Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph; December 27, 2020; year B

 May the Holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph bless your family now and forevermore

Happy Holy Family Sunday

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH 
Gen 15, 1-6; 21.1-3; Hebrew 11,8.11-12.17-19; Luke 2, 22-40: Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph; December 27, 2020; year B)

On the first Sunday after Christmas the Church invites us to celebrate the holy family of Nazareth. Our families too must be holy, according to God's call, to resemble this family. The first two readings speak of Abraham, to make us understand first of all that the children are wonderful gift from God. The family, with the mutual love of husband and wife and then with the fruitfulness of this love, is a gift from God, a participation in his dignity as Creator. In fact, to indicate the birth of children, the term procreation is used. God has given man this extraordinary dignity of being with him the procreator of children. In the book of Genesis, we read that, when the first child was born to our forefathers, Eve said: I acquired a man from the Lord (Gen 4, 1). By this statement she meant to have been associated with God for the procreation of a child.

The first reading shows us Abraham full of sadness, because he has no children. He is already advanced in years, as well as Sara, his wife. Therefore, they have lost hope of having children. When God turns to Abraham saying: Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great, Abraham complains to him: My Lord God, what will you give me? I am leaving without children and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. At this moment, the great sadness felt by Abraham is caused by the fact of having to leave without leaving children. All the gifts of God seem to him in vain. Each person, in fact, has a great desire to pass on the gifts received to their children, and Abraham does not have this possibility. His question: My Lord God, what will you give? Means: Your gifts, Lord, will not satisfy me, because I will not be able to pass them on to children. And full of disappointment, he concludes: Behold, you have given me no offspring and a servant of mine will be my heir. But at this point the Lord makes him a promise, which corresponds to his deepest desire: He will not be your heir, but one born of you will be your heir. In this promise, God reveals immense generosity. Then he leads Abraham out and says to him: Look in the sky and count the stars, if you can count them. Such will be your descendants. Abraham believes in the Lord, who credits it to him as justice. Here is manifested the faith of Abraham in accepting the promise of a son, indeed of an innumerable descent. Welcoming children as a gift from God is a natural attitude that we must have always. We must always recognize that children are a wonderful gift from God, who instills in the hearts of parents a very special joy: the joy of fatherhood and motherhood, which is greater than many other joys.

The second reading makes us understand that the gift of the child also involves a responsibility on the part of the parents. Children are a special kind of gift. In fact, they don't belong to their parents as if they were things. Of course, a child or a daughter is a treasure for the parents, but not a material treasure. They are people, and therefore they belong to God much more than they belong to their parents. Children are a gift from God that continues to belong to him and that must be respected precisely as much as it belongs to him. Abraham had to go through a very painful experience, just to become aware of this reality. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that he is put to the test: God asks him to offer his son Isaac, received by virtue of the divine promise. Abraham offers his son, he shows himself willing to give this son of his to God, who is a wonderful gift from God and does not really belong to Abraham. Abraham's trial has this profound meaning for all fathers and mothers: children belong to God; parents must not have possessive affection for them. This means that they must not seek their own satisfaction in their children, but their good as people loved by God, who must gradually conquer their autonomy and live their vocation. This is not an easy thing to do. In fact, paternal or maternal affection very often becomes possessive, preventing the child from becoming a free person who belongs only to God. Very negative consequences derive from this possessive attitude. For example, when the child marries, the mother claims to maintain the same relationship towards him as she had with him when he was a child, to continue to be the mother who must direct all the child does and have all the affection of the child. This attitude then causes a conflict with the wife. Possessive affection is not true affection, because it seeks its own satisfaction, instead of respecting and promoting the good of the loved one.

