30th Sunday of the Year A, 25th October, 2020

May God in today's Eucharistic celebration, grant us the grace to live out the two commandments of love; loving God and loving our neighbour as Christ did, by giving his life as sacrifice of redemption on our behalf.

Happy Sunday!

 

 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Exodus 22,20-26; 1 Thessalonians 1,5c-10; Matt. 22,34-40: 30th Sunday of the Year A, 25th October, 2020)

 

This Sunday, the liturgy presents us with a short but very important question of which is the greatest commandment. The Gospel reading addresses this question. The first reading, which is a passage from the Law of Moses anticipates this theme. The second reading does not have a direct relationship with the Gospel; however, it can be seen how Paul practices the two commandments of love.

Matthew relates that, after Jesus has answered the Sadducees who came to him with objections against faith in the resurrection, the Pharisees try to be better than the Sadducees in the attempt to put Jesus to the test. One of them, a doctor of the law, asks him this question: Teacher, what is the greatest commandment of the law? It is a difficult question, because in the Law of Moses there are 613 precepts and prohibitions. How can one discern the greatest commandment of all these? This is a topic that could be argued endlessly. But Jesus has no hesitation, and immediately replies: You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first of the commandments. Then he adds something that was not requested by the doctor of the law: And the second is similar to the first: You will love your neighbour as yourself. And he concludes with great authority: The whole Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments. This response from Jesus is not to be taken for granted, because, among so many precepts and prohibitions, the most important are, in everyone's opinion, the Ten Commandments. In Deuteronomy, Moses explains that the Decalogue is made up of ten Commandments promulgated by God himself and welcomed by the people. Only these commandments were pronounced by God himself; the other commandments or prohibitions were given to the people by Moses, and not directly by God. Therefore, it would be logical that Jesus, in answering the Doctor of Law, chose one of the ten Commandments. In particular, he could choose the first, which is undoubtedly of very great importance: the prohibition on worshiping other gods, but Jesus does not choose one of the ten Commandments, but looks elsewhere. He takes one text from Deuteronomy, which enunciates the commandment of love, and a second one from Leviticus, which expresses a second commandment of love, and says that the second is similar to the first: You will love the Lord your God ... You will love your neighbour. How can this choice by Jesus be explained? Let's try to understand how. The Ten Commandments, which have an exceptional importance, are mostly prohibitions, negative commandments. They are exceptionally, important because they set the conditions under which it is no longer possible to have a positive relationship with God. Whoever wants to live in accord with God must, absolutely, respect them. If he does not, he finds himself in disagreement with God, offends him and follows the path of perdition. But the Ten Commandments all present negative conditions, both in relations with God (first series) and in relations with other people (second series), except one in each of the two series. As for the first series, the positive commandment is: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day (Exodus 20,8). But, if we look at the context, we realise that this commandment too is explained with negative precepts. What does it mean to sanctify the Sabbath, according to the text of the Law of Moses? It means not doing any work on that day: You will not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your slave, nor your slave girl, your cattle, nor the stranger who dwells with you (Exodus adds 20,10). So, again, we have a negative commandment. In the other series, there is a truly positive commandment: Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you (Exodus 20,12). It is a very important commandment, because the family is the fundamental cell of society and, if there is no family solidarity, society cannot survive. But it is a very limited commandment: it concerns relationships with only two people, and it says nothing about the attitude one must have towards all other people. Jesus, on the other hand, does not want either a negative commandment or a limited commandment, but wants to offer a dynamic, positive, universal ideal. The Decalogue does not present this ideal properly, because it consists of negative commandments. Obviously respecting the Decalogue is already a great thing, but it does not give an impulse to life. Instead, what gives an impetus to life is love. For this Jesus chooses two commandments of love: You will love the Lord your God ... You will love your neighbour. These are positive commandments, commandments that give extraordinary impetus, because they present a very high ideal. The first is: You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. Who can really say that they have achieved this ideal? We always remain below this requirement; therefore, we must always strive to progress to be at least a little closer to this magnificent ideal of complete, perfect, unlimited love. And the second is: You will love your neighbour as yourself. Who can say that he is able to love his neighbour as himself? We have an innate love for ourselves, rooted in our psyche, and in reality, what we do for others is always very little compared to what we do for ourselves. Furthermore, with regard to this second commandment, we must also say that in another more dramatic circumstance, Jesus widened the perspective, when he said: This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you (John 15,12). This means that we must love others more than our life, because Jesus loved us more than his life, offering his life for us. Therefore, the ideal that Jesus presents to us is a wonderful one, which corresponds with the deep desire of our hearts. In fact, we were precisely created for this. God, who is love, created us to make us share in his love, to be loved by him and to love him and love all other people with him. This is the highest human ideal. But, to achieve it, we have an absolute need for God's grace, we need to receive the capacity to love that comes from God within us. The heart of Jesus is offered to us to truly love the Father as he loved him, and to love our neighbour as he loved him. Jesus offers himself to us for this very reason. In the Eucharist we receive his Body and Blood in us, that is, we receive Jesus at the moment of his greatest love, at the moment when he offered himself to the Father for our salvation, the moment when he offered his Body and Blood to be our spiritual food and drink and in this way feed the life of love in us. This revelation was already anticipated in the Old Testament, which contains, precisely, these two perspectives. Therefore, this commandment of Jesus is not new; what is new is the way he explains it. The first reading shows how much the Old Testament insists on love of neighbour. The Old Testament manifests a great concern for harmonious social relationships, in fact very generous ones. The book of Exodus says: You will not harass the stranger or oppress him, because you have been strangers in the land of Egypt. So, the neighbour to love is the stranger too. You will not maltreat the widow and the orphan. God is the guarantor of their lives. If you maltreat him, when he invokes my help, I will hear his cry, my anger will be kindled and I will make you die by the sword. The Old Testament goes into very particular details, such as the case of the pledged object. When you give a loan to another, you must not behave like usurers: If you lend money to someone of my people, the indigent who is with you, you will not behave with him as a usurer: you must not impose any interest on him. Often the cloak was given as a pledge, which was not necessary during the day, but which served as a blanket for the night; the people were poor, and did not have many things to pledge, and, therefore, gave their cloak. The Law of Moses is concerned with this case and says that the cloaks must be returned at sunset, because the poor need them to cover themselves during the night; not to give them back would be a cruelty, And God also guarantees the situation of the poor: When he invokes my help, I hear his cry, because I am merciful. Thus, already in the Old Testament this orientation of attention to all the needs of the neighbour and generous dedication to his service appears well specified. But Jesus traced the way of an even more generous love for us.

In the second reading we see how Paul practices the two commandments of love. He writes to the Thessalonians who have recently converted, and among whom he says his great love for the Lord is manifested. In fact, he immediately speaks of them, saying: You have become imitators of us and of the Lord [...]. The word of the Lord echoes through you [...], you have converted to God, moving away from idols, to serve the living and true God. Here we see Paul's great love for the Lord. On the other hand, the Apostle also expresses his love for the Thessalonians. He has known them for a short time, but they are already present in his heart in a very deep way. He delicately manifests his love, praising them: You have become a model to all believers who are in Macedonia and Achaia. The Thessalonians were generous, they welcomed the word with the joy of the Holy Spirit even in the midst of great tribulation. This praise that Paul gives is a manifestation of love, and also of apostolic zeal, because when a person is praised, he is greatly encouraged to act in a virtuous way. We must be careful to emphasise the good in others and the good they do. This is a delicate, also very positive, and fruitful demonstration of love. It is a question of recognising the good done by others, to encourage this good, and thus grow all together in love for God and for our brothers. You will love the Lord your God, you will love your neighbour, love one another as I have loved you: this is the most important thing of all, the ideal that we must always pursue. In all our purposes, in all our initiatives we must always go in this direction. In all, we will always be more united with Christ in his relationship with the Father and the brothers. +John I. Okoye

Graphics  by Chukwubike 

29th Sunday: Year B

May today’s Eucharistic celebration bestow on you the insight how to deepen  and strengthen  your relationship with God that will enable you  approach the throne of God boldly, and there  receive the grace to be faithful to the end. 

  Happy Sunday. +John I. Okoye

 DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 53,2.3.10-11; Hebrew 4, 14-16; Mark 10, 35-45; 29th Sunday: Year B)


