACHINGS BASED ON THE READINGS OF THE DAY

First Reading (Apoc. 7:2-4,9-14)

1. John saw in his vision, people from other nations to be included in those who stand before God. Teaching on the exclusive nature of God’s children in the Old Testament, especially in the Pentateuch; the raising of the bar and the move toward inclusivity in the Prophets, especially Isaiah; and then the total opening and inclusiveness in the New Testament.

2. Teaching on the robes especially the baptismal robe. The significance of the white robe given to one in baptism.

3. It is possible for one to ask the significance of hundred and forty-four thousand sealed people from the tribe of Israel. Does it mean that only this number of people are saved from the tribe of Israel?

Second Reading (1 John 3:1-3)

1. What are ways one can become member of God’s family?
2. It says that when what we shall be in the future is revealed, we shall be like God. How is God? If God is spirit, who can we then see him as he is really is?

Gospel (Matt 5:1-12)

1. The Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes (Moses and Jesus Christ)
2. How can one live the beatitudes in our world today?

 

NOVEMBER 08 (Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A)

READINGS: Wis 6:12-16; Psa 62:2-8; 1 Thess 4:13-18; Matt 25:1-13

THEME: EVEN WHEN YOU SLEEP, KEEP YOUR OIL READY

Beloved in Christ, we are still in the month of November, the month in which we not only pray

in a special way for the dead, but also remind ourselves of the importance of being always

ready for our own death. Today, we reflect on the following points from the readings:

1. PREPARATIONS FOR THE ARRIVAL OF THE BRIDEGROOM

The gospel reading presents us with this Jewish setting of wedding banquet in which everyone had to wait for the arrival of the bridegroom. Among the people waiting were the bridesmaids. We do not know if the bride was already in the wedding hall with these bridesmaids, or she later came in with the bridegroom. But the most important thing to note is that the bridesmaids were expected to wait until the bridegroom arrives. In this parable, the five foolish virgins started failing even before the arrival of the bridegroom. They knew that their lamps would be needed, so they carried their lamps along. But it did not occur to them that their lamps could not burn without oil. They thought they were prepared, but in fact, they were not. 

Sometimes, we think we have everything needed to welcome the Lord when he comes, sometimes we think that our being Christians is already a certificate that qualifies us for the Day of the Lord. But how can a lamp burn without its oil? Sometimes we pray and work, believing that we have done everything sufficient to make our prayers be answered, to bring success to our work. But could it be that there is something as essential as oil for the lamp, which is still missing in our preparation?

1. THE BRIDEGROOM ARRIVES NOT AT THE EXPECTED HOUR

We all are familiar with this particular problem: the lateness of the ‘about-to-wed’ couple always to the Mass. In the parable, the bridegroom was also late, or better put, he did not come at the expected time. Having waited for him, everybody, the wise and the foolish ones, all fell asleep. We all get tired while waiting for God to accomplish something in our lives. 

Just like the bridesmaids, we can also fall asleep while waiting for the bridegroom, Christ the Lord. To sleep means to become uninterested, to become totally dismayed. It can also mean, giving up on ourselves and on our aspirations and goals. But I want us to observe something in the lives of these bridesmaids, both the wise ones and the foolish ones. When they waited for the groom and he did not come at the expected time, they all became weak and began to sleep, but they never moved away from the arena where they were asked to stay and wait for the groom. 

Yes, they fell asleep, but they never abandoned the place of expectancy. In the same way, we can get tired of waiting for God to come to us, not because God is late, but because he did not come as and when we expect him, but we must never abandon the good place in which we are.

Second point to note is that death meets all of us, the wise and foolish alike. In the Biblical world, to fall asleep also connotes death. No matter how holy and ready and prepared we are or not, at certain point in our lives, our body will become weak, and death will occur.

Hence, death is not a punishment for the wicked, but something inevitable for everyone. But even when we are dead, the things we have carried throughout our lifetime, will be there with

1. If we have brought only lamps without oil, death will meet us there. If we have accompanied our lives with oil of love, peace, justice, uprightness, etc, they will all be present with us until the arrival of the bridegroom, Christ the Lord.

c. THE BRIDEGROOM ARRIVES IN THE MIDNIGHT

The parable says that while everyone was sleeping, the bridegroom arrived. He arrived in the midnight, that is, at the time when day has passed, the early hours of night had also passed, hence, there could not have been any other hope left that the bridegroom would still arrive.

Dearest friends, such is how life goes. Some people receive the divine visit in the morning of their lives, some in the afternoon, some in the evening, then some in the very deep hour or even last minute of the night. When we see those whose own visitation happened earlier, we should not lose hope, thinking that God has abandoned us. The scripture says, “he will come to you at the hour you do not expect”. The bridegroom arrived at the same place the bridesmaids were asked to wait for him. 

