30th Sunday in Year C, October 23, 2022

 Through the graces of this Eucharist, we beseech the good Lord to open our hearts to generous prayer, that we may be full of mercy, goodness and understanding for others, not separating ourselves from them but presenting ourselves together with them to God. Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Sirach 35,12-14.16-18; 2 Timothy 4, 6-8.16-18; Luke 18, 9-14; 30th Sunday in Year C, October 23, 2022)

In the Gospel, Jesus gives many teachings on prayer, insisting on the need for perseverance in prayer. On this Sunday, he gives us another teaching on prayer, precisely, on the interior dispositions necessary to pray well and be heard.
In his parable, Jesus compared two people who pray: the Pharisee and the tax collector. Their attitudes are in complete contrast to each other: The Pharisee stands, the tax collector instead stops at a distance, does not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven and beat his chest. The Pharisee is full of himself and thanks God for not being like the others. He is full of contempt for other people, and says: “O God, I thank you that I am not like other men, thieves, unjust, adulterers, and not even like this publican.” He separates himself from all the others, thus believing that he is pleasing to God. Then he presents his merits to God: “I fast twice a week and pay tithes of what I have.” Thus he thinks he is heard by God. The tax collector, on the other hand, does not make a long prayer, but a humble prayer. He beats his breast, saying: O God, have mercy on me, a sinner. And Jesus concludes: “This one returns to his home justified, unlike the other.” The Pharisee's prayer was not pleasing to God, unlike that of the tax collector. These are two very different religious attitudes. Jesus warns us against the temptation of praying like the Pharisee, who presumes to be righteous and despises other people. If we want to be heard by God, we must be full of mercy, goodness and understanding for others, not separating ourselves from them, but presenting ourselves together with them to God; even if they are sinners. Jesus always taught this way of sanctification: not through separation, but participation, communion and merciful goodness. It is quite spontaneous and natural for us to take the orientation of sanctification through separation. We do think we please God by presenting ourselves to him separated from others, who, according to us, do not please God, because they are thieves, unjust and adulterers. In reality this way of sanctification does not achieve its purpose, because God himself is a merciful God, who wants to forgive and welcome all his children. Therefore, it is necessary to present oneself to him in union with others, not separately from them, even if they have faults or wrongs. Jesus came to carry the sins of the world on his shoulders. When we pray, we too must carry the wickedness of the world on our shoulders, otherwise we do not correspond to the desire of the heavenly Father. At the end of the parable Jesus says: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” And another passage of Scripture affirms that God resists the proud and bestows his grace on the humble (James 4,6; Proverbs 3,34). Pride is the most damaging defect for the spiritual life, for relationships with God. If a person is full of himself, then he closes himself to God; there is no room in him for the grace of God, but there is room for complacency in himself. However, he who is humble and recognizes his own weaknesses and sins, is disposed to the merciful grace of the Lord. How often do we judge other people and separate ourselves from them, believing in this way to confirm our dignity and holiness! In reality we get exactly the opposite result.

The first reading completes the Gospel. It affirms that the prayer of the humble penetrates the clouds, that is, it reaches God. On the other hand, the prayer of the proud does not reach God, it stops at the pretense of being just, which we have already noted in the Gospel and which in reality is lack of sincerity, the text also says that [God] is not partial with anyone against the poor, indeed he listens to the prayer of the oppressed. He does not neglect the plea of the orphan or the widow, when he unleashes his complaint. We need to pray with much humility, and humility goes hand in hand with trust. Whoever prays with humility can be sure of being heard.

The second reading is the conclusion of Paul's Second Letter to Timothy. It has a relationship with the theme of prayer in two ways. First of all, Paul expresses his trust in God, because he says: The Lord will deliver me from all evil and save me for his eternal kingdom. Paul was in prison, his life was threatened, and was about to be sentenced to death. However, he does not lose faith in God; he knows he will be delivered by the Lord, in one way or another. The Lord can free him in the sense of preserving him from death; but he can also free him and save him for eternal life, that is, by means of death and martyrdom. In any case, the Apostle preserves his trust and in this manner his prayer is taken up to God.  The other aspect, which corresponds to Christian prayer, is expressed by Paul: Everyone has abandoned me. Don't have it against them. Here the Apostle adopts an attitude full of indulgence for other people, even for those who show themselves indifferent and hostile. In my first defense in court, no one assisted me. Paul would have had the right to be defended, but, for one reason or another, no one intervened in his favor, all have abandoned him. In this situation he could hold a grudge, ask the Lord, as Jeremiah did, to avenge him of his unfaithful friends (cf. Jeremiah 20,12). But Paul does not have this attitude. Instead, he has the attitude of indulgence, understanding, forgiveness: Everyone has abandoned me. Don't count it against them. Paul’s words correspond with those of Jesus on the cross: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23,34). And the first Christian martyr, Stephen, has the same attitude; while he was being stoned, he says: Lord, do not hold this sin against them (Acts 7,60).

On this Sunday the liturgy offers us many teachings on prayer. The first is that of humility. It is necessary to present oneself to God with humility and in solidarity towards other people, with a fraternal attitude, and not with a proud or hostile attitude towards others, separating oneself from them. The second teaching is that of trust, which is accompanied by humility, The Lord is full of goodness towards the humble; therefore, whoever prays with humility can be sure of being heard. The third teaching is that of forgiveness. Jesus insisted on the need to forgive; he inserted in the “Our Father” a petition in which we commit ourselves to forgive others, in order to obtain divine indulgence too. Humility, trust and forgiveness are, therefore, attitudes that we must always have in prayer, and also in this Mass, in union with the heart of Jesus +John I. Okoye.

(graphics by Chukwubike) 

2nd Sunday of Lent, Year C,( March 12, 2022)

May the Eucharist we celebrate today help us always to listen to God in prayer and do his will so that on the last day we may be transfigured into his glorious body.

Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Gen 15, 5-12.17-18; Philippians 3,17-4,1; Luke 9, 28b-36: 2nd Sunday  of Lent, Year C, March 12, 2022)

On this Sunday, the liturgy offers us in the first reading the account of God's covenant with Abraham; the second reading deals on Jesus Christ’s attitude as our savior; the Gospel is the transfiguration episode.

God's covenant with Abraham is a fundamental step in God's project. It is God who binds himself to a person, and a family and makes wonderful promises. He says to Abraham: Look at the sky and count the stars, if you can count them […), such will be your descendants. Abraham accepts this promise with faith: He believed in the Lord, who accredits/reckons it to him as righteousness. Then God adds another promise that of apportioning some land: To your descendants I give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates. This covenant is only the first step in God's plan. The new covenant will be much more generous, because then, God will give his own Son. It was not possible for God to establish a deeper, stronger, more perfect bond with us than this. Jesus is Son of God - as we see in the Transfiguration - and at the same time a descendant of Abraham. Therefore, in him the promise made to Abraham is fulfilled. The Transfiguration is an important episode of the Gospel: an episode which comes after the first prediction of the Passion and which reveals Jesus’ profound being; an episode that prepares the apostles to overcome the scandal of the cross and understand the glory of the resurrection. We read in the Gospel of Luke: Jesus took with him Peter, John and James to the mountain and stayed to pray. And while he was praying, his face changed appearance and his robe became white and dazzling. In prayer Jesus joins the Father, and this one union is manifested with the transfiguration, in which Jesus becomes glorious, and shining. But this glorification has a relationship with God’s whole plan, the evangelist states: And here were two men talking with him: they were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in their glory, and they spoke of his exodus which he would bring to completion in Jerusalem. This is how the relationship between the Transfiguration and Jesus’ passion is expressed. Moses and Elijah speak Jesus’ passion; the Transfiguration has a very close link with it. In the Transfiguration God manifests himself in a similar way to other episodes in which Moses and Elijah are the protagonists. In the Old Testament it is said that Moses had gone up the mountain (as here Jesus goes up the mountain of the Transfiguration) and had asked God to reveal himself to him: Show me your Glory! (Exodus 13, 18). God had replied that he could not do it, because he would not have survived an experience as strong as that of seeing the holiness of God. A poor mortal cannot contemplate God’s holiness. The Lord would then pass by, proclaiming his name, and Moses could only see him from behind. Thus, Moses had only an imperfect revelation of God. In addition to this revelation, Moses received the mission of communicating the law to the Jewish people from God. It was on Mount Sinai that God made his law known. Elijah had a similar experience. Fleeing from the persecution of Queen Jezebel because he had conquered and killed the prophets of Baal, he was invited by God to mount Sinai. Here he had a revelation, which, however, was different from that of Moses. A forceful wind comes, but God was not in the wind. Then came an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. There was a fire, but God was not in the fire. At the end God revealed himself to the prophet in the murmur of a light wind, as in an intimate revelation. Also Elijah received a mission from God: that of anointing the king of Aram as the king of Israel and of consecrating Elisha as a prophet. In the episode of the Transfiguration, we too receive a revelation from God and a mission from him. This time the revelation does not take place from behind, as in the case of Moses, but on the face, that of Jesus. The human face of Jesus manifests divine glory, changes appearance. It is an extraordinary vision, which impresses Peter and the other two apostles. We rejoice, because now we have the revelation of God on a face that can be contemplated. We can also think of many artists who have tried to contemplate Christ’s face, express its beauty, extraordinary dignity, majesty, and even its goodness. God reveals himself in Christ’s face. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father, says Jesus in the Gospel of John (14, 9). We are invited to contemplate the beauty and grandeur of God from Jesus’ face, the mission we receive from God is summed up in a single word: Listen to him. Now, it is no longer a question of a series of commands to be observed, but of a relationship with a person. Christians have Christ himself as their law, they must listen to him, and if they listen to Christ in prayer, and the search for his will, then they listen to God. The law of the Christian is a law of freedom, because it is a law of love, and love exists only where freedom is. Thus, the apostles are prepared to overcome the scandal of the cross, receiving the revelation of the filial glory of Jesus in advance. And they were prepared to interpret the resurrection well, not as something that happened to a simple man, but as the manifestation of the glory that Jesus already had before the creation of the world. He states in the Gospel: Father, glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world was (John 17, 5). Even before the foundation of the world, the person of Jesus was the person of the Son of God, (or of the Word of God as John's Prologue calls it), who came down from heaven, took over our misery, to transform it and bring it back to the splendor of God. The resurrection manifests the divine glory that the Son of God had since eternity.

In the second reading, Paul speaks of our transfiguration. He states that our homeland is in heaven and we are waiting for our Saviour the Lord Jesus, who will transfigure our miserable bodies to conform it to his glorious body. We are destined to be transfigured. Therefore, Jesus’ Transfiguration is also the revelation and anticipation of our destiny. Our transfiguration begins here on earth. It is not an event that is manifest only at the parousia of the Lord, but one that already operates in our earthly existence. Those who are faithful to Christ, pray, and seek God's will, are gradually transfigured. We can see this, above all, in the face of the saints. The Cure d'Ars, for example, had a common aspect, without particular beauty; but his spiritual and apostolic life meant that his face was transfigured, became luminous, capable of attracting people. His was not a human beauty, but a divine beauty, which penetrated the whole of his human existence. And the same could be said of many other saints. We too are transfigured when we pray, and open our whole being to the love that comes from God, to become generous, merciful, full of understanding and indulgence as he is. Then our face is transfigured.

The Gospel shows us what our destiny is: that of being, completely, transfigured. We can therefore, begin to be so, right now in our existence, if we remain faithful to Christ and open to his grace, which has the power to transfigure our whole being.

Let us rejoice then on account of this episode of the Transfiguration, which for us is so bright and comforting. +John I. Okoye.

(graphics  by Chukwubike )

DOCTRINE AND FAITH Year C, February 13, 2022

May the Eucharist we celebrate today help us to know that in any difficulty we find ourselves if we endure to the end, we will be among those that Jesus said blessed are those who suffer now for they shall be consoled in heaven.

Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(May the Eucharist we celebrate today help us to know that in any difficulty we find ourselves if we endure to the end, we will be among those that Jesus said blessed are those who suffer now for they shall be consoled in heaven.

Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Jer 17,5-8; 1 Cor 15, 12.16-20; Luke 6, 17.20-26; Year C, February 13, 2022)

This Sunday's Gospel presents us with Jesus' discourse on the beatitudes and also on the woes. Jesus invites us neither to believe in appearances, nor remain at the level of superficial observations, but go deeper into situations, showing us that, those situations that precisely seem to us unfavorable may actually be favorable and, on the other hand, that those which seem favorable to us may actually be unfavorable. We must recognize the true values, which are not those that the world usually appreciates, but the evangelical ones of union with Christ, love, courage in difficulties, hope in difficult situations, and generosity and forgiveness when we are struck by injustice. Jesus says to the disciples: Blessed are you who are poor, because yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, because you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who cry now, because you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you and when they bandy you and insult you and reject your name as a villain, because of the son of man. Rejoice on that day and exult, because, behold, your reward is great in heaven. All these statements seem disconcerting, because they go against our spontaneous inclinations. The world does not say: Blessed are the poor ..., but: Blessed are the rich, blessed are the sated, blessed are those who are happy. But Jesus teaches us that these situations so coveted by the world, in reality present serious dangers, because they are not conducive to spiritual growth. This growth, is favored by poverty. Here it is not so much a question of actual, material poverty as of an attitude of detachment from wealth. The disciples of Christ are not attached to material riches, because they want to live in an attitude of spiritual riches: union with God and Christ in faith, hope and love. These are the real riches, which cannot coexist with materialistic mindset. Therefore, we must always purify our hearts from those tendencies which in the New Testament are called greed and lust. We must be free from them in order to be able to grow spiritually in faith, hope and love. When we encounter difficulties or trials, instead of being discouraged, we must be full of hope, we must raise our heads and think that the Lord is giving us precious graces and preparing even more precious graces for us. Jesus says: Blessed are you who are hungry now, because you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who cry now, because you will laugh. We have the most profound reason for spiritual joy when we are united with Jesus in his passion, having to face, like him, situations of injustice. Jesus suffered the greatest injustice: he who was innocent, was accused, criticized, condemned and rejected. He faced all these sufferings, precisely, to fight and overcome evil. If we are privileged to be with him in these difficult trials, we can have great joy. In his first Letter, Peter tells us: To the extent that you share in Christ's sufferings, rejoice, that even in the revelation of his glory you may rejoice and rejoice (1Peter 4,13). And Jesus tells us: Rejoice on that day and exult, because, behold, your reward is great in heaven. Jesus’ Beatitudes are a message that is not easy to accept, but an important message, which helps us to be detached from superficial and temporary things.

The first reading, taken from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, gives us a teaching similar to that of today's Gospel, insisting on the need to trust in the Lord. Jeremiah affirms: Thus! the Lord says: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, who places his support in the flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. We must instead place our trust in the Lord: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and the Lord is his confidence. We are always tempted to place our trust in human means, which certainly are useful, but are not the essential. Our trust, on the other hand, must be placed in the divine persons, because our relationship with them is the most important thing, the source of true happiness and the means to proceed in life with courage and generosity, If, following our natural inclination, we put our trust in material things or in human relationships, then we will remain delusioned. Jeremiah reveals to us that whoever trusts in man, rather than in the Lord, will be like a tamarisk in the wilderness; when good comes he does not see it. He will dwell in arid places in the desert, in a land of salt, where no one can live. For us, the fundamental thing is the Christian hope, which consists in a personal relationship with God. It is necessary to trust in him, to seek his will in everything, which is a saving will, who desires our true good and also gives us the means to achieve it... Jeremiah affirms: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by the bank of the river, that spreads its roots towards the current of water; it is not afraid when the heat comes, its leaves remain green; in the year of drought it does not wither, it does not stop producing its fruits.

The second reading tells us about the resurrection. Paul responds to the difficulties presented by the Corinthians, who do not believe that there can be a resurrection of the dead. He retorts: If the dead are not raised, neither is Christ risen; but if Christ is not risen, your faith is in vain and you are still in your sins. And even those who are dead in Christ are lost. We need to have faith in Christ's resurrection as a fact. Christ is truly risen from the dead. And we are united with him as risen. This is the foundation of our joy and hope. Christ is risen from the dead, and he invites us to place our hearts not in material things, but in spiritual ones, which are the most important goods. For example, in a family the most important things are relationships between people and mutual trust and love; the other things are secondary and cannot give real joy. If there is mutual trust and love, then all circumstances, even the most difficult ones, can be, successfully, faced; you can be sure of overcoming all difficulties, because, when you are united in love, you have an irresistible strength. We ask the Lord to help us change our mentality, because we always need to be converted. We always tend to behave according to our spontaneous inclinations, that is, to put trust in material things and to seek happiness as the world understands it. Instead, we must search for authentic goods, which are already present in our world, if we know how to seek them out. They are the relationship with God through Christ, and all the graces that come from this life-giving, sanctifying and beautifying relationship.+ John I. Okoye.

2nd Sunday of Year C, 16th January, 2022

 
May the Eucharist we celebrate today help us to know the role of Mary as a mother, so that in all the activities of our lives we may always call on her for help.

Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 62, 1-5; 1 Cor 12, 4-11; John 2, 1-12: 2nd Sunday of Year C, 16th January, 2022)

The Gospel we have heard is very suggestive. It is a pleasant episode with double signification. On the one hand we see Jesus performing a miracle to make a wedding feast possible, and, on the other hand, a programmatic episode, which has a profound meaning.
In Cana of Galilee there is a wedding, to which the mother of Jesus was invited and, perhaps, through her Jesus was also invited with his disciples. During the banquet, Mary notices that there is shortage of wine and she says to Jesus: They have no wine. (Jesus response is rather surprising: What have I to do with you, O woman? It is not my time yet?" The mother then says to the servants: Do whatever he tells you. Jesus has the jars filled with water and the master of the banquet has the water drawn out. When they brought it to him, the water has become wine. The banquest master tastes it, then calls the groom and says to him: At first, everyone serves good wine and, when people are a little tipsy, the less good in the wine menu is served; you, on the other hand, have kept the good wine up to now. And the evangelist concludes: Thus Jesus began his miracles in Cana of Galilee, his glory manifested and his disciples believed in him. How are we to understand the expression: Jesus manifests his glory? On a superficial level, we can say that Jesus in this episode showed his power to work miracles, and his disciples believed in him as a thaumaturge. But the Gospel of John must be read on a deeper level. The fourth Gospel is called the spiritual Gospel because it expresses the profound meaning of miracles. In fact, John does not express them as miracles, but as signs. At Cana Jesus initiates his signs. They are signs that want to indicate something. The evangelist speaks to us of Jesus’ glory. What is it about? The first reading of today's Mass can give us a light, making us interpret this episode as a significant miracle for the covenant project desired by God. At Cana, therefore, it is not just a miracle done by Jesus to preserve a wedding couple from some embarrassments, but a miracle that manifests God’s intention and Jesus’ mission, In this episode the true bridegroom is Jesus, In fact, in the next chapter John the Baptist will designate him as the bridegroom, when he will say: Who possesses the Bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who is present and listens to him, rejoices at the voice of the bridegroom (John 3,29).

 
The first reading speaks of God's plan of covenant with his people: a beautiful plan, but which has always been opposed by the negative behavior of the people. In a certain sense, it can be said that in the whole history of salvation the wedding had already been prepared, it had to be celebrated, but it could never be realized, because there was always lack of wine. Which wine? It is not a question of material wine, but of what is most important of all: the wine of love. Only if this wine of love is available, and in abundance, can the marriage of the covenant be realized. The people of Israel were not prepared for this wedding. In the Bible, Jerusalem is presented as an abandoned bride, a devastated land. Instead of the covenant, here we have a situation of rupture with God, a situation of exile, caused by the repeated sins of the bride. However God does not renounce his original project and through the prophet Isaiah announces its full realization: No one will call you any more ‘Abandoned’, nor will your land be called ‘Devastated’ anymore, but you will be called ‘My satisfaction’ and your land ‘Married’, because the Lord will be pleased with you and your land will have a husband. It is clear that the bridegroom here is God himself, the prophet confirms it immediately afterwards, saying: As a young man marries a virgin, so will your creator marry you; as the bridegroom rejoices for the bride, so will your God rejoice over you. This is God's magnificent project. Even the prophet Jeremiah, after recalling the catastrophe, the exile of the Jewish people, announces that God will restore Jerusalem in his happiness as a beloved bride: In the cities of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, which are desolate, without men, without inhabitants and without animals, shouts of joy and shouts of joy will still be heard, as well as the voices of the bridegroom and that of the bride … (Jer, 33, 10-11). Jesus’ glory is that of being the husband of Jerusalem, carrying out the covenant between God and his people. In this sense, the episode at Cana is a programmatic episode, it manifests the true glory of Jesus: that of generous love, which makes the marriage between God and his people possible. In Cana, the disciples, who expect the liberation of Israel, can understand that Jesus is the bridegroom, the Messiah who comes from God and is present to make the marriage between God and his people possible, and to celebrate them. In this wedding, Maria plays an important role. It is she who, with maternal attention, realizes the needs of the people and intervenes with her son. Jesus replies with an apparently rude tone, because he himself wants to take the initiative: he makes his mother understand that he is no longer the child subjected to her, but the Messiah designated by the heavenly Father to carry out this decisive mission.

The second reading can also be related to the theme of the wedding: it is in fact the Spirit who distributes his gifts (charisms). Paul explains to the Christians of Corinth that there are diversity of charisms, but only one Spirit (who distributes the charisms). Then he makes a list of the many gifts of the Spirit, and concludes by saying: All these things have one and the same Spirit who operates them, distributing them to each one as he wishes. In relation to these gifts, one can also speak of intoxication of the Spirit. In fact, at Pentecost, the apostles, who received the Holy Spirit, seem drunk: people ask themselves what happened, because they show exceptional enthusiasm, they praise God with extraordinary joy (cf. Acts 2: 1-13). Peter then takes the floor and first of all denies that it is an intoxication due to wine: These men are not drunk as you suspect, it is being just nine hours in the morning. Then he explains that it is the Spirit who fills these people with joy, enthusiasm and spiritual ability. And, precisely, these gifts of the Spirit show that the new covenant is now fulfilled. With the passion and resurrection of Jesus, God fulfilled his plan of the covenant, and this is now manifested with the descent of the Holy Spirit and the variety of his gifts (cf. Acts 2, 14-36). Where does the good wine come from, which the master of the banquet talks about? John states that he does not know. And actually no one knew then. It would have been known only at the moment of Jesus’ passion. In fact, this good wine comes, precisely, from it, it comes from the Eucharist, which receives all its value from the passion. In the Last Supper Jesus takes the cup of wine and says: This cup is the new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22, 20; Luke 1125). Then Cana announces the mystery of the passion, the resurrection of Jesus and Pentecost, the mystery of the new covenant, founded on the immense love that Jesus manifests in his passion, to the point of shedding all his blood for us. The Eucharist we receive takes us back to the environment of Cana, the environment of the spiritual wedding. We must welcome this gift with great joy, and enthusiasm, and recognize that the Eucharist has the habitual effect of communicating the gifts of the Holy Spirit to us. Of course, these are not spectacular gifts. In the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul tries hard to reduce an attitude of excessive enthusiasm on the part of the Christians of that city. He explains to them that there are so many gifts of the Spirit, and that not all of them are extraordinary. The Second Vatican Council also showed that there are charisms, ordinarily, very precious for the life and progress of the Church. They are true gifts of the Spirit, which serve to implement the new covenant in our life, while not presenting any miraculous aspect. They are, however, not less precious because of this. Each has a particular manifestation of the Spirit, has gifts of the Spirit which serve to unite the recipient with the Lord for the good of the brothers. We must be aware that we are living in the new covenant. founded on Jesus’ initiative, full of love. Jesus has come to the point of giving his life to make this covenant possible. The new covenant is the source of joy, peace and, above all, effective love. We must therefore, learn to always progress in this love, in order to take full advantage of the gifts of the Spirit. +John I. Okoye.

(graphics  by Chukwubike)