August Newsletter

NAACUS WOMEN'S  MINISTRY: NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2020

Are You joyful in the Lord?

The NAACUS Women's Ministry has not been relenting in its effort to remain connected with the people of God in this Pandemic Era .Our Virtual Retreat in June titled  That my joy may be in you and you may be complete with Rev Father Patrick Etuk as our guest speaker was well attended and fulfilling .

Reflections: NAACUS WOMEN'S MINISTRY VIRTUAL RETREAT REFLECTIONS

                                   BY: Nma Rose Nwoga

   The Joy of the Lord: The joy of the Lord refers to Christ’s love of His Father and the Father’s love towards Him. Christ’s joy  can be seen in the awareness of the father’s love and in the keeping of His Commandments.  All his actions, thoughts, emotions and purpose were in perfect harmony with the will of God. This unbroken communion with the Father is the source of Christ’s joy. This is the joy He desires that we inherit as Christians.  As the Father loved Jesus, so also he has loved us His followers. He challenges us to remain in his love by keeping his commandments just as He kept His Father’s commandments and remained in his love. To be truly joyful then, one must pursue a life of personal holiness and relationship with Christ through prayers and sacrifices.

The Importance of Joy in Witnessing: As Christians, we are called to be witnesses and joy is an important aspect of witnessing if we are to make impact at all. The impact we make on others comes from the joy we radiate. So to be effective Christians, we must reflect and radiate joy in our lives, so that people can see us and be drawn to us and in turn, be drawn to Christ. To radiate joy to others means to radiate Christ to them.  

The Joy of the Lord is Contagious: There are people God has placed in our lives and we in theirs to build up one another. They could be our children, spouses, siblings or other family members. These are the people that are most impacted by our joy but at a smaller scale. This smaller group can in turn, witness a larger group that they are part of like in the workplace, schools, churches, neighbors and so on. From this perspective, the joy of the Lord is contagious and infectious.  If we possess this joy, we can infect the entire world like the Cornoravirus, bringing Christ to others, our families, friends, communities, and the world at large. This is our calling.  This is our Christian Faith.

What is the Joy of The Lord Like?  Although, there are other reasons or sources for joy, but the joy of the Lord should be our priority because it is perpetual, it is eternal and abiding. It is this unshakable confidence in knowing that we are loved by God unconditionally. Even in the midst of adversities, we are joyful, thankful and praising God, aware of His presence in our lives, and recognizing that he is the master and author of our lives no matter the situation we find ourselves. It is not like the joy of the world and Satan which is often short lived, partial, and fades away because it is derived from ignoring God and gratification of the senses. The joy of the Lord flows from a deeply rooted conviction that all things work unto good for those who love Him and nothing can take this joy away from us.

Prayer:  Father, please help me to radiate joy in my life so that others can see me and be drawn to me and in turn be drawn to You. Amen.

 The NAACUS Women's Ministry meets every last Friday of the month for bible study, praise, worship and intercessory prayers. For the  period of time we have reflected on  some of the women in the bible , we have reflected on our mother Mary , Esther and Ruth.  We would like to share some of our reflections on our mother Mary  as we celebrate the Assumption of our Blessed Virgin mother Mary, in this month of August.  

Women in the Bible Series Summary of Exhortation, Reflections and Suggested Actions on The Blessed Virgin Mary (Ijeoma Nnani )

Introduction: Our first exhortation kicked off with the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Mother because we agreed that she is the most suitable of all Women to begin with due to her salvific role in God’s sacrificial plan for human redemption. The aim of the exhortations on Mary was to establish that when God chose, called and elevated Mary as a key player in the human redemption plan, all women (indeed all mankind) were invited to participate in God’s work of salvation. The outcome hoped for is that by embarking on a journey of faith with Mary, women may discern, understand and answer YES to God’s call.

Luke introduced us to our Virgin Mother (Lk1: 26 -54), most highly exalted young woman who humbly and obediently took center stage in God’s plan for human salvation. We found many other great attributes of our Mother, met her in prayer and saw her ever present in the life of Christ without overshadowing him. We examined the scriptural origins and Marian nature of prominent Christian Prayers, like the Hail Mary, Holy Rosary, the Magnificat and the Creed. We also corrected some Marian heresies, and most importantly hoped to embrace or improve our salvific roles as Marian women. We conclude  with a recap of our encounter with Mary in the Bible from Genesis to revelation. 

1. Old Testament Prophecies relating to Mary’s Messianic Role:

Gen. 3:15 – God cursed the serpent (embodying Satan) and put enmity between the offspring of the woman and the serpent with promise that the offspring of the woman shall crush the head of the serpent.Is 7:14 – Prophecy that “the virgin shall bear a child and shall name him Emmanuel”.Is 9:5& 6 – Another prophecy that a child is born unto us; upon his shoulder dominion rests…. named wonder-counselor, God-hero, father forever, prince of peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful….Is11:1 & 2 - stump from root of Jesse… spirit of God shall rest upon him.

2. New Testament fulfillment of Prophecies relating to Mary:• Annunciation and call to God’s Salvific plan (Lk 1: 26-39) •  The Call of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Lk1: 26-27)- “in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David and the virgin’s name was Mary”  This begins the fulfillment of God’s promise in Gen 3: 15.

• The Greetings and message of the Angel to Mary Lk1:28- 35 Hail Mary• Mary’s YES (Lk 1:38) “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word” 3. God calls women to be part of salvation plan for mankind

4. Attributes of Mary

• Receptive openness to the Holy Spirit- Mary’s response to the Angel was, “…may it be done to me according to your words” (Lk 1: 38).

• Blessed, God’s Favored one (Lk 1: 28, 30 - 42) Called highly favored.• Kind, and Humble Lk1 ; 31 -45 - Despite her elevation (Lk 1: 28, 32 & 35), to God favored; Mother of the Son of the Most High; and overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, • Law abiding woman & submissive to her husband- Lk 2: 1-6 • Contemplative woman that praises and prays.. Praised God in the Magnificat Luke 1-46-56;•Discerning, Trusting, believing, courageous and obedient - She discerned correctly to trust Angel Gabriel’s reassurance, “Do not be afraid” (Lk1: 30),

Hopefully, the life of Mary, who though very young, was attentive, discerning, wise, trusting and obedient to God may awaken us to realize that we too are blessed, favored and called by God. Let us review attributes we identified in our Blessed Mother Mary that can help us answer Yes to God’s call.

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