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

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE .... +JOHN I. OKOYE

MAY THE MERIT OF CHRIST’S BIRTH DEEPEN IN YOU THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MYSTERY OF INCARNATION, AND MAKE YOU BECOME A WITNESS OF GOD’S INCARNATION, BY SHARING THIS LOVE AND JOY TO OTHERS ESPECIALLY SOCIETIES’ REJECTS. HAPPY CHRISTMAS +JOHN I. OKOYE

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son and shall call him IMMANUEL” (Isaiah 7:14). From this passage of the prophecy of Isaiah we are led into the heart of the mystery of Christmas, a mystery which John captures in the immortal words: Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis (and the word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us).

But what exactly do we celebrate at Christmas? Obviously, we celebrate the birth of Christ. But there is more to this; the cause for joy at Christmas flows not simply from this birth but more importantly, from what this birth implies for us and for salvation history. We are celebrating God’s love for humanity; the love which made the Divine to assume our humanity for our salvation.

The very purpose of God’s creation of man was for man to share in the divine life. God wills that men “should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit and thus become sharers of the divine nature…God… wants to communicate his own divine life to men he freely created….” (CCC 51; 52). This God’s self-revelation which began at creation, and continued through the words of the prophets and in the history of God’s people, is brought to completion in the Son, the Word made flesh. In Jesus Christ and in his sending of the Spirit of the Father and the Son, revelation reaches its culmination (Cf. Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini, par. 20).

At Christmas therefore, we celebrate the great mystery of the Incarnation – the mystery by which God takes up our human nature for our salvation. Through this Incarnation, humanity has been granted access to the Trinitarian communion; God has communicated himself perfectly and totally to man. In this way, man is privileged to share in the Divine life. This deification which begins at the incarnation, reaches its perfection in the paschal mystery of Christ. St. Ireneus expresses this teaching beautifully: “In his immeasurable love, He became what we are in order to make us what He is”, again, “There was no other way for us to receive incorruptibility and immortality than to be united to incorruptibility and immortality. But how could we be united to incorruptibility and immortality without incorruptibility and immortality first becoming what we are, the perishable putting on imperishability, the mortal putting on immortality so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Irenaeus, Against the Heresies, III 19, 1). In the incarnation God reaches out to humanity through humanity in order to bring man into the divine embrace. We therefore celebrate God’s becoming one of us. We can see him, touch him, and hear him speak in our own language. The incarnate Word has become our brother and our friend.

What then should be our response to this unmerited love of God to us at Christmas? Our very first response must be to awaken ourselves from a secular and merely materialistic understanding of Christmas to its truly profound theological import. A second step in this response is to take a cue from the very first witnesses of God’s Incarnation – the shepherds. The first thing that we are told about them is that they were on the watch (Lk. 2:8) – they could hear the message precisely because they were awake. In other words, we must be awake and vigilant to hear the Divine message. What does it mean to be awake? To wake up means to leave the private world of one’s own to enter the common reality, the truth that alone can unite people. To be awake then means to develop a receptivity for God who himself is Truth. This opening up of self and acceptance is nothing more than faith. “Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed” (CCC 150). When we are open and awake to God, only then can we experience the full joy and love of Christmas. Furthermore, this openness to God invariably opens us up to our neighbors, for faith, even though a personal act, is never an isolated act – I believe together with the community of believers. In other words, at Christmas we not only experience the joy and love of God, we become instruments of the dissemination of this love and joy – spreading them to whomever we meet and wherever we go.  

Furthermore, as we mentioned already, the Word became flesh to be our model of holiness and humility. The story of the condescension of God brings about a shocking novelty in our understanding of what really constitutes greatness. In worldly understanding, greatness would consist in the acquisition of power and wealth, but divine wisdom turns this understanding on its head. Greatness according to divine wisdom doesn’t consist in acquisition of power and wealth, rather it consists in humility and service. Jesus himself demonstrated this by his kenosis– though he was God, he did not count equality with God. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a servant (cf. Phil. 2: 6-10). Christians are called to imitate this humility and self-giving of Christ. We can do this by showing love to others especially societies’ rejects. It is a period of love and sharing. Let us make efforts to show love to others.

I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! +John I. Okoye

4th Sunday of Advent; Year C

 As you stand on the threshold of fulfillment of our redemption, may you be filled with grace to allow Christ, the Word made flesh, to transform your life in a way that is personal and enriching in goodness; so that you continue to recognize his abiding presence in the events of your life and in your needy neighbor.    Happy Christmas  +John I. Okoye.

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Micah 5,1-4a; Hebrews 10,5-10; Luke 1,39-45: 4th Sunday of Advent; Year C) 

This oracle of salvation of the first reading notes that  salvation will come from an insignificant village, the Bethlehem which is associated with Ephrathah, a clan related to Caleb and located in Judah. Because it was the place of David’s origin, the reference is rich in early royal importance that is quite distinct from any association with Jerusalem, the dynastic capital of the reigning royal family. The ruler promised here is not to be understood as the successive Davidic king but as a new Davidic king, fresh and totally committed to God as the young David had been. Bethlehem (meaning house of bread) in Ephrathah (meaning field of fruit) may not have been militarily significant, in contrast to Jerusalem; but it represented fruitfulness, and it produced the most prominent king Israel ever knew. This new ruler will be called forth for God and strengthened by God to rule. The image used to depict his rule is that of a shepherd who leads, protects, and provides for those in his care. Although David had been a lowly shepherd, the shepherd image had royal connotations. Kings were frequently characterized as shepherds because of the responsibility they had for their people. This promised king will shepherd in the strength and majesty of God. The image also suggests a personal relationship, for shepherds knew their flock quite well and the sheep recognized the voice of their shepherd. Elements in the oracle suggest that a time of tribulation will precede the birth of this ruler. First, the Lord will give up some people, presumably to suffering. The promised ruler will be firm yet gentle, as a shepherd is. The people will be secure, no longer threatened with banishment (they shall remain, v. 3). There will be a reign of peace (shalom), prosperity, safety, and good health. This prophecy is an affirmation of hope in the future, a hope grounded in the goodness of God rather than in human accomplishment.

