4th Sunday of Lent, Year A, March 22, 2020

May we in today's Eucharistic celebration, obtain the grace we need to be worthy of the light of the risen Christ, that we may be able to manifest it in our lives and in our interactions with others.

Happy Sunday!


DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(1 Sam 16, 1b.4a.6-7.10-13a; Psalm 22; Eph 5, 8-14; John 9, 1-41: 4th Sunday of Lent, Year A, March 22, 2020)

The basic theme of this Sunday's liturgy is Jesus’ word: I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness ... (John 8,12). This theme is illustrated in today's Gospel, so to speak, by the episode where Jesus opens the eyes of a blind man from birth and by the story of the various reactions that develop around this event. The first reading does not have a direct relationship with the Gospel; however, one can see the reason for the spiritual light that the Lord gives to those who follow him. The second reading, on the other hand, speaks to us expressly of light: Once upon a time you were darkness, now you are light in the Lord, says Paul.

The first reading, the narrative of the anointing of David, serves to show that he is not a usurper; he is chosen by God. It is God who took the initiative. David is a shepherd. By vocation, kings are the shepherds of Israel. The anointing, a sign of God's taking possession of someone, makes David the anointed (Hebrew Messiah = Greek Christos) of the Lord. The Spirit takes over David; from now on, God will express himself through him when he wills.

The Gospel episode speaks of two types of blindness: there is the physical blindness of the blind man from birth, and there is the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees, who oppose Jesus, who is the light of the world. The gospel narrative begins with a question from the disciples about the man born blind: Rabbi, who sinned, he or his parents, why was he born blind? This question reflects a widespread belief that always establishes a connection between an illness and a previous sin. But when it comes to a man who is blind from birth, he cannot have sinned; then the parents would have sinned, and their guilt fell on their child. Jesus answers the question of the disciples unexpectedly: Neither did he sin, nor did his parents. For Jesus, this traditional way of retribution (linking illnesses and misfortunes as consequences of past faults) is not correct: an illness is not, necessarily, linked to a previous sin. According to Jesus, it is so that the works of God may manifest in him. The infirmities constitute an occasion for God to manifest his goodness. Our trials and sufferings are opportunities for him to manifest his love and mercy. Jesus says: We must do the works of the one who sent me as long as the day is on, and: As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Then he spits on the ground, mixes mud with his saliva, smears it on the blind man's eyes, and says to him: Go and wash yourself in the pool of Siloam (siloam means sent). For the Evangelist washing oneself in the pool of the Siloam, in effect signifies immersing oneself in the paschal mystery of Jesus. With baptism all Christians are washed in the pool and recover the sight they had lost because of sin. The blind man obeys Jesus: he goes to the swimming pool, washes himself, and gains his sight. Of course this fact arouses people's curiosity. They wondered if the blind man really was what they saw or if he was someone else who looks like him. But the blind man firmly states: It's me! ... The man named Jesus made mud, smeared my eyes and said: Go to Siloam’s pool and wash yourself! Then they lead the blind man to the Pharisees, to solve a problem. Jesus made this healing on the Sabbath day, and this was forbidden. This is not the only case where Jesus heals on the Sabbath day; the Gospel presents others to us (Luke 13,10-17; 14,1-6; John 5,1-16). Jesus knows that he must do the work of the Father, the work of mercy, even on a Sabbath. The Pharisees, on the other hand, had a narrow vision of religious practice and demanded a very careful observance of the Sabbath: nothing must be done on this day. Jesus did something that resembles a medical activity, and this is not admissible in their mentality. They did not notice that God is generous and does not forbid doing good on the Sabbath day. So they declared: This man does not come from God, because he does not observe the Sabbath. But how could one think that the healing of a blind man is a sin? The Pharisees then asked the blind man: What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes? He replies: He is a prophet! The blind man already manifests an initial faith in Jesus’ mission. The Jews do not want to believe that the man was blind and had acquired sight; therefore they questioned the parents, who say: We know that this is our son and that he was born blind; how he now sees, we don't know, we know not who opened his eyes; ask him, he is of age, he will talk about himself. As the evangelist points out, the parents were afraid of the Jews. Then the Jews again called the man who had been blind and say to him: Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner. The blind man has a simple but profound logic and replies: If he is a sinner, I don't know; I know one thing: before I was blind and now I see. Then he continues: We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is fearful of God and does his will, he listens to him. The blind man now sees clearly not only materially, but also spiritually. The most important thing is to clearly see spiritually. The blind can have a very beautiful Christian life. When Christians are enlightened internally, they can progress in their relationship with God, and thus have an existence that is worth living. Finally, Jesus meets the blind man, who has been driven out by the Pharisees, and asks him: Do you believe in the Son of man? The blind man, willing to believe, asks him: Who is he, Lord, so that I may believe in him? And Jesus replied: You have seen him: he who speaks with you is he himself. At this point the blind man makes a beautiful act of faith: I believe, Lord!, and he prostrates himself before Jesus, to manifest the depth of his faith. This blind man has been spiritually enlightened. His recovery was a first step for the gifts of God, which are more abundant than one would expect. With regret, Jesus declares: I have come to this world to judge, so that those who do not see will see and those who see will become blind. The Pharisees hear these words and say: Are we also blind? And Jesus replies: If you were blind, you would have no sin; but as you say, ‘We see’, your sin remains. These words of Jesus on the Pharisees are both a condemnation and an appeal to conversion. The Pharisees must recognise that they were blind and should desire healing; then the Lord can heal them; otherwise their situation is without remedy. This Gospel episode pushes us to desire physical and spiritual light. Without doubt, physical sight is a wonderful gift from God; but spiritual vision is even more important for our personal life.

In the first reading (the episode of the anointing of David as king of Israel) when Samuel's older, stronger and more beautiful brothers were presented to Samuel, the Lord said to the prophet: Do not look at appearance, nor to the grandeur of their stature. Physical vision is not enough to make a decision or to make a choice: a profound, spiritual vision is needed. God says: Man looks at appearance, the Lord looks at the heart. We must ask the Lord to give us this spiritual vision, to choose and decide well in all circumstances of life. We must not decide only on the basis of human appearances, economic factors, external, superficial elements, but on the basis of spirituality. We must do as the Lord did: he chose David as king, who was the smallest of all brothers and appeared fragile, therefore, as the least suitable for this task. In reality he had a profound spiritual wealth, and so he was more suitable than others to become king of Israel. In the second reading Paul speaks to us, in the same sense of spiritual light. He says to the Ephesians: Once upon a time you were darkness, now you are light in the Lord. Here we have an in-depth deepening of the theme of the Gospel: is it not enough to only receive light, but it is also necessary to become light. Jesus said to his disciples: You are the light of the world (cf. Matt 5, 13-16). The Christian's duty is not only to welcome the divine light into his life, but to also manifest it in his own behaviour. Therefore, Paul says: Behave like the children of light; the fruit of light consists in kindness, justice and truth. The Apostle invites us to reject the works of darkness, that is, what is done in the dark, because we are ashamed to do it and, therefore, try not to be seen. Instead, you have to do works that can be manifested to others, so that they too are enlightened. But in order to do this, we must receive the light from Christ's paschal mystery better and better. Paul exhorts us: Wake up, O you who sleep, awake from the dead and Christ will illuminate you. In these sentences we can see a hint to the paschal mystery of Jesus. He woke up from the dead after experiencing the passion and then is able to enlighten every man. He does not only illuminate man, but also makes him participate in his new life with a spiritual resurrection. Let us, therefore, walk towards Easter with this great hope of being ever more involved in the light and life of Christ, for the glory of God and for the good of the whole world. May we in today’s Eucharistic celebration be enabled, not only to receive the grace of the light of the risen Christ, but also to manifest it in our lives, in the family, places of work, Christian communities and the society at large. +John I. Okoye

3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A, March 15, 2020)

May we, through this Sunday's Eucharistic celebration, be granted the grace to renew our relationship with Christ through whom the love of God has been poured into our hearts that we may be able to worship God in spirit and truth.

Happy Sunday!


DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Exodus 17,3-7; Rom 5,1-2.5-8; John 4,5-42; 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A, March 15, 2020)



The main point of this Sunday’s liturgy is water. The entrance antiphon talks about water that is to be sprinkled. I sprinkle you with pure water. The first reading and the Gospel also refer to water. The modern world - even the wealthiest nations - has realised the importance of water for life. Today in many countries, especially in our own Nigeria, some millions of people lack this basic natural necessity and there is the realisation that even the water resources we have are at the risk of running out, and the lack of rain often has drastic consequences for agriculture. Water is, truly, the basis of our life. One can resist eating for several days, even for weeks, but not without drinking. The first reading reminds us that in the desert the Jewish people suffered from thirst for lack of water. Their reaction was violent. It was a protest reaction: The people murmured against Moses and said: Why did you bring us out of Egypt to make us, our children and our livestock die of thirst? Moses is in distress, and thinks: What will I do for this people? A little more and they will

