13th Sunday of Year B, June 27, 2021

May we have the grace to realise in today's Eucharistic celebration that God is the author, source and sustainer of human life, may we by his grace live a life of faith in him so that our human life will one day merit eternity in his heavenly kingdom.

                      Happy Sunday!

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Wisdom 1,13-15; 2,23-24; 2 Cor 8,7.9.13-15; Mark 5, 21-43: 13th Sunday of Year B, June 27, 2021)

Today the liturgy offers us in the first reading, taken from the book of Wisdom, a general perspective on death and life, good and evil. The Gospel corresponds to this reading, because it shows Jesus as the source of life: he not only heals a woman suffering from haemorrhage with a simple contact, but also raised a dead girl to life. In the second reading, Paul speaks to the Corinthians about the collection made for the poor of the Church of Jerusalem.

The book of Wisdom does not hesitate to say that God did not create death. Death does not come from God, but entered the world out of the devil’s envy. Indeed, in the book of Genesis, at the creation of all things by God, each time it is repeated, like a little refrain this expression: And God saw that what was created was good (Gen 1,10.12.18.21.25.31). Therefore, creation, the work of God, is good. God is the source of life, the source of good, and his intention is always positive. The book of Wisdom states: The creatures of the world are healthy, in them there is no poison of death. But the devil partially ruined this work of God with temptation and sin, and, therefore, death. In his letter to the Romans Paul affirms: Sin has entered the world, and with sin death (Rom 5,12). God's intention in creating man was positive: Yes, God has created man for immortality; he did it in the image of his own nature. God created man in his image, that is, he created him for immortality, to be associated forever with his blessed divine life: a life of total love, a life in which there is nothing bad. The book of Wisdom declares that justice is immortal; therefore, the underworld does not reign on earth.