In the Gospel we see how Mary and Joseph become aware that Jesus is not a possession for them, but a responsibility, a gift from God that continues to belong to God much more than to them. A few days after the birth of Jesus they take the child to Jerusalem to offer him to the Lord, that is, to recognize that he belongs to God. The law of Moses in fact prescribes: Every firstborn male will be sacred to the Lord. Mary and Joseph go to the temple, to show that Jesus belongs to God and that they are only, so to speak, the administrators, and not the owners, of this gift. In this circumstance God reveals how Jesus must be his Servant. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, old Simeon says about this child: He is here for the ruin and resurrection of many in Israel, a sign of contradiction for the thoughts of many hearts will be  revealed. Jesus has the decisive task of revealing the thoughts of hearts, and in this way will be a sign of contradiction. Indeed, he must himself become the object of persecution, of unjust condemnation. To Mary Simeon predicts: And a sword will pierce your soul too. The fate of Jesus and that of Mary are very painful, but also very fruitful. We know that with his passion Jesus saved the world, and that Mary played a cooperative role in this great mystery. Mary keeps all these words in her heart (cf. Luke 2,19.51). In this way, she prepares herself to be the servant of the Lord also in her way of educating her child, and then of letting him go for his mission, which is so important for the salvation of the world. The Gospel tells us that when they had accomplished everything according to the law of the Lord, [the parents and the child] returned to Galilee, to their city of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. The joy of the family comes precisely from the raising of children. This is also a wonderful thing that causes awe. Children are destined to grow, to fortify themselves, to acquire wisdom and welcome God's grace. Jesus is truly one of us: The Son of God becomes a child, accepts to grow, to strengthen himself, is full of wisdom, and grace of God is upon him. Mary and Joseph have the joy of seeing their son growing up and buying all that is necessary for his mission.

The family has the task of encouraging the growth of children, respecting it and guiding it; it has the task of favouring the full development of all the qualities that God has given to children for the fulfilment of their vocation. The family must be oriented above all towards this mission. Each has its own vocation; to each one God entrusts a mission to carry out in the world, certain responsibilities to assume. In a family, each of the children has their own personal vocation, and the family has the task of creating all favourable conditions for the full development of this vocation, so that the children may live a truly beautiful life, worthy of God and useful to the world. John I. Okoye

(graphics by Chukwubike)

 

4th Sunday of Advent Year B, 20th December 2020

May God in today's Eucharistic celebration, grant us the graces always like Mary to respond positively to God's plans in our lives with great humility, as we await with joy the coming of Christ.

Happy Sunday!

 

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(2 Sam 7,1-5.8-12.14.16; Rom 16,25-27; Luke 1, 26-38: 4th Sunday of Advent Year B, 20th December 2020)

On this immediate Sunday preceding Christmas, the liturgy presents the Gospel of the Annunciation to us. The liturgy is not concerned with chronology - it is clear that the Annunciation did not take place a few days before Christmas - but intends to illuminate the mystery of Christmas with this Gospel, which is, effectively, indispensable for welcoming this mystery very well.

In the angel's announcement it is said that the Lord God will give the son of Mary the throne of his father David. To prepare this prediction, the first reading presents the oracle of the prophet Nathan to King David. The second reading speaks to us of the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is made so that [all peoples] may obey the faith. We must welcome the Incarnation of the Son of God who became the son of David, Messiah and Saviour with faith.

After the Lord granted him victory over all his enemies, King David built a beautiful palace, a cedar house, a luxurious building in those times. But then he realises that he has not thought of building a house for the Ark of God, for the Presence of God. So, he says to the prophet Nathan: You see, I live in a cedar house, while the ark of God is under a tent. Here we can see how David did not even dare to express his plan clearly to the prophet. It is a project that concerns God’s holiness and, according to the Old Testament mentality, it is very dangerous to take initiatives about the sanctity of God. But the prophet Nathan understands what David's plan is well: to build a grandiose temple, worthy of God, however, not minding how long it may take him. Nathan then approves of the king's intention and says: Go, do what you plan to do, because the Lord is with you. But the Lord disagrees with this project. So on   that same night Nathan hears a word from God asking him to change the answer given to David. God's response to David's plan ultimately was: Not you, David, will build a house for me, but I, God, will build a house for you. This house will be a royal dynasty, which will have power over the people of God for centuries. The Lord says to David: When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will ensure after you the offspring that came from your womb. That is, God promises David to give him a son, who will be his successor, a son for whom God will be a father - I will be his father and he will be my son - and whose throne will be made stable forever. This oracle of Nathan is at the origin of the messianic hope. The descendants of David who were his successors, for the most part, were disappointing: they were by no means sovereign ideals, but men full of defects, who did not follow the ways of the Lord and therefore, caused misfortunes for the people. However, these disappointments had the effect of arousing the hope of a perfect fulfilment of God's plan and promise, the hope of a Messiah king, who was to be truly the ideal ruler and whose reign would last forever.

