4th Sunday of Lent: Year B

May you through participating in today's Sunday  Eucharistic celebration receive the fullness of God's generous love that makes you an instrument of the same divine love and mercy to others.Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(2Chronicles 36, 14-16.19-23; Ephesians 2, 4-10; John 3, 14-21; 4th Sunday of Lent:  Year B)

The entrance antiphon of this fourth Sunday of Lent invites us to rejoice: Rejoice Jerusalem … Be joyful, all who were mourning. It is a Sunday of joy. Today’s readings indicate God’s generous love for us as the motive of this joy. In the gospel reading Jesus tells Nicodemus: God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. In the second reading Paul declares: God loved us with so much that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ - it is through grace that you have been saved. The first reading shows example of God’s mercy as, through the pagan king Cyrus, he made it possible for the exiled Jews to return home and reconstruct the Temple after a very long time.

The second book of Chronicles, from where the first reading is taken, describes how, despite the sinfulness of the people, God was moved to compassion. Again and again reforming prophets (messengers) were sent to this corrupt nation but to no avail. Not only did they ignore the prophets, they actively derided them. According to this account, it was this callous contempt that unleashed the avenging anger of God. The demise of the monarchy, collapse of the temple system of worship and deportation of the people were the inevitable consequences of this hardhearted obstinacy. The punishment was brutal and sweeping. What had been desecrated through the wickedness of the people was now purified through the inexorable fury of God’s wrath. What was not destroyed was appropriated by the conquerors. Because the people had failed to observe the Sabbath, the entire land would now be deserted in a Sabbath rest for seventy years (cf. Jer 25, 11). However, the reading ends on a hopeful note. Just as Jeremiah had prophesied the demise of Judah, so he also foretold the collapse of its conquerors and the captor (Jer 25,12). As the king Cyrus, the new Persian king came to power, through God’s inspiration, he decided to set the exiles free and made it possible for them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. He gave them all the necessary means to do this. In doing this he did not deny the scope of the influence of the power he wielded, but he credited the God of Israel as the source of it all. King Cyrus’ intervention was another stupendous manifestation of the mercy and faithfulness/steadfastness of God, the infidelity and criminality of the Jewish people notwithstanding.

The manifestation of the mercy and generosity of God as we have seen in the first reading is only a prefiguration of God’s generosity that came to fore at the resurrection of Jesus. This is the show of God’s mercy and generosity after the extreme infidelity of the Jews when they condemned Jesus to death and rejected their Messiah. God made him rise from the dead. The resurrection is not something that concerns only Jesus; it also concerns us as Paul teaches that God, out of his love for us, raised us to life with Christ. The resurrection of Christ is a miracle of love which is much more important than the reconstruction of the temple of Jerusalem. The risen body of Christ is now the medium of both presence and worship of God. The resurrection of Christ is now a gift to the whole humanity. It is affirmed in the Gospel reading that God so loved the world that he sent his Son … God does not love only the Jews. The love of predilection which the Jew were privileged to enjoy was not an exclusive love but one destined to diffuse to all people and nations of the earth.
God loved the world and gave his only Son… God gave his Son to the world raising him on the cross and equally raising him to be with him, to the right hand of his majesty in heaven. Thus the raising on the cross was the first part of the movement of elevation. It was followed by the resurrection and then the ascension into heaven by which our human nature was placed near God to the advantage of all of us. In the gospel reading, Jesus hinted to Nicodemus that as the serpent was raised in the desert, the son of man will also be raised. Jesus accepted his being compared to the brazen serpent that was raised up in a pole. He was fully aware that the raised serpent was a symbol of sin and punishment for it. The cross, on which he was, eventually, raised signified sin and punishment for sin. But by the strength of his love, Jesus completely changed the meaning of the cross, from being instrument of punishment for rebellious slaves, to becoming the manifestation of the greatest act of love. Jesus himself affirms: No one has love greater than giving one’s life for one’s friends (John 15, 13). The cross is the greatest manifestation of God’s love. It is a love that proceeds from the heart of the Father. This love was received with gratitude and generosity by the heart of the Son and from there it spread to the ends of the world. This is surely for the salvation of the world. Jesus holds also in today’s Gospel: God did not send his Son in the world to judge the world but rather that the world be saved through him. God does not want the death of the sinner but that he repents (Ezek 33, 11). All sinners are invited to have confidence in God’s infinite mercy which is manifested in the death of Jesus on the cross.

God, however, will not force people to behave in any particular manner. That is why they can still behave as the Jews, during the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, when they mocked the prophets. It is still possible to close ones heart against the love that comes from God and prefer darkness to light. Jesus affirms: Whoever does evil, hates the light, and does not come from the light so that his works will not be revealed. All said and done, God desires that he who does evil comes to light so that he may receive God’s infinite mercy and begin to work in truth, that is, to always walk in the direction of the light.

We are invited always to open our hearts to the infinite love of God, to his tender mercy and unbounded generosity. During Lent our joy consists of receiving God’s mercy more and more. Indeed it is not enough receiving forgiveness, but it is necessary and required to receive God’s mercy. Therefore, we have to receive this love while conducting a life full of justice and charity. In this way our life will become a testimony of love that has God as its source. Happy sunday! +John I. Okoye

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23rd Sunday of the Year C 2016

May Christ the uncreated Wisdom, the Incarnate Wisdom of the Father bestow you with all the graces you need to be an authentic, coherent and wholehearted disciple of Christ. Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH 
(Wisdom 9, 13-18; Philemon, 9-10.12-17; Luke 14, 25-33: 23^rd Sunday of the Year C 2016)

The first reading taken from the Book of  Wisdom is clear in stating that human beings, with all their resources, are incapable of fathoming the thought of God or knowing his will. This means that human beings lack the supreme wisdom that should guide them in life. They can come to such knowledge only when God so reveals it to them, as the text of the prayer of Solomon has it: As for your intention, who could have learnt it, had you not granted Wisdom and sent your holy spirit from above? Yet in the past and in our present generation some human beings wish to interfere with God’s plan, and sometimes would wish God to be according to their own image and likeness. They sometimes wish to have a God whose primary duty would be to lead them out of difficulties and load them with all types of goodies in the name of miracles. Who knows if some would not even be thinking on how to send God to do some errands, like seeing to it that their enemies get a good share of vengeance, for them.
            In the Scriptures especially in the Gospels we discover the mind of God; what he wants from us and what is pleasing to him. If we are docile and assiduous in meditating on the Scriptures, the Word of God, and if we pray in humility, we shall receive the Holy Spirit that comes from above and will acquire the true wisdom which will enable us perceive things through the eyes of God and comport ourselves according to his will. In the light of the New Testament, Christ is the uncreated Wisdom, the incarnate Wisdom of the Father through whom and also through the benevolence of the Father the Holy Spirit is abundantly diffused in our hearts. In order to be saved, it is necessary to follow Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom of God and to adhere totally to his teachings, such as we have in the gospel reading of today, whose main theme is the cost of discipleship. The conditions for discipleship are three: subordination of everything to commitment to Jesus, acceptance of the cross, and relinquishment of all possessions. The first condition, subordination of everything to commitment to Jesus means, being disposed to renounce everything that is dear to us, even members of our nuclear family, if they constitute obstacle to our faith in Christ Jesus. If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. The hard expression, to hate, used by the Evangelist St. Luke means to love less. Jesus insists that nothing, neither the closest family ties, nor love of one’s own life, can be placed in conflict with commitment to him. Whoever cannot make this sacrifice cannot be his disciple. Jesus has to take the primacy of place in the hierarchy of values. The second condition for discipleship is willingness to carry one’s cross. Jesus’ total commitment to his mission resulted in his own suffering and death on the cross. The commitment of those who would follow him can be no less. The demands that this will exact, will differ from person to person but the requirement will be the same: wholehearted commitment. Realizing that initial enthusiasm often wanes; Jesus insists that potential disciples should first take stock of their recourses before they commit themselves to him. They should not rush into discipleship without first examining what is involved. On one hand, they must be aware of the cost that may be exacted of them; on the other, they should have some sense of their own ability to meet that cost. They should not step forward unless they are willing and able to expend all they have to carry through with their decision. Whoever cannot make such a wholehearted commitment cannot be his disciple. Finally, would be disciples of Jesus must be willing to relinquish all their possessions in order to possess and to be possessed by Christ. To give up one’s possessions also means not making selfish use of them but using them to reach out to the poor and the most needy of our society and community.

