Cyon. St. Pius Catholic Church Ayobo

01/04/2026

✝️ THE GREATEST DANGER IN HOLY WEEK… IS PRETENDING TO BE FAITHFUL 😳
_________________

Holy Week is full of movement.

Churches are filled.
Voices are lifted.
Rituals are observed.

Everything looks right.

👉 But something dangerous can hide beneath all of it.

✝️ IT IS POSSIBLE TO LOOK FAITHFUL… AND NOT BE FAITHFUL

During Holy Week:

You can carry palms

You can attend every liturgy

You can follow every devotion

👉 And still remain unchanged

Because faith is not measured by participation alone…

👉 But by transformation

✝️ JUDAS DID NOT LEAVE THE GROUP… HE STAYED IN IT

This is what makes it frightening.

Judas:

Walked with the Apostles

Sat at the same table

Received the same bread

👉 Outwardly, he looked faithful

But inwardly…

👉 He had already chosen something else

✝️ PRETENDING IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN OPEN REJECTION

Open rejection is visible.

👉 It can be confronted
👉 It can be corrected

But pretended faith?

👉 It hides
👉 It deceives
👉 It delays conversion

Because you think you are fine…

👉 When you are not

✝️ HOLY WEEK EXPOSES WHAT IS REAL

This is the week where everything is revealed:

The crowd fades

The disciples scatter

Peter denies

Judas betrays

👉 Appearances collapse

Only truth remains

✝️ GOD IS NOT LOOKING FOR PERFORMANCE

He is not impressed by:

Perfect attendance

External devotion

Religious appearance

If the heart is closed.

👉 What He desires is honesty

Even broken honesty…

👉 Is better than perfect pretense

✝️ THE CROSS REVEALS EVERYTHING

Because at the Cross, pretending ends.

There is no crowd to hide in.
No applause to follow.

👉 Only a choice

Stay

Or walk away

✝️ THE FINAL TRUTH

The greatest danger in Holy Week is not weakness.

👉 It is pretending

Because weakness can be healed.

But pretending…

👉 Refuses healing

So the real call of this week is not:

👉 “Appear faithful”

But:

👉 “Be truthful before God”

Because only what is real…

👉 Can be transformed at the Cross

✝️

31/03/2026

If someone at church hurts you,

Don’t walk away from Jesus because of Judas.
People may fail you, but Christ never will.

Even among the twelve apostles there was betrayal. Judas Iscariot walked with Jesus Christ, heard His teachings, and witnessed His miracles, yet he still chose to betray Him. The presence of Judas did not make Jesus false, and it did not make the mission of Christ untrue.

In the same way today, the Catholic Church is made up of human beings who are capable of sin and failure. The sin of a member of the Church does not make the Church false. Human weakness has existed among believers from the very beginning, even among the apostles themselves, but the truth of Christ and the truth of His Church do not depend on the perfection of its members.

Christianity was not founded on the goodness of every Christian, but on the truth of Christ Himself. People may fall, but Christ remains faithful. Therefore, do not leave Jesus because of Judas.

29/03/2026

Happy Palm Sunday!
Today, we celebrate Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. More importantly, this celebration marks the beginning of the Holy Week in our Lenten journey.

13/03/2026

Watch till the end… 😌

Check out St Cecilia Choir|St Pius Ayobo’s video.

18/01/2026

Join us as we commit the year ... To the Lord

12/01/2026

WHY THE BISHOP SLAPS YOUR CHEEK AT CONFIRMATION 😲🤔
_____________________
You’ve probably seen it before.
The bishop stands before the confirmands, row by row, anoints each forehead with holy chrism, and then… gives a gentle slap on the cheek.

Everyone smiles. Some are surprised.
But behind that soft blow lies a meaning older than cathedrals, and deeper than words.

That gentle slap is not a punishment.
It’s a commission.
It means: You are now a soldier of Christ.

From the earliest centuries of the Church, the bishop’s touch symbolized strength and courage.
It was the Church’s way of saying:

“You’ve been sealed with the Holy Spirit, now go, fight the good fight of faith.”

It was a holy reminder that Christianity is not a comfort zone but a battlefield, and every confirmed Catholic is enlisted into Christ’s army of truth and love.

But that slap also means something even more real today.
It’s not only the bishop who will slap you, the world will too.

After Confirmation, expect the blows of mockery, insults, and arguments.
Expect to be questioned, ridiculed, or misunderstood for what you believe.
Those are the invisible slaps that test your courage and reveal your faith.

And so, the bishop’s gentle tap says:

“Don’t fear the world’s blows. Stand firm. Defend the faith. You have the Spirit, stand your ground.”

In the medieval age, a knight received a blow on the cheek when he was made a warrior, not to hurt him, but to awaken his courage.
That’s what the Church does at Confirmation.

You are no longer a child in the faith.
You are anointed, sealed, and sent.
Your armor is grace.
Your weapon is truth.
Your mission is love.

So when that bishop’s hand touches your cheek, remember,
you are not being scolded,
you are being strengthened.

You’ve just been confirmed:
marked as Christ’s soldier,
called to bear the blows of life with patience,
and to defend the truth with courage and peace.

“Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”


_________________

11/01/2026

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which marks the end of the Christmas Season and ushers us into the Ordinary Season of the Church. With His Baptism, Christ moved from his comfort and private life to begin His public ministry, so we, too, are making a leap from the delectation that Christmas brings to a normal, ordinary daily life.

We pray for grace as we gradually embrace our daily dealings that we may renounce irreligion and worldly passions and live sober, upright, godly lives, and love without favouritism.

Someone might ask, “Why would a holy man desire baptism?” Listen to the answer: Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by his cleansing to purify the waters which he touched. For the consecration of Christ involves a more significant consecration of the water. For when the Saviour is washed, all water for our baptism is made clean, purified at its source for the dispensing of baptismal grace to the people of future ages (Extract from a sermon by St Maximus of Turin).

As we renew our own baptismal consecration today, we pray that God the Father will speak words of favour for Us, the Holy Spirit may descend upon Us anew and Christ the Beloved Son of God may walk with Us bringing our warfare to an end, pardoning our iniquities and bestowing upon us His Divine Graces.

*Happy Feast!*
*Happy Sunday!*❤️

09/01/2026

Friday January 9, 2026
Friday after Epiphany

FIRST READING
'’The Spirit, the water, and the blood. ”
A reading from the first Letter of Saint John (1 John 5:5- 13)

Beloved: Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has borne witness to his Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne to his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life. I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

The word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 147: 12- 13.14-15.19-20 (R. 12a)
R/. O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!
Or: Alleluia.

O Jerusalem, glorify the LORD!
O Sion, praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you. R/.

He established peace on your borders;
he gives you your fill of finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth,
and swiftly runs his command. R/.

R/. O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!
Or: Alleluia.

He reveals his word to Jacob;
to Israel, his decrees and judgements.
He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his judgements, R/.

ALLELUIA Matthew 4:23
Alleluia. Jesus was preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and healing every infirmity among the people. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
“And immediately the leprosy left him.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 5:12-16)

While Jesus was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him to tell no one; but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.” But so much the more the report went abroad concerning him; and great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities. But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.

The Gospel of the Lord.

TODAY'S REFLECTION
Consider briefly the experience of the l***r in the Gospel. According to the law, he is to be isolated from the people like an Ebola patient (Lev. 13:1 - 46) but he ignores the barrier and the associated stigma to approach Jesus. His story changes to a testimony. We may have different forms of leprosy today; it may be in the form of a grave sin that has kept us away from the sacraments for a long time. Jesus is not interested in what it is; he is only inviting you to come for perfect cleansing (Isa 1:18). Even if your case is worse than that of a l***r, he is ready to make you fresher than a new-born. Approach him with faith and you shall overcome any situation (1 John 5:5)