In the Annunciation the angel tells Mary that this oracle and this messianic hope are about to be realised: the son of Mary will be David's successor. The angel announces: The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father and will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. Consequently, there is the perfect and definitive fulfilment of God's promise; the oracle of Nathan is fulfilled in a way that could not have been foreseen. It always happens like this: when God makes a promise, the fulfilment is always more beautiful and perfect than how that promise was understood by men. The son of Mary is not only David's successor, but he is truly the Son of God. After hearing this announcement from the angel, Mary asks: How does this happen? I don't know man. In the angel's response it is revealed to her that her son will truly be the Son of God, he will not have a human father, but will be conceived by the Holy Spirit. The angel says: The Holy Spirit will descend on you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you. He who is born will therefore be holy and called the Son of God. Here is the full revelation. God's plan manifests itself greater and much more extraordinary than one might think. We can admire this truly extraordinary, stupendous divine generosity. The Holy God chooses a simple girl to become the mother of his Son, the human mother of the eternal Son of the heavenly Father. This is a wonderful thing, which changes our whole human existence and the whole history of the world. The Son of God becomes a child - and then he will become an adult - assuming the human condition, to establish the kingdom of God and introduce men to it. In this passage of the Gospel we can see a contrast - which is also manifested in the different length of the discourses between the promises that the angel makes to Mary and the response of the latter. The angel's predictions take up a lot of space; he says to Mary: Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found grace with God. Behold you will conceive a son, you will give birth to him and you will call him Jesus, He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. It is a long prediction, which opens exceptional, and eternal prospects. The child born of Mary will be called Son of the Most High: it is not possible to conceive a higher dignity than this. And after Mary's question, the angel's predictions become even more precise and extraordinary: they are wonderful, very high and widely explained predictions. Instead, Mary's response is a short sentence, which does not speak at all of glory, but only of submission and service: Here I am, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you said happen to me. Mary does not exalt herself, but humbles herself (I am the servant of the Lord), and expresses her adherence, her Yes to God's plan (and may what you have said come to me). This contrast is very significant. It makes us understand that Mary is truly humble and does not try to stand out. She recognises that she is small before God, and is happy to be so. On the other hand, she is aware that the response to God's plan depends on her, that she can be an obstacle or help to that project. Mary presents herself here with an attitude that corresponds, perfectly, with that of the Son of God when he comes into the world: he wants to become the Servant of the Lord, to put himself at the service of all humanity for the success of God's plan. Mary says: Here I am, I am the servant of the Lord; and the Son of God, entering the world, says: Behold, I come [...] to do your will, O God" (Heb. 10,7.9). Mary's attitude corresponds perfectly to this declaration of the Son of God becoming her son. In this way she reveals herself as a perfect collaborator of God's plan, and in the Magnificat she will be able to proclaim that God has exalted the humble (Luke 1,52), because with this very humble and generous responses he obtained a very high glory. Mary prepares to live the whole mystery of Christ, even in its painful aspects. But the latter are the only way that truly leads to the glorious mysteries. Mary follows this path when she says: I am the servant of the Lord.

We must admire Mary and feel an intimate joy for her so beautiful and costly response to God's plan. We can and must therefore, ask for the grace to also welcome - each according to his or her vocation - God's plan in our lives, with perfect humility, great generosity and continuous adherence to it. +John I. Okoye

 (graphics  by Chukwubike OC)

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B, 13th December, 2020

May God in today's Eucharistic celebration, bestow on us the graces to develop the attitude of humility, realising that we are nothing without Christ, who is our master and saviour.

Happy Sunday!

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 61, 1-2a.10-11; I Thessalonians 5, 16-24; John 1, 6-8.19-28;

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B, 13th December, 2020)

This Sunday’s Gospel presents John the Baptist’s testimony. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light - we read in the prologue of the fourth Gospel - so that all might believe through him" (John 1,7). The testimony of the Baptist is a negative testimony in the first part, in which we have an example of what becomes clear self-denial. Denying one's own importance, denying oneself is an indispensable disposition to leave all the available place for the Lord. Each of us has a tendency to believe ourselves to be the master, the saviour of ourselves, and give ourselves great importance. In this case the Lord neither communicate his gifts to us, nor give himself to us, and cannot save us, because there is no place for him in us. To prepare for the feast of Christmas, we must try to make void in ourselves, so that there will be space for the Lord.

John the Baptist has this humility, and demonstrates it in a very decisive way. The Gospel tells us that priests and Levites come to him from Jerusalem to question him, because his mission causes perplexity. In fact, he retired to the desert to live a very austere life and invite people to convert. The priests and Levites ask him: Who are you? John answers the question that they have not formulated, but which is their real question: I am not the Christ. The Baptist, immediately, senses that they think that he is the Messiah, or the Christ (Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew term Messiah), or that he believes he is such. So, he immediately, sets the record straight:  I am not the Christ. Then they ask him: What then? Are you Elijah? The prophet Elijah, as had been announced by prophet Malachy in the name of God (cf. Mark 3,23), should have returned to prepare the decisive intervention of God, which all the Jews were waiting for. John replies in the negative: I am not he. In the Gospel of Luke, the angel had announced to Zechariah, regarding John: He will walk before the Lord with the spirit and strength of Elijah (Luke 1,17), that is, with a prophetic attitude similar to that of Elijah. But for his part, John acknowledges that he is not Elijah. The Jews were also waiting for another character/personality. In Deuteronomy, God promised to give his people a prophet similar to Moses. But, according to the belief of the Old Testament, this prophet had not yet come. In fact, at the end of Deuteronomy the author says: A prophet like Moses has not arisen in Israel (Deut. 34,10). The Jews, therefore, expected not just any prophet, but the prophet solemnly announced by God in Deuteronomy. But John the Baptist declares that he is not this prophet. The priests and the Levites then ask him: Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? At this point John gives a positive answer, but he is very humble; he does not say that he is someone, but only a voice: "I am as Isaiah prophesied: a voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord. The whole mission of the Baptist is summed up in being this voice that invites us to prepare the way of the Lord. It is necessary to prepare the way of God or, more precisely, the way of the Messiah. The priests and the Levites sent from Jerusalem question him: Why then do you baptise, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? Again, John replies in a very humble way: I baptise with water … The baptism of John, therefore, has no great value. Then he declares:  I baptise with water; but there stands among you-unknown to you-the one coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap. John defines himself here as the forerunner, the one who precedes a more important character than himself, that is Jesus, the Messiah. Later he will tell us that this personage baptises with the Holy Spirit, that is, he performs a truly effective baptism (cf. John 1,33). 

The baptism of John is a baptism that expresses only the expectation of grace, but does not communicate the grace. Instead, the baptism of Jesus communicates grace, and the Holy Spirit, and completely renews the person, radically purifying him of all his sins and confers on him the divine sonship. We are invited to love and imitate John the Baptist attitude of humility. We must prepare for Christmas with this attitude, recognising our inability to save ourselves and the absolute need for our Saviour.
The first reading defines the Saviour’s mission more fully. In the oracle of Isaiah we have: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has consecrated me with anointing. The Hebrew term Messiah means anointed, the one who has been consecrated with the anointing. The oracle of Isaiah is applied to the Messiah/Jesus (which means Saviour). He is sent to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the wounds of broken hearts, to proclaim the freedom of slaves, the release of prisoners, to promulgate the year of the Lord's mercy. The Messiah brings good news for the poor, the broken hearts, all the humble and oppressed. Jesus’ work consists of this liberation from sins and oppression. He came to restore to all men the dignity and freedom of the children of God, which he alone can communicate.

In the second reading Paul invites us to prepare the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ by keeping ourselves blameless, with the grace of God. The Apostle exhorts us to have three attitudes, which should be our habitual attitudes: constant joy, perseverance in prayer and continuous thanksgiving. This is, in fact, the will of God towards you, Paul says to the Thessalonians, and this also applies to us. Always be happy. We must always be joyful, even when things do not go according to our expectations. Indeed, we have a great reason to be joyful, for the fact that the Saviour is coming to us. The joy of hope, and also the joy for the benefits we have already received. This joy is based on persevering prayer: 

Pray without ceasing, says the Apostle. Through prayer we can continuously, enter into a relationship with God, and this relationship instills true joy in our hearts. The third attitude indicated by Paul is grateful love: 

In everything give thanks. In fact, God is so generous to us, and we must always recognize his benefits, and love; we must live in continuous thanksgiving. Joy, prayer and gratitude: these are the three attitudes with which we must prepare for Christmas. In this Eucharist we therefore, ask the Lord to open our hearts to his grace, so that we can live these three attitudes. +John I. Okoye

(graphics  by chukwubike)

CHURCH DEDICATION; ST MICHAEL'S PARISH AMOJI NENWE