In the Gospel, Jesus shows himself in full harmony with this divine intention. He came into the world to do the will of the Father, which is a will of salvation, life and love. Jairus, the head of the synagogue, goes to him, because his little daughter is at the ends. She prays to him insistently: Come and place your hands on her so that she may be healed and live. He recognises the source of life in Jesus. Immediately Jesus, with an extraordinary availability, accepts to go with him to his home. Mark, who gives us a very lively and realistic description of this episode reports that a great crowd followed him and huddled around him. Among this crowd there is a woman who has been suffering from haemorrhage for twelve years and who has suffered a lot at the hands of many doctors and – Mark adds, with a certain irony - has spent all her possessions without any advantage, she was even getting worse. It deals with, therefore, of a woman who suffers from a truly persistent disease and cannot be eradicated. She has heard of Jesus, his goodness and mercy, and also of its power. Then she has the desire to take advantage of his goodness and power. Therefore, in the midst of the crowd, she approaches him. According to the Jew’s mentality, this woman is in a state of impurity. Haemorrhage, in fact, like any other loss of blood, was considered by the Jews to be impurity, which is transmitted to anyone who is touched by the sick person. This woman dares to touch Jesus' cloak, despite Moses' law that forbids contact with other people in such a case of blood flow. She thinks: If I can even touch his cloak, I will be healed. This woman demonstrates great faith, bold faith, which does not seek any external manifestation, but is content with a simple touch. And in fact, after touching Jesus's cloak, she feels in her body that she was healed. Jesus becomes aware of this touch; he turns to the crowd and asks: Who touched my cloak? Jesus does not want to perform a miracle that is, as it were, automatic/ anonymous but he wants to establish personal contact with those who receive it. This is very important: miracles are occasions of contact with Jesus, of explicit faith, and, therefore, not only physical healing, but also spiritual. The disciples say to Jesus: You see the crowd that is gathering around you and you say: Who touched me?. But Jesus knows what he says: he is not referring to just any touch, but to a special touch, which has caused the emanation of a spiritual force capable of healing. The frightened, trembling woman throws herself in front of him and tells the whole truth; She confessed to having touched him despite her state of impurity. Jesus then says to her: Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your evil. Thus Jesus establishes a personal contact with this woman, confirms her faith and its positive effect and makes her go in peace with the profound joy of having had contact with Jesus, and, therefore, being healed not only physically, but also spiritually. Meanwhile some friends of the synagogue leader come to tell him: Your daughter is dead. Why do you still disturb the Master? Jairus had asked Jesus for the healing of his daughter; but now it is no longer necessary to ask for it. After the girl's death, people think that Jesus cannot do anything. Jesus, on the other hand, is sure of being able to intervene and asks Jairus only to have faith: Not to fear, only have faith! These words are very important to us. When we have difficulties, when it seems that the Lord does not want to intervene, when we do not see the solution to a problem, we must listen to Jesus who tells us: Do not be afraid, just continue to have faith. Difficulties must be occasions for progress in faith, and not for renouncing faith and hope. Thus, Jesus continues his journey to Jairus’ house and when he arrives he sees hustle and bustle and people crying and screaming. This is the way of expressing grief and pain in the middle East of Jesus’ time. But Jesus says to the people: Why are you making so much noise and weeping? The child is not dead, but she is asleep.  For Jesus, death is like sleep, and he is able to awaken someone from such sleep. On the other hand, Jesus does not want to arouse extraordinary enthusiasm for his miraculous action; he wants to intervene with great goodness and generosity, but does not seek success/self-notice. This is constant in his behaviour. In all the Gospels, and particularly, that of Mark, he asks those who have obtained an important grace not to talk about it, not to spread the news. After having sent everyone out, Jesus takes only the child’s father, mother with him and the three apostles who accompanied him: Peter, James and John. He enters the girl's room, takes the girl's hand and simply says to her, in Aramaic: Talita kum! which means: Girl, get up! At these words of Jesus, the little girl gets up and starts to walk. Everyone is amazed. Only Jesus remains calm, and insistently recommends that no one should know about this miracle. Then he again shows his kindness and concern towards the child, ordering to give her something to eat. Maybe, people don't think about it, because they were amazed by the miracle, but Jesus is also concerned with these simple but essential things in life. In this episode we can observe how it manifests itself – in a lively, but also very spontaneous way - the power of life that it emanates from Jesus. The miracles have been told so that we, truly, have faith in Jesus’ power. He is the source of life: not only of physical life, but also, and above all, of spiritual one, of life created in the image of God, as Genesis portrays. Our existence must not be concerned only with material needs, but, to be fully a gift of God, it must also manifest spiritual aspects of faith, hope and charity.

In the second reading, Paul invites the Corinthians to be generous, in participating in the collection organised for the poor of the Jerusalem Church. The Jerusalem community was poor. We know that in the year preceding that in which Paul wrote this letter there had been famine, which had exhausted all the resources of the people, and the Church was in trouble. Paul takes the initiative to organise a collection, which must also have the purpose of forging stronger ties between the Churches that have come from paganism and the mother church of Jerusalem, consisting of Jews. In his exhortation the Apostle shows shrewdness and ingenuity in carrying out this initiative of his. He begins by congratulating the Corinthians: You mark yourselves in everything, in faith, in word, in science, in every zeal and in the charity that we have taught you. Since they are excellent in everything, they must also be excellent in this generous work. Then Paul reminds the Corinthians of Christ 's example: You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: from the rich place he was, he became poor for you, so that you became rich through his poverty. Jesus was rich: as the Son of God, he possessed all wealth; but he made himself poor for us, that is, he accepted to assume the condition of a servant (cf. Philippians 2,7) so that we would become rich through his poverty. If we want to acquire the richness of Christ, we must follow him in his way of poverty. It is not possible to obtain the richness of Christ immediately or automatically, but it is necessary to follow the paradoxical path traced by Christ, the way of poverty, understood as a condition of true charity, in order to become partakers of his spiritual, divine richness..

Paul then gives the Corinthians some very balanced advice: This does not mean that to give relief to others you ought to make things difficult for yourselves; it is a question of balancing what happens to be your surplus now against their present need, and one day they may have something to spare that will supply your own need. In this way an exchange is established, sharing of goods - material and spiritual. In this way a very real brotherly union is achieved, and everyone grows in charity. To support his argument, the Apostle quotes a passage from the book of Exodus concerning manna: The man who gathered much had none too much, the man who gathered little did not go short. God wants a certain equality; he does not want there to be rich who have so many superfluous things, and poor who lack everything. He wants us to share what we have, and live ever more fully in his love. We also welcome this teaching of Paul, which completes the vision of faith that is given to us by today's Gospel. +John I. Okoye

(garphics by Chukwubike)

 

12th Sunday of Year B, June 20, 2021

 May we in this Eucharistic celebration have the grace to realise that no matter the turbulence we have in our various circumstances of life, our Saviour, the Lord Jesus is always there for us, we need to have an unwavering faith in him.

Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Job 38,1.8-11;2 Cor.5, 14-17; Mark 4,35-41; 12th Sunday of Year B, June 20, 2021)

On this Sunday the Gospel we are presented to with the manifestation of Jesus’ divine power: he calms the storm. This Gospel is prepared from the first reading, in which God speaks to Job, remembering his power over the sea. The second reading presents us with another perspective, because it speaks of Christ’s love who died for all men: he could have used his miraculous power to escape death, but he offered his life for us.

The passage from the Gospel of Mark shows us Jesus leaving with the apostles on the boat to go to the other shore of lake Galilee. A strong wind storm rises in the lake. The lake of Galilee is located two hundred meters below the sea level, and storms are frequent there, because the wind fills this space, causing violent phenomena. The storm that comes while Jesus and the disciples are in the middle is really dangerous: it throws the waves into the boat, so much so that it is now full of water. Jesus sits at the stern of the boat on a pillow and sleeps. Here he manifests himself in his humanity: he sleeps, despite the roar of the wind; he is tired from all the stress of his ministry, needs to sleep. The disciple woke him up and said to him: Master, don’t you care that we die? Here we can see the spontaneity and immediacy of the disciples’ words.  Jesus then wakes up, scolds the wind and says to the sea: Be quiet, calm down!. The wind stops and there is a great calm. We see a great contrasts between the simple humanity of Jesus- They took him with them, as he was, in the boat, says Mark; Jesus then sleeps in the boat - and his divine action – he rebukes the wind and gives the sea an order which is immediately carried out: the wind ceased and there was a great calm. After restoring calm, Jesus rebukes the disciples: Why are you so fearful? Don’t you still have faith? The disciples had no faith, although he was with them. It is true that his presence seemed a mere human presence, and not a divine one. Precisely for this reason faith is necessary, to go beyond appearances and recognize that Jesus is really the Lord. This miracle arouses great fear in the disciples, because it is a manifestation of divine power. They say to each other: Who is this then, whom even the wind and the sea obey?

 The answer to this question is easy for us who know Jesus’ whole history, we know that he is the Son of God conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit and became man to save us. He is truly God, and, therefore, has all power in heaven and on earth; he has divine power, because only God can command the sea.

In the first reading the Lord says to Job: Who has closed between two doors the sea, when it burst out from womb…? Then I set a limit for him and I put a latch and doors on him and I said: You will reach this far and no further, and here the pride of your waves will break. 

Men have no power over the natural elements. When these are unleased, they find themselves in a situation of grave danger and do not have the possibility of resisting such violence. Instead, God is greater than all and has power over all elements of nature. Jesus participates in this power, and in this episode he demonstrates it to arouse great faith in the disciples. This episode is also significant for us. When we are in a situation of danger, when we are caught by a storm of any kind, we think Jesus is absent, who cannot or does not want to intervene. Instead, like the disciples, we must go to him and tell him with great confidence: Master, don’t you care that we die? We must say it with faith. If we have no faith, our situation becomes truly desperate, because our lack of faith prevents the Lord’s intervention.