stone me! The Lord comes to his aid and says to him: Take the stick in your hand with which you struck the Nile and go! Behold, I stand before you on the rock, on the mount Horeb. You will strike on the rock and water will come out and the people will drink. Moses did as the Lord told him, and the problem is solved. The doubt and anger of the people was targeted beyond Moses. It was directed to God. Is the Lord among us, yes or no? This is the typical question of the challenge: Yes or no?, an insolent ultimatum. It is the refusal to trust God: the denial of the covenant! The episode has become particularly famous in Israel. In the Pentateuch and in some psalms (94; 105) it was above all the symbols of the hardening of the heart of Israel, which irritated Yahweh and so, costed the death of Moses and Aaron on the edge of the promised land. In the psalms of praise inspired by the history of Israel (77 and 104), it is the call to the power of God that makes water flow from the rock. In Wisdom (11), it is the sign of the presence of wisdom in the holy prophet (Moses). Isaiah sees the announcement of the future benefits that will raise the praise of the chosen people (15,43). In the New Testament, Paul recalls the episode (1 Cor 10) and, based on a tradition that imagined that the rock accompanied the people on their way, sees Christ in it, who quenches the thirst of the people with a spiritual drink.



Psalm 94 combines the two interpretations of the episode of the rock: acclaiming the Lord as the rock of our salvation and warning against the hardening of the heart, as in the day ... where your fathers tempted me: they put me to the test, or rather as on the day of Massa and Meriba. In fact, it is a matter of remembering this anecdote reported in Exodus 17 and also in Numbers 20,13, without forgetting that the names of this place have symbolic meaning of trial and challenge. Beyond all the interpretations of the past, this psalm is, above all, an invitation to answer the call today; today is the key word; it is the secret of every living liturgy: the mysteries of salvation reach us today.

In the Gospel, we contemplate Jesus who, tired by long journey, sits near a well - Jacob's well - near the city of Sicar, not far from the ancient city of Samaria. A woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her: Give me to drink. It seems a very trivial thing. In reality, here Jesus is taking a very important and, at the same time, delicate step. In fact, this woman was a Samaritan woman, and the Jews were not on good terms with the Samaritans. In the Bible, the Samaritans were despised, Sirach says that they are not even a nation, but a mixture of people, and do not have a pure religion. For this reason, there were no relationship between the Jews and Samaritans. But Jesus establishes a relationship with this Samaritan woman, in the most delicate way possible, in that he presents himself as one who is in need. To enter into relationship with a person, without having any attitude of pride or superiority, it is necessary to do just like this: to present oneself as someone who needs the help of the other. Jesus says to the Samaritan woman: Give me a drink. In this expression we can admire his mild and humble heart. He establishes a relationship with a woman, and this is already a first point that could arouse wonder; and not only with a woman, but with a Samaritan woman and, moreover - as will appear later -, with a woman with an un-exemplary conduct. Thus, Jesus appears extremely mild; he eliminates a barrier and establishes a relationship, puts communion where there was separation. The Samaritan naturally marvels at this request, and says to him: How come you, a Jew, ask me a Samaritan woman for a drink? Then Jesus continues: If you knew the gift of God and who is he who says to you: Give me a drink!, You yourself would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Here Jesus begins to reveal his profound intention: he became a beggar, in reality he has an intense desire to give, to communicate the divine gift. But to communicate this gift, one must have established a relationship, which Jesus did with such humility and gentleness. Obviously, the woman does not understand these symbolic words of Jesus, and says to him: Lord, you have no means of drawing and the well is deep; from where do you have then this living water? Jesus then specifies: Whoever drinks this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks the water which I will give him will never be thirsty again; on the contrary, the water that I will give him will become in him a source of water that spurts for eternal life. Here we see clearly that Jesus does not speak of an ordinary, natural water, but of a much more important gift, a gift capable of satisfying the deepest desires of the human soul. This gift can satisfy them not only passively, but also actively: this water, in fact, becomes in the person who receives it a source of water that spurts into eternal life. The woman does not understand and makes a request: Lord, give me this water, so that I will no longer be thirsty and do not continue to come here to draw water. But Jesus says to her, Go and call your husband and then come back here. This is the decisive point of the meeting. The woman replies: I have no husband. At this point Jesus could interrupt the conversation with the woman; instead he speaks to her, like a prophet who penetrates the secrets of hearts: You said well, I have no husband; in fact you have had five husbands and the one you have now is not your husband; in this, you have told the truth. Now it is the woman who could end the conversation, feeling offended. She may refuse to speak to this man again who has the audacity to reveal her private life. Instead she accepts the light projected on her life, and says: Lord, I see that you are a prophet. These words are like a confession. The woman admits that what Jesus said was true: she was a woman who has had five husbands and who lives in concubinage with the sixth man. Now she confesses this more or less criticisable state of her life. And it also expresses her deep religious unease/discontent, which is the cause of her wrong behaviour. This irregular marriage situation and instability of hers comes from an unfulfilled religious restlessness. The woman says: Our fathers worshiped God on this mountain [Mount Garizim, near Jacob's well] and you say that Jerusalem is the place where you have to worship. The religious situation of this woman is confused: how to find God when there is a disagreement on the place where one must worship him? And if you cannot find God with certainty, how can you be confident and determined in your personal life? Then Jesus makes a revelation to her: Believe me, woman, and the moment has come when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. It is a revelation of an extraordinary novelty, because Jesus is not satisfied with eliminating, as a place of worship of God, Mount Garizim, but also eliminates Jerusalem. This is an unprecedented novelty. Then he specifies: The time has come, and this is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; because the Father looks for such worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. Jesus speaks here of a profound relationship with God, which does not depend on the place or the temple, but which can be established at any moment and in any place. This profound relationship with God is based on two realities: spirit and truth. Jesus declares in the Gospel: I am the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14, 6). It is he then who makes this adoration of God possible in spirit and truth, because, through his passion, he will communicate the Spirit and fully reveal the divine truth, which is summed up in one sentence: God is love. Here the woman received a revelation from Jesus that he had not even made to his disciples. The woman then said to Jesus: I know that the Messiah, (that is, the Christ) must come: when he comes, he will tell us everything. These words of the woman gave Jesus the opportunity to reveal his identity: It is I who speak to you. This encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman was a truly lofty scene, a profound revelation, on which we can reflect at length. The story then continues. When the disciples returned, Jesus explained to them why he behaved in this surprising way. When they offer him something to eat, he says, I have food to eat that you do not know about. And he explains: My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to do his work. For Jesus the essential thing is to be docile to the will of the Father. If Jesus established a relationship with this Samaritan woman with a questionable conduct, and because she understood that this was the will of the Father, that the Father wanted this relationship, this conversion and this revelation. Actually, to make conversions, Jesus could not be satisfied with a conversation or some explanations.

