DOCTRINE AND FAITH....2nd Sunday of Easter

(Acts 2,42-47; 1 Peter 1,3-9; John 20, 19-31: 2nd Sunday of Easter; Year A)

 

            In today’s gospel, we read about the two apparitions of Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection. Both of them took place on the the first day after the Sabbath, a space of eight days. Jesus who rose from the dead appears and reappears on the first day of the week. It is through this way that we got our Sunday: the new day, the day of the Lord, the day of the new creation that was inaugurated by the resurrection of the Lord. From this day on, the Christian cannot live out his Christian calling well without celebrating Sunday and the mystery of the resurrection. Every Sunday is, as it were, a little Easter.

 

            In the narrative of the apparitions, the evangelist John, did not fail to underscore that Christ who appeared and who was in the midst of his disciples was a real being, the same Jesus who was nailed to the cross. To prove this, Jesus had to show his hands and his side, that is to say, the signs of his martyrdom. However, it also becomes clear that Jesus’ mode of existence before his crucifixion and after his resurrection are not the same. After his resurrection, his body was no more subject to physical and material laws of nature; Jesus entered the room where the disciples were staying, although the door was locked. At the same time, the evangelist John seems to indicate that what happened in those two apparitions repeats itself in every Eucharistic celebration, every time the Christian community assembles for the celebration of the Last Supper, especially on Sundays, the day of the Lord, the day of the resurrection: The risen Christ makes himself present under the sacramental signs of bread and wine, speaks to us, imparts his peace and Spirit on us, and fills us with joy. We can then understand and appreciate the importance of Sunday, the day of the Lord as well as the Eucharistic, which we celebrate every Sunday. Indeed, every Christian should be able to say with conviction: I cannot live without celebrating the day of the Lord. Unfortunately, today some of us, who call ourselves Christians, think that we can sanctify the day of the Lord without participating in the Mass, without the weekly encounter with the Risen Christ and his community. It is an error, a position of ease, and a deformity in thinking.  One cannot be a good Christian or keep the faith alive without sanctifying the Sunday. 

 

            The gospel episode about the two apparitions of the Risen Jesus Christ also wishes to teach us the importance of faith in our relationship with Christ. Indeed, Thomas who was not present at the first apparition of Jesus, did not believe the witness of the other disciples who asserted to have seen the Risen Christ. He wanted to see him personally, touch him and have his own direct experience. When Jesus appeared, eight days later and Thomas was present, he did not praise the unbelieving apostle, but rather said: Blessed are those, who without seeing, believe. To believe is to trust Christ. Any faith which wishes to see and touch, is not a true faith, but distrust and lack of confidence in Christ and the first witnesses, the apostles who passed down the content of our faith to us. Blessed or happy are those who believe without having seen. This does not mean that the believers do not have trials and sufferings. But as St. Peter says in the second reading: ... you may for a short time have to bear being plagued by all sorts of trials, so that, when Jesus Christ is revealed, your faith will have been tested and proved like gold... and then you will have praise and glory and honour. Blessed are those who do not see and believe because they have the assurance that the Risen Lord is with them and as a consequence, one day they will inherit eternal life that can never be spoilt or soiled, and never fade away. With such certainty, we should remain happy, or rather filled with joy, even though we are in some trials and difficulties of life. We should, therefore, not be like Thomas demanding for tangible proofs but for the graces to grow in pure and genuine faith.

 

            How we are to nurture our faith is what the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles teaches us from the way the first Christians lived: The whole community remained faithful to the teaching of the apostles, brotherhood, breaking of bread and prayers. Therefore, listening to the word of God, brotherly and sisterly union, Eucharist and prayers are the principal aliments (nourishment) and authentic expression of the Christian faith. All these are, as it were, concentrated in the celebration of the Mass. If we assiduously participate in it, our faith will certainly augment and continually deepen. This however, is not enough: faith has to be translated into works of charity. In fact in the first Christian community, ... they lived together and owned everything in common; they sold their goods and possessions and shared out the proceeds among themselves according to what each one needed. Our participation in the Eucharistic celebration should make us pay attention to the needs of the less privileged of our society and community: the sick, poor, lonely and the marginalized. In this way, our assiduous Eucharistic celebration on the day of the Lord becomes a sign and source of a mature and operative faith. Let us ask the Risen Lord in today’s Eucharistic celebration to help us appreciate his presence among us in every Eucharist celebration and to give us a firm and strong faith that is manifest in works of charity. Amen!  

