Yr. B July 1 2018

May the Lord of life increase and purify your faith as you participate in this Sunday’s Eucharistic celebration. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye.

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Wisdom 1,13-15; 2,23-24; 2 Cor. 8,7.9.13-15; Mark 5,21-43, Yr. B July 1 2018)

In the gospel story of this Sunday, two miracle narratives are intercalated, joined together so they can interpret each other. Both stories include the subject of faith, the issue of ritual purity, the question of life and death, the span of twelve years, and the power of God in Jesus. There are contrasts between women and men, the prominent and the marginal, public and private, faith and incredulity. The distraught/upset father, a very prominent man, an official of the synagogue, and his proper name is given. He comes to Jesus openly, and throws himself at his feet and pleads with him. The unidentified afflicted woman, on the other hand, has been victim of both her ailment and those who attempted to heal her. Her funds have been depleted/exhausted and because of her haemorrhage she is ritually unclean. She does not presume to approach Jesus directly, nor does she plead. Instead, she boldly violates both social and religious prohibitions. She is a woman and ritually unclean, but she deliberately touches Jesus. This is the only miracle story where Jesus does not initiate the cure. The one afflicted reaches out of her own accord and snatches the power of God and it is a margisnalised woman who does so. Although the contrasts between the woman and the man are striking, in the most important issues they are the same. Both the woman and the man act out of faith. They believe that Jesus has the power to heal, and Jesus grants their wishes. Several factors link the woman of one story and the girl in the other. Both are unnamed and referred to as daughter, suggesting that what happens to them is more important than their identities. Still, they are in relationship with the community and not outcasts. Both are ritually unclean and, in a sense, outside the circle of total acceptability. Twelve years is the duration of the woman’s ailment and the span of the girl’s entire lifetime. Both were prevented from contributing to the future of the community; the woman’s reproductive potential was impaired and the girl’s life was halted by sickness and  eventual death. The faith of the woman and the man are in contrast to the incredulity of those gathered at the home of Jairus. Initially they may have believed that Jesus could bring the official’s daughter back to health, but now they ridicule him for suggesting that he can bring her back to life. Jesus disregards the same purity regulation that the afflicted woman had. He does not accept the finality of the girl’s death, and he touches her lifeless body. In both cases, the touch that would have rendered another unclean is actually the means through which Jesus transfers the power of God.

The healing of the woman, though performed in public, because of the crowd was really a private affair. The raising to life of the girl, though accomplished in private, was in danger of becoming widely known. At the heart of each of these stories is the question of faith in Jesus and his power over sickness and death.

The readings for this Sunday especially the gospel provide us with yet another Christological  (Christology is the branch of Christian theology relating to the person, nature, and role of Christ) meditation on whom Christ is. If we read Mark 4, 35-41, the gospel of the 12th Sunday of the Year, we shall stand in awe of Jesus, who wields the power of the Creator. He is revealed there as having the power that belongs to God alone, the power of being master of nature and controller of the laws of nature. The disciple in the boat had to exclaim: Who is this man? Even the wind and the sea are obedient to him. Today we see that he also has authority over the forces of death. He instantly heals a woman from an illness that no doctor was able to cure. What can we say to his clamorous raising a dead girl of twelve years to life? In the scenes of the gospel, Jesus demonstrates that he is the Lord of life. Remember the raising to life the dead son of the widow of Nain and his friend Lazarus. Who is this  Jesus to me? Can this Jesus cure me of my spiritual ailments, or raise me to life from spiritual death of sin? The Jesus who healed the sick woman and raised the twelve year girl to life can raise anyone to supernatural life of grace. That divine power which emanated from the person of Jesus will continue to radiate from his glorified  humanity and will reach us through the sacraments. The only condition for this to happen is faith. We have already, as examples of faith seen; the  faith of the woman who was cured and that of Jarius. Such faith should be humble, courageous, persevering; a faith that does not give up in difficulties, that does not diminish even when prayer seems not be answered or even when things seem to go in the opposite direction from what is expected. Even when we are, on account of the turn of events, discouraged to have faith as, Jarius was in today’s gospel, Jesus still encourages us to have faith, just as he did to Jarius: Do not fear, just continue to have faith. Sometimes our expression of faith is imperfect, like that of the woman that has admixture of magic and superstition, Jesus assures us as he did the woman: Your faith has saved you. Jesus is interested in our faith in him: at the beginning he is satisfied with imperfect faith  provided it is as simple and spontaneous as that of the woman in the gospel, and open to purification and deepening. May we in this Eucharistic celebration pray earnestly: Lord increase and purify our faith! Amen! Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

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Solemnity of John the Baptist: Year B

May the good Lord bestow on you those gifts he adorned John the Baptist with: courage in proclaiming the word of God, sincere humility, the spirit of self-discipline/asceticism and the generosity of heart even to the point of offering your life in witnessing to your faith in God! Happy Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist. + John I. Okoye.