The second reading presents us with a different perspective. Paul reminds the Corinthians that Christ died for us. Jesus does not use his miraculous power t escape death; on the cross he does no miracle for himself. His adversaries challenged him, saying, If you are the Son of God, save yourself!” (Lk 23, 37); If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross! (Mt. 27, 40). Actually, he has the ability to descend miraculously, from the cross, but does not want to. Why? Out of love for us. Jesus loved us and gave himself up to death for us. John affirms: Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end (John 13, 1). Jesus loved us to the end, that is, to the point of suffering death for us. This fact, completely, changes our situation. Paul declares: The love of Christ impels us to think that one is dead for all and therefore all are dead. In his death, Jesus took us all with him, to transform our lives. He died for everyone, so that those who live may no longer live for themselves, out for the one who died and rose again for them. Jesus died for love, so that we live in love. There is a reversal of our situation: if Jesus died for us out of love, we no longer have the right to live, selfishly, for ourselves, but must live for him and welcome the new life that he obtained for us with his passion and death, a life characterized above all by extreme love. We must then, completely, renounce our selfishness and welcome the dynamism of Christ’s love in us, which leads us to live for others and to seek their salvation rather than our advantages. Paul then affirms: By now we don’t know anyone anymore according to the flesh; and even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, now we no longer know him that way. The Apostle wants us to understand that our way of seeing things can no longer be, simply, human way. Therefore, in front of every person we should say: He is a person for whom Christ died, a person to whom he offered a new life. We no longer know Jesus himself according to the flesh. The disciples who knew him before the passion no longer know him in the same way after his passion. In fact, they know that through the passion he has, radically, transformed his human condition and is now at another level of existence.  We too must reach Jesus in this new condition of his. It is a question of an existence in which the flesh is no longer what dominates and subdues, but the Spirit who directs everything: the Spirit, whose fruit is peace, joy and love (cf. Gal 5, 22). If one is in Christ – says Paul -, he is new creature. It is, precisely, because he is a being created by the Holy Spirit. Old things have passed away, new ones have been born. This is the wonderful news of Jesus’ resurrection, who has become a life-giving spirit for us.  In the Eucharist, we welcome the new life of the risen Christ. He made himself living bread, to communicate this life to us. It is therefore, a question of a life entirely animated by the Spirit, completely docile to the Spirit and open to generous relations with all our brothers and sisters. +John I. Okoye

(graphics  by Chukwubike)

11th Sunday of Year B, June 13, 2021

May God in today's Eucharistic celebration, grant us the grace to realise that the word of God has a vital dynamism in us, which is capable of overcoming obstacles of sin, may we be docile to this word of God so as to bear good and abundant fruit.

Happy Sunday!

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Ezekiel 17, 22-24; 2 Cor. 5, 6-10; Mark 4,26-34; 11th                                                                                                    Sunday of Year B, June 13, 2021)

Today the liturgy offers us teachings on trust and courage. All the three readings go in this direction. The Gospel tells us that the kingdom of God is a force that advances through any difficulty and circumstance, it has an un-stoppable dynamism. The first reading, taken from the prophet Ezekiel, also speaks of an extraordinary growth. In the second reading, Paul declares himself full of confidence, and thus proceeds in his commitment to be pleasing to the Lord.
We welcome this teaching of trust, which we need so much, given to us in today's liturgy. In our lives there are circumstances that undermine our trust and push us to pessimism: painful circumstances and circumstances of hostility on the part of adversaries. Our situation today in our country Nigeria is a typical example of such difficult and adverse time. All these weakens our dynamism. We must then regain courage, because the Lord is stronger than any other power, and we feel his presence within us as a wonderful force.

