17th Sunday of Year B, 2018

May the Eucharistic celebration of today enable you to appreciate God’s care for you and make you to be instrument of God’s providence to your sisters and brothers in need. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

The DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(2 Kings 4, 42-44; Ephesians 4, 1-6; John 6, 1-15: 17^th Sunday of Year B, 2018

         In the gospel reading of this Sunday we are presented with the narrative of the multiplication of loaves. This story is anticipated in the first reading which recounts a similar episode in the life of the prophet Elisha. An unnamed man brings the first fruits of the crop. First fruits were offered to God because they were considered the best and freshest—that portion of the produce that contained the most vibrant force of life. The man comes from Baal-shalishah, a place named for and probably devoted to Baal, the Canaanite god of fertility. It should be noted that he does not offer his crops to this particular deity, but he brings them to the man of God. Most likely the man brought the loaves and the grain either to be offered to God or to serve as shewbread, or bread of the presence, which was kept at the shrine for a time and then eaten by those who served there. Elisha directed that the bread and grain be given to the people who had gathered. Those who ministered at the shrine objected, but Elisha insisted, and his insistence overrode their objection. The miracle is remarkable. One hundred men were fed by a mere twenty loaves. This miracle reveals the bounteous generosity of God.

The narrative in the gospel story shows how Jesus fed the crowds that followed him from place to place. However, they followed Jesus less out of faith than out of the hope that they might witness the performance of some marvel or even, if they were so fortunate, that they might be the beneficiaries of one. There is no indication they came to hear his teaching, and in this particular passage Jesus does not teach. The focus here is on his wondrous power. Unlike most of the miracles of Jesus, this one was not a response to an expressed need. Jesus feeds the people, but the text does not say they were hungry. There was a much deeper reason for this miracle. Jesus took the barley loaves, gave thanks, distributed them, and then did the same with the fish. The Eucharistic allusions here are obvious. Once again the crowds were overwhelmed by Jesus. They had followed him to the other side of the lake in order to witness his exceptional power. They were not disappointed. However, they now recognise him as more than a wonder-worker. He is the long-awaited prophet like Moses (cf. Deut 15, 18), the one who would usher in the messianic age.

This Sunday’s readings invite us to reflect on the mysterious and magnanimous power of God that meets the basic need of people, which is survival. This gift is not only for the individual; it is the community that survives. Both the first reading and the Gospel passage remind us that, though we do have a responsibility to care for ourselves and for each other, it is really God who provides for us. We live in a world that feeds us and shelters us and supplies us with everything we need to grow and to thrive, and all of this comes to us from the hand of God. It is usually when we are in desperate straits (problems) that we become painfully conscious of our dependence on God, but this dependence is there all the time. God does not merely intervene when we are helpless; God’s providence is operating in our lives at all times. Both readings also underscore a second characteristic of this providence. Besides being constant, it is extravagant. God gives us more than we need. The earth is prodigal in its generosity. It yields food in abundance—food for our bodies and also food for our spirits. The soil is rich, the rains make it productive. We are warmed by the sun and cooled by breezes—all for our enjoyment and pleasure. God gives us everything we need to survive. God gives us food in due season and satisfies the desire of every living thing.

Even though providence is all God’s doing, there is, however, a human side to it in the sense that God wills that man cooperates with him as secondary causes to bring about the full realization of his will and providence.  The Catechism puts it succinctly: “God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out he also makes use of his creature’s cooperation.  This is not a sign of weakness, but rather a token of almighty God’s greatness and goodness.  For God grants his creatures not only their existence, but also the dignity of acting on their own, of being causes and principles for each other, and thus of cooperating in the accomplishment of his plan” (CCC 306). The man from Baal-shalishah in the first reading of today and the small boy in the gospel offered what they had, which were in turn, miraculously multiplied to feed the people. They became willful cooperators to bring about the realization of divine providence.  Today, God continues to give us the privilege of becoming secondary causes of the solicitude of Divine Providence. The choice is ours: to either cooperate with God’s benevolence by bringing up the little we have so that others can benefit from it and experience God’s loving care; or to keep that which we have to ourselves selfishly and refuse to make it available. Selfishness is the root cause of all the evils we have in our society; be it moral, or physical. Selfishness has to be substituted by the spirit of solidarity and sacrificial love for the neighbour in need. By eschewing selfishness and embracing solidarity we would be pitching camp alongside the solicitude of Divine Providence. But, if however, we fully choose to remain in the side of selfishness, we can never put a stop to Divine Providence. It is just that we lose the opportunity and privilege to share in the realization of Divine Providence when selfishness, covetousness, avarice and the like prevent us from opening our hands and letting others share what we have.

