As you participate in today’s Eucharistic celebration, may the good Lord grant you the grace to be coherent in what you say and do and orthodox in your praises of God through your daily life. Happy Sunday + John I. Okoye
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Sirach 27,4-7; 1 Corinthians 15,54-58; Luke 6,39-45: 8th Sunday of Year C, 2019)
Today’s first reading is a short collection of proverbs containing wisdom that has been gleaned from life experience. Though descriptive in form, the proverbs are intended to be directive in function. This is clear from the last verse, which is obviously an admonition. In its own way each proverb demonstrates how life itself is the test of the value of things. The first proverb, using metaphor from processing harvested farm products insists that appearances are deceiving. First impressions are not always accurate. However, once someone starts talking the facade falls away, and the real person is revealed. The second proverb addresses the same issue, using an entirely different metaphor. It is impossible to fashion pots that will endure without firing them in a kiln. However, too much heat will crack the pots. The potter must know just how much heat the pottery can endure. So, it is with people. Tribulation tests the mettle of the person, and that mettle is revealed in one's speech. Finally, the quality of the fruit reveals the degree of care given to the tree. So, it is with people. By their fruits you shall know them. Their speech betrays their thinking. The final bit of advice provides the point of each of the proverbs: Wait until you hear what people have to say before you praise them.
Paul concludes his teaching on the resurrection by considering the vanquishing of death that Jesus accomplished. Again, and again, Paul has insisted that believers are joined to the risen Lord in faith and through baptism. Hence what is perishable and mortal because it was fashioned out of dust takes on the imperishability and immortality of resurrection. Although he uses the image of putting on garments, he is not suggesting that this is merely a change in appearance. It is, instead, a radical transformation. This will happen, according to Paul, in fulfilment of the Scriptures. For Paul death is not only swallowed up, but it is also swallowed up in victory. Consequently, death itself knows no victory. Its sting is no longer lethal. Paul then traces the power that has conquered deathback to Christ. He begins his argument with the long-held conviction that death is the consequence of sin (cf. Rom 5,12). He then moves to the law which, regardless of its cherished value, not only directs people to righteous living but actually convicts people of sin (cf. Rom 5,13). However, God has given us victory over sin and death through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The instruction ends with an exhortation that is grounded in faith in the message just proclaimed. The believers are to be firm, and steadfast especially under conditions that could cause them to waver in their faith. They are told to place their hope in the power of the resurrection and live lives of dedication to the Lord. If they do this, they can trust that the risen Lord will bestow on them the blessings that flow from the victory that has been won.
Jesus’ admonitions, in today’s gospel reading, set forth principles by which the followers of Jesus are to live. The first point deals with the kind of teachers one should follow and eventually become. The second addresses the relationship between the inner character of a person and the kind of behavior that flows from that character. Teaching from within the Wisdom tradition of Israel, Jesus uses metaphors taken from nature to illustrate the points he is making. The teaching begins with two rhetorical questions: can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a point? the answers to which are obvious. The first is No! The second is Yes! These teachings may be seen as a veiled criticism of the scribes and Pharisees, the official teachers of Israel. This is not necessarily the case, since in the rest of the passage Jesus is exhorting his followers to be critical of their own behavior. One does not need to go outside the company of the disciples to find attitudes and conduct that warrant censure. It seems that some of the disciples have not learned all the Master had to teach them. He accuses them of being too quick to find fault with others while at the same time remaining blind to their own shortcomings. Setting themselves up as judges in this way makes them blind people leading other blind people rather than faithful disciples of Jesus who are quick to forgive rather than judge. A hypocrite is one whose outer way of living does not conform to an authentic inner disposition. The one who criticizes others without being self-critical is here accused of being a hypocrite. Jesus turns to the natural world to illustrate what he means. A tree brings forth the fruit it is disposed to bring forth: a good tree, good fruit; a rotten tree, rotten fruit; a fig tree, figs; a grape vine, grapes. Every good tree brings forth fruit "according to its kind" (cf. Genesis 1). Having made this point emphatically, Jesus applies the meaning of the metaphor to human beings. A good person brings forth good fruit; an evil person brings forth evil fruit. Actions flow out of the disposition of one's heart. This statement illustrates the conviction that character precedes action and emphasizes the importance of congruity between the inner and outer dimensions of a person. Where there is such congruity, there is integrity; where it is absent, there is hypocrisy.
Paul concludes his teaching on the resurrection by considering the vanquishing of death that Jesus accomplished. Again, and again, Paul has insisted that believers are joined to the risen Lord in faith and through baptism. Hence what is perishable and mortal because it was fashioned out of dust takes on the imperishability and immortality of resurrection. Although he uses the image of putting on garments, he is not suggesting that this is merely a change in appearance. It is, instead, a radical transformation. This will happen, according to Paul, in fulfilment of the Scriptures. For Paul death is not only swallowed up, but it is also swallowed up in victory. Consequently, death itself knows no victory. Its sting is no longer lethal. Paul then traces the power that has conquered deathback to Christ. He begins his argument with the long-held conviction that death is the consequence of sin (cf. Rom 5,12). He then moves to the law which, regardless of its cherished value, not only directs people to righteous living but actually convicts people of sin (cf. Rom 5,13). However, God has given us victory over sin and death through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The instruction ends with an exhortation that is grounded in faith in the message just proclaimed. The believers are to be firm, and steadfast especially under conditions that could cause them to waver in their faith. They are told to place their hope in the power of the resurrection and live lives of dedication to the Lord. If they do this, they can trust that the risen Lord will bestow on them the blessings that flow from the victory that has been won.
Jesus’ admonitions, in today’s gospel reading, set forth principles by which the followers of Jesus are to live. The first point deals with the kind of teachers one should follow and eventually become. The second addresses the relationship between the inner character of a person and the kind of behavior that flows from that character. Teaching from within the Wisdom tradition of Israel, Jesus uses metaphors taken from nature to illustrate the points he is making. The teaching begins with two rhetorical questions: can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a point? the answers to which are obvious. The first is No! The second is Yes! These teachings may be seen as a veiled criticism of the scribes and Pharisees, the official teachers of Israel. This is not necessarily the case, since in the rest of the passage Jesus is exhorting his followers to be critical of their own behavior. One does not need to go outside the company of the disciples to find attitudes and conduct that warrant censure. It seems that some of the disciples have not learned all the Master had to teach them. He accuses them of being too quick to find fault with others while at the same time remaining blind to their own shortcomings. Setting themselves up as judges in this way makes them blind people leading other blind people rather than faithful disciples of Jesus who are quick to forgive rather than judge. A hypocrite is one whose outer way of living does not conform to an authentic inner disposition. The one who criticizes others without being self-critical is here accused of being a hypocrite. Jesus turns to the natural world to illustrate what he means. A tree brings forth the fruit it is disposed to bring forth: a good tree, good fruit; a rotten tree, rotten fruit; a fig tree, figs; a grape vine, grapes. Every good tree brings forth fruit "according to its kind" (cf. Genesis 1). Having made this point emphatically, Jesus applies the meaning of the metaphor to human beings. A good person brings forth good fruit; an evil person brings forth evil fruit. Actions flow out of the disposition of one's heart. This statement illustrates the conviction that character precedes action and emphasizes the importance of congruity between the inner and outer dimensions of a person. Where there is such congruity, there is integrity; where it is absent, there is hypocrisy.
The readings for this Sunday continue the schooling of the followers of Jesus as they are fashioned into true disciples. The overarching theme is similar to one found in the readings for last Sunday. It is the deceiving character of outward appearances. These readings insist there must be some kind of integrity between one's speech and one's actions. Both the reading from Sirach and the one from Luke, by employing Wisdom forms of instruction (proverb and parable), indicate the Wisdom character of the teaching. The settings are commonplace (agriculture and social interaction) demonstrating that the lessons of life are learned in everyday occurrences. It is unfortunate that we do not always value the integrity of speech as we might. We may even extol our ability to deceive others, to lead them on for our own advantage. We cannot take people at their word, not even those who hold positions of trust, such as politicians, government officials, newscasters, lawyers, ministers, even parents. We may not honour truthful speech as we should, but we still recognize the havoc dishonesty and falsification of facts of any kind plays in a society. Some of us may want to get ahead any way we can, but no one of us wants to be a victim of dishonesty.
The Wisdom lesson for today addresses the question of integrity. We have learned from the experience of life itself that honesty is not merely the best policy, it is essential if a society is to survive and thrive. We recognize that there must be a measure of integrity between speech with which we communicate and the values and aspirations that motivate us. There must be a comparable measure of integrity between our speech and our deeds. It is not by accident that the Hebrew word dabar means both "word" and "deed." Words identify our deeds, and our deeds are expressions of the words that are formulated first in our minds and then on our lips.
We must never forget that the transformation of life we seek is possible, not through our own efforts but through the death and resurrection of Christ. It was through his own death that death itself has been swallowed up; it was through his resurrection that human life has been changed for all time. He is the true Word spoken, the incarnate Word in the flesh. What he says and what he does are one. We are merely beneficiaries of the marvels he has wrought. It is because of him that we are able to persevere in the work of God, which we have taken upon ourselves. We can never forget that the good work we accomplish is accomplished in and through this Lord. We have come to understand orthodoxy as meaning correct teaching. However, the word itself comes from two Greek words meaning right (orthos) and glory (doxa). Orthodoxy, or right praise, is that which is both spoken and done at the same time. It identifies the integrity of which we have been speaking, an integrity measured by the right correspondence between speech and action. In form, the responsorial psalm is a hymn of praise. In a sense it is also an expression of this kind of orthodoxy. It describes the life of the righteous ones, whose integrity cannot be questioned. It declares that it is by a righteous life itself and not merely through prayers of praise that God is glorified. The glory of God is the human person fully alive (Irenaeus). We, therefore, pray that all Nigerians and more especially we Christians will be coherent in what we say and do and be orthodox in our prayers/praises of God and in our deeds of everyday life especially at this critical time of our country! May the good Lord grant us these graces through the Eucharistic Celebration of today’s Sunday. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye
The Wisdom lesson for today addresses the question of integrity. We have learned from the experience of life itself that honesty is not merely the best policy, it is essential if a society is to survive and thrive. We recognize that there must be a measure of integrity between speech with which we communicate and the values and aspirations that motivate us. There must be a comparable measure of integrity between our speech and our deeds. It is not by accident that the Hebrew word dabar means both "word" and "deed." Words identify our deeds, and our deeds are expressions of the words that are formulated first in our minds and then on our lips.
We must never forget that the transformation of life we seek is possible, not through our own efforts but through the death and resurrection of Christ. It was through his own death that death itself has been swallowed up; it was through his resurrection that human life has been changed for all time. He is the true Word spoken, the incarnate Word in the flesh. What he says and what he does are one. We are merely beneficiaries of the marvels he has wrought. It is because of him that we are able to persevere in the work of God, which we have taken upon ourselves. We can never forget that the good work we accomplish is accomplished in and through this Lord. We have come to understand orthodoxy as meaning correct teaching. However, the word itself comes from two Greek words meaning right (orthos) and glory (doxa). Orthodoxy, or right praise, is that which is both spoken and done at the same time. It identifies the integrity of which we have been speaking, an integrity measured by the right correspondence between speech and action. In form, the responsorial psalm is a hymn of praise. In a sense it is also an expression of this kind of orthodoxy. It describes the life of the righteous ones, whose integrity cannot be questioned. It declares that it is by a righteous life itself and not merely through prayers of praise that God is glorified. The glory of God is the human person fully alive (Irenaeus). We, therefore, pray that all Nigerians and more especially we Christians will be coherent in what we say and do and be orthodox in our prayers/praises of God and in our deeds of everyday life especially at this critical time of our country! May the good Lord grant us these graces through the Eucharistic Celebration of today’s Sunday. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye
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