This short passage of the first reading provides a partial sketch of the portrait of the suffering servant of God. It opens on a discomforting note: the suffering of this forlorn individual was brought on by the Lord; the Lord has been pleased to crush his servant with suffering. The vicarious nature of this suffering is clear from the reading. The servant gives himself as a sin offering; he endures his agony so that others can be justified. His death will win life for others, and in this way he will accomplish God’s will. It seems that the Lord delights in crushing this pitiable victim because his agony will bring about salutary benefits in the lives of others. The prophet claims that the servant too will eventually be relieved and will experience fullness of days. However, the principal consequence of his sufferings will be felt in the lives of others. So often violence begets violence. Here the suffering servant offers no defensive response, no retaliation. The violence inflicted upon him is accepted, embraced, and put to rest. With the vicarious offerings of this innocent scapegoat, reconciliation with God is accomplished.    Who is this suffering servant? He is the prefiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ whose vicarious suffering brought salivation to the whole world. 
    This first reading gives us some glimpses of the person of Christ. The second reading takes up cue from the first reading and develops further the personality of Christ from the point of view of his role as the High Priest. He is the High Priest who intercedes for all those who turn to him. He is a high priest who was tempted in all things and, therefore, can sympathize with human struggle. He is as well the Son of God. In order to demonstrate Jesus’ preeminence, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, from where our second reading is got, applies to him several features of the high-priestly office. Just as the high priest of the Old Testament passed through the curtain into the presence of God in the holy of holies, there to sprinkle sacrificial blood on the mercy seat (Hebrew 9:7), so Christ, exalted after shedding his own blood, passed through the heavens into the presence of God. Being the Son of God, his sacrifice far exceeds anything that the ritual performed by the high priest might have actually accomplished or hoped to accomplish. Jesus’ exalted state has not distanced him from us. On the contrary, he knows our limitations; as a man he shared many of them. He was tried to the limit, but he did not succumb to despair or blasphemy. Furthermore, it is precisely his exalted state that gives us access to the throne of God. As an authentic human being, he carries all of the members of the human race with him as he approaches the heavenly throne. Unlike former high priests who approached the mercy seat alone and only on the Day of Atonement, Christ enables each one of us to approach God, and to do so continually. This confidence we have in our relationship with Christ should empower us to approach the throne of God boldly, there to receive the grace we need to be faithful. The throne of grace from which we receive mercy is in striking contrast to the mercy seat on which the blood of reconciliation was sprinkled. Where previously the mercy seat was inaccessible, now we are invited to approach God’s throne with confidence. Reconciliation has been achieved through the blood of Christ. Now grace reigns.
    In the gospel reading, we see how the close disciples of Jesus misunderstood his role as the vicarious sufferer, his identity as the Son of God and  his identifying with us. James and John seek places of prominence in Jesus’ kingdom, and Jesus informs them that real prominence is found in service, not in wielding authority over others. The other apostles were probably indignant not because the request of James and John was so audacious but because it was made before any of the others were able to make comparable requests. The instructions that follow indicate that the apostles were all ambitious and misunderstood the nature of Jesus’ life and ministry. whose ministry was to serve people and ransom them. 

    We may ask ourselves: What reward do we hope to receive ourselves for our loyal services as Christians and contemporary disciples of God? When we set out to follow Jesus, faithful to the promises we made at baptism to renounce sin and to live lives that are directed by the Spirit, we normally do so with generosity of heart, with full enthusiasm. It is the love of God that impels us, not the thought of reward. However, after we have borne the burden of this decision for a while and we realize some of the implications of our commitment, we begin to wonder what it is all worth. How will we benefit from our dedication? What will we get out of it? We know that we will be generously blessed by God, that we will inhabit one of the mansions that Jesus has gone ahead to prepare for us. Would it be so wrong to hope for a little more, especially if we have made significant sacrifices along the way? It seems that two of Jesus’ closest disciples felt the same way. These two brothers belonged to Jesus’ inner circle. They had already been set apart from the others. They had been privileged to witness his transfiguration (cf. Mark 9, 2-8). Surely they were not asking for a privilege that God had not already granted them. Of those to whom much has been given, much will be required in return. The closer we are to Jesus, the more we will be expected to mirror him. James and John asked for places of honor, places reserved for those who exercise authority. Jesus did not deny that they would have such authority. He assured them that they would have places that were set apart. However, he described these places of distinction in a way the brothers had not expected. The great ones in the reign of God, the ones who exercise authority over others, must be the servants of the rest. Parents, teachers, civil authorities, managers of every kind, pastoral leaders (catechists, priests and bishops) must all be servants, as Jesus was a servant. Besides modelling our leadership after his, we will also have to model our hardship after his; we will drink from his cup of suffering and be baptized into his death. As we draw close to the one who gave his life as an offering for sin, we will find that the same self-sacrifice is being asked of us. Put another way, when we struggle with the misfortunes we encounter, misfortunes we face because of our commitment to Jesus, we will have him as an inspiration and a model to follow. He can sympathize with our weaknesses, identify with our suffering. For this reason, we can draw strength from his example, and we can hope for his kindness. May we pray in today’s Eucharistic celebration for the graces to morrow in our lives Jesus the servant of all and Jesus the vicarious sufferer. Happy Sunday! 
+John I. Okoye

(graphics  by chukwubike)

27th Sunday of Year A – October 8, 2017

May God fill you with his graces so that you produce the expected fruits of Christian love towards him and your needy neighbours. – Happy Sunday! + John Okoye

Doctrine And Faith

(Isaiah 5, 1-7; Philippians 4, 6-9; Matthew 21, 33-43: 27th Sunday of Year A – October 8, 2017)