Living in a society that cherishes the individual and even promotes individualism, we may sometimes undervalue the communal dimension of life. While God certainly cares passionately for each one of us (not even a sparrow falls without God knowing it), God’s concern is for the whole people. In both readings the bread was distributed among the entire crowd. Narrow individualism can sometimes blind us to the fact that we are first and foremost members of a people. We would never have seen the light of day, we would not endure or develop, without others. As unique as we may be, we are a unique expression of a communal reality. God created a race; God formed a people; Jesus died for the world. By the grace of God, we belong to the community. It is not enough that we belong; it is not enough that our needs are satisfied. As members of the people of God, we are called to a manner of living that is noble and selfless. We are to live with each other in humility, and gentleness, with patience. We are to bear with one another in love. We are one with one other not merely because we belong to the same species but because we have been born to a new life in baptism. We all live by the same Spirit of Jesus; we are all united through the bond of God’s love. The bread we receive from the hand of God is more than mere barley loaves. It is the bread of full life, life in all its dimensions, life in Christ. Therefore as we participate in the Eucharistic celebration of today, let us pray that the good Lord may bestow us with his graces  that will enable us appreciate his divine care and make us participate actively in his providence for our communities and for our fellow sisters and brothers especially those in any type of need.Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye

 (GRAPHICS  BY CHARLES OKEY. CHUKWUBIKE)

16th Sunday Year B 2018

As you take part in this Sunday's Eucharist, may the reality of the mystery you celebrate move you to compassion like Jesus to reconsider the plights of your brothers and sisters who are bereft of real direction, trapped or disillusioned. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Jeremiah 23,1-6; Ephesians 2,13-18; Mark 6,30-34: 16^th Sunday Year B 2018

        In the first reading, God through the mouth of Jeremiah criticises the leaders of the people of Israel for scattering instead of gathering the people together. The indictment of the leaders of the people is terse and decisive. They have not only neglected the people of God, they have actually misled them, and caused them to be scattered, a reference to the Exile. God had put them in charge of the people, and so it is God who will remedy the situation. This will be done by means of reversals. Because the shepherds had not cared (exercised oversight) for the flock, God would care (exercise oversight) for the punishment of these derelict leaders. They had scattered the sheep; God would gather them up again. They had been false shepherds; God would be the true shepherd. At first God will work directly with the people, gathering them together, bringing them back to their home. God then promises to raise up a new royal shepherd, a righteous leader who, will govern the nation wisely and justly. The promise of a righteous ruler who will spring from the stump of the hewn tree of David calls to mind earlier prophetic promises (cf. Isa 11,1). This king will not be like the shepherds who failed both God and the people. He will be righteous, and he will do what is righteous. In fact, his very name, The Lord our justice, will attest to his righteousness. The coming king will be everything the former king was not. He will reestablish both Israel and Judah, and he will do it in the righteousness that comes from God.