For further information on Faith, please consult our booklet: Living the Faith (2006) and on Sunday, the booklet: Sunday, the Lord’s Day: Remember to Keep It Holy (2014) 

+John I. Okoye

EASTER 2014

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Acts 10,34.37-43; Col 3,1-4 or 1 Cor 5,6-8; John 20,1-9: Easter : Year A)

We celebrate the solemnity of Easter with joy, the solemnity of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, his passage from death to life. Easter is defined as the Solemnity of the solemnities; indeed it is the great solemnity of the liturgical year. It can be said that the entire liturgical year converge towards the paschal mystery (death and resurrection of Jesus Christ), and from where it is illumined. We ask ourselves what does it mean for the Christian to celebrate the resurrection?

 

It means, first of all, to remember, recall, evoke and make a memorial, that is to say, to commemorate this extraordinary and unique event of history which is the resurrection. The liturgy of the Mass vividly recalls this event to our memory. It does so with the narrative in the Gospel of John in which Mary of Magdala, having seen that the stone, with which the tomb of Jesus was covered was removed ran and told Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved. Both ran to the tomb, thinking that the body of Jesus was purloined (stolen). They came and saw the tomb empty. The linen that was used to wrap Jesus’ body was lying on the ground while the cloth that was over his head  rolled up in a different place by itself. This was the first sign or indication of the resurrection. (One would think that if the body was merely stolen, the thieves would not have removed the burial cloths). The apostle, Peter in today’s first reading gives the resume of the life of Jesus whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power and who spent his life doing good because God was with him. He was killed by the Jews but God raised him on the third day and he appeared to his Apostles, with whom he ate and drank. Peter concluded his speech by affirming:all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.  

  

To celebrate also means: to render present and actual the mystery of the resurrection of Jesus. We render Christ, who rose from the dead   present, in the liturgical assembly when we gather in his name: where two or three of you are gathered in my name I am in your midst.During the Holy Mass, he is also present in the priest who celebrates the Mass. The risen Christ is also in his church (recall: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?). We render  the risen Christ present in the proclamation and the listening to the word of God. Whenever the gospel is proclaimed, it is Christ who rose from the dead that speaks to us, just as he spoke to his disciples and the crowds of Galilee. What is more, we render the risen Christ present in the celebration of the Sacraments. This is so especially in the celebration of the Eucharist, in the Holy Mass where the risen Christ is really rendered present in the sings of bread and wine after the consecration, where he renews his sacrificial offering of himself to God the Father in order to enter into sacramental communion with every one of us. 

 

To celebrate also means living and interiorizing the mystery of the resurrection,  appropriating  it and making it our own. Already, at Baptism we are immersed in the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ. We are buried with Christ in his death, and just as he was raised to life, we also can walk in new life. Then, at so many other times, with the Sacrament of Confession  we pass from death of sin to the life of grace; we rise with Christ, as it were. (It is hoped that we all are in the state of grace of God; also that we have gone to confession, otherwise what use is it to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus when we remain buried in our sins).  Again, we live the mystery of the resurrection of Christ by seriously taking on ourselves the task of conversion, with the firm resolve of spiritual renovation. We need to resolutely take on this task of rising to, walking and progressing in, the life of grace (Col 3,1-4).

 

In order to fully benefit from our celebration of the resurrection of Christ and thereby to enter into full possession of salvation, and remain in full communion with Christ, we need to fix our gaze towards heaven, our true fatherland where the risen Christ had gone to before us and which will be our own lot, our perennial home. We should also turn our thoughts and desires towards the supreme reality and not leave ourselves to be dislodged by the attractions of this world. In this way the new life we have now with Christ, though hidden from the eyes of men, will shine with all brightness at the glorious and final manifestation (appearance) of the risen Christ. In order to effect the above we have to: remove from our hearts and lives the old yeast of malice and perversity as Paul exhorts us in 1 Cor 5,6-8 (2nd reading); conserve in our hearts the new yeast of sincerity and truth; seek to be a new batch of bread, good and enlivened by grace and the Holy Spirit. 

This should be our manner of celebrating the great solemnity of Easter, which should be our good wises to one another. Happy Easter. 

 +John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH palm Sunday 2014

( Isaiah 50,4-7; Philippians 2,6-11; Matt 26,14-27,66: Palm Sunday: Year A)

Holy Week begins with this Sunday, which will end with the Paschal Triduum, (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) the summit of the Liturgical Year. On this day, the liturgy unites two motives: Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and His Passion. The first aspect is remembered by the rite of the blessing of the palms and the procession into the church, as well as, by the reading of the gospel event of Jesus’ entry into the city of Jerusalem. These celebrations are not just to have pious remembrances of, or to imitate, the past events, but to render present today those events through the liturgical celebration and to live it in prayer. Today, we are called to recognize the Godhead (Divinity) of Jesus, his Messiahship, that is to say, his salvific action for the world. Today, we are called to enter into the drama of Jesus’ passion with him and to participate and share in it.  The procession which recalls the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem prepares our minds to listen to the passion of Jesus in the Liturgy of the Word and its sacramental actualization in the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

In the first reading we listen to the 3rd canticle of the Servant of God, which anticipates in an impressionable manner, the suffering of the future Messiah. In the second reading we are presented with the hymn in the letter of Paul to the Philippians, which illustrates the mystery of the annihilation of Christ through death and his supreme exaltation through the work and power of God, the Father. What follows is the narrative of the passion of Jesus according to Mathew. In Mathew’s narration of the Passion of Jesus, Jesus freedom by which he comes out to embrace death comes out very clearly. He did not go to meet death passively or unwillingly, but knowingly and aware that it was the will of God. Also remarkable is the constant reference to the Scriptures: the son of Man is going, as it is written in the Scriptures (Matt 26,24). Through his Passion, Jesus has realized the prophecy and the plan of salvation decreed by the Father, as  is listed in the Scriptures. The Passion of Jesus according to Mathew repeatedly underscores the innocence of Jesus, and, therefore, the greater guilt of the people, from Pilate to the High Priests and Pharisees;  from Judas who betrayed Jesus to Peter who denied him and to many other disciples who abandoned him. 

Listening to the Passion according to Mathew we are invited to enter into in the drama which Jesus experienced, his physical suffering but especially the interior one, with dense (heavy) plot of events and persons in which we found ourselves involved in one way or the other. We have also betrayed Jesus many times ourselves like Judas by our sins. Have we not often pretended not to know him, as Peter did when we should in fact stand behind him and for his cause? Or do we not allow ourselves to fall into slumber of laziness, benumbed by spiritual inertia just as the apostles did in the garden of olives? There are so many questions we have to pose to ourselves so that through the light of the Passion of Jesus, every one of us will read (see) his/her very life and recognize one’s inconsistencies, contradictions and ingratitudes toward Jesus.  But above all, no matter how we feel guilty of the blood of that just person, Jesus, let it be found in our hearts the awareness and knowledge that He, Jesus also died for our salvation and that He is always prepared to welcome us into his loving and forgiving arms. This consideration will certainly cause loving emotions of appreciation to spring from our hearts. May we pray in this Eucharistic celebration to dispose ourselves so that following Jesus in his passion we may share in the graces of his resurrection.

 +John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH......5th Sun of Lent: Year A

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

( Ezek 37,12-14; Romans 8,8-11; John 11,1-45; 5th Sun of Lent: Year A)

          The central theme of today’s three readings can be hold as: One can hold that the central theme of the three readings of today’s Sunday is: the power of God. This divine power is first shown among the Jewish, who were extremely humiliated in war. In order to depict the situation, Jeremiah employed the prophetic imagery of masses of dry and lifeless human bones strewn here and there. Just as these bones took flesh and became alive again, so would the Jewish  gradually rise again through God’s intervention ;the rising and rehabilitation should be in such a way that one will not fail to recognize God’s intervention. According to the 2^nd reading, God’s sovereign power is manifest in every Christian through the Holy Spirit, who renders Christians sons and daughters of God in this present life and resurrect bodies by making them participate in the glory of the risen Christ. The same power of God is manifest in a supreme manner in Christ who made his friend Lazarus to rise again to life after having been buried in the grave for four days. Today’s liturgy, by proposing the gospel for our reflection, wishes us to profess through a convincing, deep, enthusiastic, joyful and missionary faith that Christ is the Lord of life, the Son of God and the promised Messiah. 

       

   Faith, however, develops progressively and matures gradually; it is a journey. This is verifiable in Martha, the sister to Lazarus, who frankly told Jesus: if you were here, my brother would not have died. At this time, Martha was still not very certain about Christ’s identity. If she had believed in the identity of Christ, she would have understood that Jesus physical presence at Lazarus’s bedside would have been of importance, for Jesus could have miraculously healed him from a distance. When Jesus affirmed: your brother will rise again,Martha replied: I know that he will rise on the last day. Up to this point, she has not yet realized whom Jesus was. She fully identified Jesus only when he declared openly by saying: I am the resurrection and life, and whosoever believes in me even if he/she dies will live. It is at this point that Martha came to the fullness of faith in Christ when she affirmed: Yes, O Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. Martha’s difficulty in not immediately coming to the full and unconditional faith in Jesus should be consoling to us who are sometimes in similar situations of slow maturation of our faith. Nevertheless, it is our duty to make progress in deepening our faith. We are not to remain in the situation of doubt or in uncertainty. Gradually with prayers, graces from the Sacraments, reflection on the word of God and spiritual direction, we will arrive at mature and adult faith and shed off infantile faith. 

          The gospel story, besides revealing the identity of Christ and his absolute power over life and death, also manifest his profound humanity. He was so emotionally moved that he burst into tears as he came face to face with the reality of death, that snatched his friend Lazarus. His coming to condole with Martha and Maria over the death of their brother demonstrates the tenderness with which he cherished their friendship. This shows that all authentic human values are incarnated in Jesus and he does not shy away from anything that is positive in human nature. He, however, excluded sin and whatever was evil.

          The miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus is a manifestation of what would be the final destiny of the believing person as Jesus assures us: he who believes in me, even if he dies will live...and will not die forever. Faith, which equips the Christian to participate in Christ’s glorious destiny and (the resurrection) triumph over death. The miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus is a proof and secure guarantee of this assertion. Along side the resurrection of Lazarus is the revelation of what is happening even at the present moment in every one of us in the spiritual plain. His resurrection is the symbol of the new life of grace that triumphs over death, which sin brings along with it. We are also often locked up in the sepulcher of sin and Jesus is always calling us out in a great voice: Lazarus, James, Agnes, Ikechukwu, Ifeoma etc, Here! Come out! The spirit of the resurrection comes to us through the sacrament of reconciliation (Penance, Confession) and even before this at our baptism. We are still bound hands and feet with the bands of selfishness, and Jesus orders his ministers (priests):Unbind them, let them go free! Thus, we can once more feel free, joyful and vivacious; we still see ourselves in the position to continue our journey of faith in serenity and joy. Finally, from the miracle of Lazarus resurrection we understand that as individual Christian or as a community of Christians, we are called to remove the stone from over the sepulcher where man and woman the present time are locked up; from the sepulcher of immorality, corruption, materialism, selfishness, tribalism, struggle for positions of power, etc. In order that this poor Lazarus, the man or woman of today (ourselves of course) may recover his/her dignity and sense of life, we need to lead him/her back to Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and life.This is to be done by encountering Jesus in the Gospel (the light of truth), drawing near to him in the Sacraments of the Church, which are the inexhaustible source of divine grace springing from the very heart of Him who gave his life for us. May we pray that the Lord in today’s Eucharistic celebration allows his divine power to touch us and make our faith mature by taking tap root in our psyche so that through the graces of the resurrection of Christ we will be able to triumph over sin, selfishness and finally death. 

+John I. Okoye