Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Year B,

 
We pray through the merits of this holy Eucharist, that God gives us the grace to always in our daily lives recognize the signs of salvation with which He visits our streets and our homes, learning to live in this continuous dialogue between gift and welcome. Happy Sunday

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Genesis 15,1-6;21,1-3; Ps 104 (105); Hebrew 11,8.11-12.17-19; Luke 2,22-40; Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Year B, 30th December, 2023)

After having made us fix our gaze on the mystery of Jesus' birth, on this feast the liturgy urges us to pay attention to the mystery of welcoming him. First of all to that offered by his parents, Mary and Joseph, but then, starting from this first and fundamental hospitality, the vision broadens towards other figures, such as those of Simeon and Anna, or of the same fathers and mothers in the faith, such as Abraham and Sarah, who preceded and prepared, with their own anticipation, the beauty of this event. The singularity of this birth, which has its own completely incomparable peculiarity, however allows us to recognize, in depth, what happens every time a new life buds on the trunk of humanity. There always happens to be an encounter between a gift that precedes and a welcome that responds; between a promise to wait for and a fulfilment to be savored in joy. The celebration of the Holy Family invites us to rediscover how the dialogue between gift and acceptance is the foundation of every relationship of authentic love. Love manifests itself in the tension between way and a home. It is a path, because it sets one in motion, forces one to make an exodus from oneself and from one's own narrow and limited horizons, pushes towards encounters, opens up to the future with hope, is not afraid to dream, gives impetus and enthusiasm to one's steps, swells the lungs and dilates the space of the heart. However, love also needs to become a home, that is, established, nourished, fruitful, hospitable and fulfilled. Indeed it has to be in an incessant dialogue, precisely, between a gift offered with trust and a welcome given with availability. When one of the two poles fades, or enters the routine of habit and the laziness of resignation, one no longer walks and the house itself metamorphoses, from being hospitable, into a suffocating prison.

The dialogue between gift and acceptance matures first of all in the relationship between man and woman, but then it is called to open up towards the children and towards the very sky of God, as it happens in Genesis for Abram, who is invited by the Lord to combine his expectation of a child with a gaze that rises to contemplate the starry sky. At this moment Abram is disappointed because the promise of his descendants is slow in being fulfilled: "I go without children and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus" (Gen 15,2). These words are to be understood in a strong sense: I am heading towards death without a child yet, and not only because of impending old age, but above all because it is already death to experience the sterility of one's existence. Immediately afterwards Abram adds: “Behold, you have given me no offspring” (v. 3); in other words: the responsibility is yours, for you did not keep your word.

God responds to Abram's affliction by renewing his promise and leading him out: he makes him make an exodus from this bitterness, inviting him to raise his gaze towards a starry sky. So it is night, but precisely in this night of faith, in this night of fruitlessness and disappointment, Abram must find the courage to raise his gaze towards a beyond to be contemplated without being able to dominate it. The conversion to be made, which then becomes a condition for every other transformation in our existence, consists precisely in emerging from an attitude hunched over and withdrawn from our fears or complaints. The God of the alliance is always the God of the Exodus, the one who leads us out. To Abram who asks for an heir, God promises much more: descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. God underlines the “excess” of his promise with the expression “if you can count them”, which first of all shows how God's plan is infinitely greater than Abram's own hope. Furthermore, this starry sky, which cannot be counted, reminds him that he will have to trust the sign without claiming to dominate it or verify it. Finally, to the one who asks: “What will you give me?” (v. 2), God remembers: “I am your shield” (v. 1) That is to say, even before I give you, I will be with you. This is the foundation of every promise. Even the promise of a son.

God renews his alliance, returns to give us his presence, his being with us. In the mutual acceptance that we are called to live in our relationships, between man and woman, between parents and children, between brothers and friends, he always gives us, if we are willing to raise our gaze and fix it on a starry sky, to welcome the very presence of God who returns to promise us: I am with you, I am with you.

Mary and Joseph, presenting their firstborn to the temple and to the Lord, not only obey the Law of Moses, but recognize its profound meaning: the new life they welcome comes from God and leads to God, because in every true welcome we always open ourselves not only to receive the gift of God, but his very presence. The meaning of life and death then changes. If Abram, in his initial disappointment, says with bitterness: "I am going towards death", Simeon can say with joy: "Now can you, O Lord, let your servant go in peace, according to your word, because my eyes have seen your salvation" (Luke 2,29-30). Here is the invitation that this celebration offers us today: to recognize the signs of salvation with which God visits our streets and our homes, learning to live in this continuous dialogue between gift and welcome.

+ John I. Okoye

2nd Sunday of Advent, Year C, 5th December 2021

 May the Eucharist we celebrate today help us to learn how to be committed in preaching the good news by our words and actions as we anticipate the coming of our Lord and saviour.

Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Baruch 5, 1-9; Fillipians 1, 4-6.8-11; Luke 3, 1-6; 2^nd Sunday of Advent, Year C, 5^th December 2021)

On this second Sunday of Advent the Church invites us to trust and commitment: to trust, because God promises abundance of graces, he promises the coming of his own Son; commitment, because this coming must be prepared.