      DOCTRINE AND FAITH

      (Isaiah 49,1-6; Acts 13,22-26; Luke 1,57-66.80: Solemnity of John the Baptist: Year B)

Today the Church celebrates the Birth of John the Baptist, the precursor of Jesus Christ. As a forerunner of Jesus the person and mission of John the Baptist is connected to the person and mission of Jesus Christ. The gospel reading of today is a part of the section of the gospel of Luke that is named the Infancy Narrative of Jesus Christ. It follows the scene of the visit of Mary to the house of Zachary. At the birth of John the Baptist, he was not to take on the name of his father, Zachary, but John. Their neighbours and relatives presumed the boy would be called Zachary after his father. They saw his identity and destiny linked with his family, and kin. The boy’s parents both insisted he would be called John, a name that means God is gracious. The name could refer to God’s goodness in granting this child to a couple who were advanced in years (cf. Luke 1,7), or it could be a promise of future blessings. The name was given by an angel. Since it came from heaven, it was correct to say this child’s destiny would be a heavenly destiny. There is evidence in the reading that this was truly a chosen child. At his birth the neighbors and relatives rejoiced that God had shown great mercy (éleos), not simply kindness (chrēstótēs), toward his mother Elizabeth. This suggests she was in great need and God took pity on her, making the child particularly cherished. Furthermore, his father Zachary was given back his speech when he confirmed that the child was to be named John. He was but eight days old and already he has been a source of blessing for both his parents. While Zachary blessed God for the marvels that had been performed, the neighbors were frightened by them. They did not know what to make of these events, but they were convinced God had great designs for this child. 

There is no gainsaying that from the beginning the hand of the Lord was on John. His conception has been extraordinary (cf. Luke 1,7); his name had been announced by an angel (cf. Luke 1,13); like many prophetic figures, he had been chosen from his mother’s womb; his father had been struck speechless and remained so until his name was proclaimed to others (cf. Luke 1,22, 64). Everything about this child pointed to a divinely determined destiny. His almost appears to be a thankless role, but it was not. His was the last prophetic voice that challenged the people to prepare for the coming of the Messiah; he was privileged to see the one that others did not see. John opened the door to the future and then stepped aside so that the voice from the future might call us forth.

John the Baptist is the hinge between the old age of promise and the new age of fulfilment. John was never a disciple of Jesus; he did not enter the age that he heralded (cf. Matt 11,11; Luke 7,28). He was the trumpet that sounded the coming of the king; he was the rooster that announced the dawning of the new day. The idiosyncratic character of his life caught the attention of the crowds, but he did not keep this attention on himself. Instead, he used it to point to Jesus. As a precursor of Jesus, John the Baptist was humble. Due to his exceptional figure and reputation, people thought he was the Messiah. But he refuted this decisively: I am not he whom you think that I am; but one comes after me of whom I am not worthy to untie his sandals. To untie the strings of sandal was the duty of a slave. By this statement, John the Baptist confessed his total subordination to Christ. John the Baptist was not trying to attract attention to himself, but on the word of God and on the One sent by the Father, the Messiah that was being expected. We, the baptised Christians, should bear in mind the great lesson of John the Baptist: Jesus is the Lord and Saviour and we are only unworthy servants. It is to be noted that one of the great merits of John the Baptist was his not claiming the role of the Messiah. One of the impressive record of the humility of John the Baptist is given in the gospel of John 1, 35-36 where John the Baptist was standing, fixing his eyes and pointing at Jesus who was passing proclaimed: Behold the Lamb of God.  John the Baptist’s vocation to point out the saviour must be relived by each of us. We are born, like John, to give place to Jesus. When we have reached our moment of strength, insight, ability and full vocation, we are called to look for the one who comes after me. Our life is to be absorbed and transformed—in a way, perhaps, that we never anticipated—through marriage, through vocation in a religious order or priesthood or single state, through sickness or death of loved ones. At such moments we need to re-visit the Scriptures of today’s Mass, and recall that part of the Holy Mass where we can, with the priest, say: Behold the lamb of God. This phrase, first spoken by John, is the church’s invitation to Holy Communion. 

As we thank God for the solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist, we must remind ourselves that his ministry of preparing people for the coming of the Messiah is always current and urgent. Thanks to him, we are prompted to prepare for the grace of God through a sincere conversion. May we, therefore, pray in today’s Eucharistic celebration that God may bestow on us those gifts he adorned John the Baptist with: courage in proclaiming the word of God, sincere humility, the spirit of self discipline/asceticism and the generosity of heart even to the point of offering our lives in witnessing to our faith in God. Happy Sunday! Happy Solemnity of John the Baptist! +John I. Okoye

11th Sunday of the Year; Year B June 17, 2018

May you be fully rooted in God by being docile to the word of God you listen to and be transformed by the Eucharist you receive in this Sunday’s celebration. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

               DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Ezek 17, 22-24; 2 Corinthians 5, 6-10; Mark 4, 26-34: 11th Sunday of the Year; Year B June 17, 2018)

    There is no gainsaying that Jesus was a perfect teacher, who excelled in the use of pedagogical methods. This comes out well in his use of different types of imageries that graphically engrave his message in the minds of his listeners. In the gospel reading of today, he used parables. Parables are brainteasers. They engage two very different realities and use one to throw light on the deeper meaning of the other. They are used by sages, precisely, because they force the hearers to stretch their imagination and make connections they ordinarily would not make. Jesus used this literary form in teaching about God’s reign, that mysterious reality that seems to belong to another world yet is within our grasp here. The reign of God was a familiar expression among the Jews of the Old Testament. It connoted dominion or sovereignty of God over the people of Israel. The Jewish people regarded themselves as the property of God, with whom they made a pact of friendship and whose salvific intervention they enjoyed severally. Its political valence came out in the fact that it was God who appointed kings for them, who were his subordinate and governed in his name. The expression, the reign of God, from Jesus, however, takes up a different significance that has nothing to do with its political connotation. Jesus’ use of it was essentially spiritual, supernatural and means the sovereignty or the rulership which God exercises in the souls and hearts of people; such ruling of God in the soul would imply complete freedom of sin and any trace of dominion of Satan as well as the participation of the soul  in the divine life, thanks to the works of Jesus.

One would ask why Jesus narrates the two parables: the parable of the seed growing on its on and that of the mustard seed and even the parable of the sower that preceded these two. In giving these parables to illustrate the kingdom of God, Jesus encouraged the disciples of the Kingdom of God not to fall into pessimism  and discouragement in the face of difficulties in crisis moments. By giving the parable, Jesus simply wanted to cheer his disciples up and with the parable of the seed that grows by itself to demonstrate that the Kingdom of God grows and it is not the people who give strength or success to the Word, nor will their resistance be able to stop its maturity. The disciple should be able to get rid of every form of useless anxiety. One should wait patiently, for in its time the Word of God will bear its fruit through an intrinsic force and fecundity that is natural to it which nothing or nobody would be able to suppress/hinder. It is to be noted that the word of God follows its own course and in respect of God’s time which is different from that of men and will certainly achieve unexpected and impressive results.
    With the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus wishes to teach that the Kingdom of God, the work of salvation begins in a very humble and modest manner, scarcely noticeable but becomes a very great and impressive reality such that will be able to welcome/accommodate within itself all the people of the world. This will be possible not through the ability or organisation of men but through the power of God. There is certainly going to be an enormous disproportion between the humble beginning of the kingdom and the luxuriance of its full development. 

    Very similar to the teaching of the two parables of today’s gospel is the lesson of the first reading from the book of Ezekiel. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of a situation of great trail for the people of Israel in exile. It was a situation that posed threat to their hope. When the kingdom of Judah fell in 587 BC, it seemed that the dynasty of David crumbled with it. The eventual effect would mean that the divine promise of the emergence of the Messiah from the stock of David would be unrealisable and almost impossible. The oracle of Ezekiel had the scope of instilling confidence in the people. This was because what looked impossible was  accomplished by God as we have in this oracle. From the top of the cedar, from the highest branch I will take a shoot (the Messiah) and plant it myself on a very high mountain of Israel. It will sprout branches and bear fruits … Every kind of bird will live beneath it and every winged creature rest in the shade of its branches. What a contrast! A branch that looked contemptible became a magnificent cedar, a shelter for all birds and flying creatures.  
    The teaching of St. Paul in the second reading of today is in harmony with that of the gospel as well as that of the first reading from the book of Ezekiel. Paul’s teaching is an invitation to have trust in God no matter the difficulties in the pastoral ministry. We should also exhibit confidence in our lives for it is God who made the dry cedar to germinate, saw the untended seed grow to fruition and maturity, the mustard seed grow to such a splendid tree and will make his kingdom to reign over all. What is required of us is a good and coherent Christian life, and a steady search for what is pleasing to God in order to make his reign to be established and grow both in us and the world.  It is a call for us to utilise the gifts bestowed on us as well  as the opportune time conceded to us in order to bear good fruit for the reign of God. Although the mystery of the reign of God unfolds within human history, we need eyes of faith to recognise it. Like the cedar and the mustard seed, it grows within the concreteness of human experience. Just as the life force that thrusts the branches farther and farther out cannot itself be seen, so the reign of God is mysterious, even incomprehensible. Still, it is there, inviting us, urging us to move forward, transforming our world. For this transformation of ourselves and society to be fully effective we must all be, through formidable faith, be rooted in God. May we be fully rooted in God by being docile to the word of God we listen to and be transformed by the Eucharist we receive in this Sunday’s Eucharistic celebration. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

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10th Sunday of Year B, 2018

May God in the Eucharistic celebration of today bestow on you the grace to recognize the power of Jesus working in the Church and in the world and grant you by the same power the graces to fulfill God’s will always in your life as Jesus did. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

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DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Genesis 3,9-15 ; 2 Cor 4,13-5,1: Mark 3,20-35:  10th Sunday of Year B, 2018)

        This gospel reading contains an example of intercalation, a distinctive characteristic   of Mark’s Gospel, where one narrative is sandwiched within another. Here, a report of a hostile encounter with scribes from Jerusalem (vv. 22-30) is found within one that is about the arrival and concern of members of Jesus’ family (vv. 20-21, 31-35). Though very distinct stories, when placed together, as they are here, they interpret each other. The narrative states that Jesus came home, probably not to Nazareth, the place he grew up, but to Capernaum, the place he has now made his home. His relatives (later identified as his mother and his brothers, v. 31), have come to seize him, to take charge of him with force if need be. They believed that he was beside himself, out of his mind. Why they believed this was not stated. Most likely they have heard of the claims he has been making and of the wonders he has performed, and they might fear for his safety. Their concern betrays their lack of faith in the authenticity of these claims and in the origin of the wonders. The scribes also misunderstand Jesus, but it was not out of concern for him. They acknowledge that he has extraordinary power to cast out demons, but they ascribe this power to the prince of demons. They spoke of Beelzebul (Baal-zebul, or Lord of the temple), while Jesus spoke of Satan. Both were references to the same spirit of evil. Once again the challenge of the scribes was an attempt to shame Jesus (cf. Mark 2:23-28). Jesus counters their accusation with but two parables. He first pointed out the absurdity of their allegation, maintaining that neither a house nor a kingdom would be able to endure if either were divided against itself. Both would collapse from within. In order for the house or the kingdom to stand firm it would need internal coherence and stability. With a second image Jesus alludes to the ruin of a house when one stronger than the householder attacks and plunders the property. Before this pillage can be accomplished, the attacker has to incapacitate the householder, thereby, preventing any kind of resistance. This parable suggests that Jesus is indeed incapacitating the evil one and is bringing the house of evil to ruin. Jesus ends his riposte (a quick, clever reply to an insult or criticism) with a pronouncement that is dire in its consequences. To impute the power of the Holy Spirit that is at work in Jesus to the spirit of evil is an unforgivable blasphemy.

        Attention was again directed to the family members of Jesus, who were outside, while Jesus was inside in the midst of a crowd. They have already demonstrated their misunderstanding of Jesus’ mission. Jesus now makes a daring statement about family ties. Upon being told that his mother and brothers and sisters were outside and asking for him, Jesus replied:  Who are my mother and brothers? … Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother. In a society where familial bonds and obligations supersede all other responsibilities, Jesus claims that real kinship is determined by acceptance of the will of God, not by blood or marriage. Acceptance of God’s will and God’s marvellous deeds are the fundamental challenge in both of these stories.

        Jesus is the perfect model of one who submitted and fulfilled the will of the Father. Indeed, entering into the world he declared: Behold I come oh God, to fulfil your will (Hebrew 10,7). Doing the will of God was always in his mind; it was driving and uniting all he did. That was why he was able to say: My food is to do the will of he who sent me ((John 4,34). At the summit of his ordeal in the Garden of Olives when his human nature was shrinking from impending passion, he was able to clearly state: Abba, Father, All is possible for you, take away this chalice from me! However, it is not my will but yours that will be done (Mark 14,36). Obedience to the Father and doing the will of the Father sum up the entire life of Jesus. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross and for this God exalted him (Philippians 2,8-9). Doing the will of the Father is what Jesus demands of us, his disciples, when he warns: Not everyone who says to me, Lord , Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven (Matt 7,21). Taking clue from the gospel passage, we make bold to say that Mary, the mother of Jesus was a perfect disciple of Jesus in doing God’s will. Mary was very much united with Jesus both by reason of natural blood relationship and having the good disposition of doing God’s will. From Annunciation to Calvary, the entire life of Mary can be summarised in her fiat: Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.  

        The gospel passage of today indicates clearly that God’s power can be misconstrued. Those who do not want to accept goodness that does not conform to their standards or models, frequently dismiss it by claiming that this or that goodness is actually evil. There is need to be open to the Holy Spirit of God and not harden one’s heart and sin against the Holy Spirit by blasphemy when we ascribe the works and designs of God as evil or attribute them as coming from the evil one. Even those who were the closest to Jesus, the members of his own family or kin group, misunderstood the origin of his power. We who claim kinship with him, because we are baptised Christians, but who rely on our own power and insight are no more preserved from error than they were. It is only in the power of God that we can stand secure. And it is only by following Jesus in doing God’s will in our lives that new kinship bonds will emerge. It is the acceptance of Jesus as the one who wields the power of God and following his example in doing God’s will that make us brothers and sisters of Jesus and, like Mary who bore him to the world, mothers of him as well. In this same power we can be victorious in our struggle with the offspring of the serpent; we too can cast out the demons that have taken possession of us and of others. We too can gather with those who sit around Jesus, listening to his words and being transformed by them. By the power of God we are made a new people with new identity and new destiny. By the power of God we will enjoy the fullness of redemption. As we listen to, and come into communion with Jesus in today’s Eucharist may he therefore, bestow on us all the graces we need to be ever disposed to always fulfill in our entire lives the will of God. Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye

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Solemnity of Corpus Christi: June 3, 2018 Year B

 May your participation in the Eucharistic celebration of today be an opportunity to be truly a sacrificial victim like Christ and to be fully assimilated unto him. Happy Celebration of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi! Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Exodus 24,3-8; Hebrews 9,11-15; Mark 14,12-16.22-26: Solemnity of Corpus Christi: June 3, 2018 Year B)

          The Church invites us today to celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, that is to say, the mystery of the Eucharist in which our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man is truly, really and substantially present. The narrative of the institution of the Holy Eucharist according to the Evangelist Mark could give the impression that Jesus invented, there and then,  the idea of instituting the  Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Rather, it was not an idea that came to his mind just at the last Supper. He did give thought to it as can be seen from his discourse on the bread of life in the gospel according to John (John 6, 50-66). The institution of the Blessed Eucharist  was, therefore, a thought out gesture and rite from Jesus that has its foundation in the Old Testament. It was a part of the history of salvation of the world which God progressively realised through the instrumentality of the people of Israel, whose peak was the coming of Son of God  into the world.        

          It is a well-known fact that the religion of the Old Testament is the religion of alliance between God and his people (Exodus 24,8). The text of the first reading is the conclusion of the rite of the establishment of the alliance between God and his people at the foot of Mount Sinai. God took the initiative and offered the people a pact of friendship (Exodus 19,5) in which Moses acted the role of God’s spokesperson, and intermediary/mediator between God and the people of Israel. The people of Israel accepted the proposal and the duty of observing all the commands which the Lord gave us.The pact was ratified with holocaust and communion sacrifice as well as with the aspersion of the people with the blood of the sacrificed animals. These rites were to purify them and to render them worthy of making a pact with God. This alliance between God and the people of Israel at Sinai continued to be in vigour  until the coming of Christ when it ended. In fact, Jesus initiated another pact of friendship with God. This new alliance was concluded through an intermediary, Jesus Christ himself as Paul asserts in the second reading of today: He (Jesus) is the (mediator of the New Alliance (Hebrew 8,15). This New alliance was concluded, ratified and sealed with the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. It is clear that the New Alliance has an edge over the Old Alliance. The old one was a prefiguration of the new, a sort of shadow in respect to the new that is the reality. Besides, the Old Alliance was made between God and the people of Israel alone, while the New Alliance was a treaty of friendship between God and the entire humanity since it was the sins of all that Christ expiated/atoned for and it was for all that he shed his blood. He (Jesus) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, not for our sins only but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2,2). 