The Prophet Ezekiel speaks in a situation of great trial for the people of Israel: the situation of exile. It is a situation that threatens hope. His oracle wants to infuse the people with one great confidence. The prophet presents the image of a very small twig, which God plants and becomes a magnificent cedar: Under it, all the birds will dwell, every bird in the shadow of its branches will rest. What a contrast! A twig, which seems despicable, becomes a magnificent cedar, shelter for every bird. Ezekiel here takes up a concept that often reocurs in the Bible: God humbles the proud and exalts the humble. The Lord declares in this oracle: All the trees of the forest will know that I am the Lord, that I humiliate the tall tree and raise the low tree, let the green tree wither and the dry tree sprout. God turns situations upside down. Whoever trusts him, is sure that he will be able to overcome all adversity, misfortunes, and painful circumstances. But it is necessary to be humble, docile to the Lord. Those who believe they are achieving ambitious goals with their own strength and in a proud way, certainly, will not be able to do so and encounter insurmountable difficulties. On the other hand, whoever puts his trust in the Lord will always be able to overcome all difficulties and win. 

The Gospel presents us with some of Jesus’ parables. He willingly speaks in parables, relating the kingdom of God with all the realities of life, especially agricultural life. Here he compares the kingdom of God to a seed thrown into the earth. The seed on its own is not an important thing, it's insignificant, like a pebble. However, it has a vital dynamism in it, and on account of this it does not behave at all like a pebble. Jesus points out that, whether the farmer who sows the seed is sleeping or awake watching, on its own the seed germinates and grows. Man does not know how this happens. The seed possesses a vital dynamism. The word of God has a vital force: it is capable of overcoming obstacles, like a plant that makes its way and sinks its roots even in inhospitable soil. For this reason, we must have confidence in the dynamism of the word of God. The Lord sowed the seed of his Word in our land, that is, in our human existence. We can remain calm and be sure that this seed will produce its fruit in all circumstances, even in the most difficult ones. Jesus then tells another parable, which presents a contrast between a very humble beginning and an amazing result. He likens the kingdom of God to a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all the seeds that are on earth, but as soon as it has been sown, it grows and becomes greater than all herbs. It makes branches so large that the birds of the sky can take shelter in its shadow. There is, therefore, a strong contrast between a very modest start and a grandiose result.

The Church began as a very humble, modest seed. It was like a mustard seed. After the death of Jesus, it seemed that everything had been annulled, made useless. Instead, passing through so many difficulties and persecutions, she grew, because it, had within itself, the power of the Word and of the grace of God. We know that, from the very beginning, she faced persecution. In Judea and in all the places where Paul passed and sowed the good seed of the word of God, persecutions took place after a short time. But, despite these hostilities, she was growing, despite these fierce oppositions (the systematic persecution in the first two centuries of Christianity) the Church has grown. In 313, with the edict of Milan, it was recognised by the Emperor Constantine, and thus it was able to develop more freely. This is a reason for trust for us. We are part of the Church and we possess this vital dynamism that makes us overcome all the difficulties of life. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Asks Paul; then he lists all the most impressive obstacles imaginable: Tribulation, anguish, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, sword, and concludes: In all these things we are more than winners by virtue of him who loved us (Rm. 8,35-37). The love of Christ is the secret of everything. The strength of the word of God comes from the fact that it expresses the love of Jesus, the love of God revealed by Jesus. The strength of grace and this love, Paul is always full of confidence, as the second reading shows us. Even in the face of death, instead of having a pessimistic attitude, he has a positive attitude. He recognises that death is the means to, definitively, reach the Lord. In fact, as long as we live in the body, we are in exile far from the Lord. Earthly life does not allow us to have full union with the Lord: we must go through death to reach him in a perfect and definitive way. The Apostle affirms: Let us go in faith and not yet in vision. We are moving towards vision, therefore, we can proceed with optimism. We are full of confidence and prefer to go into exile from the body and live with the Lord. Paul does not hesitate to say that he would prefer to die, to live with the Lord; but at the same time he is aware of his apostolic responsibilities; for this he agrees to extend his stay on earth. We must strive on this earth to be pleasing to the Lord; otherwise, we will not be able to reach him. If in everything we do, we try to be pleasing to him, to do his will, which is always a will of love, then our optimism can grow more and more. Paul reminds us that we must appear before Christ’s court, and this makes us feel responsible for everything we do. Therefore, in our lives we must always have this sense of responsibility, but with the certainty of also being helped by the Lord in a very effective way. In this way we will be able to reach the marvellous end that awaits us: definitive link with Christ in the eternal life, that is, in the life of union with God, who is love. +John I. Okoye

(grephics by chukwubike)

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Year B, 6th June, 2021

May God grant us in today's Eucharistic celebration, the grace to realise that Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant, by shedding his blood on the cross he established a new covenant in which we now have union with God, a union which continues to operate in all our Eucharist celebration.

Happy Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ! Happy Sunday!

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Exodus 24,3-8; Hebrew 9, 11-15; Mark 14,12-16.22-26: Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Year B, 6th June, 2021)

On the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, the liturgy proposes three texts: the first, taken from the book of Exodus, concerns the foundation of the ancient covenant; the second is a passage from the Letter to the Hebrews which presents the mystery of Christ as also a mystery of mediation and covenant; the third is the Gospel, which speaks to us of the institution of the Eucharist as a mystery of covenant. Therefore, the whole liturgy of the Word makes us reflect on the significant theme of the covenant.

Since the Old Testament, it has been noted that God's purpose was to find a covenant. The Lord freed his people from Egypt to establish a covenant with them. The book of Exodus reminds us how Sinai’s covenant was established. The text, first of all, highlights the Lord's commands. Moses reports to the people all the rules dictated by the Lord, and the people immediately undertake to respect them, replying: All the commands that the Lord has given, we will carry out!. The covenant is stipulated on the basis of a mutual commitment: God undertakes to take care of his people, guide, protect and save them in case of danger; the people, on their own part, promise God to keep his law. We read in the book of Exodus: Moses took the book of the covenant [the book of the law] and read it in the presence of the people. They said: ‘What the Lord has commanded, we will do it and we will carry it out!’ But to form a covenant, the law is not enough: a foundation rite is also needed, which is a covenant sacrifice, in which blood is sprinkled. Therefore, the author of the book of Exodus tells us: Moses commissioned some young people among the Israelites to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice bullocks as communion sacrifices for the Lord. The covenant is ratified with communion sacrifices. Moses orders the young men to kill bulls and then divide their blood into two parts: one half is poured on the altar, which symbolises the presence of God; the other half is used for liturgical sprinkling. Moses took the blood and sprinkled the people, saying: ‘Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has concluded with you on the basis of all these words!’. For the Bible, blood represents life. Thus, a vital union between God and his people is founded at Sinai and, in a certain sense, the same life is shared by the two. But to remain in this vital union, it is necessary to remain faithful to the commitment made, to the will of God, which is a will of love. But sometimes this will of God conflicts with our natural desires, and then we are tempted not to follow it. This happened often to the Jewish in the Old Testament. Already the first episode that took place immediately after the founding of the covenant at Sinai - the construction of a golden calf - shows that the people are unfaithful to God. Therefore, the covenant of Sinai is, immediately, ineffective, it does not protect the people from sin. And throughout the Old Testament the infidelity of the people whom God chose is repeated like a rhyme, an infidelity that is continually condemned by the prophets. Why does the Sinai alliance prove ineffective? The New Testament explains it to us: it is an external covenant, which is not established in the heart of man. The rite performed by Moses is an external rite: it is a question of taking the blood of animals to found the alliance. But all these do not change the hearts of men. The blood of animals has no effect on the human heart, nor can it procure union with God. This covenant is then a symbolic rite, but ineffective: a rite that, very imperfectly, prefigures the foundation of the true covenant, which will be realised with the blood of Jesus.