In choosing to be the disciples of Jesus, we choose other things as well. We choose new ways of relating with the very people to whom we have already been committed. Our relationship with them takes on different dimension. Our choice of Christ forges us into new relationships as we see in the second reading of today, where Paul’s discipleship led him to Rome and in prison opened a new vista for him. There he met a slave, Onesimus, who escaped from his master, Philemon. Paul evangelised and converted him. Now he pleads with his master, Philemon, to accept Onesimus back, not as slave any more but something much better than a slave, a dear brother especially dear to me, but how much more to you, as a blood-brother as well as a brother in the Lord. It can be seen how the choice to be a disciple of Jesus has changed Paul’s mentality and attitude as regards the institution of slavery at that time. It was his continued contact with Christ as his disciple that enabled him to manifest the generosity of Christ. We therefore, pray that our choice to be disciples of Christ will enable us embrace the Christ of Calvary and that of the resurrection, not choosing for ourselves a Christ devoid of the Cross, on whom we impose the awkward duty of working miracles for us. Christ died for us on the cross and leads all his disciples through the same experience of death and resurrection with the added mission to spread the message of salvation through witnessing to his death and resurrection in their daily lives. May Jesus in today's Eucharistic celebration give us all the graces we need to be authentic, coherent and wholehearted disciple of Jesus Christ. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

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Happy Solemnity of the Pentecost! Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH (Acts 2,1-11; Romans 8,8-17; John 14, 15-16.23-26:  Solemnity of Pentecost: Year C  2016

  Today we celebrate the solemnity of Pentecost, the great feast that falls on the 50th day of Easter, when we celebrate the gift of Holy Spirit to the Apostles and to the Church.  The Holy Spirit is a gift by the Risen Christ to his people. Indeed as the gospel of today shows, it is Jesus who: promises the Holy Spirit, requests God the Father to send the Holy Spirit, and in whose name the Father will send the Holy Spirit: I shall ask the Father and He will give you another  Advocate … the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name. 
    The first duty of the Holy Spirit is to be and act as an Advocate, a defender. He is to defend and sustain the Apostles and the Christians in difficulties. He is to make them capable to bear witness to their faith. Jesus speaks of another Advocate or defender because He was the first one, as long as He was with them. The second duty of the Holy Spirit is expressed in these words of Jesus: (He) will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you. In other words, the Holy Spirit will be a master, teacher and adviser in matters pertaining to the interior life, a great spiritual director, so to say, who will propose new ways of understanding the truth already taught by Christ, as well as, deepening and fully interpreting the words of Jesus in the light of His resurrection. The main characteristic of this gift is that, it is not a temporal or passing, but a permanent and continuous one as Jesus indicates: … (an Advocate) to be with you for ever…). Thus, the community of believers, the very nascent Church as well as that of later times are guaranteed that this presence and assistance of the Holy Spirit will never be lacking. (This is vividly expressed by the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium, see no. 8).

    The first coming of the promised Holy Spirit, the most important, extraordinary and solemn one  took place on the day of Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth day of Easter. The Evangelist, Luke in Acts of the Apostles (first reading) describes the event in terms that were proper to theophanies of the Old Testament: peals of thunder, robust wind and consuming fire. The coming of the Holy Spirit had some prodigious effect on the Apostles. The first effect was that the Apostles had the capacity to express and praise God for the marvels He had wrought. They did it in such a way that all who were there understood them, even though they were of diverse nationalities speaking diverse languages. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, they (the Apostles) began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. …and each one (of the assembly from all the then known nations then in Jerusalem) bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language.  Thus we have the prefigure of the universality of the Church. In the Church and through her, God will be recognized, praised and thanked by all the people of the world who would be speaking the same language of faith and love. The second effect the Holy Spirit would produce is the reconstruction of the unity of mankind. It is hoped that the lack of unity among people, symbolized in the story of the Tower of Babel, will be reversed when all the people assemble as a unique people of God. All mankind, through the work of the Holy Spirit will speak the same language, be able to understand one another and recognize one another as brothers and sisters in the Church, the unique people of God. The Holy Spirit is the principal realiser of unity of the Church.
    In the second reading, Apostle Paul brings out the multiple effects of the action of the Holy Spirit in the soul of the faithful. The Holy Spirit makes us belong to Christ: In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. The presence of the Holy Spirit makes us belong to Christ, be his true disciples and members of his body. Another effect of the Holy Spirit is that He salvages us from the dominion of the flesh, that is to say, from the dominion of selfishness and sin. The egoism which Paul calls flesh and sin, includes every false value that negatively influences our life and leads to death. The Spirit is life. In virtue of this, the Holy Spirit makes us alive, just as he, Christ keeps us truly alive. Another effect, according to Paul, is that the Holy Spirit who lives in us is the guarantee of our final resurrection: just as He made Jesus rise from the dead, in the same way, He will make us rise from the dead. Possessing the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, we have at this moment, the power that makes us alive for ever. Paul goes on to indicate that another effect of the Holy Spirit is that He makes us participate in the divine sonship of Christ. He renders us adopted sons and daughters of the heavenly Father, in such a way that we can cry, as Jesus did, with confidence and abandon, Abba Father. And if we are sons, we are also heirs: heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ who are destined to participate in his glory in heaven.

    The Holy Spirit continues to do, in the Church today, what he did among the disciples on the day of Pentecost and in the nascent Church. He continues to lead the members of Christ’s body, the Church into deeper understanding of their mission.  As the giver of gifts, He empowers the faithful to stand up to the challenges of being a true witness. As we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit today, let us pray that we experience his full impact in our lives as the disciples did.  Making ours the words of the Pentecost Sequence may we implore the Holy Spirit thus: “Heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour thy dew; wash the stains of guilt away; bend the stubborn heart and will; melt the frozen, warm the chill; guide the steps that go astray”. Let us, therefore, conclude with the invocation which comes up often during our liturgical and devotional prayers: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the Faithful and enkindle in us the fire of your Love! Amen! Happy Sunday! Happy Solemnity of Pentecost! +John I. Okoye

20TH DEC 2015 (Micah 5, 1-4; Heb 10, 5-10; Luke 1, 39-48: Year C)

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Micah 5, 1-4; Heb 10, 5-10; Luke 1, 39-48: Year C)

    Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, her pregnant old cousin, in today’s gospel story was not just a courteous visit, but a visit borne out of genuine love. Mary stayed with her for three months, comforting her with her presence and helping her with domestic chores. This visit was replete with joy and happiness. As soon as Maria arrived, the child in Elizabeth’s womb, jumped out of joy, as he recognized the newly conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth cried out: Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  Mary, joyfully sang the Magnificat, the hymn of praise and recognition of what God has done with her and in the history of salvation of her people, Israel. Jesus’ presence is, therefore, the fount and cause of joy for all. His presence should also be fount and cause of joy for us, if we open our hearts to him. The celebration of Christmas should then lead to throwing the doors of our hearts wide open to Christ and removing all those things that impede his coming to us with his grace.

    In the gospel story of today, two women are the protagonists and the first witnesses to the coming of the Messiah. Elizabeth is pregnant with a child that is the result of divine promise and a miracle of the goodness of God: Elizabeth was sterile and conceived at an advanced age. God chose her in order to bring the precursor to the Messiah into the world through the gratuitous gift of his power and the Holy Spirit. Mary also is carrying in her womb a son, the Son of God, conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. Also in this case, it is God the Father, who gratuitously and freely chose the mother of His Son and wishes that he comes to us through her. Therefore, it is the Power of God (the Holy Spirit) that made his Son incarnate in human flesh and that was also responsible for the birth of the precursor. This is completely a divine initiative, absolutely, outside any type of human influence or participation. Looking at it closely, the birth of Jesus by a virgin, through the power of the Holy Spirit is the most evident sign of the absolute gratuitousness of the gift of salvation. The salvation that is being offered to us, through the coming of the Son of God, is a pure gift of God, his mercy and compassion, and limitless love for humanity, which he wishes to redeem. We should welcome this salvation in faith.  Blessed Virgin Mary is a model of such faith as Elizabeth testifies in today’s gospel: Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. Mary’s faith is the perfect disposition to welcome the divine initiative and cooperate in the work of redemption. She exclaimed in Luke 1, 38: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word. Through Mary’s faith, a new era in the church and the world begins. And it is through faith that we are to welcome and appreciate Christ as God’s gift, as well as His message, project and proposal for salvation. It is also in the spirit of renewed and revived faith in the Son of God made man that we should celebrate Christmas; it should be such a faith that is coherent with life and the gospel tenets.

    Two women, Elizabeth and Mary stand at the beginning of the New Testament. This is a very significant fact, when we consider that at that epoch women did not enjoy much public consideration. What is more, both women, Elizabeth and Mary, had no children before God powerfully intervened in their lives. For the Hebrew of those days, being the mother of a child was a singular title that a woman needed to be honoured with. Elizabeth and Mary were, as it were, two unknown and unrecognized poor Hebrew women, completely cut off from the company of the powerful and appreciated people of the society. But God chose Mary to be the mother of His Son, Jesus Christ and chose Elizabeth to be the mother of John the Baptist, the precursor of Jesus Christ. In the same way, God chose the small and insignificant Bethlehem to be the birthplace of His Son; poor grotto in which Jesus was born, to welcome the child Jesus; the simple and poor shepherds were to be the first to recognize the newly born child; poor, humble and uneducated fishermen were to build up his church and evangelize the whole world.  These instances show us God’s preferences, on how to realize his projects.  Often he chose diverse and even opposing ways from those of men; he does not choose the powerful but the weak and fragile ones; not the honoured and prestigious ones of the society, but the humble ones; not wealth and avidity but poverty and detachment from earthly possessions; not domination and power but humility and service of love; not deceitful success, but renunciation and sacrifices. We should divest ourselves from the criteria and mentality of the world in our judgment/thoughts and our actions and make effort to appreciate and acquire virtues and values which God prefers.

    The author of the letter to the Hebrews (2nd Reading) tells us that the fundamental disposition of Jesus’ mind, as he came into the world from the first time till his entry to suffer and die at Calvary, was to do the will of God: …on coming into the world Christ said: God here I am! I am coming to obey your will. To do the will of God, that is, to comport ourselves in all things as the Lord wants and directs, should be our effort and duty for meaningful and profitable celebration of the glorious feast of Christmas.  The will of God and the manifestation of his mind are clearly spelt out for us in examples in the life of Christ, in his gospel and the teaching of the Church, mother and master of our souls.

    May I use this opportunity to wish every one of you a happy, grace-filled celebration of Christmas and God’s choicest blessings in the coming year 2016. Happy Sunday! Happy Christmas and Happy New Year!+John Okoye

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR C

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Zephania 3, 14-18; Phil 4, 4-7; Luke 3, 10-18: 3RD SUNDAY- Year C)

    Joy is the dominant theme of this third Sunday of Advent. The first reading takes up this theme, which the entrance antiphon started. It runs through the responsorial psalm and we will still see it in the second reading. The liturgy, therefore, exhorts us to be joyful. But the social environment which we live in, with all its manifold social, financial, security and health problems, seems to dampen this clarion call to be joyful. However, the type of joy we are invited to have is an interior and spiritual one. It is not superficial, artificial or external joy that is motivated by human consideration but spiritual and interior joy that is rather motivated by deep religious faith. 

    In the first reading, Jerusalem is called upon to rejoice, exult with all your heart. She is to rejoice because the Lord is present. God is in the midst of his people and offers them security and assurance. The presence of God is surely a legitimate motive for joy. But the ultimate reason for joy is the knowledge that God loves his people as he would like to renew you by his love. The profound motive for us to have joy should be the conviction that God loves us. If God loves us, no matter how difficult we find things, God will be able to bring us out from any type of difficulties or mess. The highest point of God’s love for us was concretized by sending His beloved Son to save the world. He offered His son to be immolated for our salvation. Jesus, completed the gesture of love, which God the Father started by his death and resurrection. In addition, Jesus promised an abiding presence and protection through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

    The call in today’s liturgy to be joyful (as we tried to analyze above) was repeated by Paul in the second reading. He was making this call even when he was in prison, in physical confinement. It was neither easy for him nor his flock. Nevertheless, he and his flock were to be joyful. This was because the Lord was near. The Lord does not abandon us; he is always near us, and ready to get us out of our difficulties. Paul used the opportunity of the nearness of the Lord to enjoin the Philippians and us to pray, that is to say, to enter into loving relationship with this Lord. It is a relationship in which God will guide us in seeking and doing His will. By so doing we will grow in intimacy with Him and our joy will abound and over flow.

    It is when we are in such good relationship with the Lord that we will be in the position to perceive what concrete things to do in our lives for the preparation of Christmas, as John the Baptist indicates in today’s gospel reading. We would, then better understand his instruction: If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and anyone who has something to eat must do the same. By this he holds that whatever we have in excess belongs to our neighbour who is in need of it. Furthermore, we have to share what we have with one another and even to deprive ourselves of legitimate rights in order to make our neighbours happy and joyful. It is when we are in prayer relationship with God that we will be able to use our positions of power for the service of our neighbours judiciously and profitably and not for selfish purposes. Our loving relationship with God in prayer will make it possible for us to respect the dignity of every person and eschew from our lives all sorts of expression of violence and little terrorist-like insinuations towards our neighbours. Let us joyfully prepare for the coming of the Lord in our lives especially at Christmas through intensive loving relationship with God in prayer and active charity to our needy neighbours. 

 Happy Sunday! +John I.Okoye

1ST SUNDAY YEAR C

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Jer 33, 14-16; 1 Thess. 3, 12-4, 2; Luke 21, 25-28.34-36; Year C)

    The new liturgical year, the year of the Church, the year of the Christian community begins this Sunday. What is the liturgical year and how is it to be distinguished from the civil one?

    The liturgical year is the period during which the Church and every Christian community celebrate all the mysteries of Christ from his Incarnation, birth, passion, death, resurrection, ascension to Pentecost.Besides, it represents and re-proposes the public life of Jesus, his preaching and miracles, as they are transmitted by the Evangelists. Vatican II elucidates: Remembering the mystery of redemption, the Church makes available the richness or wealth of the salvific action and merits of her Lord in such a way as to make them present at all times so that the faithful can come into contact and be filled with the graces of salvation (Sacrosantum Concilium, no. 102). The Liturgical year is not, therefore, a simple remembering, a mere re-invocation of the events of the past, but a rendering/making, present and efficacious now and at all times, the mystery of salvation actual. Therefore, if every liturgical year is well lived, it becomes a year rich in grace and divine benevolence. 

    The liturgical year starts with the Advent period comprising four Sundays and four weeks which precede Christmas. Originally, advent was destined to prepare the Christians for a dignified celebration of the feast of Christmas, but with passage of time, Advent assumed a more ample and complete meaning. According to St. Bernard, there are three Advents. The first Advent was when the Son of Man appeared in our humble human nature, thereby fulfilling the ancient promise and opening the way of eternal salvation. The ultimate Advent will be that of the future, the glorious apparition of Christ, as judge of the universe at the end of the world. Finally, the third Advent, which St. Bernard called intermediary Advent. In the first Advent, the coming of Christ was evident, so will the last be equally manifest, or rather glorious. The intermediary Advent, on the other hand, is hidden, intimate, and interior: it is the coming of Christ in peoples’ heart. He comes in the power of the Spirit, as St. Bernard holds. The intermediary Advent, on the one hand, actualizes the first Advent and on the other hand anticipates the ultimate Advent and assures that through it, Jesus will bring his faithful servants into glory.

    What dispositions are necessary for the soul to live intensely, the Advent in its triple dimension? The readings of today give some indications. The first reading that is interpreted like an oracle of God indicates the relationship between God and the covenant people of Israel. It begins with the announcement that God will deliver his people to safety and ends with the people grounding their salvation in the righteousness of God.  The Christian, who is in a relationship with God that started at Baptism should, in the period of Advent, open up to the graces of God by committing himself whole heartedly to the indication of God’s will (righteousness). In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul gives some indication of how to live intensely the Advent period. Paul is asking for the Thessalonians’ maturity and spiritual growth. When they grow thus, their capacity of love increases. He enjoins them to practice both communal love (love for one another) and universal love, love for all. Such love breaks out of ethnocentric bounds and resembles the inclusive love of God. This kind of universal love pervades the entire being of the one loving because it flows from the heart, which is believed to be the seat of understanding, will and the place where the hidden motives of life and conduct takes place. From Paul’s letter we still glean another way to profit spiritually in this period of Advent. The Christian is to advance towards the paths of righteous living. This will enable the Christian to be blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus, be it at the intermediary or the ultimate Advent.

    The gospel reading of today proposes keeping watch and praying for intense living of the period of Advent. One needs to keep watch so as not to leave oneself to be benumbed by the worldly mentality, and unbridled pursuit of money, pleasure and power. However it is not enough to be vigilant, we also need to pray. Prayer will expose our need for help and at the same time help us turn confidently to God who is the only One who can help us live intensely and profitably the Advent period. An intense Advent way of life is both simple and profound. It does not necessarily require unusual behaviour in our part, but it calls us to live the usual unusually well. It affects the everyday events of life; it directs the way we interact with people; it informs the attitude that colour our judgement and motivations. It is as ordinary as the birth of a child, and as extraordinary as the revelation of God. May we ask the good Lord therefore, to bestow his graces on us that we may understand the meaning of his coming into our lives and that we may be enabled  to appreciate fully and profitably the revelation of himself, which he entrusts to us, mere mortal beings. Happy New Liturgical Year! Happy Advent Season and Happy Sunday! 

 +John I. Okoye

32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(1 Kings 17, 10-16; Hebrews 9, 24-28; Mark 12, 38-44:  32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)

  Today’s liturgy brings two widows together, one from the OT and other from the NT. Both of them belonged to the lowest cadre of the society, weak and poor, therefore, seemingly not in position to do much. But as it turned out, these women were the protagonists of two extraordinary gestures that made them to be regarded as models of true believers and authentic practitioners of religion.

    The first reading takes up the meeting of the widow of Zerephat and Prophet Elijah. Being persecuted by King Ahab and running away from his men, Elijah ran the risk of dying of hunger. As he entered the city of Zerephat, in Sidon, he met a widow and her son, whose only hope for survival consisted on a handful of meal (flour) and some little oil. So stressed up by hunger, Elijah begged her to prepare, first for him, a scrap of bread and then something for herself and her son. Elijah went on to proclaim what the Lord had revealed to him about her future sustenance: Jar of meal shall not be spent, jug of oil shall not be emptied, before the day when the Lord send rain on the face of the earth. What the prophet actually demanded from the widow was blind trust in divine Providence and in the word (utterances) of God. Indeed, the widow trusted in God and placed all that she and her son needed to physically survive hunger and live on (her last handful of meal and the last bit of oil in the jar) at the Prophet’s disposition. Her confidence in the Lord yielded much fruit as the meal and the oil were miraculously replenished throughout the period of famine caused by lack of rain.

    In the gospel reading the focus is still on another widow, in a scene where Jesus plays an important but curious role. He was sitting near the offertory box (temple treasury) and was watching how the worshippers were making their offerings. He noticed how the rich were throwing in lots of money (coins of much value) into the box, probably with a lot of ostentation. He also saw a widow who threw into the offertory box coins of little value; one can say an insignificant donation.  Jesus draws the attention of his disciples and indicates: I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put in more than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.

    What do we learn from these two bible episodes?

The first lesson is that we should never judge people or their actions from what they do or their appearances. By appearance these two widows were people of little worth, incapable of doing anything worthwhile and good for nothing. But in reality, they were wonderful and exceptional people, capable of performing two wonderful gestures. Who knows how many times we have assigned little worth to persons who are rather endowed with uncommon interior gifts and who have much favour in the eyes of God! Let us bear in mind the Bible verse which holds: Man sees the appearances while God perceives the interior (1 Sam 16, 7).

    We also learn from the two widows that to truly believe and be really convinced in our faith means trusting God completely, and abandoning oneself to him and to his Providence. Whoever has this type of faith, is not satisfied with donating to God or to our needy neighbours what is only superfluous, what we do not actually need to survive. There are some who make donations but only after they have made sure that their future well being, pleasure, leisure and comfort have been well provided for and doubly assured. Such offerings do not make any changes in their existence and style of life. Donating from one’s superfluity is not yet an act of love. Neither is it an act of faith. It becomes an act of faith when such offering exposes our life or survival to some difficulties and hardship. The poor widow of today’s gospel offered to God all she had; this is authentic faith. In a similar manner the widow of the first reading offered to the man of God, Elijah all she and her son had to survive on. That was also an act of authentic faith.

    The gospel narrative also brings into focus Jesus’ critique of the practice of religion in his own time. He had strong words against the religious leaders of his people: the Pharisees, Scribes, and Priests of his time. He denounced them on account of their vanities, ambitions, greed and ostentations. Jesus could not tolerate their duplicity, hypocrisy and falsehood which they presented as the authentic way to practice religion. The sharp condemnation of these religious leaders by Jesus should make us reflect on our way of life, so that we should not be content with the practice of religion that is apparently external, superficial which gives us the impression that we are doing well while we are actually far away from authentic faith and true conversion.   Let us therefore, pray in the Eucharistic liturgy of this Sunday for the grace to always offer up ourselves and all we have without reservation and in absolute faith to Almighty God. Happy Sunday!John I. Okoye

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Genesis 2, 18-24; Hebrew 2, 9-11; Mark 10, 2-16; 27^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B)

Today’s liturgy presents for our reflection the noble institution of marriage. The first reading from the book of Genesis and the Gospel show clearly that marriage, the union of one man and one woman, has its origin from God. One of the characteristics of marriage is that it is a union of fellowship, companionship and love. Adam was first created and had no companion. He was lonely and not able to find a fitting companion from among all the animals God had created. God then created Eve from the rib He took from Adam’s side. When Adam saw Eve he realized intuitively that he and Eve were of the same nature. He exclaimed: This at last is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh. This is to be called a woman, for this was taken from man. Matrimonial union is meant to fight solitude. But alas, many of our married couples are lonely even though they live together in the same house, eat at the same table and sleep on the same bed. They stay together but seek the happiness of their life elsewhere other than from their marriage. They are supposed to be of the same bone, of the same flesh and even of the same heart. Unfortunately, it is not so. Openness to one’s wife or husband is a necessary ingredient for the happiness of the couple.

It comes out clearly from the readings that God created man and woman equal. None was created superior to the other. Earlier, we hinted that Adam and Eve possessed the same nature and,therefore, the same dignity. Therefore, the wife is not to be domineered, enslaved, reduced to the status of a servant and a domestic one for that matter, abused, ordered about, or simply used as an object of pleasure. Reflecting on what the text of Genesis says that the man is to leave his father and mother and cling to his wife so that the two become one flesh, we note that in God's plan the union of a man and a woman in marriage is inseparable, indissoluble: they are one flesh. God's plan for marriage is that through this stable union, a planned and ordered continuance of the human race is assured. In the gospel reading, Jesus neglecting the concession granted by Moses to the man to divorce the wife by giving her a writ of divorce as a sign that she could remarry, insisted that God ab initio made marriage indissoluble. To maintain the union of marriage is difficult but not impossible, otherwise God would not have so established it. We need to understand that what keeps the couples together in marriage is love that is reciprocal and generous. If any of the couple thinks only of his/ her interest, pleasure, and satisfaction, there is no true love. Such union of selfishness will not last. Whoever is wishing to marry will have to understand that marriage is a union of a man and a woman who love themselves and not two egoists. In marriage there is always need for faithfulness.

The second reading shows the faithfulness of Jesus. For the author of the book of Hebrews, Jesus is exalted far more than the angels, but was made like us to become for us our high priest. He died for us as an example of his faithfulness in love. He was faithful to the will of God the Father and was faithful in showing solidarity to us. This example of Christ should therefore, inspire our married couples, motivating them to fully live the graces of matrimony to the point of reaching the summit of generous love of giving one's life for the sake of the partner. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye.