THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 25/01/20326

Doctrine and Faith

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

READINGS OF THE DAY: Is 8:23-9:3; Ps 26 (27); 1 Cor 1:10-13,17; and Mt 4:12-23

 The Gospel of Matthew begins the account of Jesus' public life (cf. 4:12-23) by reporting a seemingly simple fact, but which in reality constituted a great surprise, if not a scandal, for the religious expectations of the time: "Jesus withdrew to Galilee and went to live in Capernaum" (vv. 12-13). It was logical to expect that the messianic announcement would come from the heart of Judaism, that is, from Jerusalem, but instead it came from a region generally despised because it was contaminated by paganism ("Galilee of the Gentiles"). But precisely what is surprising for Matthew is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy contained in the book of Isaiah (cf. 8:23b-9, 1-3).

 

The territory occupied by the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali was located in the far north of Palestine, near Sea of Tiberias: Galilee, also called "the district of the Gentiles." Isaiah's oracle was probably pronounced shortly after the Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III occupied the northern regions of the kingdom of Israel in 732 BC. These were very harsh times. The darkness and the gloom express the anguish of a lost people; the heavy yoke, the rod upon their shoulders, and the rod of the oppressor evoke the plight of an oppressed people. It is therefore to a lost and oppressed people that the prophet addresses, reminding them of the certainty of liberation. Whatever happens, there is always, the certainty that the Lord is with his people. And in a poverty so absolute that the prophet speaks of oppression as if it were already a past event: "In Naphtali he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali" (v. 23). The subject is the Lord, and oppression is his punishment, a consequence of the people's idolatry.

 A situation, however, not definitive, since the prophet continues, announcing the passage from humiliation to glory, from darkness to light: the contrast is stark and the transition is sudden, like when a wayfarer lost in the darkness suddenly emerges into the light. The joy is uncontainable, so much so that the word occurs four times in a single verse, and the prophet's emotion is expressed with two images and a memory: the joy of a bountiful harvest and the division of the spoils - one peasant, the other warrior - and the allusion to the "time of Midian" that evokes Gideon, who with a handful of men crushed the arrogance of the Midianites (cf. Judg. 6-7). The lesson is clear: it is the Lord who saves his people, not the strength of armies. The essential thing is therefore always one thing: trust in God. Just as in the time of Midian: "The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord," the Book of Judges recounts, "and the Lord delivered them into the hands of Midian" (Judges 6:1). But liberation is also in His hands, and His hands are stronger than our sin.

 The ancient prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, therefore, in Jesus' choice to begin his mission from the geographical and religious periphery of Judaism, thus breaking with every form of particularism. His message - a habitual, repeated message (“from that Jesus began to preach," v. 17) - is summarized in an extremely concise formula: the arrival of the kingdom ("the kingdom of God is at hand," v. 17) and the moral imperative that it entails ("repent"). The episode of the calling of the first disciples is set on the shore of the lake, where Jesus was walking and where the men were intent on their work. God's call reaches men in their ordinary surroundings, in their workplace: no sacred setting, but the scenery of the lake and the backdrop of the harsh daily life. Let's try to highlight the essential features of this story, which are four.

 First: the centrality of Jesus. His is the initiative ("he saw [...], said to them [...],  called them," vv. 18, 19, 21): it is not man who self-generates a disciple, but Jesus who transforms man into a disciple. The disciple, then, is not called to take possession of a doctrine, nor even primarily to live a life project, but to solidarize with a person ("Come after me," v. 19): attachment to the person of Jesus comes first.

 Second: discipleship requires a profound detachment. James and John, Peter and Andrew leave their nets, the boat, and their father; they leave their trade and their family. The trade represents security and social identity, the father represents their roots: it is therefore a radical detachment.

 Third: starting from Jesus' call, discipleship is expressed with two movements - leaving and following - that indicate a shift in the center of life. Jesus' call does not place us in a state, but on a path.

Fourth: there are two coordinates of the disciple: communion with Christ ("follow me") and a race toward the world ("I will make you fishers of men"). The second follows the first: Jesus does not place his disciples in a separate, sectarian space; he sets them on the paths of men.

Happy Sunday! 

†John I. Okoye

Baptism of the Lord 11th January 2026

A call for discipleship: Mission of Love and Service, Model for Christians.

Baptism of the Lord

READINGS OF THE DAY: Is 42:1-4, 6-7; Ps 28 (29); Acts 10:34-38; Mt 3:13-17

Jesus' baptism in the Jordan (cf. Matthew 3:13-17) is a story of revelation: it helps us understand who Jesus is and indirectly who the Christian is. The introductory words of the prophetic oracle are crucial: "Behold my servant" (Isaiah 42:1). They indicate the object that is dear to God and which He intends, precisely, to make known to us. The subsequent sentences tell us what the servant possesses (the Spirit), the mission entrusted to him, and the style with which he must fulfill it. Each of these individual aspects deserves our full attention.

Who is the servant? In writing this word, the prophet was certainly thinking of the people of Israel (or rather, the group of pious and true believers), but he was also thinking of the Messiah. By saying "behold my servant," God wants to speak to us both about the Messiah and his people, about Jesus and his Church.

Servant: the word evokes obedience and submission, it is a mission to be accomplished not in one's own name nor in one's own style, but in dependence and on behalf of another. This is true, however, our passage multiplies the expressions to also recall another aspect, namely, friendship: "in whom I delight," "my chosen," "whom I uphold" (v. 1). Therefore, servant and more than a servant. At Jesus' baptism, the heavenly voice rightly changed the term "servant" to "son": Jesus is submissive and docile to the Father's will, obedient, but he is more than a servant, he is a son. And the same can be said of the Christian: servant and son.

The mission that God entrusts to his servant (that is, to Israel and his Messiah, to Jesus and his disciples) is described with three fundamental features. It is, first of all, a universal mission," addressed to the "nations" and the "islands." The servant takes responsibility for the entire world because he knows that his God loves all humanity. With one conviction, namely, that those far away are waiting for someone to speak to them about that God they don't yet know but who they are seeking and need.

A mission - and this is the second trait - that favors the "prisoners," so to speak, that is, the poor, the weak: it is certainly open to all, but precisely for this reason it gives preference to those who are most neglected. The servant takes on the defense of those who are defenseless, becomes an advocate for those without an advocate, becomes love for those without love. A mission, finally, whose essential content is "right." The word occurs three times, and it is a biblical word with a rich and multiple meaning, richer than the one it usually has in our languages. It indicates justice in the sense of putting things right, of impartial laws, of equal treatment for all, but it also indicates the spread of the truth and knowledge of the Lord: for this reason the servant is called "a light to the nations" (v. 6).

And all this with a style: the servant does not seek clamor, does not make loud and showy gestures, does not quench and destroy, but revitalizes and encourages; he is humble, simple, and discreet. Yet he is firm and confident: "he will proclaim justice with truth" (v. 3). The servant's style is tolerance, discretion, non-violence. It is the style of Jesus, as Matthew emphasizes in his Gospel (cf. 12:1-21), but unfortunately, it is not always the style of his followers: "James and John said, 'Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?'" (Luke 9:54).

We have left out the most important and characteristic trait: "I have put my Spirit upon him" (v. 1). It is the root of all other aspects. And only the Spirit - is the force capable of taking an ordinary man, a mean and selfish man like all the others, and transforming him into a "servant" and a "son," joyfully aware of being loved, dedicated to a mission that goes far beyond his own personal interest. The transformation of a man into a "servant" and a "son" is a miracle: the miracle, precisely, of Christian birth and baptism.

Guided by the words of the prophet and the Gospel of Matthew, we have continually moved from Jesus to disciple, and certainly not to confuse matters: Jesus is one thing, and we are another. But it remains true that the baptism of Jesus is the model of our baptism, and that to understand who we are, we must look to him.

Happy Feast of the Baptism of the Lord!

