4th Sunday of Lent: Year A, 2017

May Christ, the light of the world, illumine your  mind not only to  perceive what is God's will for you at any given moment of your life but also to know how to be docile in fulfilling it. Happy Sunday!

+John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

                                 (Samuel 16,1.4.6-7.10-13; Ephesians 5,8-14; John 9,1-41: 4^th Sunday of Lent: Year A, 2017)

            In order to understand the significance of  the episode of the cure of the man born blind we need to call back  to mind what Jesus affirmed of himself in John 8,12:  I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. This miracle also bears out what is stated in the prologue to the Gospel of John about Jesus: (He is) the true light that lightens every one coming into the world (John 1,9). The cure of the man blind from birth appears like a sign, a proof and confirmation that Jesus is indeed the light. He gives the eyes of the body the capacity to see material things and endows the spirit the capacity to penetrate the supernatural world with the light of faith. Just as the man born blind acquired the power to see from the water of the pool of Siloam; in the same way every one baptized receives from Jesus the capacity to welcome the light of salvation.

The cure itself is not a restoration, for the man was born blind. It is more of a new creation. The ritual or process of cure was simple. Jesus spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay. Jesus, who is sent by God, sends the man to the pool named One who has been sent (Siloam). There, the waters wash away his blindness; by means of the waters he is made a new creation. How was this miracle received? How did people react to it? The episode shows different ways in which people reacted to Jesus’ cure of the person born blind. The first reaction to the cure comes from the neighbours who knew him as a begging blind man. They were astonished at his transformation and they inquired as to its source. The cured born blind man gives a report of the events that occurred along with the name of Jesus as the healer. The next reaction came from the Pharisees who questioned the cured born blind man. They were divided on their opinion of the righteousness of one who heals on the Sabbath. They, stubbornly, refuse to see or believe, despite the evidence before their eyes. The Pharisees, to avoid having to acknowledge Jesus’ divinity, rejected the only possible explanation for the miracle. They negated the evidence. They lack the disposition of leaving themselves be illumined and the sincerity required in search of truth. The reasons or causes, on the part of the Pharisees, for locking themselves up in their blindness, and this their rejection of the light of Christ can be seen to be three. The first is prejudice: They had it stamped in their mind that Jesus could not be the Messiah and, therefore, superior to Moses, Abraham and the prophets, for this would not agree the idea of the Messiah they had in mind. The second is selfish interest: This is nothing other than the fear of loosing their position of power and prestige. Jesus was indeed a threat to their selfishness. The third is presumption:  They believed to be seeing well, of being in the right position while they were indeed blind and guided blind people. The real blind person is the one who thinks that he sees and knows everything but never subjects himself or his reasoning to thorough scrutiny. Prejudice, selfish interest and presumption are also reasons of incredulity among people today.

The reactions of the parents of the blind from birth are awkward. They were afraid to accord any type of claim to Jesus lest they lose their standing in the religious community. Unlike his parents, the beneficiary of the miracle, the born blind man, boldly proclaims that his cure is evidence that Jesus is from God. He progressed from simply knowing the name of the one who cured him to professing that Jesus is a prophet, then to proclaiming that he comes from God. The final stage in his profession of faith occurs when he encountered Jesus a second time. When Jesus reveals his identity to him, the one whose eyes have been opened attested to his faith in Jesus and accorded to him the kind of reverent adoration that belongs to God. 
    What is the implication of the episode of the cure of the man born blind for the Christian of today? The Christian is thankful for the illumination from God he got through his faith. Baptism is the sacrament of this illumination. Baptism first of all plants faith firmly in the soul. This faith disposes the soul to welcome and accept supernatural truths and realities. Therefore, without faith there is not even an iota of illumination. It is, therefore, necessary to be informed about faith. First and foremost, though faith is a gift from God, the Christian must work for its increase, deepening, maturation, progression and perfection. The search for firm possession of faith is on-going. However, it is to be borne in mind that search for faith does not exclude difficulties, trials and moments of darkness and uncertainties. What will be helpful to us are the lessons from today’s gospel: assiduous and docile listening to the word of God and allowing ourselves to be illumined and guided by the light of Christ. There has to be a movement from seeing with the light of faith to doing guided by faith. The second point about faith is that if God, through Christ, draws us out of darkness into light and gives us faith it is in order that we will be able to conduct our lives like the children of light. This is what Paul teaches us in today’s 2nd reading. The Christian will have to exhibit in his/her life complete goodness, righteousness and truth. These qualities are merely symbolic of the complete transformation of character this light can effect. Goodness is a quality of moral excellence, it is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5,22). Although righteousness is a divine attribute, humans share in it as long as they live their lives in harmony with God’s plan. Truth connotes sincerity, genuineness, the absence of sham or pretence. These three qualities describe a life lived openly in the light that comes from Christ. The third important fact about the gift of faith is that it often gives rise to opposition and discomfort. The case of the person born blind of today’s gospel is typical; his parents did not even support him; he was expelled from the community, marginalized and isolated. Let us therefore, be thankful today as we celebrate the Eucharist for the gift of faith and the illumination it brings about in our lives. May we also ask for the grace, courage to bear witness to this faith and light of Christ when the occasion comes about in our family, committee of friends, colleagues circles. May we not follow the example of the Pharisees, nor that of the parents of the person born blind but that of the cured born blind man in his courageous profession of faith in Christ Jesus.  Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye 