In the second reading Paul makes us understand that, in order to carry out the conversions and change our situation, Jesus went to the extreme of love: While we were still sinners, Christ died for the wicked in the established time. Jesus' words are extremely effective, precisely, because the power of the cross is already exercised in them. That is, the efficacy of Christ's love, manifested in his passion, gives his words a power that otherwise they could not have.

Thus the second reading completes the Gospel, and at the same time pushes us to give thanks and trust. Thanksgiving, because we see how Jesus, meek and humble of heart, accomplished our redemption. Trust, because, thanks to the passion of Jesus, the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Because of this - says Paul - hope does not disappoint. The presence of God's love in our hearts gives our hope unshakable firmness. May we, therefore, through the celebration of today’s Eucharistic liturgy be granted the grace to renew our relationship with Christ, through whom the love of God has been poured into our hearts, so that we will be able to worship God in spirit and truth. + John I. Okoye

2nd Sunday of Lent, Year A, 8th March 2020

May we, at this Eucharistic celebration, in this Sunday, obtain the graces to follow God’s will by listening and following Christ’s directives in whom God revealed Himself and through whom God is manifest to us.

Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Genesis 12,1-4a; 2 Tim 1,8b-l0; Matt 17,1-9; 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year A, 8th March 2020)

The first reading is the passage from Genesis that narrates Abraham's vocation and obedience. It is the beginning of the history of faith. God has the initiative. The Hebrew text calls him Yahweh, a name that will be revealed only later to Moses (Exodus 3), when he asks, insistently, to know the name of the God of the fathers, of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham came out of a polytheistic environment, according to tradition, Ur or Carran. He is, totally, tied to a God (whom Genesis calls Jahweh). God's initiative is a word: The Lord said. God’s call involves a rupture and a departure to the unknown. The demands of the Lord are very clear (leaving the country, kinship, clan). No guarantee is given to Abraham outside of the Word of God. The country in which he goes is what God will show him and the announced posterity can only come to him from God, since he leaves with a sterile wife.