The Gospel shows us how Jesus founded the new covenant. This is a very important episode in his life. Therefore, the evangelists describe the preparation in detail. Not that they do so for no other episode in the life of Jesus. The disciples ask Jesus: Where do you want us to go to prepare so that you can eat the Passover? He gives precise instructions: Go to the city and a man with a jug of water will meet you; follow him [...]. the landlord will show you a large room with carpets upstairs, already ready; you prepare it for us. During the Passover/Last Supper Jesus makes a surprising gesture: He took the bread and, having pronounced the blessing [with which he thanked the heavenly Father], he broke it and gave it to them, saying: Take, this is my body. Then he took the cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. And he said: This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, shed for many. This makes us understand how Jesus founded the new covenant: with his sacrifice. He did not go to seek out a victim in a flock, but he took his sufferings and death and turned them into a covenant sacrifice. This initiative of Jesus and this very generous gesture of his, changed the whole course of events. In fact, in themselves, they are about to take a tragic, completely negative turn: Jesus will be arrested, accused, unjustly condemned and put to death. It will be a succession of tragic and scandalous events. But in the Last Supper Jesus anticipates all these negative events, giving them a positive meaning: that of a gift, covenant, and victorious love. In the Last Supper he is the great winner, because he changes the whole course of events, giving it a positive meaning: he takes his passion and his death and makes them serve as a gift of love, at the foundation of the new covenant. Jesus’ gesture at the Last Supper illuminates the rest of his passion. Without this gesture, we would have remained in darkness. Calvary, in fact, is a dark event, in which human wickedness is manifested, which tries to overcome the light and, apparently, succeeds. If we had only the story of Calvary, we could not know the significance of this event. Instead, thanks to the Last Supper, we know that this event was transformed by Jesus into a positive event, an event in which love overcomes evil and death. For this reason, the Last Supper, as well as the Eucharist in which we participate, is of extreme importance. We must become aware of this transformation that Jesus brought about in the Last Supper, and which continues to operate in all our Eucharistic celebrations.

The Letter to the Hebrews recognises this event as the foundation of the new covenant. The author declares that Jesus has become mediator of a new alliance. He became, so thanks to his blood or, more precisely, thanks to his offer, which gives all his value to his blood. Jesus entered the heavenly sanctuary, in God’s intimacy, with his risen human body and through his blood, that is, through the offering of his life. The Letter to the Hebrews states: Christ entered the sanctuary once and for all, not with blood from goats and calves, but with his own blood. Jesus’ blood is full of value, because it is the sign of his offering: Christ with an eternal Spirit offers himself without blemish to God. In his sacrifice, Jesus is both victim and priest at the same time. And a victim worthy of God, because he is spotless. He is a capable priest, because he offers himself, under the impulse of the eternal Spirit, that is, of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, his sacrifice is fully effective. It has the double efficacy of purifying and sanctifying. It purifies our conscience from dead works, that is, from sins. With his death offered for the sins of men, Jesus obtained that interior purification we needed. And, on the other hand, his sacrifice communicates to us the sanctification necessary to serve the living God. For these two reasons, which reveal the efficacy of his blood, Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims this reality with a triumphal tone. In fact, it is truly a marvellous victory to be able to find a new covenant, which is not an external covenant, like that of Sinai, but an interior covenant, which starts from Jesus’ heart and reaches our hearts. The new covenant founded by Jesus does not need to be re-instituted at all. It has been established once and for all, because now it is always effective to purify from sin and sanctify. It is a complete and definitive victory. This new covenant is above all a gift of love. Jesus' love got it for us. Therefore, we, on the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, must be full of joy for his victory, and full of gratitude for the immense love with which he offered himself to find an eternal covenant between God and men.  +John I. Okoye

(graphics  by Charles O.Chukwubike)