The first reading, taken from the book of the prophet Baruch, is an invitation to trust. Foretells the wonders God wants to accomplish. Jerusalem is in mourning, because she was devastated and her children were led into exile. But the prophet invites us to put off the garment of mourning and affliction” and to put on the splendor of glory, because this splendor comes to her from God forever. This is a spiritual splendor. The prophet says: Wrap yourself in the mantle of God’s justice. God wants to communicate his justice, holiness, and perfection of love to Jerusalem. Therefore, we must prepare to receive these gifts from the Lord. The prophet also predicts the return of the exiles in Jerusalem: Arise, 0 Jerusalem, and stand on the high ground and look towards the east. Jerusalem must look towards Babylon, where the Jews had been led into exile. They walked away from you, pursued by the enemies. This is the miserable fate of prisoners of war, who are led to where they do not want to go. Now God brings them back to you in triumph as on a royal throne. Here we have a very consoling announcement, a reversal of the situation, which fills the heart desires of the Jews. The prophet then explains that God has prepared the ways for this prodigious intervention that he is about to carry out: God has established to smoothen every high mountain and secular cliffs, with the sea the valleys and level the earth. God prepares the way for exiled Israel to return to his land safely and happily. God will lead Israel with joy to the light of his glory, with the mercy and justice that come from him. All these predictions made by God inspire confidence; invite us to trust in his mercy and his generosity,

In the Gospel we see that the promises made by God are about to be fulfilled. Luke specifies the time of their fulfillment in a very solemn way. In fact, in the whole of the New Testament there is no passage that defines the historical framework of events as accurately as this one by Luke. The evangelist gives us, first of all, the temporal indication: In the fifteenth year of the empire of Tiberius Caesar. Then he defines the political situation of the moment in the Near East: Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod the tetrarch of Galilee, Philip, his brother, tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitide, and Lysania tetrarch of the Abilene. He also remembers that Anna and Caiaphas were high priests in Jerusalem at that time. The moment is solemn and decisive: God is about to intervene. How? The word of God came down on John, son of Zechariah, in the desert. John had the inspiration to go to the desert, to devote himself to prayer, contemplation, and to search for God’s will. The word of God descends on him and prompted him to preach a baptism throughout the Jordan region. It is a baptism of conversion for the forgiveness of sins. Hence, God’s intervention consists, at first, of a commitment of preparation. He says as it is written in the book of the oracles of the prophet Isaiah: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight! Let every ravine be filled up, every mountain and every hill let down; the tortuous steps are to be straight; the impervious places leveled. It is only after this preparation will it be possible to see God’s salvation (Every man will see the salvation of God!).

According to the oracle of Isaiah, the voice of John the Baptist encourages serious commitment of preparation. And we ought to listen to it in the weeks leading up to Christmas. There are need to prepare the way of the Lord, straightening the paths, filling  the ravines, lowering the mountains and the hills, making straight the winding paths are all material realities, which in a way indicate a spiritual preparation. Make his paths straight! We must straighten our paths, which will later be God’s paths: in fact, God will come to meet us through the paths that we will have traced. And what does it mean to straighten our paths? It means making our conduct to conform to God’s will. Many a times, we trace the tortuous paths in our life, and then our encounter with God is not possible. Let every ravine be filled. When we are depressed and disheartened, we are like in a ravine, we are hopeless, then we must fill this ravine, putting ourselves in an attitude of confident expectation. The Lord is about to come: we must not be lacking in confidence. Every mountain and every hill be lowered. Here it is a question of assuming an attitude of sincere humility, distancing ourselves from pride and every form of self-sufficiency. We always depend on the goodness of the Lord; therefore, we must not have attitudes of pride and haughtiness. John the Baptist’s preaching invites us to make examination of conscience: what, in these weeks of Advent, can we correct in our attitudes? In personal attitudes, the way of the Lord must be prepared through prayer. Do we pray enough, or do we neglect prayer? In attitudes towards others, starting with our family, the way of the Lord must be prepared through love and service. Are we really full of affection, charity and concern for our family members? Do we also know how to dedicate ourselves and be ready to help others? In this season of Advent, what can we do to improve the situation of those around us?

In the second reading, Paul invites us to trust. To the Philippians, who are praised for their cooperation in the dissemination of the Gospel says: “I am convinced that he who has begun this good work in you will bring it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Paul makes the Philipians aware that the good work was not begun by them, but by God. It is God who took the initiative in this work, and will also bring it to completion. Then the Apostle wishes the Philippians in particular the grace of spiritual discernment: I pray that your charity will be enriched more and more in knowledge and in every kind of discernment, so that you can always distinguish the best. In this time of Advent, the grace that we must ask of the Lord is that he opens our eyes and so that we can see what we can do for his service and the good of our brothers. In fact, we are often spiritually blind and do not see the good that we can do that would be a source of so much joy for us. Finally, Paul wishes the Philippians to be filled with those fruits of justice which are obtained through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. We must be aware that all our efforts and works are made possible by the grace of God. This awareness puts us, at the same time, in humility and trust. In humility, because we cannot attribute to ourselves those fruits of justice of which Paul speaks, we must attribute them to the grace of God. In trust, because we are guided and comforted by the grace of God. Therefore in this Sunday’s liturgy we are invited to understand our preparation for Christmas, living in trust and generous commitment. +John I Okoye

(graphics  by Chukwubike O  Charles)

First Sunday of Advent, Year C, 28th of November 2021

 May we in this Eucharistic celebration pray the good Lord to give us the grace to always be ready to welcome His coming in our daily lives.

Happy Sunday!

 DOCTRINE AND FAITH 

Jeremia 33, 14-16;Thessalonica 3, 12-4, 2; Luke 21, 25-28.34-36)

 First Sunday of Advent, Year C, 28th of November 2021)

 Advent begins today, the time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. It is a time for Christmas preparation, and also a time for preparation for the last coming of the Lord. In fact, the readings of this Sunday speak more of the second coming of the Lord than of the first.

In the first reading you can see an announcement of the Lord’s coming at Christmas. In fact, in an oracle of the prophet Jeremiah it is communicated that God will fulfill the promises of good that he made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, and that he will make a sprout of justice sprout from David. The term to sprout suggests the preparation of a birth: the birth of the Messiah, who comes to save. But he also comes to put justice everywhere, because without justice there is no salvation. Therefore, this Messiah will exercise judgment and righteousness on earth. And in those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in peace. Jerusalem will be transformed; it will be called Lord-our-justice. We have a wonderful prospect here, God’s gift of justice. God’s kingdom is nearby.

 The other readings deal with the second coming of the Lord. Speaking to the Thessalonians, Paul invites us to prepare ourselves for our Lord Jesus coming with all his saints; and in the Gospel Jesus makes predictions about the end times and gives advice on how to prepare for them. Even if the last day is not about to come immediately, we must always be prepared every day for the coming of Christ into our lives, and especially at the time of our death.

 In the Gospel Jesus announces terrible signs, a time of anguish: “There will be signs in the sun, in the moon and in the stars […] and men will die for fear and for the expectation of what will happen on earth. That is, there will be a time of tremendous upheaval: The powers of the heavens will be upset. In these circumstances, Jesus asks us not to be frightened, but be confident and full of hope. He says, when these things begin to happen, lift up your head, for your deliverance is near. It is, therefore a question of events that accompany liberation. We are not made to always live attached to the goods of the earth: we must be freed, to live in the freedom of love, and generous life. We Christians have every reason to be optimistic, even if things are bad. We know that in all circumstances Christ intervenes, in a mysterious but an effective way, for our salvation and liberation. Jesus then adds some important warnings: Be very careful that your hearts do not become heavy in dissipations, drunkenness and worries of life and that day does not fall upon you suddenly. It is necessary to be vigilant in order to be prepared.

 In today’s world there are many occasions for distractions, as well as excesses. There is the uncontrolled quest for materialism. There is also the pursuit of power, especially, political power where people think they can do whatever they want. The distraction of corruption stares one in the face in our society. There are other evils, which come from other excesses: for example, alcoholism, an evil that spreads throughout the world: the pursuit of sexual pleasure, which causes disorder in many lives and families. So, we have to be careful, avoid following wrong paths, which lead to perdition. We are loved by the Lord. For this we must respond to his love with gratitude and faithfulness. We must not have any reason for mistrust, or anxiety; on the contrary, we are certain of being able to escape every evil that could happen to us, because, united with Christ, we have the strength to overcome all the difficulties.

In the second reading, Paul presents us with a very positive perspective, based on God’s grace: the perspective of growth in love, of abounding in love.

 He addresses this wish to the Thessalonians, who have recently become Christians: May the Lord make you grow and abound in love for one another and for all, as is our love for you. This is the fundamental orientation of our life, to which we must always return. God’s commandment and the commandment of mutual love (Love one another as I have loved you), and grace impels us to grow in love, and abound in it. We must have the ambition to make love overflow. When we encounter difficulties, instead of retreating, we must go on and find ways to overcome them. We must also overcome hostilities by means of generous love, based on the grace of God. Love is above all mutual between children of God who became such in baptism and live from the Eucharist, which brings divine life into them. But, as Paul tells us, love must be directed to everyone, even to non-Christians, non-believers, and even to those who harm us. We must try to contribute to the salvation of all.

The time of Advent is a time of growth in universal and missionary love. Therefore, at this time it is good to pray for missions, because Christ must be born in mission countries, to fill the hearts of those who do not yet know him. So many people need Christ and they don’t know him yet. We must pray for them, and in so doing we thus manifest, our universal love. Love is universal. In fact, it comes from God, who has universal love. To imitate the universal love of God we will have to make our hearts steadfast and attuned to imitate the holiness of God and aim at his universal love. This is a very high ideal. We cannot be satisfied with a level of mediocre spiritual life, but we must try to reach perfection in holiness, which is a holiness of love. This means that our love is to be inspired and guided by God himself, in the way that pleases him, that is, in the way of selfless, generous, pure love. Then we will not have to be afraid, but will be calm in the moment of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul continues, asking the Thessalonians to progress on this stays away: We pray and beg in the Lord Jesus: you have partaken from us how to behave in a way that pleases God, and so on you already behave. Paul is not unaware that the Thessalonians are fervent Christians, behaving well, according to the instructions given to them by the apostles, but he says: Be sure to always act like this; distinguish yourself even more. There is always a movement towards being better. Moreover, Paul uses here, in Greek, the verb to abound: it is necessary to abound, to do better and better, with the grace of God.

We begin Advent with these very dynamic perspectives. The Lord comes, he comes to save; and will also come one day come with judgement, and we must always be ready, to get salvation from him rather than condemnation. We must be careful to truly live the Christian life, avoiding living a materialistic, consumerist life in which hearts are burdened in dissipation, and drunkenness. Instead, we must live, generously, in the love of the king, docile to the grace of God, which prompts us to abandon ourselves in mutual love (in the family, in the parish etc.) and in the love of the universal king. This will be possible, if we are united to Jesus heart, which is filled with universal love. Thus, we prepare very well for Christmas, which will bring us all great joy. +John I. Okoye.

(graphics  by Charles O Chukwubike)

Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph; December 27, 2020; year B

 May the Holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph bless your family now and forevermore

Happy Holy Family Sunday

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH 
Gen 15, 1-6; 21.1-3; Hebrew 11,8.11-12.17-19; Luke 2, 22-40: Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph; December 27, 2020; year B)

On the first Sunday after Christmas the Church invites us to celebrate the holy family of Nazareth. Our families too must be holy, according to God's call, to resemble this family. The first two readings speak of Abraham, to make us understand first of all that the children are wonderful gift from God. The family, with the mutual love of husband and wife and then with the fruitfulness of this love, is a gift from God, a participation in his dignity as Creator. In fact, to indicate the birth of children, the term procreation is used. God has given man this extraordinary dignity of being with him the procreator of children. In the book of Genesis, we read that, when the first child was born to our forefathers, Eve said: I acquired a man from the Lord (Gen 4, 1). By this statement she meant to have been associated with God for the procreation of a child.

The first reading shows us Abraham full of sadness, because he has no children. He is already advanced in years, as well as Sara, his wife. Therefore, they have lost hope of having children. When God turns to Abraham saying: Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great, Abraham complains to him: My Lord God, what will you give me? I am leaving without children and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. At this moment, the great sadness felt by Abraham is caused by the fact of having to leave without leaving children. All the gifts of God seem to him in vain. Each person, in fact, has a great desire to pass on the gifts received to their children, and Abraham does not have this possibility. His question: My Lord God, what will you give? Means: Your gifts, Lord, will not satisfy me, because I will not be able to pass them on to children. And full of disappointment, he concludes: Behold, you have given me no offspring and a servant of mine will be my heir. But at this point the Lord makes him a promise, which corresponds to his deepest desire: He will not be your heir, but one born of you will be your heir. In this promise, God reveals immense generosity. Then he leads Abraham out and says to him: Look in the sky and count the stars, if you can count them. Such will be your descendants. Abraham believes in the Lord, who credits it to him as justice. Here is manifested the faith of Abraham in accepting the promise of a son, indeed of an innumerable descent. Welcoming children as a gift from God is a natural attitude that we must have always. We must always recognize that children are a wonderful gift from God, who instills in the hearts of parents a very special joy: the joy of fatherhood and motherhood, which is greater than many other joys.

The second reading makes us understand that the gift of the child also involves a responsibility on the part of the parents. Children are a special kind of gift. In fact, they don't belong to their parents as if they were things. Of course, a child or a daughter is a treasure for the parents, but not a material treasure. They are people, and therefore they belong to God much more than they belong to their parents. Children are a gift from God that continues to belong to him and that must be respected precisely as much as it belongs to him. Abraham had to go through a very painful experience, just to become aware of this reality. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us that he is put to the test: God asks him to offer his son Isaac, received by virtue of the divine promise. Abraham offers his son, he shows himself willing to give this son of his to God, who is a wonderful gift from God and does not really belong to Abraham. Abraham's trial has this profound meaning for all fathers and mothers: children belong to God; parents must not have possessive affection for them. This means that they must not seek their own satisfaction in their children, but their good as people loved by God, who must gradually conquer their autonomy and live their vocation. This is not an easy thing to do. In fact, paternal or maternal affection very often becomes possessive, preventing the child from becoming a free person who belongs only to God. Very negative consequences derive from this possessive attitude. For example, when the child marries, the mother claims to maintain the same relationship towards him as she had with him when he was a child, to continue to be the mother who must direct all the child does and have all the affection of the child. This attitude then causes a conflict with the wife. Possessive affection is not true affection, because it seeks its own satisfaction, instead of respecting and promoting the good of the loved one.

In the Gospel we see how Mary and Joseph become aware that Jesus is not a possession for them, but a responsibility, a gift from God that continues to belong to God much more than to them. A few days after the birth of Jesus they take the child to Jerusalem to offer him to the Lord, that is, to recognize that he belongs to God. The law of Moses in fact prescribes: Every firstborn male will be sacred to the Lord. Mary and Joseph go to the temple, to show that Jesus belongs to God and that they are only, so to speak, the administrators, and not the owners, of this gift. In this circumstance God reveals how Jesus must be his Servant. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, old Simeon says about this child: He is here for the ruin and resurrection of many in Israel, a sign of contradiction for the thoughts of many hearts will be  revealed. Jesus has the decisive task of revealing the thoughts of hearts, and in this way will be a sign of contradiction. Indeed, he must himself become the object of persecution, of unjust condemnation. To Mary Simeon predicts: And a sword will pierce your soul too. The fate of Jesus and that of Mary are very painful, but also very fruitful. We know that with his passion Jesus saved the world, and that Mary played a cooperative role in this great mystery. Mary keeps all these words in her heart (cf. Luke 2,19.51). In this way, she prepares herself to be the servant of the Lord also in her way of educating her child, and then of letting him go for his mission, which is so important for the salvation of the world. The Gospel tells us that when they had accomplished everything according to the law of the Lord, [the parents and the child] returned to Galilee, to their city of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. The joy of the family comes precisely from the raising of children. This is also a wonderful thing that causes awe. Children are destined to grow, to fortify themselves, to acquire wisdom and welcome God's grace. Jesus is truly one of us: The Son of God becomes a child, accepts to grow, to strengthen himself, is full of wisdom, and grace of God is upon him. Mary and Joseph have the joy of seeing their son growing up and buying all that is necessary for his mission.

The family has the task of encouraging the growth of children, respecting it and guiding it; it has the task of favouring the full development of all the qualities that God has given to children for the fulfilment of their vocation. The family must be oriented above all towards this mission. Each has its own vocation; to each one God entrusts a mission to carry out in the world, certain responsibilities to assume. In a family, each of the children has their own personal vocation, and the family has the task of creating all favourable conditions for the full development of this vocation, so that the children may live a truly beautiful life, worthy of God and useful to the world. John I. Okoye

(graphics by Chukwubike)

 

4th Sunday of Advent Year B, 20th December 2020

May God in today's Eucharistic celebration, grant us the graces always like Mary to respond positively to God's plans in our lives with great humility, as we await with joy the coming of Christ.

Happy Sunday!

 

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(2 Sam 7,1-5.8-12.14.16; Rom 16,25-27; Luke 1, 26-38: 4th Sunday of Advent Year B, 20th December 2020)

On this immediate Sunday preceding Christmas, the liturgy presents the Gospel of the Annunciation to us. The liturgy is not concerned with chronology - it is clear that the Annunciation did not take place a few days before Christmas - but intends to illuminate the mystery of Christmas with this Gospel, which is, effectively, indispensable for welcoming this mystery very well.

In the angel's announcement it is said that the Lord God will give the son of Mary the throne of his father David. To prepare this prediction, the first reading presents the oracle of the prophet Nathan to King David. The second reading speaks to us of the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is made so that [all peoples] may obey the faith. We must welcome the Incarnation of the Son of God who became the son of David, Messiah and Saviour with faith.

After the Lord granted him victory over all his enemies, King David built a beautiful palace, a cedar house, a luxurious building in those times. But then he realises that he has not thought of building a house for the Ark of God, for the Presence of God. So, he says to the prophet Nathan: You see, I live in a cedar house, while the ark of God is under a tent. Here we can see how David did not even dare to express his plan clearly to the prophet. It is a project that concerns God’s holiness and, according to the Old Testament mentality, it is very dangerous to take initiatives about the sanctity of God. But the prophet Nathan understands what David's plan is well: to build a grandiose temple, worthy of God, however, not minding how long it may take him. Nathan then approves of the king's intention and says: Go, do what you plan to do, because the Lord is with you. But the Lord disagrees with this project. So on   that same night Nathan hears a word from God asking him to change the answer given to David. God's response to David's plan ultimately was: Not you, David, will build a house for me, but I, God, will build a house for you. This house will be a royal dynasty, which will have power over the people of God for centuries. The Lord says to David: When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will ensure after you the offspring that came from your womb. That is, God promises David to give him a son, who will be his successor, a son for whom God will be a father - I will be his father and he will be my son - and whose throne will be made stable forever. This oracle of Nathan is at the origin of the messianic hope. The descendants of David who were his successors, for the most part, were disappointing: they were by no means sovereign ideals, but men full of defects, who did not follow the ways of the Lord and therefore, caused misfortunes for the people. However, these disappointments had the effect of arousing the hope of a perfect fulfilment of God's plan and promise, the hope of a Messiah king, who was to be truly the ideal ruler and whose reign would last forever.

In the Annunciation the angel tells Mary that this oracle and this messianic hope are about to be realised: the son of Mary will be David's successor. The angel announces: The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father and will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. Consequently, there is the perfect and definitive fulfilment of God's promise; the oracle of Nathan is fulfilled in a way that could not have been foreseen. It always happens like this: when God makes a promise, the fulfilment is always more beautiful and perfect than how that promise was understood by men. The son of Mary is not only David's successor, but he is truly the Son of God. After hearing this announcement from the angel, Mary asks: How does this happen? I don't know man. In the angel's response it is revealed to her that her son will truly be the Son of God, he will not have a human father, but will be conceived by the Holy Spirit. The angel says: The Holy Spirit will descend on you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you. He who is born will therefore be holy and called the Son of God. Here is the full revelation. God's plan manifests itself greater and much more extraordinary than one might think. We can admire this truly extraordinary, stupendous divine generosity. The Holy God chooses a simple girl to become the mother of his Son, the human mother of the eternal Son of the heavenly Father. This is a wonderful thing, which changes our whole human existence and the whole history of the world. The Son of God becomes a child - and then he will become an adult - assuming the human condition, to establish the kingdom of God and introduce men to it. In this passage of the Gospel we can see a contrast - which is also manifested in the different length of the discourses between the promises that the angel makes to Mary and the response of the latter. The angel's predictions take up a lot of space; he says to Mary: Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found grace with God. Behold you will conceive a son, you will give birth to him and you will call him Jesus, He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. It is a long prediction, which opens exceptional, and eternal prospects. The child born of Mary will be called Son of the Most High: it is not possible to conceive a higher dignity than this. And after Mary's question, the angel's predictions become even more precise and extraordinary: they are wonderful, very high and widely explained predictions. Instead, Mary's response is a short sentence, which does not speak at all of glory, but only of submission and service: Here I am, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you said happen to me. Mary does not exalt herself, but humbles herself (I am the servant of the Lord), and expresses her adherence, her Yes to God's plan (and may what you have said come to me). This contrast is very significant. It makes us understand that Mary is truly humble and does not try to stand out. She recognises that she is small before God, and is happy to be so. On the other hand, she is aware that the response to God's plan depends on her, that she can be an obstacle or help to that project. Mary presents herself here with an attitude that corresponds, perfectly, with that of the Son of God when he comes into the world: he wants to become the Servant of the Lord, to put himself at the service of all humanity for the success of God's plan. Mary says: Here I am, I am the servant of the Lord; and the Son of God, entering the world, says: Behold, I come [...] to do your will, O God" (Heb. 10,7.9). Mary's attitude corresponds perfectly to this declaration of the Son of God becoming her son. In this way she reveals herself as a perfect collaborator of God's plan, and in the Magnificat she will be able to proclaim that God has exalted the humble (Luke 1,52), because with this very humble and generous responses he obtained a very high glory. Mary prepares to live the whole mystery of Christ, even in its painful aspects. But the latter are the only way that truly leads to the glorious mysteries. Mary follows this path when she says: I am the servant of the Lord.

We must admire Mary and feel an intimate joy for her so beautiful and costly response to God's plan. We can and must therefore, ask for the grace to also welcome - each according to his or her vocation - God's plan in our lives, with perfect humility, great generosity and continuous adherence to it. +John I. Okoye

 (graphics  by Chukwubike OC)

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B, 13th December, 2020

May God in today's Eucharistic celebration, bestow on us the graces to develop the attitude of humility, realising that we are nothing without Christ, who is our master and saviour.

Happy Sunday!

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 61, 1-2a.10-11; I Thessalonians 5, 16-24; John 1, 6-8.19-28;

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B, 13th December, 2020)

This Sunday’s Gospel presents John the Baptist’s testimony. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light - we read in the prologue of the fourth Gospel - so that all might believe through him" (John 1,7). The testimony of the Baptist is a negative testimony in the first part, in which we have an example of what becomes clear self-denial. Denying one's own importance, denying oneself is an indispensable disposition to leave all the available place for the Lord. Each of us has a tendency to believe ourselves to be the master, the saviour of ourselves, and give ourselves great importance. In this case the Lord neither communicate his gifts to us, nor give himself to us, and cannot save us, because there is no place for him in us. To prepare for the feast of Christmas, we must try to make void in ourselves, so that there will be space for the Lord.

John the Baptist has this humility, and demonstrates it in a very decisive way. The Gospel tells us that priests and Levites come to him from Jerusalem to question him, because his mission causes perplexity. In fact, he retired to the desert to live a very austere life and invite people to convert. The priests and Levites ask him: Who are you? John answers the question that they have not formulated, but which is their real question: I am not the Christ. The Baptist, immediately, senses that they think that he is the Messiah, or the Christ (Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew term Messiah), or that he believes he is such. So, he immediately, sets the record straight:  I am not the Christ. Then they ask him: What then? Are you Elijah? The prophet Elijah, as had been announced by prophet Malachy in the name of God (cf. Mark 3,23), should have returned to prepare the decisive intervention of God, which all the Jews were waiting for. John replies in the negative: I am not he. In the Gospel of Luke, the angel had announced to Zechariah, regarding John: He will walk before the Lord with the spirit and strength of Elijah (Luke 1,17), that is, with a prophetic attitude similar to that of Elijah. But for his part, John acknowledges that he is not Elijah. The Jews were also waiting for another character/personality. In Deuteronomy, God promised to give his people a prophet similar to Moses. But, according to the belief of the Old Testament, this prophet had not yet come. In fact, at the end of Deuteronomy the author says: A prophet like Moses has not arisen in Israel (Deut. 34,10). The Jews, therefore, expected not just any prophet, but the prophet solemnly announced by God in Deuteronomy. But John the Baptist declares that he is not this prophet. The priests and the Levites then ask him: Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? At this point John gives a positive answer, but he is very humble; he does not say that he is someone, but only a voice: "I am as Isaiah prophesied: a voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord. The whole mission of the Baptist is summed up in being this voice that invites us to prepare the way of the Lord. It is necessary to prepare the way of God or, more precisely, the way of the Messiah. The priests and the Levites sent from Jerusalem question him: Why then do you baptise, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? Again, John replies in a very humble way: I baptise with water … The baptism of John, therefore, has no great value. Then he declares:  I baptise with water; but there stands among you-unknown to you-the one coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap. John defines himself here as the forerunner, the one who precedes a more important character than himself, that is Jesus, the Messiah. Later he will tell us that this personage baptises with the Holy Spirit, that is, he performs a truly effective baptism (cf. John 1,33). 

The baptism of John is a baptism that expresses only the expectation of grace, but does not communicate the grace. Instead, the baptism of Jesus communicates grace, and the Holy Spirit, and completely renews the person, radically purifying him of all his sins and confers on him the divine sonship. We are invited to love and imitate John the Baptist attitude of humility. We must prepare for Christmas with this attitude, recognising our inability to save ourselves and the absolute need for our Saviour.
The first reading defines the Saviour’s mission more fully. In the oracle of Isaiah we have: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has consecrated me with anointing. The Hebrew term Messiah means anointed, the one who has been consecrated with the anointing. The oracle of Isaiah is applied to the Messiah/Jesus (which means Saviour). He is sent to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the wounds of broken hearts, to proclaim the freedom of slaves, the release of prisoners, to promulgate the year of the Lord's mercy. The Messiah brings good news for the poor, the broken hearts, all the humble and oppressed. Jesus’ work consists of this liberation from sins and oppression. He came to restore to all men the dignity and freedom of the children of God, which he alone can communicate.

In the second reading Paul invites us to prepare the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ by keeping ourselves blameless, with the grace of God. The Apostle exhorts us to have three attitudes, which should be our habitual attitudes: constant joy, perseverance in prayer and continuous thanksgiving. This is, in fact, the will of God towards you, Paul says to the Thessalonians, and this also applies to us. Always be happy. We must always be joyful, even when things do not go according to our expectations. Indeed, we have a great reason to be joyful, for the fact that the Saviour is coming to us. The joy of hope, and also the joy for the benefits we have already received. This joy is based on persevering prayer: 

Pray without ceasing, says the Apostle. Through prayer we can continuously, enter into a relationship with God, and this relationship instills true joy in our hearts. The third attitude indicated by Paul is grateful love: 

In everything give thanks. In fact, God is so generous to us, and we must always recognize his benefits, and love; we must live in continuous thanksgiving. Joy, prayer and gratitude: these are the three attitudes with which we must prepare for Christmas. In this Eucharist we therefore, ask the Lord to open our hearts to his grace, so that we can live these three attitudes. +John I. Okoye

(graphics  by chukwubike)

4th Advent Sunday Year A, 2019/20

May the intercessions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph obtain for us the graces we need in today's Eucharistic celebration to be watchful and attentive for the coming Lord through prayerful listening and obedience to the word of God.

Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Isaiaha 7,10-14; Psalm 23; Romans 1, 1-7; Matthew 1,18-24; 4^th Advent Sunday Year A, 2019/20

            The first reading from the prophet Isaiah first requires a historical reading. Around 734, Tiglath-Pilezer III, king of Assyria, dangerously threatens all the kingdoms of the Near East. The king of Damascus, Rezin, proposes to build a coalition in order to match them. But Ahaz, the king of Jerusalem, does not adhere. Then Rezin joined forces with the king of Samaria to march against Jerusalem. The terror takes hold of Ahaz, a hesitant, an opportunist, without coherence. (From the book of Kings (2 Kings 16,3), we learn that he made his son pass through the Fire, that is to say, that he offered him as a sacrifice like the pagans). Isaiah intervenes forcefully in the situation. He wants the king to put his trust in the one true God and promises him a sign, the most eloquent sign that there could be: the birth of a son filled with the presence of God; it will be the pious king Hezekiah who will know how to reject evil and choose good. He was merited to be protected at the time of the siege of Jerusalem in 701 (2 Kings 19,35-36). God's protection is expressed by the name given to him here: Emmanuel = God with us. In the context of the first reading, the word alma means young woman and designates both Abi, wife of Ahaz and mother of Hezekiah, and the Daughter of Zion of whom the prophet speaks elsewhere, that is, the people of God as a whole, from whom will be born the new king. The Greek translators, however, translate alma to mean parthenos, which means virgin in the strict sense. It was this interpretation that prepared what the Gospel makes of it three centuries before Christ. It designates the announcement of the virginal conception of the Messiah. In addition to this prophetic announcement, the spiritual reading of the text in Advent time sees a message of hope that highlights the divine initiative. Ahaz asks nothing, flaunts religious scruples, does not want to test the Lord; but, in reality, he does not know what he wants and in whom to place his trust. The Lord will then speak and give a sign, to show his will to save his people. The birth of Jesus is this sign of an initiative of God, free and gratuitous, to save humanity.

Psalm 23 is used liturgically to celebrate the entrance of a procession into the temple of God. The first part says that those who approach God must have innocent hands and a pure heart. Ahaz, divided between the true God and the idols, will see himself thus rejected. But the second part is more immediately suited to this time of Advent, because, together with the peoplel who enter the temple, is the king of glory, Emmanuel, about to enter the world.

The second reading, the prologue to the letter of Paul to the Romans, first presents a profession of faith, a creed concerning the person of Jesus. According to flesh, he is from the lineage of David but according to the Spirit he is constituted Son of God with power. In him there is the movement from flesh to Spirit; from birth to resurrection, from humanity to power and from humanity to divinity. Note that humanity is affirmed through the lineage of David, and this emphasises that Jesus is the fulfilment of the promises of the old covenant. The prologue then proceeds to present the Apostle, Paul and his mission. Paul is chosen, called by God, to announce the Gospel. This Gospel is the one promised by the prophets, but destined for all the people, for the pagans also and not only for the Jews. In this time of Advent, this announcement of universal salvation has a very current resonance.

The Gospels of childhood (according to Matthew and Luke) show that Jesus is the announced Messiah, the hope of Israel. Mathew puts Joseph at the centre of today's gospel pericope, a narrative one may designate as the Annunciation to Joseph. In Luke, Joseph has no face, was just the bridegroom of Mary. Here instead, he collects all the inheritance of God's promises from Abraham onwards. The genealogy of Matthew, which precedes this passage, goes from Abraham down to Joseph. Joseph inherits all the fragmentary missions of the patriarchs and the kings. For him, hope reaches fulfilment. In particular, Joseph is the son of David - (Luke says the same thing by affirming that he is of the house of David) so that Jesus may receive the throne of David his father. Above all, Joseph is spiritually, the heir of the patriarchs and of all biblical history. He is the just one who trusts in the word of God, even when events put him to the test. Thus, according to Matthew, Joseph is not a marginal figure. Was it already necessary to respond to ironic allusions about the husband overtaken by events?

This story testifies to the faith of the primitive Church in the virginal birth of Jesus. Joseph fully assumes the role of father that is delegated to him by God: he will have to give the name to the child. Finally the child's name means, the Lord saves, and in line with all the tradition in the Old Testament, God, above all, is the one who saves. This name shows that salvation has come. God with us - is therefore the first message of Matthew and also the last one: Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the world (Matt 28, 20).

The liturgy, through the responsorial psalm chants: Behold, the Lord comes, the king of glory. On the first Sunday of Advent, we asked for the grace to go out to meet Christ who is coming. Today the responsorial psalm announces to us that his coming is now imminent. The waiting becomes more solicitous and intense as the moment of the meeting approaches. But who is actually being expected? What does he bring us? How should we wait for it? Only the word of God can give us the answers. We will discern how to wait for the Lord by listening and hearing him speak to us through the readings we are offered on this last Sunday of Advent. Paul in the second reading tells us that the one who is coming is no less than Jesus Christ, born of the lineage of David ... Son of God. Jesus is the Son of God, born of the stock of David according to the flesh. Matthew and Luke, in weaving the genealogy of Jesus, agree in introducing Joseph, the father of Jesus according to the law, as son of David. St. Paul does not say anything else here, but in writing to the Philippians he will speak clearly of the divine nature, of equality with God, of Christ Jesus who stripped himself, assuming the condition of a servant and becoming like men; that appeared in human form, humbled himself by becoming obedient until death, death on a cross and for this God has exalted him (Phil 2,5-9). Writing to the Colossians, he presents Jesus as the beloved Son of God, the image of the invisible God, begotten before every creature, who is first of all things and all things subsist in him (Col 1,13-17). Who Jesus Christ is comes further in the symbol with which we profess our faith: God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God ... for us men and for the our salvation came down from heaven, and by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary and became man. And he, the awaited one, has chosen Paul to give him the grace of the apostolate, sending him to announce the Gospel of God to all peoples, called by him, Jesus Christ, to faith and salvation. We too are among these called: it is right that we await him. But how? With what feelings? The Virgin Mother waited for him! Who better than she can teach us how to wait for him? Therefore on this Sunday, the Church presents us with the figure of Mary, implicitly in the collect, referring to the announcement of the angel. In the first reading the words of Isaiah could have alluded to the son, Hezekiah, who is born from the wife of the king Ahaz. It is still very probably that Isaiah himself or some of his disciples rethink later this prophecy in a messianic sense. Thus the Christian tradition constantly intends it, taking in Mary the virgin mother and Jesus in Emmanuel, God with us. The thought of the Church is clear in the head of Matthew, who sees in the message announced by the angel to Joseph the fulfilment of this prophecy. The Council cites this passage from those that show how a woman, the mother of the Redeemer ... is already prophetically overshadowed in the Old Testament (Lumen Gentium, 55). How did Mary wait for her? The preface holds: With ineffable love, the love of a mother, of the virgin mother of the Son of God made man. Isn't it a lesson for us? If Christmas reawakens even the least attentive and fervent Christians the feeling of family affection, if it is a call to goodness and love for all, it must first of all be a meeting with love to the one who only for love has wanted to make himself one of us. Love suggested by faith requires our obedience, in the docile listening to the word of God and in the will to put it into practice. This love emanating from faith must open up to all.  First of all, we show this love to the Lord of glory, who came to us as a weak, humble and poor child and who embodies in himself the image of innumerable ranks of the poor, the forgotten, the suffering, and the marginalised . The same love borne of faith should induce us work for the establishment of a more just and more conforming world for the message of Jesus. We wait for Jesus with Joseph, the just one. The Gospel story hinges on the appearance of the angel to Joseph. It is therefore,  logical, while we are waiting for Jesus, that we also turn our attention to this man called to collaborate, in humility and in silence (the Gospel does not bring us a single word out of his mouth) to the central event of history, to the encounter of God made man with men he wants to save, in an equally important and mysterious role. His figure is familiar to Christian piety; his example of a faithful spouse and fully available to the designs of God, a humble worker and dedicated to the service of Jesus and Mary, head of a family aware of a mission to which he awaits with absolute loyalty, attracts our admiration and stimulates us to imitate him; to his intercession we resort with confidence, mindful of the obedience with which the Son of God made man adhered to him. Meditating on the words of the angel: You will call him Jesus, we can ask ourselves if they do not sound like an invitation to exercise, towards the Son of God who is born of Mary, a paternal authority, representing the heavenly Father, by virtue of a legal capacity that authorises him to give the name to the child, exercising a right proper to the father. This simple consideration sheds an ever more vivid light on the greatness of Joseph and his power of intercession with the Son.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ! We want to exchange Christmas greetings with these words from Paul. It will come true to the extent that we will wait for the Lord who comes, following the example of Mary and Joseph. May we therefore at this point in this Advent Season solicit during todays Eucharistic Celebration for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and that of St Joseph to obtain for us the graces we need for a profitable waiting for the coming Lord through prayerful listening and obedience to the word of God in faith and love.  I wish you: Happy 4th Sunday of Advent! Happy Christmas! and a Happy and Grace-full New Year, 2020! +John I. Okoye

(graphics  by chukwubike)