    Today’s gospel as well as the first reading from the book of Isaiah narrates a parable whose subject matter is a vineyard. In the first reading, the attentiveness of the vineyard owner is clearly sketched during the cultivation of the vineyard. Each step of the viticultural process is carefully accomplished. Everything was done to guarantee a bountiful   harvest. Unfortunately, the harvest was poor. But what is more, the vineyard produced wild grapes. The unnatural yield was not as a result of poor cultivation on the part of the owner. The vineyard was a failure. At this juncture, the owner of the vineyard (no longer the prophet who acted as a narrator) turns to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah for some sort of judgement as he asked: What could I have done for my vineyard and I have not done. I expected it to yield grapes. Why did it yield sour grapes instead? One might be able to offer some reason for a paltry harvest, but how does one explain the presence of wild grapes? The only answer is deliberate treachery or the rejection of all the careful attention provided. The indictment of sin has been introduced. Judgement is now passed on the unnatural vineyard. Some of the steps taken to ensure its productivity will be undone. Protection against animal ravages and human theft were removed and the vineyard becomes vulnerable. Even the clouds will be commanded (by God, the real owner of the vineyard) to withhold rain necessary for crop growth.  The owner of the vineyard turned to the people of Jerusalem and Judah for judgement on the case before them; scarcely did they know that their judgment will be directed back to them. God, through the prophet, decodes the meaning of the parable: the owner of the vineyard is God: the vineyard, the cherished plant, is the house of Israel. Then the prophet describes the heinousness of the people’s offence. God looked for justice (good behaviour: mishpath) but found bloodshed (mishphah); for justice (sedeq) but found an outcry (seaqah). God has invested much in the future of this people and they scorned the attention of the beloved vineyard owner. 
    In Jesus’ narrative of the parable of the vineyard in the Gospel, the master of the house planted the vineyard himself, built a protection around it, and constructed the winepress to be used at the time of vintage. After the hard work was finished, he leased it out to tenants who had only to care for the vines until the grapes were ready for the press. He then went abroad and from there he sent words to have the produce of the vineyard sent to him. Interpreting the parable as an allegory (a story, poem, or picture which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one), God is understood as the owner of the vineyard and the leaders of the people would be the tenant vinedressers to whom the vineyard was leased. To these leaders, God periodically sent prophets to announce his designs. Israel’s history records how both the leaders and the people refused to listen to the prophets and even put some of them to death (cf. Isaiah 52, 13 - 53, 12). Continuing the allegorical interpretation, the parable suggests that God sent Jesus with full divine authority and the leaders of the people put him to death outside the city. When Jesus finished narrating the parable, he turned to the leaders and asked them to provide a legal ruling on the situation. In compliance they stated: He (the vineyard owner) will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives.Thus the leaders condemn themselves in their own words. 

The first reading and the gospel describe two attempts at thwarting God’s plan. In both instances there is deliberate treachery (betrayal of trust). The first reading describes the tender and solicitous care God has taken on behalf of the vineyard. God worked tirelessly to ensure that it would thrive and be a source of enjoyment and prosperity. Despite all God’s plans and effort, it produced an unacceptable crop. There was no mistake here. God was in no way remiss in planting or on tending. The vineyard was simply rebellious. The metaphor of the vineyard functions differently in the gospel account. Here the fault is not with the vineyard. It produced an abundant crop. In fact, it is the very productivity of the vineyard that sets the stage for the treachery described. In this case, those who were trusted stewards turn out to be traitorous usurpers. They want the vineyard for themselves and they are willing to use any means to acquire it. 

Without interpreting any of the metaphors allegorically, we can see ourselves in each instance. There are times when regardless of what God seems to be doing for us, we simply rebel against God’s plans. We stand in defiance and cry out: I will not serve; I will do what I want. There are other times when we, who are only disciples of Jesus, act as if the kingdom is ours to direct or to manage it as we see fit. We might even marginalise or force out others with whom we do not agree, so that we have sole control. Unfortunately, we may not be above such treachery.

God is connected in both parables and what   is expected to be his stand? He does not tolerate treachery. That is why out of his tender love for his vineyard (the People of Israel of Old and the New People of God) treachery cannot be tolerated. If we have produced unacceptable fruits, it is for our own good that God steps in and dismantles the structure that enables us to produce as we did. If we attempt to usurp the kingdom (the church or any of its organisations or structures, etc) in order to exercise our own control over it, it is appropriate that God snatch it from our grasp and entrust it to those who will faithfully carry out his plan. May we therefore, pray in today’s liturgical celebration for the grace not only to produce the expected fruit but also be completely engaged in humble and sacrificial services to the church and to our needy neighbours. Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye

pictures by chukwubike