The second reading from the letter to Hebrews consists of a contrast between the sacrificial ritual that was formerly observed and the sacrifice of Christ. Throughout the reading the author places various phrases in the mouth of Christ, thus giving Christological authority to his own theology. He tells us that Christ proclaimed these statements upon his entrance into the world, suggesting that what is contained here is the precise reason for the incarnation. The statements themselves focus particularly on the excellence of Christ’s physical body (soma). Christ’s words are a commentary on Ps 40,7-9. Four different sacrifices are mentioned: animal sacrifice; meal offering; burnt offering and sin offering. Together they represent the entire sacrificial system. In the original psalm they are contrasted with an attitude of obedience toward God, demonstrating that interior obedience is preferred over mere external ritual. As it appears in this passage, the contrast is between those sacrifices and the body of the psalmist. Applied to Christ, his sacrifice is preferred over other sacrifices because of the preeminence of his human body as compared with the bodies of the sacrificial animals. Christ’s compliance with the will of God is clearly stated, but here the specific focus is the offering of his body and not merely his obedience. In his commentary on this christological reading of the psalm (vv. 8-10) the author of the letter makes explicit the contrast between adherence to the law and Christ’s obedience to God’s will. He claims that Christ annuls or takes away the first (external adherence) in order to establish the second (internal obedience). He then moves in his theological development from Christ’s obedience to our own sanctification. By freely offering his body in sacrifice, Christ identifies his own will with the will of God. We are sanctified through this same sacrifice, not through any sacrifice required by law. For it was through his human body, a body like ours, that he demonstrated his obedience. Finally, the preeminence of Christ’s sacrifice of his body is stated again. He offered himself once for all (v. 10). The former sacrificial system required a variety of offerings to be repeated time and again. This multiplicity of sacrifices indicates the inadequacy of any single sacrifice. Because he was offering his own body, Christ offered himself only one time and in only one way, and it was enough. It is through this sacrifice that we are sanctified.
The major significance of Mary’s encounter with Elizabeth is the faith- filled avowal of Elizabeth. Mary’s greeting to Elizabeth was a customary salutation, but its effect was profound. It caused the child in Elizabeth’s womb to leap with joy. This is reminiscent of the joy that filled David as he leaped before the ark of the covenant, the symbol of God in the midst of the people (cf. 2 Sam 6,14-15). Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaimed her faith in the child Mary was carrying. In the cases of both David and Elizabeth’s unborn child, it was their realization of being in the presence of God that caused them to rejoice. It is as if Mary is the ark and the child within her is the glory of God. In response to this wondrous experience, Elizabeth exalts first Mary and then her child (v. 42). The word translated blessed (eulogeo) means to extol or to speak well of. Elizabeth does not pronounce a blessing over them. Instead, she recognizes the blessedness they possess and she praises it. This blessedness is derived from the dignity of the child, a dignity Elizabeth acknowledges by referring to him as her Lord (kyrios). As David had wondered how the ark of God could come to him (cf. 2 Sam 6.9), so Elizabeth wonders how the mother of her Lord should come to her. Mary is here called blessed (makarios) for having believed what had been spoken to her by the Lord, a reference to the annunciation (cf. Luke 1,26-38). In this case it is faith, not some work of righteousness, that is extolled. She believed she would conceive and bear a son, and it had come to pass. It is this son that she carries in her womb that precipitated the events recorded in this passage. The way this good fortune will be manifested in Mary’s life is not stated; she is merely called blessed.
In many ways the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent anticipate Christmas. They get us ready for the imminent future, giving us glimpses into the mysteries we will be celebrating. On this Sunday we are on the threshold of fulfillment, filled with anticipation of his coming, while we celebrate his presence in our midst. There is always excitement at this time of the year. It is as if everything is filled with promise. Animosities are set aside; estrangement dissolves into reconciliation; the whole world seems gentler; and we are filled with the spirit of generosity. In the days just before Christmas the possibility of newness is almost palpable. The spirit of the season seems to have caught hold of us even before the actual day has arrived. Today we stand on the threshold of fulfillment. The future God has prepared for us is open before us, even though we have not yet stepped out into it. We can see some of its contours, and it is very inviting. On this Sunday we are invited to pause at the threshold and gaze for a moment into this future. This invitation is extended to us so we can appreciate the gift being given to us.

Both the reading from Micah and the one from Luke place us squarely in history. The child belongs to a particular people in a particular place at a particular time. The incarnation takes place in human history, thus affirming the fundamental goodness of human life and concerns and sanctifying them even further. The child comes from simple people, from a place that is relatively insignificant, thus underscoring God’s preference for what is ordinary. The reading from Hebrews tells us that in God’s plan redemption is dependent upon incarnation. The body that was offered for our salvation, the body that consecrated us through having been offered up, was the body that grew in the womb of Mary. The extraordinary salvific deed of God was accomplished through his coming into the world as one of us. The obedience Christ played out through his body fulfilled for us the promises made by God.
Advent is the season when we stand on the threshold of fulfillment. However, it is the fulfillment of an event that has already taken place. We remember it, we ritually reenact it so we never take it for granted, so we never forget that it is in and through history that the marvelous deeds of God are accomplished. Each year we pause to celebrate these events, not because they have not yet occurred but because they have happened and are happening now before our eyes. The celebration of anticipation is also the celebration of fulfillment, fulfillment of the promises made, fulfillment of our redemption, fulfillment of our transformation. Blessed are we who believe that what was spoken to us by the Lord has been fulfilled! Happy Sunday! Happy Christmas! + John I. Okoye

(graphics by charles)