Psalm 32 expresses a living faith like that of Abraham, trust in the word of God, the hope of being guarded by his love, whatever the circumstances through which faith will lead us.

Paul, a prisoner in Rome, shortly before his death wrote to his favourite disciple to encourage him not to blush about his mission as a preacher of the Gospel. Timothy's apostolic life is based on the holy vocation that comes from God, from his free initiative and not from the merits of those who are called. In following it, one must, therefore, trust in the power of God (1st reading and psalm). Then Paul develops the theme of the grace of the vocation by linking it to Jesus Christ. He says that even before the incarnation, from eternity, grace was given in Christ Jesus (cf. what Jesus says in the Gospel of John 8,56: Abraham exulted in the hope of seeing my day); then he recalls the work of Jesus fully manifested in his resurrection: death has been won, life and immortality shine through the Gospel. Timothy can find (like Paul himself) a supplement of courage and strength for his ministry. Jesus the Saviour has already accomplished the essentials of the work; we are now in the climate of the Transfiguration through which Jesus wanted to strengthen the faith and courage of the apostles before his passion.

The gospel narrative of Jesus’ transfiguration is usually seen as an anticipation of the glory of Christ (cf. in John 12,28, 1st voice of the Father: I have glorified him and again I will glorify him!). His face is transfigured, as later will be the face of the risen one, which will take time to be recognised. The transfiguration is also seen as support for the faith of the apostles. Peter, James and John will be the witnesses of the agony, when Jesus, and no longer the apostles, began to feel sadness and anguish ... prostrated himself with his face on the ground (Matt 26,37-39). Shortly before the Transfiguration, Peter had confessed faith in Jesus the Son of God: the voice of the Father confirms this profession of faith and the comment made by Jesus: My Father who is in heaven (he has revealed it to you) (Matt 16,13-20). But Peter’s faith was still very weak; shortly after his confession, he had manifested his total misunderstanding of the mystery of the cross and Jesus had treated him as Satan (Mt 16, 13-23). Perhaps this context of tension between Peter and Christ may explain the fear mentioned by Matthew. Sacred fear that the encounter with the divine causes in man, and that Jesus comes to placate with a fraternal gesture noticed only by Matthew. In the story we also see a confirmation of the nature of Jesus and his prophetic mission: My Son ... listen to him. A deeper reading of the transfiguration episode shows us how Jesus is the heir of the whole Old Testament. This is attested by the presence of Moses and Elijah, the two great prophets, the two witnesses (which we find in Rev 11,3); and also the two whose death exceeds the common fate (the tomb of Moses was never found and Elijah was taken away on a chariot of fire). It shows also how Jesus is the prophet announced by Deuteronomy who will take the place of Moses: A prophet like me; you will listen to him (Deut 18,15, quoted in Acts 7,37). As the face of Moses was radiant on his descent from Sinai (Exodus 34), the face of Jesus shone like the sun. This detail belongs to Matthew, while Mark and Luke are content to say that the face of Jesus changed its appearance. A deeper reading shows us Jesus as the one who is preparing the new Easter. The high mountain, the coming of the cloud, the fear it causes remind us of Sinai; the tents that Peter wants to build are reminiscent of the desert.