pictures and graphics by chukwubike 

3rd Sunday of Lent: Year A, 2017

May the good Lord sustain the loving relationship he started with you at your Baptism and may he give you all the graces to be a good missionary and apostle of his mercy and love. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

                                 (Exodus 17, 3-7; Romans 5, 1-2.5-8; John 4, 5-42: 3rd Sunday of Lent:  Year A, 2017)

            In observing the activities of the Lenten period which takes us to Easter, the Church leads us, step by step to understand Jesus whom we have embraced in faith and also ourselves, who by virtue of our baptism resemble him and have the onus to live our Christian life in a coherent manner. The liturgy of today, through the first reading takes us back to an event that happened among the Israelites, as they made their way in the desert to the Promised Land. They were suffering from thirst thereby; felt that they have been abandoned by God. They murmured against God and Moses and rebuked Moses in these words: Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die of thirst, we, our children and our animals? They even doubted the guiding presence of God as they also complained: Is God still in our midst, yes or no? God was still in their midst as guide and  saviour for through Moses he satisfied their thirst by making water gush out from a rock. 

As Christians and members of the Church we are the new people of God.  We are, as it were, making our journey through the desert of life to the promised land, which is eternal life. Often, on this journey, we encounter a lot of doubts and temptations to rebel  against God whose guiding presence among us  we sometimes put in doubt especially when we encounter difficulties in our lives. Paul, in today’s second reading assures us of God’s perduring presence in our midst by letting us share in his righteousness through Jesus Christ: We have been justified through  faith, in peace with God through the action of Jesus Christ. The word righteousness (dikaioo) is relational. It is based on the righteousness that originates from God, a righteousness that gives and sustains life, security and well being. Human beings are said to be righteous when they respect and enhance the life, security and well being that is given and sustained by God. Strictly speaking they can only do so if they are in right relationship with God and through this relationship, share in God’s righteousness. According to Paul, we have no right to this relationship with God. It has been given to us, won for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, we did not even deserve it. We were sinners, alienated from God until Christ died for us and gained access for us to the grace that places us in the right relationship with God. Paul tries to explain the astonishing character of this gesture when he says that it is hard enough to die for a good person; to die for someone who is not good is almost unthinkable. Yet that is exactly what Christ did. He died for us while we were yet sinners: he died for us before we had been justified, and his dying gave us access to God. Through his sacrifice, Jesus opened the way for us to approach God. We do this by faith and by so doing we no longer stand in enmity, but rather in grace and peace, with God.

In the gospel reading and through the episode of the Samaritan woman, Jesus reveals himself and his identity and sheds light on our call as Christians. Jesus is the gift of God par excellence. He is the source of the Holy Spirit whom the Christian receives as living water that leads to eternal life. Jesus also indicates that he would render people capable of worshiping God in a true and authentic way, in a manner animated by the Spirit and which will be pleasing to God. He also reveals himself as the Messiah who was to come. From Jesus’ discussion with the Samaritan woman emerge the following about us. We are people who have received the gift of the Spirit, as well as the living water through which we are reborn to the life of grace and through which we receive the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and charity. We are also the people who have been entrusted with the gift of the word of God, divine revelation, the living water which alone can quench the human search for the truth. We are also those who have been made capable of worshiping God in spirit and truth. Indeed this episode of the Samaritan woman is like an invitation to all men and women to open up to the gift of God and welcome his words that quench the thirst of the mind and give meaning to life. For us who are baptized, it is surely an invitation to take our baptism serious as an esteemed gratuitous gift. Again, we are to note the responsibility that follows therefrom: to grow personally in faith and secondly to propagate the faith around us. One grows in faith through listening to, reflection on, and welcoming, the word of God. Dialogue with God in prayer brings the Christian closer and closer to God every day, thereby strengthening the relationship between God and the Christian. To undertake the onus of spreading the faith we follow the example of the Samaritan woman who after listening to the revelation of Jesus, left her pot at the well, ran hurriedly to inform the people of her city so that the whole city might participate in the gift she received. Indeed she became an apostle and a missionary. We ourselves, by virtue of our baptism and confirmation, are called to spread the faith, communicate and share the gifts we have received with our  wives and husbands, parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues. A  Christian that is not a convinced apostle of his faith is not a good one. Therefore, in today’s Eucharistic celebration, may we thank God for our faith, allowing us to share in his righteousness and giving us the privilege and responsibility of being apostles and missionaries of our Lord Jesus Christ. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

2nd Sunday of Lent, year A 2017

May the good Lord grant you this Sunday the graces to listen to his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, by following him and by participating in his life, especially his life through Calvary/suffering to his resurrection. Happy Sunday!

+John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Genesis 12, 1-4; 1 Tim 1, 8-10; Matt 17, 1-9: 2ndSunday of Lent:  Year A,  2017)

            The theme “called by God and the response of faith by man” is what connects the three readings of this second Sunday of Lent. The first reading of today, presents the call of Abraham. God requested Abraham to leave his fatherland, home and relations. In exchange, God promised him a new land and many descendants: I will make you a great nation…and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing. But is there any other guarantee beside these divine proposals? Humanly speaking there is none. At his departure, Abraham did not even know the name of the promised land, not even where it is situated. The directive he got from God is: Go towards the place I will indicate to you. The divine promise of many descendants looks not plausible, if not impossible, given the fact of the age of both Abraham and Sara his wife. Certainly, Abraham understood that the call implies an exodus, a departure that demands radical privation and abandonment of all human securities like fatherland, home, family and family affection as well as material things. The only security and guarantee offered to Abraham were the word of God, the fidelity and promises of God. Fully conscious of the situation, Abraham went as the Lord told him.  He did so because he had faith in God and believed in his word. On his own part, God did not disappoint the expectation of Abraham and he did not subtract anything from his promise. Abraham would still take possession of the Promised Land, would still have his descendants and would still be the father of multitudes of believers.

The call of Abraham is emblematic of all divine calls particularly of the Christian call or vocation. A Christian is one who is really called as Paul expresses it in the 2nd Reading of today: … God who has saved us and called us to be holy. Our call is a holy call. We are called to a holy vocation. It is a holy vocation because we are called to salvation. It is a call to co-operate in the salvation of all. Ours is a holy vocation, because we are called to eternal life, to the happiness of paradise, which is our definitive promised land. It is a holy vocation because it is a gift of God who is the font of all holiness. Our call like that of Abraham does not originate from human presuppositions, nor is it based on human works or merits but anchored in the free divine initiative and on the benevolence of God the Father, manifested in Christ. Our call, like that of Abraham, implies and requires a radical exodus, departure, abandoning and detachment. It has to be a departure from ourselves and from all our human ways of seeing things. It has to be an abandoning of our slavery of selfishness and sin. It has to be a detachment from all those things we consider as securities: material goods, power, prestige. Our call like that of Abraham requires a faith response. To believe, means trusting God completely and always: leaving ourselves to be guided by him and following the way he indicates in the certitudes that they are the paths to our salvation and true happiness.

But how does God guide us? How does he make us know his ways? How can we know all that he wants from us? The unique way of knowing God’s will is through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the beloved of God, about whom God is pleased, he is the revelation of the Father and definitive word of God. We cannot go to God unless through Christ, nor can we know the thoughts and desires of God unless through Jesus. There is nothing left than to listen to him, follow him and imitate his examples.

During his transfiguration, Jesus uncovers his divinity veiled by his humanity and thereby offers us a glimpse of the radiance of the resurrection, assuring thereby that His death is not the end, rather the resurrection is the end point. The episode of the transfiguration was necessary to inform the disciples of Jesus that Jesus was a suffering Messiah. He has to pass through suffering to victory. It was necessary to clear in their mind that the call to follow Jesus would ultimately be the same way Jesus lived; passage from the cross to the resurrection: no cross, no crown! Therefore, Jesus reiterates:Whoever would like to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me (Matt 16,21-26).

After the transfiguration, Jesus invites Peter, James and John to descend from the mountain to continue with him the journey towards Jerusalem, with him to Calvary: He said to them: Stand up and do not be afraid.  At this time they have to understand that Calvary is a necessary passage and not the end of the journey, nor the destination. They are not to fear following him even in the midst of their own suffering.  We have to trust him. Jesus will make us understand what it means to be the disciple of Christ and what is the implication of Christian vocation. Jesus will also clarify what it means to be called and to follow him. He would teach that it does not only mean to listen to him, but also to follow the path he has traced. He will further teach that the disciple is called to share and participate in the victory over sin, death, as well as in the destiny of life and immortality, but sharing all these through the obligatory way of the cross and suffering, where shortcuts and “apian” ways do not work. With the transfiguration and especially with the resurrection of which the transfiguration is a foretaste, Jesus guarantees that we can believe in his  word, we can trust him totally and will not be disappointed or deluded by his promises.

In conclusion, we can do this examination of conscience: do we believe really in Jesus Christ? Do we seriously confide in him? Do we follow him faithfully in his ways? Do we listen to him? May our responses not be superficial. May we pray during this second week of Lent to appreciate our call as Christians and to respond to this call by listening and following Jesus  Christ. Amen!Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye 

1st Sunday of Lent: Year A, 2017

May the good Lord grant you the necessary graces to prepare adequately for the celebration of the Great Solemnity of Easter. Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE  AND  FAITH

(Genesis  2, 7-9; 3,1-7; Rom 5, 12-19; Matt 4, 1-11; 1st  Sunday of Lent:  Year A,  2017)

              The Holy Mother, the Church, instituted the Lenten period as a fitting preparation for Easter, the Solemnity of Solemnities, in which we celebrate the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This paschal mystery is the foundation of our faith and the source of our Christian life. That is why, as the mother Church reasons, we have to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus in a very dignified manner, in a lively faith and intimacy with Christ. It is expected that the celebration of this mystery will help us break contact with sin, victorious over evil and initiate a spiritual rebirth that make us always conform to the risen Christ. 
              The first reading of today narrates the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, into sin. On account of this fall, sin spread into the world, as St Paul holds in the 2nd reading, and through sin, death entered into the world. Sin is a sad and tragic reality that stares us in the face every moment. We, therefore, need to know what sin consists of, what it produces and how to overcome it’s temptation . From the first reading narrative, we know that sin consists of a free act by which a person cuts himself from God and His will. Adam and Eve were free to make their choice and they did it against the will of God. Sin is also an act of insubordination to God through which one declares his wish not to depend on God and not to be subordinate to God. Sin is also an act of pride, or rather a wish to be like God, autonomous, independent, and a judge in matters of what is good and evil. It is also an attitude of placing no confidence in God who imposes laws and rules that limit the liberty and self-realization of the person. These are various aspects of the sin of Adam and which serve as a paradigm to any type of sin especially mortal one. The profile of a sinner would look thus: A person who legally got back his right to do what he wants, who places himself outside the plan of God or the path which He (God) has traced, who believes his capability to affirm his liberty and realize his independence from the law of God and places himself against God’s will and law. I pray and hope that my and your profile do not resemble the above! One would ask: What does sin do to the sinner? Following the first reading narrative, after they had sinned, Adam and Eve, realized that their eyes were opened and that they were naked. In plain language it occurred to them that they were deprived of their dignity as well as the preternatural gifts (harmony and equilibrium; immunity from pains, etc) they had from God. They lost the exclusive intimacy with God. The sin of our first parents, like any other sin, gave rise to folly and illusions. When one thinks that through sinning he would be affirming and realizing himself/herself, he/she rather finds himself/herself naked and nude, in misery and he experiences the incapacity to do any good; in short, he finds himself in an awkward situation. How can one come out of this situation of sin? Salvation from sin is through Jesus Christ. Paul writes in the 2nd reading of today that just as sin came into the world through one man, Adam, in the same way the righteous action of one man, Jesus, justifies everyone. Christ was able to justify us through the events of his death and resurrection. He, concretely, does so through the sacraments especially through Baptism by which he makes us participate in his victory of evil and by which we recover our dignity as the children of God. Jesus also does so by teaching us the best strategy to overcome temptation to sin, as today’s gospel reading demonstrates in his own temptation. Jesus first strategy is decidedness and firmness. Confronted with any temptation there should be no room for indecision. There should be absolute no room for any dialogue. The fall of Adam and Eve started when they began to dialogue with the devil, listening to him and even encouraging him to speak. Jesus on the other hand conceded the devil neither minimal space nor confidence to speak. The second strategy which Jesus wishes that we imbibe is to refer to the word of God and to use it to throw light to our situation. Adam and Eve inevitably started losing the battle when they began doubting what God had told them; they did not believe his word. Jesus, on the other hand, responded and challenged Satan by making reference to the word of God. The word of God should be both the basis and the orientation of our lives. However, it has to be well interpreted according to the directives of the Magisterium. If not, there would be the danger of wrongly citing the Scriptures just as Satan did. Jesus still teaches us another strategy for overcoming temptation and inclination to evil. This is the use of two very powerful, almost infallible means: prayer and mortification. Jesus prepared the battle against Satan by the forty days he stayed in the desert, a place apt for silence and prayer, harsh and austere place. It is here, without doubt, that Jesus fasted uninterrupted for forty days and forty nights. It all means that if we want to take precautions against temptations, we should strengthen ourselves spiritually and fortify ourselves by creating time and space for silence and reflection on the word of God, dedicating more time to prayer and communion with God, engaging ourselves in voluntary mortification, depriving ourselves of even legitimate rights and conducting an austere, sober and evangelical life. This is what is always required of us as disciples of Christ and in a special way during this period of Lent. 

I wish you a successful and grace-full Lenten period. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye.

GRAPHICS BY CHUKWUBIKE