27th Sunday of the Year A, 4th October 2020)

Aggiungi didascalia

May God bestow on us, in today's Eucharistic celebration, the graces to make good with the opportunities given to us in life.

Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Isaiah 5,1-7; Philippians 4,6-9; Matt 21,33-43: 27th Sunday of the Year A, 4th October 2020)

This Sunday's liturgy offers us a parable that refers to the Lord’s passion. Jesus foresees his passion and tells this parable to warn the authorities of his people who are about to take a wrong path. The content of this parable has as its background the first reading, a hymn of the Prophet Isaiah on the Lord’s vineyard. Thus, both the Gospel and the First readings speak to us of a vineyard, but with a difference: in the parable, God admonished the authorities of the people; in the song of Isaiah, God admonished all the people of Israel.

The song of Isaiah expresses God’s sadness. He is presented as the owner of a vineyard: My beloved owned a vineyard on a fertile hill. The owner gives full attention to his vineyard: he dug it, cleared it of stones and planted selected vines; he built a tower in the middle of the vineyard for proper surveillance, and he also dug a vat. Everything has been done with care; therefore, the vineyard should produce excellent grapes. But in reality, it produces inedible grapes, unripe grapes. The prophet then addresses his word to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all the Jews, to ask, in the name of God: What else was I to do to my vineyard that I did not do? He really did everything possible, he didn't leave out anything. For this reason, the negative reaction of the people of Israel deserves punishment, which God threatens to inflict: Here I want to let you know what I am about to do in my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be transformed into pasture; I will demolish its wall and it will be trampled. I will make it a desert, it will not be pruned, nor be duged and brambles and thorns will grow; I commanded the clouds not to send rain. Thus, the vineyard will remain, completely, desolate. These threats were made to bring about a conversion, and therefore to avoid the punishment itself. The conversion, however, did not happen, and, therefore, the threats took place, as the responsorial Psalm says. In it, the psalmist complains to the Lord not only because he has abandoned his vineyard, but he has also caused it to be devastated (cf. Psalm 79). This was the situation of the Chosen People in the Old Testament: a situation that resulted in the capture of Jerusalem and exiling of the people. When the people are not docile to God, and do not accept his law, which is a law of love, given, precisely, to lead to happiness, then disgrace, and devastation occur.

Jesus' parable does not speak of all the people, but only the princes of the priests and elders of the people, that is, of the authorities. He is aware of their opposition, negative intentions and plans to eliminate him. He therefore, warns them, so as to realise their error and their wickedness and be converted. The parable Jesus narrates begins in a similar way the song of Isaiah begins: There was a master who planted a vineyard and surrounded it with a hedge, he dug an oil mill there, he built a tower. Then comes the decisive moment, in which the owner entrusts the vineyard to the winemakers and leaves. Here the loyalty of the winemakers is tested: the vineyard is entrusted to them; they must harvest and then hand over the harvest to the owner. At the time of the harvest, the master sends his servants to collect the harvest. But those winemakers have possessive attitude: they do not consider themselves, simple, administrators, but rather owners, and refuse to hand over the harvest. They maltreat the servants, indeed they even go as far as stone and even kill them. The master is patient: he sends back other servants more numerous than the first, but the result is the same. For Jesus, these servants represent the prophets sent by God. In the Book of Jeremiah the Lord says to the Israelites: I sent it to you all my servants, the prophets, with care and always; yet they did not listen to them and did not listen (Jeremiah 7,25-26; cf. 25,4; 26,5; 29,29; 35,15; 44,4).

In the end, the master thinks of sending his son to them, saying: They will respect my son! But those tenants, enchanted of their possessive attitude, as they see his son, they say: He is the heir; come, let's kill him, and we will have the inheritance. And, taking him, they drive him out of the vineyard and kill him. At the end of the story, Jesus asks this question to his interlocutors: So when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? They answered him: He will make those wicked ones die miserably and give the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the fruits to him in due time. At this point Jesus makes his interlocutors understand what he is talking about: You have never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was made by the Lord and it is marvellous in our eyes?" Here Jesus quotes a verse from Ps. 118, which refers to the opposition of the builders, that is, of the authorities, to a stone that was to be received and placed in a place of honour; but they discarded it as an object of rejection. God, therefore, has turned the situation upside down, and this stone has become the cornerstone: This was done by the Lord. And Jesus concludes: The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will make it bear fruit. With these words he announces that the authorities of Israel will no longer be at the head of the people of God, who will have other authorities: the twelve apostles and their successors.

In the parable narrated by Jesus, there is, therefore, a prefiguration of his paschal mystery and its consequences. Jesus is aware of the destiny of his adversaries, but he tries to make them avoid, as far as possible, all the misfortunes and catastrophes that are threatened. This parable must also be a warning to us against possessive attitude. We all have responsibilities: some on a modest level, some on a higher level, some on a very high level. But for everyone, the attitude we take, with regard to these responsibilities, is decisive. The temptation is always that of assuming a possessive attitude, saying: God has given me gifts; I am the owner of it, I do what I want. I have received a post of authority, I take advantage of it for my own interest, to accumulate money, etc. So, we take possessive attitude instead of exercising authority for the good of all. The possessive attitude is at the root of many sins and many injustices. With it one would like to achieve happiness, but in reality, this does not happen. True happiness, in fact, is found only in a life of love and service. All the gifts that God has given to us are tools to be able to love and serve others. If we use them selfishly to seek our own interest, we are like the rebellious tenants in the parable. And the consequence will be disastrous for us, as well as for many other people. We must ask the Lord to give us the grace of assuming as he. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (cf. Matt 20,28ff). He did not want to take advantage of the Father's gifts for his own advantage, as we clearly see in the episode of the temptations in the desert (cf. Matt 4,1-11ff). He has always followed the path of love and service. This is the way that Jesus proposes to us which he makes possible for us through the Eucharist, in which he offers himself to us in a total and complete way possible. In the Eucharist he assumes a completely un-possessive attitude-he takes the bread and gives it to the disciples, saying: This is my body given for you; he takes the cup of wine and gives it to the disciples, saying: This is my blood shed for you. We Christians are therefore, called to live generously with this spirit of love and service. In it we will find the perfect and divine joy, which the Lord wants to communicate to us. +John I. Okoye

graphics by chukwubike oc

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)

29th Sunday of Year A, 22nd Oct. 2017

May the relationship between you and God, which God started in you by infusing into you the theological virtues of faith, charity/love and hope continue to grow to the extent that God will use you as instrument for the salvation of the world. Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye

Doctrine And Faith

(Isaiah 45, 1.4-6; 1 Thess. 1, 1-4; Matt 22, 15-21: 29th Sunday of Year A, 22^nd Oct. 2017)

Today’s reading resembles a royal decree, a formal statement wherein God addresses a king in order to authorise him for some tasks, empower him to function in the capacity of that task, give legitimation to decisions he may make or to a plan of action on which he might embark or instruct him in the art of ruling. This particular royal decree is extraordinary by the fact that in it, it is the God of Israel that addresses a pagan king. The contents of this decree reveal God using as his instrument a non-Israelite in the salvation of the people of Israel. Cyrus was the Persian ruler who permitted the Israelites to return from captivity in Babylon to their homeland and rebuild the temple. Cyrus subdued nations, released captive kings so that they might serve him unfettered, threw open locked doors and barred gates in the spirit of freedom. All these were done for the sake of the Israelites (Jacob-Israel). This Cyrus, the foreigner, was the agent of the release of the Israelites, but their release is for the sake of the enlightenment of foreign nations. It is understandable for God to work through the Israelites. But if the God of a people is seen to work marvels through the instrumentality of another people, it is easy to conclude that there is but one God who works through all. This is precisely what is stated in this reading. There is no other God but the God of Israel. This God is the author of history and directs the events of life to follow his plans. He can use anybody, not only the believers, but also non-believers to realise his plans. He will even use us the more if we are docile, disposed to the insinuations of his graces. What we have to do in life is to  make effort to see things from God’s perspective and align our actions and deeds  accordingly.  

The episode in today’s gospel is common to the three Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). Once again Jesus is in a battle of wits with the religious leaders of the people. This time they are the ones who initiate it. While the purpose of the encounter is the entrapment of Jesus, the underlying issue is the possibility of being faithful both to God and to a secular state. The Pharisees did not seem to approve of the Gentile rule over the Jewish people. The Herodians, on the other hand, were Roman royalists. Within the ranks of the people, the Zealots vehemently opposed the occupation, while many others had made their peace with it and sometimes even benefited from it. Roman taxation was an issue that could easily cause people to take sides. It was with this issue that the Pharisees hoped to ensnare Jesus. They first flattered him, then set up the trap by asking him for an interpretation on a point of Roman law: Is it lawful for a Jew to pay taxes to Rome? The tax in question was probably the poll tax paid directly to Rome, evidence of political subjugation. If Jesus answers no, he can be accused of political insubordination of the type that might incite others to follow in violence. If he says yes, he would have appeared to have relinquished Israel’s boast of being a people bound only to God. In his reply, Jesus did not fall into the  snare of the Pharisees, neither did he incur an eventual shame nor put himself into political jeopardy/quagmire. In order to adequately respond to their question, he asked for a coin that could be used to pay the poll tax. The coin itself was abhorrent to the Jewish people, for it contained the image of Caesar along with titles that accorded him both political honour and divine status. Both of these features violated Jewish Law. In deference to Jewish sensitiveness, imageless copper coins were used in ordinary commercial exchange. At Jesus’ demand, the Pharisees produced the coin, and now they acknowledged that it contains the image of Caesar. Jesus directed them to give back or repay what is owed to both Caesar and God. Besides exonerating him from possible political or religious reproach, Jesus’ response suggests that one can indeed be loyal both to a religious tradition and to a secular power. It may be very difficult at times, especially where their claims seem to conflict, but it is possible.

In today’s second reading Paul thanks God for choosing Silvanus and Timothy as his co-apostles especially in founding and nurturing the young church in Thessalonica. The Israelites of the Old Testament prided themselves, with singular privilege, as God’s elect. But in virtue of the death and resurrection of Christ this privilege was extended to all the nations through faith in Jesus Christ.

 Indeed, every nation can now enjoy these privileges formerly reserved for the people of Israel. What and what could be the contents of the privileges? They are no other things than spiritual privileges of ardent faith, works of charity and constancy in hope. Their effort in manifesting these virtues in their lives was a clear indication of their election by God, who infused these theological virtues in them. Outwardly and humanly speaking, the Thessalonians were influenced by Paul’s preaching, but inwardly they were inspired and led by the Holy Spirit. Each one of us was infused with theological virtues of faith, love and hope at our baptism when we became the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and entered into close relationship with the Blessed Trinity. Paul is thanking God today for the growth and manifestation of these theological virtues which God infused into the Thessalonians through him as an instrument. Will the priests who baptised us and through whom we became the elect of God be thankful to God for our spiritual growth? It is only and only if we remain in good relationship with God through living out the theological virtues can we begin to acquire the optic/perspective of God; when this becomes a reality, we will see things as God sees them and he will make of us instruments of evangelisation and expansion of his mission just as he used the pagan Cyrus of the first reading of today. It is, therefore, abiding in the friendship with God that we will be able to see things in the way Jesus saw it and will be able to maintain our religious traditions and still cooperate with political dispensation, regarding them as part of God’s design for our salvation. Happy Sunday? +John I. Okoye 

( graphics  by chukwubike)

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah’s Sermon on the Occasion of the Thanksgiving of Chief Jim Nwobodo at Holy Ghost Cathedral Enugu on January 10, 2016

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah’s Sermon on the Occasion of the Thanksgiving of Chief Jim Nwobodo at Holy Ghost Cathedral Enugu on January 10, 2016

When I saw two missed calls from Jim Nwobodo over a week ago, I decided to return the call immediately. He sounded quite excited when he answered the call and then went straight to the point. I have good news for you, he said.

I have decided to join the Catholic Church and I want to specially invite you to be at the Mass in Enugu on January 10th. I congratulated him and said I would check with my Diary to see if I had a window. I used the chance to first call the Bishop of Enugu, His Lordship, Bishop Onaga to intimate him of the invitation. He too sounded quite excited and went on to tell me some of the good things that Chief Nwobodo had done for the Catholic Church during his tenure as Governor of Anambra State. 

He added his voice to the invitation and by the time we had ended, he asked if I could take the Sermon for the day. Two days later, I again saw two missed calls or so from His Eminence, Antony Cardinal Okogie, the emeritus Archbishop of Lagos. I returned his call immediately. After the pleasantries, he confirmed enthusiastically that Chief Nwobodo had also invited him. He said despite his health, he would see if he can make the trip. Two days ago, I again saw two missed calls from him.

I returned the call and he said he did not think his health would permit him to make the trip. Please, he said, try and go there to support him and also use the opportunity to represent me too. Cardinal Onaiyekan also said he had been invited but he could not make it. A combination of these star studded invitations left me little room to manouvre and that is why I am here.Understandably, this Cathedral is having one of the biggest crowds it has ever had barring either priestly ordinations or Sisters making their final vows. 

Many people would be tempted to wonder why a simple event of this nature should attract so much attention. Well, I recall what happened in Kano some time in the 80s when most of the prominent Muslims across Nigeria trooped to Kano to formally receive Chief Nzeribe who was alleged to have converted to Islam. Those who remember will recall that the huge crowd finally dispersed because Chief Nzeribe finally did not show up!Our presence here will naturally elicit curiosity among friends and foes. 

There are former and current political and business associates, family friends, school mates and so on. Whatever may be your reasons for being here, we are glad that the Nwobodo family has brought us here to rejoice with them. We are gathered not to judge for as Pope Francis has warned us: Human beings, whenever they judge, look no further than the surface while the father looks into the very depth of the soul. How much harm words do when they are motivated by jealousy and envy. 

To speak ill of others puts them in bad light, undermines their reputation and leaves them prey to whims of gossip. As pastors, we judge no one who approaches God’s door of Mercy to which we are mere gatekeepers. So I am here to encourage Chief Nwobodo to kneel before God and in the words of the publican say, Lord, be merciful to me a sinner (Lk.18:13).Please do not be mistaken. We are not here to celebrate what for some might be a big catch. We are not celebrating a victory, nor should anyone feel a sense of loss or defeat. 

The Catholic Church has not gone out fishing to find Chief Nwobodo. To the extent that we are all Christians, children of God, his decision to come to the Catholic Church is at best a return home. I say return home for reasons that all of us who are Christians already know.

I do not need to bore you, but at least we know that before 1517, every Christian was Catholic. As such, today we know that:

If you are Lutheran the your Church was founded by Fr Martin Luther in Germany in 1517
If you are Menonite, your Church was founded by Grebel, Mantz and Blaurock, in 1525
If you are Anglican, then your Church was founded by King Henry XIII in 1534
If you are a Presbyterian, then your Church was founded by John Knox in 1560
If you are a Congregationalist, then your Church was founded by Robert Brown, in Holland in 1583
If you are Baptist, then your Church was founded by John Smith in Amsterdam, in 1606 If you are a Methodist, then your Church was founded by John Murray in New Jersey, in 1770
If you are a Mormon or Latter Day Saint, then your church was founded by Joseph Smith in New York, in 1829
If you are a Seven Day Adventist, your Church was founded by William Miller in 1831
If you are Salvation Army, then know that your Church was founded by William Booth in 1865
If you are Jehovah Witness, then know that your Church was founded by Charles Russell in 1872Here at home,

if you are Redeemed Christian Church of God, then you know that you were founded in 1952 by Josiah Akindayomi

If you are a member of Deeper Life Bible Church, then you were founded by Pastor William Kumuyi in Lagos in 1973

If you are Mountain of Fire, then you were founded by Dr. Daniel Olukoya in 1989. We can go on and on. 

I am listing this not to denigrate anyone but just to set the records straight. The Catholic Church has remained where it has been since Christ instituted the Eucharist, called the Last Supper. 

We continue to do over and over what He commanded when He uttered those holy words over the bread and cup, take and eat, take and drink and ordered them to do this in His Memory until He comes again (Mt. 26:26). So, we were founded by Jesus Christ, beginning with that gathering at Pentecost (Acts 2:1) over two thousand years ago led by 266 successors of the Chair of St. Peter. 

That is who we are and what we represent.We must give thanks and praise to God our Father Almighty for the gift of the Holy Spirit which has inspired and continues to inspire thousands of men and women to give glory to His name. it is not in our place to judge anyone except that we both as Christians or citizens have a duty to listen to St. John who has enjoined us not to believe everyone who claims to be guided by the spirit. John calls on us to; test every spirit to see if they are from God because many false prophets have gone into the world (1 Jn. 4:1). 

There is no gainsaying that a highly criminalized and fraudulent society has continued to answer the calls of various kinds of spirits and prophets who produce prophesies to suit the social, economic and political fraud of the moment. In a dysfunctional society such as ours, where the corruption of the moment his produced a culture of relativity, we now have a society whose moral compass is constantly shifting to adjust to the expectations of the moment. 

The Nigerian economy and political systems are merely paying lip service to international norms of scientific conduct and relations. Economic prosperity or political processes and outcomes are neither the result of sound economic policies but the magic of spiritual entrepreneurs who prey the political landscape prowling on the unwary with the greed of lions looking for whom to devour (1 Pet 5:8). 

It is not clear whether winners of elections should praise and trust the efficacy of Electoral machinery or the efficacy of prophets and prayer warriors. This moral ambiguity has placed religion under scrutiny. 

What impact has Christianity made in our society? If the illiterate men that Jesus called and finally handed His Gospel to were able to take it to the ends of the earth, how come we are seemingly unable to make the world feel the impact of Christianity? Jesus told His successors to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, but warned them to drop all earthly means of support and power: Carry no clothes, money, sandals and so on ( Lk. 9:3, 10:4).

Today, it seems the burden of wealth, power and position have become obstacles to the impact of Christianity. On a day like this, we must seek to return to the true message of our Lord and Saviour.Since the election of Pope Francis, the 266th Pontiff on March 13th, 2013, the entire world has had to sit up and see the Catholic Church completely differently. A Church that had been vilified and become morally demoralized has suddenly leapt into public life, re-igniting the world with curiosity, enthusiasm and excitement among non-Catholics, non-Christians and non-believers. 

Today the Catholic Church is enjoying a re-awakening and vitality that was unthinkable barely four years ago. Indeed, on January 4, this year, Deepak Chopra wrote an article which was published on the Yahoo website titled, Will Pope Francis become a Holy Man for the world? The article from a non-Christian was a song of praise for how Pope Francis has brought freshness and simplicity into the Catholic Church leading to a new awakening around the world. 

Chief Nwobodo has responded to this new voice and all we can say is: This is the Lord’s doing, we rejoice and it is marvelous in our eyes (Ps 118: 23, Mk. 12:11).In confronting these realities, Pope Francis has literally set out to re-awaken our consciousness of our understanding of the faith itself and our challenge as evangelisers.

He was barely six months a Pope when he published his Apostolic Exhortation titled, Evangelii Gaudium, the Joy of the Gospel on November 24th, 2014. Central to his message has been the need to re-enkindle the spirit of the joys of the good news brought to us by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He called on Christians not to behave or look like men and women coming back from a funeral but to become joyful. He called on priests not to turn the confessional into torture chambers where penitents experience psychological crisis and pain instead of the liberating message of Christ our Redeemer.Indeed, Pope Francis in the same Document warned Christians of six types of robberies that they must look out against. In order not to be robbed of the joy of the gospel, the Pope enjoins Christians to imbibe the fragrance of the Gospel. Then, he proceeded to warn Christians against being robbed of the Joy of Evangelisation, joy of Hope, joy of a sense of Community, joy of the Gospel, joy of fraternal love, and joy of Missionary vigour. It is against this background that the Holy Father enjoined Consecrated Men and Women to wake up the world to the realities of the joys of being a Christian today.

Another key component of the preoccupation of Pope Francis has been the message of what I will call the Gospel of Mercy. At a time when Nigeria is writhen in the pain and convulsion of corruption, a disease that has ravaged every artery of our body, we must hear this message. Today our disfigured country is paying the price for the affliction of corruption. We now have a country that is more divided than almost at any time in our history, a society largely socially and culturally disoriented, a country where a substantial percentage of office holders are far less competent and motivated towards doing good, than those they lead, a country whose growth has been arrested and stunted. We are paying for the years and years of outrageous and gargantuan corruption perpetuated by the insatiable and irresponsible appetite of its elite. 

Today, with wide oceans of inequality between public officers and the rest of Nigeria, violence and anger are the identity cards carried by the victims.Our leaders say that we cannot develop in an environment of violence and instability. What they fail to accept is that the violence in society is the reaction of the victims. The Pope said: The poor and the poorer peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and eventually explode. 

When a society – whether local, national or global – is willing to leave a part of itself on the fringes, no political programmes or resources spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can indefinitely guarantee tranquility.I want to appeal to the Igbo political and religious elite to close ranks and take charge of the future of the people of this area.

Please learn from the mistakes of the elites elsewhere when politics was allowed to trump the urgent task of community building. You must take charge and by negotiation and using back room channels, improve on the quality of the sound of the music produced by your Youth. Do not ignore them but in patience, process and improve on the quality of their sound. You enjoy ethnic, moral and cultural harmony to a large degree since you loosely speak one tongue and are predominantly Christians. So, as St. Paul said to the Colossians, Let the message of Christ in all its riches fill your hearts, use it to teach and admonish one another (Col 3:16). You have lessons from the tragedy of the war and you have lessons from within and outside Nigeria of allowing youth frustration and restiveness to gestate. 

There is a saying in Hausa: If you see your brother’s beard on fire, put water on your own. Let men and women of courage become peacemakers. The time is now and the place to start is here. May the Lord inspire you. We Catholics, nay Christians, must turn our Religion into a force for good. Today, neo-paganism and Voodooism have combined to poison the message of Christianity. It is a tragedy that while calling themselves Christians, many of our political and economic elite continue to traverse the length and breathe of Nigeria seeking for prophets, priests, to compel God to answer their wishes. The central message of Christ was not miracles or prophesies or even healings, at least not in the dramatic way we now see them as they are calculated to call attention the powerful men of God. While our so called men of God are putting out posters and selling all kinds of dubious wares, they must ask how this compares with Jesus simply went about doing good, Jesus who went into hiding when they were about to take him and make him King by force(Acts 10:30, Jn. 6:15). 

My dear friends, brothers and sisters, this gathering should remind us of the need to remake a broken world such as ours. It is a time for us to recall the father of love and compassion. We are being called by a Merciful God who does not keep record of our sins but asks us to forgive seventy times seven times (Mt. 18:22), the one who overlooked the scandalous lives of men and women unacceptable to society but welcomed by him as in the call of Matthew(Mt. 9:9, or Zacheus, Lk.19:1ff, ate with sinners(Mt. 9:11, or allowed the woman with a bad name and reputation to anoint him and kiss his feet (Lk. 7: 36ff). 

The challenge for us Christians is to ask how we allowed Mercy to slip out of the grammar of Christianity. How did raw power and the quest for vengeance take centre stage in the daily grammar of our lives as we have today? We hear such sayings as Do me I do you, God no go vex, Return to Sender, Holy Ghost fire, all as metaphors for vengeance and the quest for afflictions of our enemies, all in sharp contrast to what Jesus Himself has taught us. We Christians can and must change our world. Again, Pope Francis has said, Do not fall into the terrible trap of thinking that life depends on money and power.So on this day of the baptism of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, may the Lord of mercy let His blessing come down upon us. To our friend and brother Chief Nwobodo, we commit you and your entire family to God asking for mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation. We thank the Anglican Church for nurturing you all these years. Those who think that their loss is our gain are mistaken. We are not building empires or playing politics. We are working in the Lord’s vineyard as His servants. We have a duty to show the light to the rest of our society. So, there is neither room for sulking nor triumphalism, let us close ranks as leaders of Christ’s faithful. 

We should thank Patricia, his wife whose dutiful commitment to the Church must have served as an inspiration both to her husband and children. God bless your family. In the end, we are a family of God’s children and doing His work in faithfulness defies the boundaries of our denominations. So, in prayer, let us close ranks. May God bless the people of Enugu State, may He bless and give peace to Nigeria.

 

 

 http://www.uwakwereflections.com/2016/01/bishop-matthew-hassan-kukahs-sermon-on.html

15th Sunday of Year B 2015....DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Amos 7,12-15; Ephesians 1,3-14; Mark 6,7-13:  15^th  Sunday of Year B 2015)

 

God himself is the architect and giver of every genuine vocation.  When he calls, he gives the one called the inspiration and accompanies him or her with the grace to meet up with the demands of the call.  The choice God makes of us does not depend on any merit of ours.  This truth compels us to always cultivate a healthy sense of unworthiness, knowing that nothing qualifies us to take up whatever vocation in life except the choice God makes for us out of his unbounded love.

Amos realized this truth about his vocation as a prophet.  In today’s first reading, he was quick to remind Amaziah that his prophetic mission was God-given and not something he consciously decided to embark upon. “…it was the Lord who took me from herding the flock, and the Lord who said, ‘Go, prophecy to my people Israel’”. The only qualification Amos laid claim to, was the fact that it was the Lord himself who called him and gave him the mission.  It was all God’s own initiative; all he did was to make himself available. In exercising his prophetic call, Amos made sure he followed God’s directives and conveyed His message to the people without diluting it, making it to suit the political stake holders of his time or allying himself to them. He was not a court prophet who was in the King’s pay role or that of a powerful and influential politician.  He did not tailor his messages to suit the taste of the one who pays for his livelihood as the court prophets did and even Amaziah in the first reading of today. He did not compromise his call, and was then in the position to criticize and condemn the evil actions of the powerful ones in the society.  What is more, the message of Amos included calling the people of Israel to be faithful to their covenantal relationship with God, allowing the practice of divine cult (worship) to be reflected in their daily life, keeping the commandment of God and practicing social justice. 

In the second reading, St. Paul made the link between our fundamental vocation as Christians – the call to holiness, and the fact that it was God’s own choice that necessarily qualifies us clear: “…he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence”. The choice God makes of us, confers on us a new identity and demands from us a co-operation that is total and unconditional.  There must be that readiness to be able to adapt to these demands no matter the inconveniences involved.

While conferring their mission on the Twelve and sending them out in today’s gospel, Jesus challenged them to be prepared for the ‘inconveniences’ of their calling: “…no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses….”. The single-minded attention demanded by their mission would not admit of any preoccupation with personal convenience.  They were called to place all their confidence in God’s providence. Interestingly, the Lord who initiated their whole mission always ensured that they never lacked.  The same experience is extended to us in our struggle to answer God’s call and be faithful to the demands of our calling.  When we single-mindedly devote ourselves to seeking and doing God’s will in the different vocations he entrusts to us in this life, He always has a way of taking care of our needs and basic conveniences.  The initiative, the choice and the sustaining grace are all His.  All that we bring into the picture is our willful co-operation and availability. Assured of God’s providence in the mission He sends us today as he sent the apostles, we are to concentrate our message, as the apostles did, by preaching repentance (conversion). Conversion in effect means changing our attitudes to be in line with God’s will. Our behaviour follows then our attitude. This in effect will mean avoiding sin and all the occasions of sin, and keeping God’s commandments.  As the Latin adage holds: Nemo dat quod non habet (No one gives what he has not), we cannot preach conversion to others when we are not yet converted. Let us, therefore, pray in this Eucharistic Liturgy that the good Lord may bestow on us the gift of conversion that will enable us to be faithful to our vocation as Christians, so that our preaching, in words and deeds, will have positive effects in our lives, and in the lives of our neighbours. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH: Commemoration of All Souls: Year A....(Job 19,1.23-27; Romans 5,5-11; John 6,37-40: )

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

On this day, the commemoration of the faithful departed the liturgy offers us several readings. The first reading is from the book of Job in which is already inserted a strong hope of the resurrection. The second reading shows how Christ has, through his death and resurrection, attained this resurrection, total victory over death.  The gospel reading is a passage of Jesus’ discussion on the bread of life, a passage in which he announces that his mission is that of offering resurrection to all those people whom the Father sends to him as his disciples. 

There was not a clear faith in the resurrection, during the Old Testament, even though there was the strong desire to escape from death. This desire to escape death motivated a lot of the authors of various psalms in asking to be kept alive and be delivered from the sickness that was threatening their lives. It was such motivation that made Job to express the hope that he had a redeemer who would keep him in life and whom his mortal flesh and mortal eyes hoped to see. This expression of hope to see God and to live beyond this life was an inspiration. In the OT, the victory over death was regarded as the work of God himself. God was the God of life and was not the author of death (Wisdom 1,13); He does not want the death of the sinner, but that a sinner repents and lives (Ezek 18,23). God wishes, from the onset, to communicate the fullness of life to people. This is our consolation. As we think of our dead ones, especially today, we have the blessed assurance that God will continue to give life to their souls and that on the last day he will also grant eternal life to their mortal bodies. 

In the gospel reading, Jesus clearly affirms that the Father gave him the power to communicate life. He maintains that he did not come to the world to do his will but to do the will of the one who sent him. And the primary will of the one who sent him was that he would not lose any of the people that had been entrusted to him, and that he would raise them up on the last day. The implication of this is that Jesus will bestow the fullness of the life of resurrection to all the people who have been given to him by God the Father. Therefore, God’s will is that of communicating life as Jesus affirms in these words: The will of my Father is that whoever sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. This is our hope for our dear brothers and sisters who have passed on to the Lord and it is also what we hope for ourselves. We have the hope of meeting with them alive, not only in life that is similar to what we have now but one that is more beautiful and full. We should be filled with the hope of having this life, even though the death of any of our beloved ones causes sorrow. We have to have it clear in our mind that what death causes is a temporal separation and not a permanent one, for we are still united to our brothers and sisters, thanks to our union with Christ. We shall unite with them permanently in the fullness of life one day. This is God’s will for us all.  

In the second reading, Paul explains that our hope does not delude us. This is because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. The love of Jesus has vanquished death. This is the basis of our hope. The death of Christ is victory over death. Jesus died for us when we were still sinners. This was what demonstrates concretely the love he has for us. This death of Christ, which is victory over death, gives us the assurance that we have been permanently saved. We are, therefore, reconciled to God the Father, through the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is why we should have a very strong hope that our dead brothers and sisters are enjoying the new life that comes from the victory over death, a victory, wrought through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We who are still alive should also have the hope of new life for ourselves. 

For us Christians, this day of the commemoration of the souls of our dead brothers and sisters should not be a sad one; rather it should be a day of hope, in which we anticipate the joys of everlasting life. May we pray assiduously in this Eucharistic celebration that the good Lord may grant, through the victory of Jesus over death, eternal life to our dead brothers and sisters and to bestow those of us still alive the graces to so co-operate with the graces of God as to enable us enjoy eternal life as soon as we pass on to the Lord. 

Happy Commemoration of the Holy souls and Happy Sunday! 

+John I. Okoye

(graphics and pictures by blogger)