On this second Sunday of Lent, the liturgy offers us a mystery of Jesus’ transfiguration: a luminous, consoling mystery. Jesus climbs a high mountain and is transfigured in front of three disciples: Peter, James and John. The evangelist says: his face shone as bright as the sun and his clothes became as snow-white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared there, conversing with him. The Transfiguration is a revelation of the person of Jesus, because immediately afterwards a luminous cloud appears, announcing the presence of God, and a voice says: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. With this event, the disciples are being prepared for Jesus’ paschal mystery. They are prepared to pass the terrible test of passion, and they are also prepared to interpret the resurrection well. The story speaks of Moses and Elijah. Indeed, this episode has a relationship with two other divine revelations, two theophanies, which occurred one for Moses and one for Elijah. Unlike these two episodes, (Exodus 33,18 - 34,7 and 1 Kings 19,9-18) in the Transfiguration it is not Jesus who has the revelation of God (as Moses and Elijah had) but in him that God reveals himself, who reveals himself in turn to the apostles who went up the mountain with Jesus. Therefore, anyone who wants to know God must contemplate the face of Jesus, his transfigured face. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says: Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14, 9). Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father's holiness and mercy. On Mount Sinai, Moses also had the revelation of God's will: the Ten Commandments. And also Elijah on the mountain had from God the revelation of a triple mission to accomplish. Jesus does not receive the revelation of his mission, because he already knows it; but it is the apostles who receive the revelation of the will of God: Listen to him. By now the will of God is not manifested in a series of commandments written on stone tablets, but is fully revealed in the person of Jesus. Whoever wants to live according to the will of God, must follow Jesus, listen to him, accept the words and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, deepen them. Thus he finds the perfect revelation of the will of God. This episode, as has been said, prepares the apostles to face the passion of Jesus, to overcome its terrible, painful and humiliating aspects. Then the apostles will know that he who suffers is the beloved Son of God and will interpret passion as a mystery that is at the same time dark and luminous. Passion is a dark mystery, because of the aspects of humiliation, pain, and scandal even on the part of men. Luminous, because it reveals the infinite love of God. It reveals the love of the Father, who gives his Son for us; reveals the love of the Son who, in perfect adherence to the will of the Father, gives himself, offers his life, gives the greatest proof of his love, because, as Jesus says, nobody has a love greater than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends (John 15,13). After the Transfiguration, Jesus gives the three disciples an order that may seem surprising. We read: And while they were descending from the mountain, Jesus ordered them: Do not speak to anyone about this vision, until the Son of man has risen from the dead. The apostles should not speak to anyone about this episode before the passion and resurrection, to avoid illusory or false interactions of Jesus’ glory. This could be interpreted as the glory of a human conqueror, a powerful one of this world. Instead, Jesus knew he had to go to the cross; therefore, he did not want to obstruct his path with a revelation that would come prematurely. But after the passion, the Transfiguration helps to understand the resurrection well. Jesus’ glorification should not be understood as a simple exaltation by God of a man who devoted himself, generously, to the good of his brothers, but rather like his filial glory, the glory that he possessed even before the Incarnation and that now, after the resurrection, he also fully finds himself as a man. In the priestly prayer, Jesus says to the Father: And now, Father, glorify me before you, with that glory that I had with you before the world was (John 17,5). Thus the apostles will be able to recognise, in the glory of the Risen, the glory of the Son of God, and will proclaim it. Paul says that Jesus was made Son of God by the resurrection (Rom 1,4). In the second reading, Paul shows that the appearance of our saviour Jesus Christ reveals the grace of God, because he has conquered death and made life and immortality shine through the Gospel. This mystery involves us. Indeed, it is for us that the promise of God's victory over evil and death, the promise of a new life, which is a participation in the filial life of the Risen One were made. On this Sunday, we are also invited to prepare ourselves for the passion of Jesus, knowing that in it is the Son of God who gives his life for us, for our salvation. We can recognise with Paul: This life which I live in the flesh I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal 2,20b). We can also contemplate the resurrection of Jesus as the full manifestation of what was anticipated in the Transfiguration, that is, the full manifestation of the filial glory of Jesus, perfectly united to the Father, beloved Son, in whom we too are called to become children of God. May we, in this Eucharistic celebration, obtain the grace that will enable us see God’s full revelation in the person of Jesus and follow his directives. +John I. Okoye

Nigeria: Catholic archdiocese of Lagos suspends sign of peace during masses

 A Catholic Church in Lagos has suspended handshakes and the use of holy water fonts indefinitely over the spread of coronavirus.

It would be recalled that Nigeria recorded its first case of the disease on Friday, following the arrival of an Italian businessman from Milan, which has the highest rate of the infection in Europe.

The patient, who tested positive to the virus on Friday, has been in Nigeria since Monday.

Alfred Martins, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, in a statement, said the decision to indefinitely suspending some of the church practices is “in the light of this present circumstance.”

He said that stations of the cross which is usually done in public will now be done privately to reduce the number of gatherings in churches.

TheCable reports that the archbishop encouraged church members to have handy hand sanitizers, adding that communion will now be received on the palm.

Martins speaking said, “The shaking of hands during the time for the Sign of Peace during Mass is suspended for the time being.”

“During this season of Lent, in order to reduce the number of gatherings in Church to the barest necessary, we encourage people to do Stations of the Cross privately on Wednesdays while public celebrations will take place only Fridays especially as it is often followed by Mass.

“Communion, for the time being, shall be received on the palms. People are encouraged to have Hand Sanitizers handy to be used as and when needed.

“The use of Holy Water fonts in churches and public places should be suspended till further notice. May the Lord deliver us from this plague and all evils.”

“If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health authority”.