3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 27th Jan 2019

Through this Eucharistic Celebration, may you not only hear the word, positively respond to it, but also proclaim it in your personal life through humble service to your needy neighbors. Happy Sunday +John I. Okoye.

DOCTRINE AND FAITH, 3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 

(Nehemiah 8,2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12,12-30; Luke 1,1-4; 4:14-21 

    In the first reading Ezra presides in the reading of the law which takes about six or seven hours, from daybreak to midday. Interpretation was provided along with the reading because the community, made up of descendants of those who had been taken into exile, may not have understood the Hebrew in which the law was written. Ezra and those with him hand down the tradition they have received. Thus the people can accept it as their own and can identify with events and communities of the past. Their response to this instructive reading is curious-they weep. The assembly itself was intended to be a joyful one, but the people weep. They were however exhorted to rejoice, to participate in a festive meal.
    In the second reading Paul gives instruction on the diversity found within the community by using the analogy of the body. In the body each part has its own unique function, but all parts work for the good of the whole. This figure of speech characterises several aspects of the ideal Christian community. First, it portrays unity in diversity, a unity that is far from uniformity. Second, it underscores the absence of competition among members, since no one activity is elevated above the others. Lowly service is no less important than charismatic gifts. Third, it underscores the interdependence that exists within the community. The unity within the community is based on common baptism. All were baptised in the Spirit, and all were baptised into the body of Christ. In this community there are no severely discriminating distinctions, whether based on religious background (Jew or Greek) or on social status (slave or free). Cultural and gender differences will remain, but they will not determine one's membership within the community. All drink of the same Spirit, so all live by the same life, the life of the Spirit. The metaphor of the body helps us see how important every member is. The analogy indicates also that Christians should be particularly considerate of members of the community who are in need of care. God seems to care for the neediest, and so should the members of the Christian community. Finally, the solidarity that should flourish within the Church is poignantly characterised: If one part suffers, all suffer; If one part is honoured, all are honoured. There is no room for competition or resentment in this kind of community. 
    In the gospel story of today, Jesus is at home in the synagogue of his village, attending service there. He is handed the Isaian scroll and the passage read was 61,1-2. There we find a prophet endowed with the Spirit, having been anointed by the Lord and has accompanying duties. The principal function of the prophet is proclamation. He is called to announce liberty, release prisoners, heal the sick and declare the year of the Lord. The good news pro­claimed to them promises they will be the beneficiaries of the year of release/jubilee. The year of the Lord became a powerful metaphor for general emancipation and economic restructuring as well as eschatological fulfilment. It symbolised the advent of a new era, a time of deliverance for the disadvantaged. This was a year that was instituted through the favour of the Lord, not the goodwill of others. With the eyes of the synagogue fixed on him, Jesus makes a bold claim: Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. He is the prophet who is filled with the Spirit; he is the one who inaugurates the year of deliverance; he is the one who has launched the era of eschatological fulfilment. The primary theme that comes through the readings of this Sunday is the word of God. Just as the Christmas season was the time to celebrate the incarnation of the Word of God in human form, so today we reflect on the proclamation of the word of God as found in the religious traditions that are handed down. In both the first reading from Nehemiah and the gospel passage from Luke we see the dynamic power of the word of God as it is proclaimed. Paul's teaching originated as oral proclamation, and like the texts read by Ezra the priest and the one interpreted by Jesus himself, it was first proclaimed aloud. Only later were each of these proclamations regarded as the written word of God, handed down from one community to another, from one generation to the next. This word reminds the people of their identity as People of God. It situates them within the long and glorious stream of covenanted people. It calls them to the faithful living out of the implications of their identity. 

There is something unique about hearing the word of God, realising that it is fulfilled in our hearing. Part of this certainly stems from the oral character of our earliest ancestors. However, there is more to it. In a very real sense, the ear is the threshold through which the word of God penetrates the consciousness of the person. Thus the fundamental summons of the people of Israel was, Hear, O Israel! Hear means take into yourself; allow it to penetrate the deepest resources of your being. Hear the word of God proclaimed and allow it to take root, like the seed that is sown by the sower. 
The word of God elicits various responses from those who hear it. The first reading for today provides us with an example of openness to that word. The people who heard Ezra cried out in response: Amen, amen! So be it! We hear and we will obey! The audience of Jesus must have been equally touched by his exposition of the sacred words of Scripture. Can we do less? The people at the time of Ezra were at a turning point in their history, and they knew it. The people in the synagogue of Nazareth were also at a turning point, but they probably were unaware of the importance of the moment within which they stood. We too are at a turning point, a new season of the Liturgical Year. The frantic excitement of Christmas is over; the ordinariness of life has taken hold. However, the word of God as proclaimed always insists we are on the threshold of the new age. And how will we respond?  Are we eager to obey? Do we view the law as a treasure, as life-giving? Have we learned to live with one another as members of one body, each member being important and contributing to the total health of the entire body? Have we moved into the new age of fulfilment eager to be transformed? Do we live differently in our families: Are we more patient, more understanding? Are we more generous in our local communities? In our churches? In our villages, in our zones and stations and parishes? Have we crossed into a new era with renewed commitment? Has hearing the word of God proclaimed made any kind of difference in our lives? Or do we have ears that are uncircumcised, closed to the power of the word of God? Both Ezra and Jesus proclaimed the word of God within the context of a liturgical celebration, a setting similar to the ones wherein most people today hear God's word proclaimed. According to the teaching of Vatican II, the liturgy is described as the source and summit of our lives, and the Liturgy of the Word is an essential part of that celebration. With the people of Ezra we are invited to respond: Amen, amen! Thanks be to God! It is also in the complex makeup of the liturgical assembly that we realise that though one body in Christ, we respond as different members of that body. Some identify with the hand, others with the foot. Some who hear the word proclaimed do so from situations of poverty, others from positions of power. Both women and men hear it, as do people from different  ethnic groups and tribes. In addition to this, Christians of various denominations hear the same word and respond in ways shaped by their respective religious tradition. All are open to the word, and it takes root in them as seed that is sown. It enjoys various yields because it takes root in different ground. This diversity need not separate us; actually, it can enrich us. May Jesus Christ in today’s liturgy  help us to be mindful of some of what we are accepting when we reply Thanks be to God! to the word of God being proclaimed. Happy Sunday!+John I. Okoye

  pictures by Chukwubike

Year C 2019 The wedding at Cana

May the merit of this Sunday’s Eucharistic Celebration help you, not only to recognize the gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed on you, but also to use them to promote peace and love in your homes and in the society, for the glory of God.                            Happy Sunday +John  I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11;  John 2:1-11: Year C 2019)
 The first reading consists of an oracle of salvation. The first verse is a prophetic promise of deliverance; the other four verses develop this theme through the use of marriage imagery. The gist of this first part is that God will not rest until the nation (Jerusalem/Zion) is vindicated, until its righteousness dawns and its salvation burns brightly. In other words, God will not rest until all behold the vindication of the nation. In the later part of the reading the vindication in store for Jerusalem is more than a restoration. The city is promised a new name, spoken by the mouth of the Lord. A new name implies a new status. This is a kind of new creation. The marriage language and imagery make this clear, since marriage is itself the creation of a new reality. However, the language is first discouraging and only then encouraging. Forsaken can mean abandoned by one's husband; desolate can mean barren (cf. Isa 54,1). Previously the nation had been in such straits. But now the vindication and the new name indicate a total transformation. The people who were once forsaken are now the delight of the Lord; the land that once was barren is newly espoused.
          In the second reading, Paul launches into a discourse on the varieties of functions within the Christian community. Since the gifts or ministries or works were manifestations of the Spirit, no one was to be considered superior to another. Further, they were not given for the self-aggrandizement of the one who received them. All were given for the benefit of the entire community. There is a multiplicity of spiritual expressions, all of them manifestations of the Spirit, given for the common good. Although they come from God, the needs of the community certainly influenced the nature of these manifestations. The role of the Spirit in the life of the community is evident. It is through the agency of the Spirit that the community is blessed. In fact, these blessings do not merely come from the Spirit, they are produced by the Spirit and are manifestations of the Spirit. The challenge facing the community was the humble recognition of the manifestation of the Spirit wherever it is found and to whomever it is given. The various gifts, service, and workings were to be the cause of enrichment for the community, not dissension.
          The author of the gospel ends the account of the wedding feast at Cana by referring to it as a sign (semeion), a wondrous feat which points beyond itself to some deeper reality. The event is the miraculous changing of water into wine. Every other aspect of the narrative must be understood in the light of this event. It includes the role played by the mother of Jesus, Jesus' hour, his glorification, and the belief of his disciples. The personal name of Jesus' mother never appears in this gospel. It was Mary, the mother of Jesus, who prompted the miracle. Jesus’ referring to her as woman should not be seen as a sign of disrespect. Instead, it is akin to Madam or Ma'am, expressions used by many people today. Jesus' hour is the time of his glorification, the time when he will be manifested in all his glory. The culmination of this hour will take place when he is lifted up on the cross. However, throughout his ministry there will be times when some aspects of his identity will be manifested. Chief among these will be when he performs miraculous signs. The miracles of Jesus were never mere exhibitions of supernatural power. They were always revelations of the in-breaking of the reign of God, and the time when this in-breaking should begin was determined by God, not by Jesus and, certainly, not by his mother. Jesus was saying: We cannot preempt God's time. Evidently, the hour of his glorification had arrived, for Jesus performed his first sign. Through it his glory was manifested to his disciples and they believed in him. The establishment of the reign of God had begun. Since the event was described as a sign and since a sign points to a reality deeper than what is obvious, their faith did not rest merely on Jesus' ability to perform miracles. They believed, or would eventually come to believe, the deeper meaning of the sign, a meaning somehow related to water and wine. The water was originally intended for ritual cleansing. According to Jewish custom it was to be available for rinsing the guests' hands and for washing the vessels used during the feast. On the other hand, a wedding feast with free-flowing wine was a standard image of the age of messianic fulfillment. In this first sign, Jesus transformed Jewish ceremonial into eschatological celebration, and his disciples believed in him.
          The readings of this Sunday offered to us as, we begin Ordinary Time, carryover some of the themes we considered during the Christmas season. Then we celebrated the new era God inaugurated through the birth of Jesus. Now we look deeply into our minds and hearts to see just how open we are to the demands of that new era. Last Sunday we considered the manifestation of the Spirit at the time of the baptism of Jesus. This Sunday we contemplate the various manifestations of that same Spirit in our own lives. Finally, we are brought to realize that this variety of Spirit-filled ministries is intended to be a source of Christian unity and not of fragmentation or division.

          One of the major themes gleaned from the readings of today is that of the call to newness. God summons us to something new, gives us a new name, provides us with new experiences, launches us into new ministries, and calls us to sing a new song of praise (Psalm 96: the responsorial psalm). This newness comes from God. As with the primordial creation, God creates out of chaos – He creates a new people out of one that was forsaken, a new land out of desolation and a new Spirit-filled community. Just as the first reading and the gospel show us that marriage is the creation of a new union, so is the salvation for which we praise God in the psalm.  Even Jesus experienced a call to newness. Through Mary, God called him out into ministry, a ministry that would bring the fruits of the eschatological age of fulfillment to the whole world. This transformation of the world will be the ultimate new creation of God. The new wine Jesus provides symbolizes the intoxicating nature of the newness he brings. Christmas is the season during which we witness the in-breaking of God's newness. During Ordinary Time we see how the newness can transform the world.
          We may be inclined to think of Pentecost as the only season of the Spirit, but in reality the newness of God always comes to us through the Spirit regardless of the season of the year. During Advent we saw that Mary was overshadowed by the Spirit; at the end of the Christmas season we saw that the Spirit was present at the baptism of Jesus; now we see that the new community brought to birth by God manifests the presence of the Spirit within it through various ministerial gifts. The Spirit of God is active wherever God is present to create something new. God always creates in extravagant varieties. We see it in the world around, in the people who make up the world and in the gifts that are given to these people. All comes as gift from God, but not all comes in the same way. All must be given back to God in service, but not all will be given back in the same way. There are different kinds of gifts and different forms of services and different workings. In the old world, diversity could be divisive; what one had could be a source of envy or jealousy in another. In the new world, diversity should be unifying; one performs a service that is complemented by the service of another. It is in this way that the real glory of Jesus will be manifested. When this happens, the whole world will begin to believe in him.

Happy New Year! Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye