22nd Sunday of Year B; 29 August, 2021

 
May God in today's Eucharistic celebration, grant us the grace to realise that it is what comes out of a man that defiles him and as such we should ask God to create in us a pure heart so that we may live faithfully in observing his commandments with docility and not clinging to human traditions.

Happy Sunday!

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Deut. 4,1-2.6-8; James 1,17-18.21b.22.27; Mark 7,1-8.14-15.21-23; 22nd Sunday of Year B; 29 August, 2021)

On this Sunday the liturgy offers us a teaching on authentic religion, on the relationship between religion and observances, religion and the heart. The first reading is a text from Deuteronomy in which Moses praises the law and asks that it be put into practice. The second reading does not speak of the law, but of the word of God. This word, sown in us, must not only be heard, but also be put into practice.  Pure religion is that of love, attention and help to people in need. In the Gospel, Jesus does not speak of law, but of observances, of traditions, and he gives us a very important teaching.

In the first reading, what must first be noted is that the law is a gift from God. For the love of his people, God gave them a law, which allows them to discover authentic paths in their lives that will lead them to happiness. The law is, primarily, a gift of God that puts us in relationship with him. James tells us that the word of God is also the source of life: God gave birth to us with a word of truth (James 1,18). Therefore, we must welcome God's law and word with gratitude and put it into practice. In the Old Testament there is much emphasis on the need to fulfil the law. If it is not put into practice, it is useless. Similarly, Jesus, in the Gospel, tells us that whoever hears his word but does not put them into practice is like one who builds his house on sand, such a person is a foolish man. On the other hand, the wise hears God’s word and puts it into practice; he builds his house on the rock, and can face all the difficulties of life, because his house is firm on a good foundation (cf. Matt 7,24-27). James also insists much on the need to put God's word into practice. He says to the faithful: Be of those who put the word into practice and not just listeners, deluding yourselves. We must make an examination of conscience to see how we welcome the word of God. Every Sunday we listen to it in the Holy Mass. If we listen to it in a distracted and superficial way, it will not serve us much in our lives. Our lives will then not go in the right direction, as it will not put us in a deep relationship with God, and our relationships with others will also be distorted. We must Instead welcome the word of God in such a way that it penetrates deeply into us and we will then put it into practice in concrete life. The Pharisees had added many observances to the law of Moses. In today's Gospel passage, Mark tells us that they criticised Jesus’ disciples because some of them ate food with, ritually, impure hands that is, hands that had not been washed. Among the Jews it was customary to wash their hands before eating, even if they were clean; and this observance, according to the Pharisees, had to be strictly practiced. All Jews, following the tradition of the ancients, practiced many observances of this kind. They observed many other things by tradition - says the Gospel -, such as washing of glasses, dishes and copper objects. The Pharisees and scribes criticised Jesus’ disciples for their behaviour, and say to Jesus: Why do your disciples not behave according to the tradition of the ancients, but take food with ritually impure hands? [impure is the most exact translation of the Greek word koinai, which some people translate as unclean]. Jesus then replies firmly: Well did Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written: These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Jesus criticises the Pharisees' exaggerated insistence on ritual observances, as if the most important thing in life was the observance of all the precepts of legal and ritual purity. He points out that the scribes and Pharisees neglect God's commandments to keep the tradition of men. And in another passage, he declares that they neglect justice, mercy and faithfulness, things that are much more important than all external observances (cf. Matt 23,23). When all the attention is placed on external services, it is, practically, inevitable that one sins against charity, because others are judged and criticised who do not behave according to tradition. Instead, it is necessary to observe the law in its most important guidelines. God's law must be respected, and it must be understood in depth. Jesus declared: I did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfil it (Matt 5,17), and insisted on the more important things than the law. Then Jesus gives a teaching that causes people to be amazed: Listen to me all and understand well: there is nothing outside a man that, entering into him, can contaminate him; instead, it is the things that come out of man that contaminate him. According to the traditions of the Pharisees, ritually impure foods contaminate a man; one had to be very careful to respect all the rules of ritual purity, in order not to be contaminated by food. According to Jesus, however, it is not so. This is not the most important impurity, the impurities that are to be much avoided and dreaded are those things that come out of a man which can contaminate him. Jesus explains his statement, which at first sight may seem strange, by saying that food does not penetrate the heart, but the belly and then is eliminated, and does not contaminate man. Instead, from the hearts of men bad things come out: From within, that is, from the hearts of men, evil intentions come out: prostitution, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deception, shamelessness, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these bad things come out from within and contaminate a man. The true impurity is that of the heart, which causes the gravest sins. Therefore, Jesus demands of us a religion of the heart, a religion that is attentive not to external, ritual purity, but to the purity of the heart. Jesus came precisely to make this religion of the heart possible for us, which is the true religion.