          The New Alliance was ratified with Christ’s self-immolation at Calvary. The sacrifice of the Calvary accomplished by Christ once and for all is perpetuated sacramentally in the celebration of the Holy Mass. The new pact of friendship between God and humanity entered into in the blood of Christ is rendered present, actual and perennially represented in the Eucharistic mystery under the sacramental signs of bread and wine. This is exactly what the Vatican Council II teaches: At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is eaten, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 47).

          From, the above and the document Eucharisticum Mysterium, the Holy Mass is a sacrifice in which the Sacrifice of the Cross is perpetuated; a memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord, who said do this in memory of me (Luke 22:19); a sacred banquet in which, through the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the People of God share the benefits of the Paschal Sacrifice, renew the New Covenant which God has made with man once and for all through the Blood of Christ, and in faith and hope foreshadow and anticipate the eschatological banquet in the kingdom of the Father, proclaiming the Lord’s death till His coming. (Cfr. Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 3). From the foregoing, the Eucharist is at the heart of the life of the Church. It is indeed the source and summit of all the cult of the Church and all the Christian life. Vatican Council II elaborates further: The other sacraments, as well as with every ministry of the Church and every work of the apostolate, are tied together with the Eucharist and directed toward it. The Most Blessed Eucharist contains the entire spiritual boon of the Church, that is, Christ himself, our Pascha and Living Bread, by the action of the Holy Spirit through his very flesh vital and vitalising, giving life to men who are thus invited and encouraged to offer themselves, their labours and all created things, together with him. In this light, the Eucharist shows itself as the source and the apex of the whole work of preaching the Gospel (Presbyterorum ordinis no. 5).

          There is another aspect of the Eucharist that needs to be pointed out for  all faithful to always bear in mind:  That the whole church offers the sacrifice of the Mass and at the same time the entire church is offered also; also that the Mass is the action of Christ and at the same time the action of the church who as she offers the sacrifice offers herself as sacrifice. Cfr. Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 14). The faithful are to learn that by participating in the Eucharistic sacrifice, they are exercising their common priesthood (Lumen gentium, no. 10) and should learn how to offer themselves together with the divine victim (Lumen gentium, no. 11). The Vatican Council II vividly elucidates on this point: For all their works, prayers and apostolic endeavours, their ordinary married and family life, their daily occupations, their physical and mental relaxation, if carried out in the Spirit, and even the hardships of life, if patiently borne—all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Together with the offering of the Lord's body, they are most fittingly offered in the celebration of the Eucharist. (Lumen gentium, no. 34).

          In the light of the above marvellous reality of the wealth of the Holy Eucharist one understands why it is a pitiable error participating in SundayMass just to fulfil the obligation of the Church or doing  so when one feels like or limiting oneself to receiving communion only once a year or even less. The attitude to the Eucharist of a mature and responsible Christian should include: 

• (a) to participate in the Holy Mass  because it is the greatest reality and event that exist on earth and whenever I come in contact sacramentally with the sacrifice of Christ I receive the benefit of salvation. 
• (b) to participate in the Holy Mass because I feel in me the need to meet with Jesus and with my brothers and sisters, to confront myself with the word of God and to revitalise my faith.
• (c) to participate in Mass because this is the most perfect way of taking part in the sacrifice of Christ and in meeting Christ at communion when he offers himself as a gift to me and desires to assimilate me unto himself just as I desire to be united to him. Let us therefore, pray in this Eucharistic celebration that the good Lord may offer us the graces to make the Eucharist to be really the centre of our Christian life and to express it concretely  in the exigencies of our daily societal lives. Happy Celebration of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi! Happy Sunday Sunday! +John I. Okoye

 (graphics by chukwubike)