Assuming they had left the place after they waited, they would not have even known when he arrived. This is a call to me and you that even when we get tired of waiting, we should remain in uprightness and righteousness, we should remain committed to our worship of God, we should remain committed to the worthy and frequent reception of the sacraments. When the bridegroom arrived, there was a cry: “the bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.” 

This shout corresponds to what St. Paul said in the second reading that when the Lord comes, “there would be sounding of trumpet, and the voice of the archangel will call out the command” (1 Thess 4:16). And when this cry went out, both the foolish and the wise virgins heard it and woke up. On the last day, both the righteous and the wicked will hear the voice of the Lord, and all will be awakened.

1. PLEASE GIVE US SOME OF YOUR OIL

When the bridesmaids heard of the arrival of the bridegroom, they all woke up. Now, it was the time to put on the lamp for the bridegroom to see. It was only then that the distinction is made between the wise virgins and the foolish ones. While the wise virgins had the oil for their lamps, the foolish ones did not bring any. Oil, in this context means all the good things one had done. Life without good qualities is as useless as lamp without life. It is only our good deeds that make our lives to shine when the Lord appears. 

The fact that the bridegroom arrived in the night necessitated the putting on of the lamp. But because the virgins lived during the day and went for the activity during the day, while the wise ones remembered that night would come when they would need their lamps to be burning, the foolish ones forgot to think of the night of their lives.

Dearest friends, while we live in the day, we must not forget that night must definitely come. While we enjoy the life we have, we must not forget to get ready the oil that will give us light when it is dark, and when the Lord appears. We must also remember that certain things cannot be given, not because the owners are wicked or stingy, but because they are not meant to be shared, they are meant to be acquired. And these things must be acquired at their right time, otherwise, it becomes too late. Virtues are not something one can lend to another, it is what one has to acquire by himself/herself.

We pray God to give us wisdom to know how to get ourselves always ready for his coming.

We pray that the wisdom of God enables us to understand that God does not work according to our calculations and rhythms so that we never give up hope while waiting for God to visit us with his blessings and consolations.

Fr. Henry Chukwuezugo Nnamah

 

NOVEMBER 15, 2026 (THIRTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A)

READINGS: Proverbs 31:10-13,19-20,30-31; Ps. 128:1-5; 1 Thess 5:1-6; Matt 25:14-30

THEME: GREATNESS IN SMALL THINGS

Dear friends, it is St. Theresa of the Child Jesus who is known for “Little Way to Heaven” because she believed and convinced herself that there is holiness and greatness in doing little things of life with so great a love. She decided to be known as a saint who was doing little things in an extraordinary way with an extraordinary love and joy. The little saint taught us that there is greatness in the way little things are handled. The parable of talents from today’s gospel challenges all of us to make use of that talent, even the one considered nothing or too small.

SERVANTS WITH GIVEN TALENTS

The gospel reading of today presents to us a master and his three servants. This man bestows some talents to his servants according to their capacities. There is none of the servants who was not without a talent from the master. 

Dear friends, we are all servants of God, we are all children of God sent to the world for a mission. Each one is given a mission by God and that we may be able to accomplish the given mission, God the Father also gave each one of us the talents, the gifts, that will help each one in carrying out his/her mission. The question we must each ask ourselves today is “what is my God-given talent” then “why am I given this talent”. It is one thing to know the talents/gifts one has, and another thing to discover the mission or assignment from God which those gifts are to help in accomplishing.

TALENTS ARE GIVEN ACCORDING TO EACH ONE’S ABILITY

God knows each one of us and knows our individual abilities. In sending on a mission, and in giving gifts, he gives us according to our abilities. Hence, before even we came to the world, God has already set in place the mission we are to carry out and the things that will help us.

The talents are proportional to the mission. We must not be envious of other people’s talents, especially when they seem to have more talents that we have. Again, we must use our talents according to the mission they are given for. It does not matter if I have one talent or ten or twenty. What matters is that I am able to discover my talent and mission and use it for the work of God among men. What is important is not whether my talent is small or big, one or many, but how I invest it. A friend of mine did apprenticeship under someone for seven good years.

In the course of these seven years, there was no bad story nor any issue between him and his master. Few months before his settlement as agreed, the master sold everything and travelled to Canada with his wife, leaving just one shop running for the three boys under him. Meanwhile one of the boys was his blood brother. At the end, when it was time to settle my friend, he was thinking that the man would ask him to take over the shop and then find another thing for the other two boys. The man instead sent N250,000 to my friend as his settlement, nothing more added. No shop, no house. This was in 2015/2016. 

My friend was devastated. What would he achieve with N250,000? Where would he begin from? These were the questions my friend was asking, with tears and feelings of disappointment and betrayal. He decided to come back to the village. Few days after he came down from Lagos, I came back from school and visited him. I told him “Coming back to the village is not an option. Success does not depend on how much money used to start a business but God’s decision to bless and one’s commitment to succeed’.

I encouraged him to go back to Lagos. After two days, he carried his bags, went back to Lagos, went to another city far away from where he was living with his master, bought a mini container, bought few electricals, and started his business. He was using the container both as a shop and as his home. 

During the day, he would open for business, at night, he will close, bring down his mattrass and mosquito net, and sleep. After few months, he moved into one room, still using his container as a shop. Now, this my friend has three shops in Lagos, four boys learning the business under him, his own house, his own car, a wife and three sons. He would always say to me, “Fada my friend, this is the life N250,000 gave me”. Then I would always tell him, “The talent might be one, but the fruitfulness and the multiplication belongs to God and you – You to make effort and remain focused, God to bless and protect”. Dear friends, I tell you the same, “the talent may be one, but the multiplication belongs to God and you”.

TALENTS ARE TO BE MULTIPLIED, AND NOT BURIED

The first order given to man immediately after he was created contains four important verbs: וּ ֥ר ְּפ(peru, which means “bear fruit! /be fruitful!) וּ ֛ב ְר (rebu, that is ‘be(come) numerous/multiply); וּ ֥א ְל ִמ (mil,u, that is, fill up (the earth!) and ָהֻׁ֑ ש ְב ִכ (kivsh(ah), that is, subdue the earth!). The first verb (peru) suggests that at our creation, God made each of us to be fruitful. We are all capable of bearing fruits. The capacity to bear fruit is represented by the different talents given to each one of us. Then the second and the third verbs (rebu and mil,u) represent what we are to do with our fruit-bearing capacities, our fruit-bearing talents.

Hence, dear brothers and sisters, our talents are meant to be multiplied, to be multiplied in the world, to be multiplied in people. In the parable of today, the man with five talents, went out, used his talents, and brought increase of five talents more. The same as the servant with two.

One can say that they taught their talents to more five and two persons respectively, and the talents increased, and the people with such talents increased also. It is important to note that even though they invested their five and two talents respectively, they still got back their original five and two talents. Sometimes, the fear of some of us is that when we invest in others, when we teach others what we know, when we train people to acquire the skills we have, we may lose our skills or become less than those we taught. 

But the parable today teaches us that when we multiply in others the gifts we have, our gifts do not diminish rather the gifts become multiplied in the world.

WHERE AND WHY ARE YOU HIDING YOUR TALENT?

The one with one talent went and buried his own. The problem the master had was not even that he did not use the talent but that he deposited it where the talent had no chance of increasing even without him. Some of us not only intentionally do not want to bring out God-given talent in them, but they also keep it in such a way that the people who might have the need of that talent would never have access to it. Where is you talent? Where are you hiding it? Why are you hiding it? 

The servant said that he hid his talent because of his impression about the personality of his master which gave birth to fear in him (Matt 25:24). I do not know if you are hiding yourself and your talent, where you are hiding it, and why.

Do not be afraid to invest that small money in your account. Do not be afraid to go into that business because of fear of the risks. Do not be afraid to share with others the things God has blessed you with. Do not be afraid to increase and multiply in others the talents God has deposited in you. When you put that your talent out into the world, and I put out mine, the world will be a better place.

Fr. Henry Chukwuezugo Nnamah

 

NOVEMBER 22, 2026 (SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING)

READINGS: Ez. 34:11-12,15-17; Psa. 23:1-3,5-6; 1 Cor 15:20-26,28; Matt 25:31-46

THEME: ALLOW CHRIST TO BE THE KING OF YOUR LIFE

Dearest in Christ, with the feast of Christ the King, the Church concludes her liturgical year.

Hence, next Sunday, we begin a new liturgical year. The first question we have to ask is: why is this feast celebrated? To this, we have three reasons:

1. Pastoral: The first world war was very devastating. The question was “why would kings of the world not seek for peace but decided to go to war and wasted many lives?” So, after the war in 1925, Pope Pius XI introduced the feast of Christ the King in order to show the lack of peace in the world as a sign of limitation of the earthly kings. Hence, if the world fails to recognize the kingship of Christ, if the human kings do not place themselves under the kingdom of Christ, then they will always miss the road that leads to peace.
2. Liturgical: with the feast of Christ the King at the end of the Church’s liturgical year, theChurch shows Christ to be the alpha and the omega of the Church’s life and teachings.
3. Spiritual: the feast of Christ the King reminds us that at the conclusion of our life, we are going to stand before the true King who will reward each one of us according to our deeds.

Although merciful he is, he is also a just God. All of us are subjects of Christ the King. Are you in the kingdom of Christ or in the kingdom of men?

1. GIVE US A KING JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER NATION

The reading of today, especially the first reading takes us back to 1 Samuel 8. When Israel finally settled in the land of their Promise, they were surrendered by many nations like Edom, Moab, Hatti, Egypt, etc. and these other nations had their kings and also their own gods, but Israel had no human king. Now, having seen others, and wishing to be like them, the elders gathered and said to Samuel, “appoint for us a king to rule us like other nations”. (1 Sam 8:5).

Although God understood this request of the people to mean that his own people have rejected him as their king (1 Sam 8:7), he still ordered Samuel to listen to their request. Even when Samuel explains to the people the implication of refusing God and choosing human kings (1 Sam 8:9-17), and they still insisted on having human king (1 Sam 8:19-20), God still said to him: “Listen to their voice and set a king over them” (1 Sam 8:22). 

This shows us that, although God wishes to be the one who rules our lives, he does not impose himself upon us. He knows that only him can lead his own people and do good to them, yet, he respected their choice, he did not force himself on them. 

Today, someone will want to rule, and people even when people do not want him to rule, he will impose himself, kill many people, do a lot of atrocities, tell lies just to make sure that he secures that political position. A true king does not fight for a kingdom or a right to rule, and when people refuse him as a ruler, he respects the people’s choice. So, the people of Israel started having humans as their kings, beginning with Saul.

1. THE FAILURE OF THE ISRAEL’S HUMAN-KINGS

Having gained human kings like every other nation, the people of Israel also began to suffer the limitations and the internal struggles over ‘who will be king’ like every other nation around them. Some of their kings maltreated them; some positioned themselves as gods; some led them into injustice and away from God. It is true that the people of Israel were a stubborn nation, but their exile to Egypt and Babylon respectively, was highly attributed to the lack of good kings. Shortly before what we have as our first reading today, we see the God expresses through prophet Ezekiel, the failure of Israel’s kings to fulfil the responsibilities of their office.

Instead of caring for the people, they were busy enriching themselves, enjoying the wealth of the nation, building materially prosperous future for their children but the people were not taken care of (Eze 34:1-10). This is not the kind of king the people wished to have; this is not the kind of king that God wants for his people. But he allowed them to be led by such kings for years, even till they went to exile. 

The people were suffering at the hands of such wicked and unrighteous kings, and God allowed them to go through that people because they made such a choice. 4. “I will be the Shepherd of my People”. While the people were in exile, and it became obvious to them that they were suffering because of their choice and their conducts, God now came in through the prophet of Ezekiel to announce that he himself will now shepherd his people. 

In exile, the people of Israel had no king of their own. Their kings could not even save them from being captured by Babylonians and from being led to slavery. But the interesting thing is that when exile happened, both the kings and the slaves were all victims. All the treasures packed in the king’s palace was carried to Babylon; king Zedekiah, who was the last king before Babylonian exile, was taken to Babylon, his children slaughtered before him, and his eyes plucked out by the Babylonian soldiers. 

In today’s reading, God announces that he himself will now take on the responsibility of shepherding his people. The people belong to God, and only God knows how to take care of his own. Any human king will always look for his gain to the detriment of the people under him, but God’s gain is the joy and salvation of his own people. 

5. The Homage that Christ the King Prefers In the Gospel, we see how God rules his own people and the kind of homage he prefers as the king of his people. God does not need gifts of gold and silver; he only needs that his sheep take care of one another. It is not only that the human kings live at the detriment of their subjects, but also the subjects take advantage of others. 

In the same 34th chapter of the book of Ezekiel, after addressing those who suppose to take care of the sheep, God turns to the sheep themselves (Eze 34:17-24). Some sheep feed on their fellow sheep; some do not border if their fellow sheep eats or not. Some sheep even, because of few benefits they receive from the supposed to-be shepherds, are ready to sacrifice their fellow sheep for their personal gains. The kingship of Christ is the one that judges sheep, not based on what they achieve but based on how they treat other sheep. God promises that he will take care of his sheep, he will bondage the wounded and make the weak strong. But God will not come down to do these things, but he uses sheep to heal the fellow sheep. 

We all have something we can offer for others who are in need. Do you feed on others? Do you trample on others while looking for your own benefits? How far do you care for others? You cannot be sheep of Christ when you are maltreating, stealing from, abusing, and despising other sheep.

In the kingdom of Christ, we are called not only to be peaceful but also to spread peace; not only to be good but to spread goodness; not only to be faithful but also to bring others to be faithful. The homage that pleases God is that done to our fellow humans. If you want to recognize Christ as your king, you have to recognize others as sheep of Christ. May our prayers always be: Thy kingdom come O Lord!!!

Fr. Henry Chukwuezugo Nnamah