        It is to be noted that this oracle of salvation, promising a righteous king is fulfilled in no other person than in Jesus Christ who is himself a decedent of David. He is the good and true shepherd who took care of his sheep to the point of shedding his blood for them. He cared for his flock. When the disciples of Jesus returned from mission and went for a lonely place to rest, their departure did not deter the crowds, who seemed to know where they were going and who arrived there before Jesus and the apostles did. Seeing them, Jesus was moved with pity (splanchnizomai), a sentiment that means profound inner emotion, which is used only by or about Jesus and which has messianic significance (cf. Mark 1,42; 8,2; 9,22). The reason for Jesus’ intense response is given. He was moved by the plight of the people, not by their enthusiasm, which might well have arisen from their desire for miracles rather than from religious motivation. He saw them as sheep without a shepherd, searching for someone or something they could follow. Jesus realised that these people followed him so eagerly because they were bereft of strong and dependable leadership. To remedy this, he began to teach them. The other aspect of Christ as a shepherd is made clearer in the second reading, from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul in this letter insists that through the blood of the cross, Christ has broken down the wall of division that separated Jews and Gentiles. He has reconciled both groups with God and thereby with each other. By his death he has put their enmity to death. More than this, he has brought them together in himself. He has not merely brought them peace, he has become their peace. Neither one of the groups has been taken up into the other. Rather, reconciled with God and with each other, they have become a new creation, a new body. Where once there were two, now there is one. Christ Jesus is the herald of this peace between the peoples. First he preached peace to the Ephesians who had been far off, just as he had preached peace to those who had come to believe earlier. Through the shedding of his blood he brought the previously separated groups together in their faith in him, thus becoming their peace. He will now serve as the one through whom all have access to God.

        This Christ who is our shepherd and our peace has been presented to us in various capacities in the previous Sundays. He was the one who was able to calm the storm, who had power over the forces of death, and who exercised a prophetic ministry in establishing the reign of God and has commissioned ordinary people to continue his work; he instructed them and empowered them. He sent them out on a mission, and they returned. They obviously had been successful, for the crowds would not let them alone. People followed them everywhere because they wanted to hear what Jesus and his disciples had to say; they wanted to be released from the sickness and the demons that possessed them. These were clearly people on a search; they were looking for direction. And so Jesus took pity on them.

        Jesus is still looking for those who will continue his shepherding, the ministry for which he shed his blood, and the ministry where he is the peace among people. He has invited and commissioned you and me by virtue of our baptism. How do we discharge the task? Do we follow the leadership role and example of the criticised leaders of the Jewish people of old? Or do we follow the example of self-appointed men and women of God who flood every means of mass communication with all types of prosperity gospels? Are we moved in the depth of our being, like Jesus was, for the plight of our brothers and sisters who are bereft of real direction in their life or precisely who are trapped and disillusioned? We have the duty to communicate to others what we learned and received from Christ! We have to be available to share the gifts God has bestowed on us; in short we have to be truly apostles/disciples and missionaries of our time. In order to achieve this well we need to retire in a deserted place, where we will be able to reflect in silence and still, in prayer, meditation and contemplation. Such instances of prayerful reflection will among other things enrich us spiritually, strengthen our convictions and faith and make us more spontaneous in responding to our missionary duties and Christian witnesses in our families, places of work, in the church and in the society at large. Let us therefore, pray in the Eucharistic celebration of this Sunday for the graces to be good and true shepherds and promoters of peace, following the example of Jesus Christ our Lord and leader.  Happy Sunday!+John I. Okoye 

15th Sunday Year B 2018

May you receive the grace to be always attached to Christ and so empowered to fulfill the prophetic mission that is your duty by virtue of your baptism. Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye.

Doctrine And Faith

(Amos 7,12-15; Ephesians 1,3-14; Mark 6,7-13: 15^th Sunday Year B 2018

          The theme that emerges from the readings of this Sunday (first reading and the gospel) is clearly that of mission in its original Latin (missio) connotation of sending one out for a particular task. God sends his prophets out to deliver messages to his people Israel. In the same way, Jesus sends his apostles and disciples to announce the coming of the reign of God. These readings show that God chooses ordinary people and confers on them extraordinary responsibilities. Amos was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. Most of the apostles were rustic fishermen. Paul was a tent maker. None of them was particularly distinctive according to the standards of the world; they were not celebrities. Yet one of them, Amos was called for a total re-evaluation of the social structure of his people, another, Ezekiel helped an entire nation come to grips with its exile, and the rest, the apostles set out to convert the entire world. These ordinary people were truly extraordinary.

          In the first reading, we read about the dialogue between the prophet Amos and Amaziah, the priest of the shrine at Bethel. Amos had been called by God and sent to prophesy to the people of Israel. Amaziah, on the other hand, was an official employee of the crown and was responsible for the cultic activities at Bethel, the royal shrine. Bethel was an important shrine in the northern kingdom of Israel. In this reading the priest directs the prophet to go to Judah, the southern kingdom, and there to earn his bread. This passage does not explicitly tell us why Amos was not wanted. It does say that Bethel was the royal sanctuary. This may imply that all prophesying that went on there had to abide by the good will of the king. Having no loyalties to this court, Amos could not be depended upon to conform to its wishes. He might even be setting himself up against royal authority. Perhaps that is why Amaziah tells him to flee, to leave quickly, lest harm come to him. However, wanted or not, he had been sent by God and he was determined to stay. The prophet defends on his call from God and, in doing so, his right and responsibility to prophesy in Israel. He had not chosen to be a prophet, he had been chosen. He was not the kind of prophet who enjoyed royal patronage and was not connected with the court or a particular shrine, nor had he belonged to any prophetic guild. He was a prophet of God, independent of any institution. He had been a herder and a dresser of trees. From these simple occupations he had been summoned by God to be a prophet and then sent to the people of the northern kingdom. His coming to Bethel was due entirely to the command he had received from God.          God the Father sent Jesus Christ to inaugurate his kingdom on earth. In the gospel reading Jesus brings the Twelve into God’s saving work. They are commissioned and sent out as one in authority sends out delegates or envoys. The authority is not theirs, nor is the message. However, it is through their agency that wonders are performed. In it they were given some explicit directions on what to take with them on their journey and how to act. Although, they were given the power to drive out unclean spirits, it is quite clear that they can only do this through the authority of Jesus. In other words, they are now commissioned to participate in the ministry of Jesus with the very power of Jesus. After receiving instructions, the Twelve set out. The ministry they were to perform was a combination of words and deeds: preaching repentance, driving out demons and healing the sick. This was in accord with the very first words proclaimed by Jesus: The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel (Mark 1,15). Since the presence of demons and the diminishment caused by illness were considered concrete evidence of the power of evil in the world, people believed that exorcisms and healings were victories of God’s power, which broke the bonds of evil. Through them, the reign of God was established in place of the reign of evil. The message of salvation that accompanied these wonders was testimony to this salvific power of God.

          From the foregoing we are acquainted with the nature of the prophetic ministry and the kind of people who are called to it. As baptised Christians the word of God confronts and challenges us to take up our responsibilities as the prophets of today who are to continue the expansion of the reign of God which Jesus inaugurated. He chose disciples and sent them out to continue the work he had begun, to preach his gospel, and through healings and exorcisms to conquer the forces of evil that threatened that reign. And now we have been called; in him we have been chosen in all of our brokenness and vulnerability. The task to which we have been called to is awe-inspiring; and every spiritual blessing in the heavens has been bestowed upon us so that we will be able to accomplish it. If we allow Christ’s saving power to take possession of us, we too will further his prophetic ministry. We will bring the saving grace of God to the world that is terrified and writhes in pain; we will bring it to those places where healing is needed and where demons still hold sway. We will bring all things under the headship of Christ. May we pray in the Eucharistic celebration of this Sunday for the grace to be always attached to Christ and thereby empowered to fulfill the prophetic mission that is our duty by virtue of our baptism. Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye  

graphics  by chukwubike 

14th Sunday...year B

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By participating in this Sunday’s Eucharist, may the compassionate Lord strengthen your faith that will open you up to opportunities of encountering his love and compassion. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Ezekiel 2, 2-5; 2 Cor. 12,7-10; Mark 6,1-6: 14th Sunday of Year B)

          There is no doubt that the theme that can be easily seen from the readings of today is no other than disbelief. In entrusting the prophetic mission for the people of Israel in exile in Babylon, to Ezekiel, God did not indicate any hope of success for the mission. Rather mention was made about the rebellious spirit Israel exhibited in the past: Son of man I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebels who have turned against me. A good number of prophets scolded Israel for her disbelief, hardness of heart, and  lack of faith in God and now the Lord himself says: Till now they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me (See also Acts 7,51-52). The motive for the constant rebellion was always the same: the people of Israel did not know how to nurture and maintain their relationship with God; they were not faithful to God because their interests were in constant opposition to the divine values. What is more, the hope of securing help from their alliance with pagan nations seemed to them stronger than that which their covenant with God guaranteed.  Notwithstanding the oppositions and acts of infidelity, God goes on with his plan of salvation for them and realises it: Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall now know that there is a prophet among them. Thus, there is hope, at least for the future that the messengers will be listened to. This will happen when the Lord will fashion   new heart and spirit for man.

          Also, the theme  unbelief is dominant in the gospel reading from the Evangelist Mark. The opposition to Jesus is not from his traditional adversaries, the Scribes and Pharisees. The stiff resistance, this time is from the people of Nazareth,  his own people, from the village he grew up. The first reaction of his co-citizens to his intervention in their synagogue was admiration. They were saying: Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom that has been granted him and these miracles that are worked through him? Here, aspects of Jesus’ ministry were mentioned; the preaching which exhibited superhuman wisdom and that of miracles that manifested divine powers. The people of Nazareth remained marveled because they knew Jesus as one of them, who worked as a carpenter before beginning his ministry. They knew all about his family, both nuclear and extended members. The people of Nazareth were contrasting the lowly and humble origin of Jesus (a not very well uneducated wood worker, not educated like a rabbi) and his actual capacity and activities. They were scandalised in him and did not accept him. For them, Jesus was simply a carpenter and they did not consider that he could have another identity. They admired the wisdom in his teachings and the power in his miracles but were not able to recognise him as the Messiah and the Son of God because he appeared rather familiar and too common place to them. Their non-acceptance  had a direct consequence: no miracle! It is faith that prepares the ground for the experience of divine intervention. Where faith is lacking, no miracle is found.  Interestingly, however, Jesus cured a few sick   people by laying hands on them according to the text.  Even though he was displeased with their lack of faith, he did not subscribe to complete indifference to their plight.  He still had to heal a few. So unbounded are God’s love and compassion that even lack of faith cannot place a limit on them!

          His generous gift of grace to man is an outstanding sign of God’s unequalled benevolence.  In the second reading today, St. Paul was assured of the abundance of this grace.  Empowered by this grace, he made a discovery that stands ever true in the complexity of our spiritual struggle: I shall be happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me.  He even put it more aptly: For it is when I am weak that I am strong. This Pauline assertion makes it very clear that our weaknesses, deficiencies and incapabilities, far from being obstacles in the spiritual life, are in fact fertile grounds for the triumph of grace.  In the face of divine love, our weaknesses lose their disqualifying and impeding character! God’s generous gift of grace and the immensity of his love do not, however, take for granted man’s willful disposition and co-operation.  In exercise of his God-given freedom, man may choose to reject this generous offer.  It is this conscious rejection that we find in Ezekiel’s prophecy in the first reading. God warned the prophet in these terse words: “I am sending you…to the rebels who have turned against me.” It seemed as God was saying: They have rejected the life I offered them and opted for death.  Yet, you have to go; I detest their rebellion but I can never be fed up with them. I still desire to save them.

          Many times, we rebel against God, rejecting the opportunities he offers us to take advantage of his love and draw closer to him.  In love, he continues to offer us more and more chances and does not hasten to condemn us.  We run the risk of passing judgment on ourselves when we treat these opportunities with indifference or outright scorn. May we in today’s Eucharistic celebration beg our God to never allow our weaknesses to overwhelm us but rather, through His grace and assistance, they become sources of spiritual and moral strength. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye