23rd Sunday of Year A

May God grant you the humility to recognize when you are at fault and the courage to ask for pardon and reconciliation to God and to your fellow brothers and sisters. Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Ezek 33,7-9; Romans 13,8-10; Matt 18,15-20: 23rd Sunday of Year A)

             Today’s readings highlight our Christian duty and obligation to assist others in the attainment of salvation. God is love. It was in loving condescension that he grants the gift of salvation to man. The same love challenges us to shun every form of egoistic indifference with regard to the salvation of our neighbour. Even though each man shall stand before God to account for his life, God expects us to lend some helping hand to one another as we make this personal journey to our eternal destiny. The readings show how we can be instrumental to the salvation of our neighbours.

    In the first reading, Ezekiel is called to act as watchman of the people of God. As a sentinel (a soldier or guard whose job is to stand and keep watch) he has the duty to protect home or cities from the attack of the enemy. Ezekiel fulfils this function when, as a prophet, he proclaims God’s word of warning. Such a proclamation is the defence he uses to protect the people. He is told that God will hold him responsible if he does not protect the people by means of his proclamation. If he is faithful to his charge, but the people refuse to heed his message, he can be rest assured that he has fulfilled his responsibility. In the same way, we Christians of today are called to be watch people or sentinels for our various communities: the family or domestic church, parish communities, segments of the society and the society at large. We have the duty to warn and admonish any member of the Christian family who consciously or inadvertently moves away from the tenets of the Christian community. It is a duty proper to us, as Christians, to send in admonitions that would bring back any erring member to the fold. It is not just enough for us to hold the sinner responsible for his sins, we would be held accountable too if we fail to act as constant reminder to the erring person as to what God expects of him. Our salvation hangs somehow on the balance of our fidelity to the duty we owe to others to assist them in their spiritual life. 

    In the gospel, Jesus gave a detailed description of the length we must go to ensure that others are put in the right track of being saved.  We cannot treat one who goes astray with indifference. Bringing him or her back ought to be our preoccupation. Go and have it out with him.  You need to be concerned. Where you fail, do not give up, go with a companion. Don’t even stop there; draw the attention of the community. The duty to assist an erring soul must be the corporate responsibility of the faith community. The importance of the community in this process of reconciliation is apparent in two important ways.  First, it is the entire band of disciples, not merely its leader that exercises disciplinary power within the community. They are the ones who do the binding and the loosing. Second, Jesus declares that any agreement arrived at by two members of this community will be heard. He is not talking about prayer in general but prayer for guidance in coming to a decision that will affect community well-being. Reconciling an erring brother or sister must be done in an atmosphere of care and love. The process of reconciliation requires significant movement towards the admission of guilt as well. Both the one offended and the offender must be willing to be transformed. As followers of Jesus we must not only be agents of reconciliation of others but most importantly do our part in repairing the rifts in our lives. This can be a very difficult task to accomplish.

               In the second reading, St. Paul makes it clear that love is the only debt we owe to every man and woman. We normally acclaim love as the highest form of human expression, and it is. However, as glorious and satisfying as love may be, it is more demanding than anything else in life. With Paul in the second reading, we may admit that love fulfils the entire life only when we honour our personal commitments and that of others regardless of the contrary passionate attraction we may experience; when we value the life, dignity, and reputation of others even when we are on the brink of hatred and vindictiveness; when we respect the possessions of others despite the fact that we desperately desire them for ourselves. It is because love is so demanding that it covers all our responsibilities. However, when we truly love we are willing to carry the crosses that discipleship requires. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

GRAPHICS BY CHUKWUBIKE

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.