†John I. Okoye

Bishop of Awgu

RESPECT, HONOUR & LOVE YOUR PARENTS

 

Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6,12-14

He who fears the Lord respects his parents

The Lord honours the father in his children,

  and upholds the rights of a mother over her see.

Whoever respects his father is atoning for his sins,

  he who honours his mother is like someone amassing a fortune.

Whoever respects his father will be happy with children of his own,

  he shall be heard on the day when he prays.

Long life comes to him who honours his father,

  he who sets his mother at ease is showing obedience to the Lord.

My son, support your father in his old age,

  do not grieve him during his life.

Even if his mind should fail, show him sympathy,

  do not despise him in your health and strength;

for kindness to a father shall not be forgotten

  but will serve as reparation for your sins.

DOCTRINE & FAITH 2025 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 21sth December 2025

 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 

Readings of the day: Is 7:10-14; Ps 23 (24); Rom 1:1-7; Mt 1:18-24.

The passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah (cf. 7:10-14) requires a few words of context. News have just reached Jerusalem that the army of Damascus and the army of Samaria have joined forces in the mountains of Ephraim and are marching against the small kingdom of Judah. Faced with the looming danger, "his (the king's) heart and the hearts of his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken before the wind" (Isaiah 7:2). But the prophet does not tremble because he knows that God is able to save his people. He goes to meet the king, who is making his way around the ramparts to inspect the fortifications, and invites him not to be afraid, to have faith, not to seek alliances elsewhere, but to trust only in the Lord. To persuade him to do this, God is even willing to give him a sign, but the king has already decided to ask the Assyrian government for protection and refuses the sign, hypocritically citing a religious reason: "I do not want to put the Lord to the test" (v. 12). The reality, however, is that the king does not have the courage to trust solely in the Lord.

It is in this precise context that Emmanuel's announcement takes on its full significance. Faced with the king's incredulity, the rebuke: "Is it not enough for you to weary men, that you now weary my God also?" (v. 13). But then comes the surprise; we would expect the prophet to continue with words of threat and punishment, but instead he continues with a word of hope: "The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (v. 14).

To the disbelief of the king and the people, God responds by promising the birth of a child who will be "God with us." Here lies the wonder of Christmas, which is also the wonder of God's love: God does not distance himself from our disbelief but conquers it by drawing close, becoming a brother to sinful men.

The evangelist Matthew recounts that Jesus was born in the most pure womb of the Virgin and by the power of the Spirit (therefore his origin comes from above), yet he is also included in a genealogy, and among his ancestors are righteous and sinners, believers and unbelievers. And this is the great consolation, the rock on which Christian hope rests, a theme that constitutes - in the light of the prophet's passages the guiding thread throughout the Advent season: despite our infidelities, despite the increasingly aggressive forces of evil, God does not cease to be Emmanuel, God with us. A simple and consoling name. God has emerged from his distance and invisibility, becoming visible and concrete, reachable. Having come among us in human form, the Son of God wants us to continue to seek him among men and to welcome him as a man. Since the Son of God became man, any other search for God is no longer possible, because God not only became man, but also remained among men.

However, there are three things we must not forget. The first is that we must not remain closed in the past. To the people of his generation, Isaiah kept repeating: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old!" (43:18). It is not the past that must return. There is an attachment to the past, a nostalgia for what "once was," which prevents us from grasping new possibilities. Anyone who dreams of redoing the old ways is not a builder of hope.

Then we need the courage to admit that the situation we find ourselves in is also caused by our own personal responsibility. To always and only place the blame on others is simplistically hypocritical. In reality, the responsibility belongs to everyone, and we have the situation we deserve. Only those who allow themselves to be questioned have understood Christmas and are bearers of hope.

And finally, the man who shapes his hope on Jesus Christ knows that good and evil ultimately touch everyday events, everyday life. To believe that everything is played out where the destinies of peoples are decided is a temptation and an illusion. History will change only if every man takes his destiny, his daily world, into his own hands, renewing it. Hope rises from the base rather than descending from the top.

Happy Sunday!

†John I. Okoye

Bishop of Awgu

Awgu diocese diaconate ordination

20th December 2025