Pure and spotless religion before God our Father, - According to James is this: to help orphans and widows in their afflictions and to keep oneself pure from this world. In the Old Testament God often had to note that his people did not have a good heart, but a double heart, prone to evil. In Psalm 51 the sinner asks God: Create in me, O God, a pure heart" (v. 12). We have a great need for God to create in us pure hearts, capable of carrying out only truly good, generous actions, actions in conformity with justice, charity and mercy. If we don't have good hearts, we can't live good lives. Jesus offers us his heart. He wanted it to be pierced to be able to communicate all the treasures contained in it, to create a new heart in us, as God had promised through the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel: I will give you a new heart, I will put a new spirit within you, I will take away from you the heart of stone and I will give you a heart of flesh (Ezek 36,26). We must desire better to receive the new heart that God has prepared for us in the paschal mystery of Christ. To receive the new spirit which is the same Spirit of God, the spirit of love which the Lord communicates to us through the sacraments, we must live not a superficial religion made up of external observances, but a truly profound religion. Also, if our participation in the Mass, is understood as an external observance, it is not worth much before God. Instead, the Mass must be a reality that completely involves us, changes our heart, inserting into us the heart of Christ and making us capable of living according to his love.

Therefore, let us ask the Lord to give us this profound religion, to always make us go in this direction, so that our hearts may always be holy and perfect, full of love, which will manifest more and more in our lives. +John I. Okoye

(graphics  by Chukwubike)

Year B, August 22, 2021

 

May we at this Eucharistic celebration, be bestowed with the grace to decide with Joshua to serve God instead of false gods/idols and to follow the apostle Peter in continuing staying with Jesus for the rest of our lives.

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Joshua 24, 1-2a.15-17.18b; Ephesians 5,21-32; John 6, 60-69:John 6, 60-69: Year B, August 22, 2021

Today, the Gospel presents the end of chapter 6 of John to us, that is, the last part of the dialogue that follows Jesus' discourse on the Bread of Life. The conclusion of the discourse seems disappointing, as many disciples do not accept it and withdraw. But there is also a beautiful profession of faith on Peter’s part. This Gospel is prepared by the first reading, which speaks of the commitment that the Jewish people assume not to abandon the Lord to follow other gods. In this circumstance, the people do not hold back, but was committed. The second reading, taken from the Letter to the Ephesians, speaks of the relationship between husband and wife, characterised by mutual submission and great love.

The first reading tells us that, after the conquest of the promised land, Joshua gathers all the tribes of Israel in Shechem, and places them before him and demands that they choose between serving the Lord or other gods; the gods of the inhabitants of Canaan. The people respond: Far be it from us to abandon the Lord to serve other gods! The people are committed, recognising that the Lord has saved them: The Lord our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the servile condition, performed great miracles before our eyes and protected us throughout the journey we have made. Therefore, their answer is: We want to serve the Lord, because he is our God. It is a beautiful profession of faith, a beautiful commitment of faithfulness to the Lord.

The Gospel passage presents a more complex situation, and in the end, Peter makes his profession of faith: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life; we have believed and know that you are the Holy One of God. It is a wonderful profession of faith, a commitment to faithfully follow Jesus. But, previously, many had not accepted Jesus' discourse on the bread of life; they found his language hard. They did not understand that what seemed hard to them was, in reality, a need for love. In another passage, Jesus had said: Take my yoke upon you [... ] for my yoke in fact is sweet and my load light (Matt 11,29-30). Jesus’ yoke is love. In the discourse on the bread of life, Jesus’ great love was expressed, and a love that asks to be paid with great commitment, because love is demanding. Without exigence there can be no true love. But these are exigences that procure beautiful, fruitful life and give profound joy. Jesus sadly says to his listeners: Does this offend you?; There are some of you who don't believe. He knows who and who betrays him. His gift of love was faced with a situation of usury, opposition and rejection; but he intends to go to the extreme of love. We read in the Gospel: loving his own who are in the world, he loved them to the end (John 13, 1). Therefore, Peter can declare to him: You have the words of eternal life; we have believed and known that you are the Holy One of God. Whoever abandons Jesus cannot find another saviour, and he is also in a situation of perdition, in a blind alley. Instead, the positive solution is to welcome Jesus’ love with its demands, knowing that these are necessary aspects of Jesus' generous gift.

In the second reading, Paul, writing to the Ephesians, speaks of the relationship in the family and, in particular, the relationship between husband and wife. Two points should be emphasised in his speech. The passage begins with an invitation to reciprocal submission: Be submissive to one another in the fear of Christ. This is the fundamental attitude of the Christian. Jesus made himself obedient until death, he taught us the way of generous obedience. For this we must be submissive to one another. This reciprocal submission is not slavery, precisely because it is reciprocal and, on the other hand, because it is a submission of love. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul exhorts the Christians: By means of charity be at service to one another. (Galatians 6, 13). These words manifest a very high ideal. We must understand that, without submissioullon there is no true love, because it is not possible without the union of wills and, if we are attached to our will and do not want to give in, it means that we refuse to love the other. We must then be aware of the beauty of mutual submission; we must be attentive to the desires and needs of others and welcome these desires and needs as an opportunity to grow in love. For wives, this submissive attitude must be habitual behaviour. Paul says: Wives are subject to their husbands in everything. In the First Letter to the Corinthians,the Apostle says that the head of the man is Christ and the head of the woman is the man (cf. 1 Cor 11, 3), thus making it clear that there is a certain order in creation. But immediately after, he explains that husbands should not command, but love: You, husbands, love your wives; and indicates a very high ideal of love: How Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. When he says: Christ gave himself up for her, the Apostle thinks of Jesus’ passion and the cross, the extreme manifestation of his love. So, husbands must love their wives with this total love. In the beginning it is easy to love, because nature itself arouses the passion of love. But after some time, there is the risk that this love will diminish, or even disappear. Unfortunately, we see it nowadays with the large number of divorces. These are caused by the fact that the initial love was not maintained with generosity, and gradually faded away. Instead, the Christian ideal is that of growth of love: a love which not only has the enthusiastic character of the beginning, but becomes more profound and authentic; an honour that includes the aspect of dedication, patience, forgiveness; a love truly similar to that of Christ, who stayed with us patiently, mercifully and loved us in spite of our sins. Christ's love for the Church is a wonderful reality.

Christ's plan for the Church is to make her holy, and purify her through baptism, in order to make her appear before his church all glorious, without spot or wrinkle or anything like it, but holy and immaculate. This is a wonderful ideal. And husbands have a duty to imitate Christ. If they imitate Christ, the submission of wives will be much easier. In fact, the husband will not make his authority weigh on his wife at all, but involve her in all his decisions, in order to show his genuine love for her. Paul concludes: This mystery is great: I say it, the mystery of Christ and of the Church! The love of man and woman is an image of Christ's love for the Church. At the beginning God created man in his image: Male and female he created them, we read in Gen 1,27. Now the ideal has become more concrete, because Christ has concretely shown us the love of God. The Christian ideal consists of imitating Christ's love for the Church, or better, since in reality it cannot be imitated with human strength alone, it consists of welcoming it. We must welcome the love that comes from Christ’s heart into our hearts, to live our family relationship with all the generosity that the Lord inspires in us. In this way, we find true joy. We can then say to Jesus, with Peter: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. Jesus has not only words of eternal life, but also an eternal love, as he showed us with his passion and cross. For this, we want to continue to follow him with all our hearts. +John I. Okoye

 

THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, (SOLEMNITY), YEAR B, AUGUST 15, 2021

 

May the celebration of the Assumption of our mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary engender in us the assured hope of reaching heaven with our bodies and souls, and like Mary, make us be grateful to God in chanting the magnificat in words and deeds of our daily life.

Happy Sunday!

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Rev 11, 19a; 12.1-6a.10a-b; 1 Cor. 15,20-26; Luke 1, 39-56: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Year B; 15th August 2021)

Today the liturgy speaks to us of the Assumption of Mary, where she was raised to the glory of heaven in body and soul. To express this mystery, it uses three biblical texts. The first, taken from the book of Revelation, speaks of the grandiose sign of a woman clothed with the sun. The second, taken from Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, explains that the resurrection takes place according to a certain order. The Gospel does not speak of Mary’s assumption. This Assumption event was not mentioned in any part of the New Testament. The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth was, however, narrated. It is an occasion in which Mary expresses the sentiments of the Magnificat that was, certainly, in her mind on the great day of her assumption.

It is significant that Mary sings her Magnificat on an occasion of great brotherly/sisterly charity. She received the announcement that she would become the mother of the Son of God, but knowing that Elizabeth, her relative, was expecting a child despite her advanced age and that, therefore, needed help, she was prompted by divine charity to visit her. Contact with Mary is an opportunity for great graces. The Gospel tells us that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was full of the Holy Spirit. In this communication of thanks, Mary expresses her feelings of gratitude and love full of gratitude to God, who has done great things in her.

The Magnificat is a prophetic song, because it announces, in a mysterious way, the exaltation of Mary herself in the event of the assumption. At that moment she was able to proclaim, with an even stronger exultation: My soul magnifies the Lord [... ]. The Almighty has done great things in me. This song of Mary truly expresses her immense gratitude for the work that God has done in her. Already, at the moment of Jesus' birth she could say: The Almighty has done great things in me. On Calvary, despite the great pains caused by the death of her son, she was able to say: The Almighty did great things in me, because, from there, she became the mother of Jesus' disciples, mother in spirit. Finally, Mary was able to express her joy and gratitude in a definitive and perfect way at the moment of her assumption. Then she could truly say: my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour, because he has looked upon the humility of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed. Great things has done in me by the Almighty and Holy is his name. On the day of the Assumption, year after year, all generations proclaim Mary's beatitude, her great joy and her gratitude to the Lord. The assumption is a privilege that God has granted to Mary. In fact, He could not let the body that had received his Son and provided him with flesh and blood he needed to carry out the redemption of the world be abandoned to corruption.  Jesus came to take back his mother after her dormition, as they say, to fully associate her with his glory in heaven. And from there Mary continues her maternal work in favor of the Church.

In the second reading, Paul speaks of the resurrection. He affirms that as everyone dies in Adam, all will receive life in Christ. And he specifies: Each, however, in his order: first Christ, who is the first fruit; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. We can further specify, by saying that even among those who belong to Christ there is an order. Mary, so closely associated with the life, passion and death of Christ, deserves precedence over all, and her assumption is the sign of this precedence.

The first reading, taken from the Apocalypse, refers to a sign that appeared in the sky: a woman clothed with the sun. The author of the Apocalypse does not speak directly of Mary’s assumption. In fact, he says of this woman clothed in the sun that she was pregnant and was crying out for the pains and labor of childbirth. However, he gives us a description of Mary’s glory with this grandiose image: A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. The artists have endeavoured to represent the Madonna with these wonderful elements. The text does not name Mary; he speaks of the fight with the dragon, which represents the devil, the power of evil, and says: The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, to devour the newborn child. This makes us think of the episode of the massacre of the Innocents by Herod. Baby Jesus was being searched for to be killed. It is a diabolical event. But God protects his incarnate Son, who must bring about the redemption of all men in the fullness of his humanity. The woman gives birth to a male child, destined to govern all nations. Here we have a description of the Messiah, whereby this text was applied directly to Mary. But it can also evoke the relationship between the Messiah and the chosen people, so we can say, in a certain sense, that the holy nation was also the mother of the Messiah. Mary appears here as an occasion for divine triumph, because the Lord protected her. We read in the text: Now the salvation, the strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ has been completed. All this took place in Mary’s assumption. The feast of the Assumption brings great joy to our hearts. We are happy because Mary was not only preserved from corruption, but now she is also glorified with her son and God. At the same time we know that in heaven there is a very powerful person who intercedes for us. Mary is in heaven to welcome our humble and trusting prayers, and obtain our fulfilment.
Returning to today's Gospel text, we can say that Mary assumed into heaven does not stop visiting the earth. The Visitation marks her destiny in a very lasting way. We know that she has appeared many times, to give Christians the confidence to be guided to God in a very sure way. Mary comes to help the weak, heal the sick, invites everyone to conversion, and gives us the hope that in the end we will be able to reach her in heaven. Glorified Mary does not abandon us, on the contrary we can always feel her very close and this instills joy and confidence in our hearts. +John I. Okoye

(graphic by Chukwubike) 

 

 

18th Sunday of Year B; 1 August. 2021

let us through the today's Eucharistic celebration, realise that Jesus is the true bread of life that nourishes us. May we listen to him as he feeds us with his words/teaching and may we renew our relationship of faith when we come into contact with him in the Holy Communion.

Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

        Exodus 16, 2-4.12-15; Ephesians 4, 17.20-24; John 6. 24-35; 18th Sunday of Year B; 1 August. 2021)

On this Sunday, the liturgy offers us the beginning of Jesus' discourse on the bread of life. Since he speaks of the bread of heaven, the first reading presents the account of God’s gift of manna to his people in the desert. The second reading deals with Christian conversion: it is necessary to put down the old man and put on the new man created according to God.

        Manna is a great gift that God gives to his people in the desert. The people complain that they have nothing to eat, and were tempted to go back to Egypt to be able to eat to their fill. But God intervenes and offers them food in the evening and bread in the morning. The meat is given in the form of a quail cloud, which covers the camp. In the morning the people see a layer of dew, which leaves on the earth something as minute as frost and grainy. The Israelites, surprised, say to each other: Man hu: what is this? Moses explains that it is the bread that the Lord gives them as food. Manna is a wonderful gift from God, which allows the people to continue their journey in the desert without suffering from hunger. After the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus retires to the mountain, all alone. Then he walks on the water to reach the disciples who are on the boat, and finally, together with them, he reaches the shore of Capernaum. The people who participated in the multiplication of the loaves realised that he and the disciples were no longer there, and they went looking for them in the direction of Capernaum.

In today's Gospel passage there is a dialogue between the crowd and Jesus. Twice Jesus corrects the crowd's perspectives and their way of understanding things. Instead of answering the crowd's question, he immediately makes a critical remark: Verily, verily I say to you: you are looking for me not because you have seen signs, but because you ate those loaves and were satisfied. So, he reproaches people for not having grasped the meaning of the miracle, but for having only taken advantage of the situation: they ate the loaves that he multiplied, they were satisfied, and no more. Instead, this miracle is a sign of a spiritual gift that Jesus wants to give to people. Jesus, true bread of life, wants to satisfy not only the body but also the soul, giving spiritual food that can satisfy the deep desires of men. Therefore, he invites people to procure not the food that perishes, but that which lasts for eternal life. People listen to this reproach, understand that Jesus wants to talk about conversion and ask: What must we do, to do the works of God?. To this question he again gave an unexpected answer: This is the work of God: to believe in him who he sent. Jews are very concerned with fulfilling the law, doing the works of God, and they think that the relationship between God and men is like that between a master and his servants: the master assigns the work to the servants, and they do it. So, they want to know from Jesus what actions they have to do to be in good standing with God, but Jesus changes the perspective, saying that the work of God is to believe in the one he has sent. Here there is a change of perspective, because, according to the words of Jesus, faith is a gift from God. Certainly faith is a reality that a person must welcome actively, but fundamentally, it is a gift from God, a work of God himself. This is the idea of faith that we too must have: a work that we do with God, a work in which the main actor is God, and in which we are his simple collaborators, adhering with trust to the person of Jesus and, through him, to God. Since Jesus spoke of faith, people are now asking for signs. In the Gospels it often happens that people ask for signs in order to believe. Here they say to Jesus: What sign do you make because we see and can believe you? What work do you do? ». For the people, if Jesus demands faith, he must carry out a work that is a sign of his authority, and power. The people challenge Jesus: Our fathers ate manna in the desert, as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat'. Manna was a wonderful food, because it came from heaven (he rained manna on them for food and gave them heavenly bread, as we read in the responsorial psalm of today's Mass). But Jesus again corrects the people’s perspective, saying that manna was not really a bread from heaven, but a material bread. The bread from heaven, on the other hand, is a spiritual bread, a bread that makes the soul live. Jesus himself is this bread. He was sent by God to be the food of our souls. Therefore, he says to the people: It is not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the bread from heaven, the true one; the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Here Jesus gives us a very important revelation: he is the true bread of heaven given by the Father; it is a gift from God for us, which communicates to us the true life, the spiritual one, the life of profound relationship with God, the life of faith, hope and charity. It is a wonderful thing to be able to have this bread from heaven. Therefore, the people immediately ask Jesus: Lord, always give us this bread. And Jesus reiterates: I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will not be hungry anymore and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Jesus is the one who can, truly, satisfy our deepest desires. With other people or things we can find superficial satisfactions, but not the full and profound satisfaction for our life; therefore, we always remain in a situation of hunger and thirst. On the other hand, whoever fully welcomes Jesus into his own life is not hungry and thirsty, because his deepest desires are satisfied. We ask the Lord to let us be guided by him, to be oriented towards true adherence to him in faith and to find profound peace.

In the second reading Paul invites us to dispose of the old man with his conduct, the man who corrupts with his deceiving passions, and to renew ourselves in the spirit of our mind, to put on the new man, created according to God in justice and true holiness. This new man is Christ. We must clothe ourselves with him (cf. Rom 13,14; Gal 3,27), because Christ is truly the new man who gives us a new heart, communicates to us the new spirit, the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must abandon our too human and too narrow perspectives. We need not be concerned with material satisfaction, but must seek to adhere in faith to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is the bread of life, which satisfies our deepest desires, most essential needs and will give us perfect joy in heaven.

John I. Okoye