Pentecost Sunday, Year C: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima

Theme: The Unifying and Renewing Power of the Holy Spirit

Readings: Acts: 2:1-11; Rm 8:8-17; Jn 14:15-16,23b-26

Dearest brothers and sisters, today the Mother Church celebrates her birthday, the solemnity of the Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples with tongues of fire, empowering them to speak in many languages. It was the day the Holy Spirit confirmed the institution of the Church and empowered the disciples of Jesus to begin the ministry entrusted to them by Jesus.

Actually, the term ‘Pentecost’ means the fiftieth day, and it was on the fiftieth day after the resurrection that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. According to the Old Testament traditions, the feast of the Pentecost was already an important feast in the life and history of the Jews. On this day, the Israelites celebrated two events in their history. First, on Pentecost, the Jews commemorated the giving of the ten commandments to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, which happened fifty days after the Passover. They called it the feast of weeks (in Hebrew language, ‘chang ha shevout’). Secondly, on the Pentecost, Jews also celebrated their agricultural feast, offering the first loaves from their farm to God. They called it the festival of Harvest (in Hebrew language, Yom ha-bikkurim). These two great Jewish feasts, celebrated on the Pentecost, attracted a considerable number of Jews from around the globe to Jerusalem, allowing them to connect with their faith and homeland. It was due to this large assembly of Jews in Jerusalem for their feasts that many people from various parts of the world were present on the day the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples, as described in the first reading. So, Christ chose the best day to send the Holy Spirit upon his disciples and to inaugurate his church – the day the whole world gathered in Jerusalem – so that the message of the resurrection will reach the whole world.

The feast of Pentecost is very important in the life of the church because of the impact of the Holy Spirit on the early Church, the contemporary Church, and on each of us. It was the Holy Spirit that transformed the apostles from fearful men into men who were filled with strength and courage to preach the Good News to all humanity. It is essential to recall that prior to Pentecost, the disciples were afraid of going out to preach the Good News; however, once the Holy Spirit descended upon them, they rushed out of the house and began to proclaim the message of the resurrection boldly. The presence of the Holy Spirit made the difference and has continued to make a difference. Therefore, let us pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit in our Churches and homes, to liberate us from our fears and to empower us with the courage to be effective witnesses of Christ wherever we live and wherever we go.

The coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles also signified that the hand of God has once more assumed control over humanity. In the book of Genesis, chapter eleven, as we read in the first reading of the vigil mass of this feast, we heard the story of the Tower of Babel. In this story, God used the power of different languages to confuse and disperse humanity all over the world when they wanted to build a tower of equality with Him. However, on the feast of Pentecost, God utilized the same tool of multiple languages to reunite humanity. The first reading of today told us that the disciples spoke in many languages on the Pentecost, yet people of other tongues understood them in their own languages. It was indeed a great unity through language. Dear friends, what this unity of language tells us is that Pentecost is a feast of unity and new life. It is the celebration of the outpouring of new life into the church and the world because the hand of God has touched humanity once again. This feast challenges us, who have been blessed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to live the life of unity and newness.

Dear friends, if the hand of God has touched you through the Holy Spirit, your life should bear the fruits of unity and newness; your life should testify to the presence of the Holy Spirit. This was the point St Paul was making in the second reading of today. He indicated that there should be a clear distinction between the lives of those who are governed by the flesh (meaning those who have not received the Spirit) and the lives of those who are guided by the Spirit. St. Paul expects that all of us in whom the Spirit dwells to live exemplary lives in the world. It would be quite unfortunate if those who embody the Spirit of Christ were to lead lives contrary to Christ's teachings, indulging instead in a life that satisfies the flesh. The lives of those who possess the Spirit of Christ should yield the fruits of love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Let us, therefore, ask the Holy Spirit to intercede for us in today’s mass and that the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which have been bestowed upon us and the Church—namely, the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, understanding, piety, and fear of the Lord—may be revitalized, enabling us to live a renewed life characterized by unity, love, peace, harmony, charity, and kindness everyday of our life. Let us unite our voices with that of today's psalmist in prayer, saying, "Lord, send forth your spirit, and renew the face of the earth." Amen.

Peace be with you.

Happy feast of the Pentecost.

Rev. Fr Isaac Chinemerem Chima

 7^th Sunday, Year C: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima

Theme: The true identity of those redeemed by Christ

Readings: 1 Sam 26:2, 7-9, 12-23; I Cor 15:45-49; Lk 6:27-38

 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, one of the problems we see among many Christians is the inability to remain faithful to the Christian identity in words and in actions. It appears many Christians are forgetting the distinguishing qualities that Christians are known for. In the Acts of the Apostles, the people of Antioch identified the followers of Christ by the way they acted in society and the way they treated themselves. It has, however, become difficult for present-day Christians to distinguish themselves from those who don’t know Christ. Often, many Christians are at the forefront of the promotion of many unchristian behaviours in the world. For example, many Christians join in the promotion of inhuman and anti-life policies, as well as the promotion of all manner of evil and sinful practices in the world. Some Christians support their unholy actions in society with the argument that the Church and the state must be separated. The people who hold on to this argument, however, refuse to understand that the teachings of the Church are solidly supported by moral and natural laws and, as such, are for the well-being of the society.

To draw our attention to the difference that should exist between the lives of those who have accepted Christ and the lives of those who are not yet Christians, the Church presents us the beautiful readings of this Sunday. Through these readings, the church reminds us of the essential virtues and elements of the Christian life. They include mercy and compassion, love of God and neighbour, self-control and appreciation of values, moral responsibility, awareness of sin and the sense of the sacred.

In the second reading of today, St. Paul made a beautiful comparison between Christ and Adam. According to Paul, there should be a progression from the type of life received from Adam to the life received from Christ by those who have been redeemed through baptism in Christ. So, in this reading, St. Paul is calling for a significant difference between the attitudes of those who have accepted Christ and those who have not. Those who are not Christians are still tied to things that are below, that is, to the dust, but those who have been redeemed by Christ have been elevated by a life-giving spirit; they are to look towards heaven – to things that are above. He said, “As was the man of dust (Adam), so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven (Christ), so are those who are of heaven.”

Earlier on, St. Paul had informed Christians that anyone who has been baptized in Christ has become a new creature, the old life has passed away, and the new life has begun. In many places St. Paul made his audience to understand that the life of those who are in Christ have been won by grace, unlike those who are still living under the bondage of the law and the old life of sin.

In the gospel of today, Jesus gave us a beautiful sermon on the essential qualities that should be the identity - the differential factor - of those who are Christians. He said, “But to you who are listening, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.” So, Christ is saying that while the lives of non-Christians are often guided by vengeance and retributive justice, the lives of Christians should rather reflect love, forgiveness, mercy, and compassion. No Christian should repay evil for evil because vengeance is God’s.

Furthermore, Christ instructed that the lives of Christians should reflect generosity to everyone and love to everyone, especially to those who do not merit their love. Christians are not to pass judgement on people nor condemn people. He said, “Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back…Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

Dear friends, these virtues required by Christ for every Christian are difficult to live out; some people may see them as impossible, but Christ demonstrated how possible they are by being an example for us on the cross. Therefore, whenever we look at the Cross and anytime we do the sign of the Cross, we are reminded that the Christian life demanded by Christ is very possible.

The first reading of today also showed us the possibility of living the type of life required by Christ. In this reading, David had every opportunity to end his sorrows by killing his enemy, Saul, but he refused to yield to vengeance, even when his friend urged him to do it. While David represented that elevated life that every Christian should live, Saul represented that low life of the unchristian mind that seeks to kill its enemy.

Dear friends, the Church invites us to emulate what David did in the first reading. We should stop looking for opportunities to take revenge against our offenders. We should stop praying for opportunities to inflict pain on our offenders. We must not bow to pressures from circumstances or from our colleagues to do evil. This is because two wrongs can never make one right. A reprisal attack or revenge may hurt one even more than it will hurt one’s offender. But forgiveness heals all wounds and wipes all tears away.

Let us, therefore, pray in today’s Holy Mass to remain faithful to our identity as Christians, to remain steadfast to that type of life required of us by Christ.

Peace be with you. Happy Sunday.

Fr Isaac Chinemerem Chima

 6^th Sunday, Year C: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Theme: The blessedness of trusting in God.

Readings:  Jer. 17:5-8; I Cor 15:12.16-20; Lk 6:17.20-26

Dear friends in Christ, in this Holy Mass of the 6^th Sunday of the year, the Church invites us to re-examine our relationship with God once again to know the level of trust we have in this God of ours. The Church also informs us that we are totally safe when we place our trust in God and in His Son Jesus Christ. Truly speaking, trust is always one of the basic factors of every true relationship. Whenever trust is lacking in a relationship, such a relationship is as good as dead.

Since we are social animals, people who need the other to survive, trusting the other and ourselves is also one of the keys to a stable relationship. When we trust the other, we give room for a healthy relationship. Trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something. So, to trust is to establish a relationship with the reality that is trusted. Furthermore, when one trusts in himself, he challenges himself to rise beyond the ordinary.

However, trust is a very delicate thing, and it has always been a big risk putting total trust in human strengths and in other human beings. Total reliance on human beings has led many people to disappointments and the fear to trust again. But today, the Church reminds us that we have a friend who is more than just a friend, a friend who is reliable and cannot fail those who trust in Him, a friend in whose company we do not have to be afraid of betrayal of trust. This friend is God.

To draw our attention to this friend, the Church gives us the readings of today, which made comparisons between the fate of those who trust in God and those who trust in human beings or their own abilities alone.

Today’s first reading from the book of Jeremiah reminds us of the consequences of trusting solely in our abilities, in our human strength, and in human beings. It says, “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like the tree planted by the waterside; it does not cease to bear fruits.” This reading simply reminds us of the risk we face when we cede the place of God in our lives to human beings and what we stand to gain when we hand over our life, our plans, and our purposes to God. This reading challenges us to ask ourselves this crucial question: In what or in whom have I put my trust? Is it in God, in man, or in material things? This reading, however, is not saying that trusting in God is a call to stop believing in what we can do for ourselves; rather, it is a call to recognize that it is God who sustains, confirms, and blesses our ways and efforts.

To place one’s trust in God is a great source of blessing and interior joy. For this reason, the psalmist reminds us that “those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion that can never be shaken.” (Ps 125:1) In the same line, the psalm of today gives a very wonderful description of the blessings that come to those who put their trust in God. It says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.” He is like a tree planted along streams of water, which bears fruit in his time: his leaves do not wither, and everything he does is successful.

The gospel of today presents us St. Luke’s version of the beatitudes. Beatitudes means blessedness. The gospel of St. Matthew has another version of the beatitudes. We may have noticed that while that of St. Matthew is called the Sermon on the mount, Luke’s version was given on the plain and could be called the Sermon on the Plain. Luke’s and Matthew’s versions of the beatitudes present little differences in number and style. But we are not going to dwell on those variations here.

So, in his own version of the beatitudes, Luke pronounced certain groups of people as blessed and some others as accursed. He said: Blessed are the poor, the hungry, those who cry, and those who are persecuted for the sake of Christ. These categories of people Luke pronounced as blessed are the opposites of those the world believes to be actually happy and fortunate. One may then wonder why Luke chose to pronounce such people as blessed. The reason is that Luke believes that material poverty leads to greater detachment from the things of this world, thereby allowing people to attach themselves to spiritual values and then focus only on God. This takes us back to the topic of trust in God as proposed by Jeremiah in the first reading. So, the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the persecuted are blessed because God is their only hope for survival; they put their entire trust in God.

Luke, then, affirms that material riches and success can lead people to trust only in themselves, refusing to acknowledge God’s providence and grace. In that case, Luke announced woes to those who have no place for God in their success stories, those who have ceded the place of God to human beings and material possessions. They are indeed accursed for not believing that it is God who provides and sustains.

In the second reading of today, St. Paul also hints at the theme of trust in God. He urged Christians not to allow their faith and hope to end in this world and in material things, but that the reality of the resurrection of Christ should be their conviction that there exists a life after this worldly existence. If there is life after this world, we should, then, be filled with trust and hope in God, who will raise us on the last day and reward us with eternal bliss in heaven.

Peace be with you

Happy Sunday to you

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima

 6^TH SUNDAY, YEAR C: REFLECTION BY FR. JULIAN EKEH

THEME: ATTRACT BLESSINGS AND NOT WOES

(Luke 6:17.20-26)

Jesus comes to us with blessings from God. He is a trustworthy Saviour. The Gospel Reading of today is a follow-up from the episode where Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, to seek the face of His Father, to bring down heavenly blessings to humanity. When He came down, He called people to be co-bearers of this blessing. He started with 12, and with time, their number grew, and he started teaching them the way to blessedness. The blessing of Jesus Christ is not conditional. It is a type that is felt in every situation, a blessing that locates you in every condition whatsoever, a blessing that tells you how much God cares about you. A blessing that explains indeed why Jesus came, why He comes and continues to come to us:

TO HEAL AND LIBERATE

Even before speaking the words of blessing, Jesus had already started with deeds that bless. People gathered to be touched and, as many as touched him, got healed of their diseases. He's the Lord that healeth thee.

TO LOOK INTO AND BLESS EVERY SITUATION

The crowd can never stop Jesus from locating you if you are His own. The word says: 'looking at his disciples'. Another translation puts it this way: 'fixing his eyes on his disciples'. God looks lovingly on us in our situations. Open yourself to Him. Yes, lay bare your life before Him as you are. He looks for you and on you to bless you based on what you are facing at the moment. Stop claiming what you're not. Be you, and God will raise and bless you.

God sees what you're going through, and He is speaking words of blessing to each and every one of your situations: You're poor, but the Lord says you have a rich God who is in heaven. So He tells you: Yours is the kingdom of heaven, look up to heaven because it is from there that God supplies for you according to His riches in glory. Meanwhile, He has blessed us already with His riches in glory. May our bad government and corruption, nor laziness not stop us from receiving the blessings packaged by God for us.

Are you hungry now? The Lord is promising you satisfaction. May you be satisfied with good things. He gives His people bread from heaven, having all sweetness in it.

Are you weeping now? You must laugh. In some people's lives 'ihe ato ochi agwula' (there's no reason to laugh), no course for joy, there's every reason to wail. Such people go to the office, they behold problem, they go to the market, lo and behold trouble. They go to bed, soaking their pillows with tears. Night and day, their hearts are weary with looking upwards. They drink alcohol, sleep, and wake up with the cause of their cry staring them at the face. The Lord is saying: weep no more, I am here for you. Am here to comfort you. Egbula onwe gi.

Are you hated for good? Rejoice! God will fight for you.

Why do you fight the person you are fighting? Gini ka o mere gi?

FROM WHERE THEN CAME THE WOES?

God doesn't curse. Curse is a consequence of one's refusal to be blessed. Rejection of divine Benediction results to woes.

Woe to you when you choose to get rich by impoverishing others.  Woe to you if ala arighi mma wu uru gi ka onye nze, if you're 'oji akpa eli ozu' if you're 'ori na crisis '(people who feed fat in bad times)

Are you feeding fat through poor people's sweat? You will vomit it through one means or the other.

If you're rejoicing because of what you should weep for... Be careful.

Are people clapping for you when you're not getting it right? They're digging your grave.

TAKE HOME QUESTIONS

Do you attract blessings or woes by your actions and inactions?

Are you a blessing or a curse to your generation?

Are you a disappointment or blessing to yourself and to God?

PRAYERS

May God appoint you for blessings and not curse.

May God free us from every form of curse.

May He lavish His numerous blessings upon us through Christ our Lord. Amen

Happy Sunday to You (6th Sunday, Ordinary Time Yr. C)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

 Feast of the Holy Family, Year C: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima

Theme: Imitating the virtues of the Holy Family

Readings: 1 Sam 1:20-22,24-28; 1 Jn 3:1-2,21-24; Lk 2:41-52

Dear brothers and sisters, today is a great feast that celebrates the beauty of an institution established by God from creation – the Family. The Church presents us the wonderful family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as a model of every Christian family; she invites us to learn some virtues from them so that we would be to build up our own families in accordance with the will of God. 

The first reading showed us how a mother, who appreciated the fact that children are gifts from God, helped her son to know God and to enter into God’s service for all the rest of his life. The psalm reminds us how lovely God’s house is and how blessed those who make this house theirs would be. If we make our families the dwelling for God, we will be happy and blessed. In the second reading, St. John showcases love as the uniting force for all those who are children of God and, consequently, for every family. There cannot be a family if love is absent. In the gospel, we saw the amount of love the father and mother of Jesus showered on Him by not relenting until they had found Him and ensured that He was safe. We equally saw the obedience of Jesus to his parents. There are some wonderful lessons we can learn from the three persons (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) of the Holy Family.

Now, let us turn our attention to the person of Joseph to learn some virtues of a husband in the family. Joseph was a man who showed perfect love, devotion, and care for his wife, Mary, even in the most extreme circumstances. Every husband should be a man of devotional love and care to his wife in all circumstances of life.

Joseph did not want to disgrace his wife when he found out that she was pregnant outside their marriage. What does this teach us? It tells us that every husband should seek what is best for his wife. Tolerance is the key.

Joseph was a protector of the Holy Family, especially in times of danger, guiding the Holy Family to Egypt and back to protect them from the Massacre of Herod. Dear friends, every husband should protect his family from all threats to peaceful existence.

With Mary, Joseph searched for Jesus when he was lost in the temple. Loving parents would always search for their children whenever they were not where they wanted them to be. They will not allow their children to be lost to bad friendships in the society.

Let us also look at the person of Mary. Her silence and faith in God are golden. She was a woman of faith, who believed in God and put herself at the service of God and her husband. Any woman who is close to God would love her husband and children unconditionally.

The peaceful home of the holy family was a demonstration that Mary was a woman of peace and few words. Peace should be the second name of every woman in the family. Every woman ought to be a messenger of peace, love, and care to her husband and children. Mary was a caring mother to her family, a housekeeper who was close to her son. Every woman ought to be a homemaker and a close friend to her children to know their needs and problems.

Together, parents have the responsibility to build a home where peace, love, care, and tolerance will be present; a family where children can grow in love and peace. Marriage is an institution of love.

Parents have the duty to train their children not only in school but also in the faith. Dear parents, teach your children faith in God, a good moral life, and good societal values, and they will be wonderful treasures to you. The family is the microcosm church, the first place where the children learn about God and morality. Therefore, parents should unite their families in prayer and the word of God every day. A family that prays together stays together. Do not forget to lead them to church to hear the word of God. The book of Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train your child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

How about the children? Obedience is the duty every child owes to parents. Christ was obedient to his parents: He obeyed and followed them back to Nazareth when they found him in the temple teaching the teachers of the law; He obeyed Mary at the marriage in Cana and, thus, performed his first miracle. Obedience to parents is the requirement of the fourth commandment. It says, “Honour your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” (Exodus 20:12). This is the only commandment that has a promise attached to it. Children should not grieve their parents by the type of friends they make, and they should not abandon their parents in their old age. 

I end this homily with the advice of Saint Paul to families in Ephesians 6:1-4: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth. Fathers and mothers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

May your family be blessed.

Fr. Isaac C. Chima

Pope's Message for World Mission Sunday 2024

Theme: Go and invite everyone to the banquet (cf. Mt 22:9)

Dear brothers and sisters!

The theme I have chosen for this year’s World Mission Day is taken from the Gospel parable of the wedding banquet (cf. Mt 22:1-14). After the guests refused his invitation, the king, the main character in the story, tells his servants: “Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find” (v. 9). Reflecting on this key passage in the context of the parable and of Jesus’ own life, we can discern several important aspects of evangelization. These appear particularly timely for all of us, as missionary disciples of Christ, during this final stage of the synodal journey that, in the words of its motto, “Communion, Participation, Mission”, seeks to refocus the Church on her primary task, which is the preaching of the Gospel in today’s world.

 

1.     “Go and invite!” Mission as a tireless going out to invite others to the Lord’s banquet

In the king’s command to his servants we find two words that express the heart of the mission: the verbs “to go out” and “to invite”.

 

As for the first, we need to remember that the servants had previously been sent to deliver the king’s invitation to the guests (cf. vv. 3-4). Mission, we see, is a tireless going out to all men and women, in order to invite them to encounter God and enter into communion with him. Tireless! God, great in love and rich in mercy, constantly sets out to encounter all men and women, and to call them to the happiness of his kingdom, even in the face of their indifference or refusal. Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd and messenger of the Father, went out in search of the lost sheep of the people of Israel and desired to go even further, in order to reach even the most distant sheep (cf. Jn 10:16). Both before and after his resurrection, he told his disciples, “Go!”, thus involving them in his own mission (cf. Lk 10:3; Mk 16:15). The Church, for her part, in fidelity to the mission she has received from the Lord, will continue to go to the ends of the earth, to set out over and over again, without ever growing weary or losing heart in the face of difficulties and obstacles.

 

I take this opportunity to thank all those missionaries who, in response to Christ’s call, have left everything behind to go far from their homeland and bring the Good News to places where people have not yet received it, or received it only recently. Dear friends, your generous dedication is a tangible expression of your commitment to the mission ad gentes that Jesus entrusted to his disciples: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). We continue to pray and we thank God for the new and numerous missionary vocations for the task of evangelization to the ends of the earth.

Let us not forget that every Christian is called to take part in this universal mission by offering his or her own witness to the Gospel in every context, so that the whole Church can continually go forth with her Lord and Master to the “crossroads” of today’s world. “Today’s drama in the Church is that Jesus keeps knocking on the door, but from within, so that we will let him out! Often we end up being an ‘imprisoning’ Church which does not let the Lord out, which keeps him as ‘its own’, whereas the Lord came for mission and wants us to be missionaries” (Address to Participants in the Conference organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, 18 February 2023). May all of us, the baptized, be ready to set out anew, each according to our state in life, to inaugurate a new missionary movement, as at the dawn of Christianity!

 

To return to the king’s command in the parable, the servants are told not only to “go”, but also to “invite”: “Come to the wedding!” (Mt 22:4). Here we can see another, no less important, aspect of the mission entrusted by God. As we can imagine, the servants conveyed the king’s invitation with urgency but also with great respect and kindness. In the same way, the mission of bringing the Gospel to every creature must necessarily imitate the same “style” of the One who is being preached. In proclaiming to the world “the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead” (Evangelii Gaudium, 36), missionary disciples should do so with joy, magnanimity and benevolence that are the fruits of the Holy Spirit within them (cf. Gal 5:22). Not by pressuring, coercing or proselytizing, but with closeness, compassion and tenderness, and in this way reflecting God’s own way of being and acting.

 

2. “To the marriage feast”. The eschatological and Eucharistic dimension of the mission of Christ and the Church.

In the parable, the king asks the servants to bring the invitation to his son’s wedding banquet. That banquet is a reflection of the eschatological banquet. It is an image of ultimate salvation in the Kingdom of God, fulfilled even now by the coming of Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God, who has given us life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10), symbolized by the table set with succulent food and with fine wines, when God will destroy death forever (cf. Is 25:6-8).

 

Christ’s mission has to do with the fullness of time, as he declared at the beginning of his preaching: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk 1:15). Christ’s disciples are called to continue this mission of their Lord and Master. Here we think of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council on the eschatological character of the Church’s missionary outreach: “The time for missionary activity extends between the first coming of the Lord and the second…, for the Gospel must be preached to all nations before the Lord shall come (cf. Mk 13:10)” (Ad Gentes, 9).

 

We know that among the first Christians missionary zeal had a powerful eschatological dimension. They sensed the urgency of the preaching of the Gospel. Today too it is important to maintain this perspective, since it helps us to evangelize with the joy of those who know that “the Lord is near” and with the hope of those who are pressing forward towards the goal, when all of us will be with Christ at his wedding feast in the kingdom of God. While the world sets before us the various “banquets” of consumerism, selfish comfort, the accumulation of wealth and individualism, the Gospel calls everyone to the divine banquet, marked by joy, sharing, justice and fraternity in communion with God and with others.

 

This fullness of life, which is Christ’s gift, is anticipated even now in the banquet of the Eucharist, which the Church celebrates at the Lord’s command in memory of him. The invitation to the eschatological banquet that we bring to everyone in our mission of evangelization is intrinsically linked to the invitation to the Eucharistic table, where the Lord feeds us with his word and with his Body and Blood. As Benedict XVI taught: “Every Eucharistic celebration sacramentally accomplishes the eschatological gathering of the People of God. For us, the Eucharistic banquet is a real foretaste of the final banquet foretold by the prophets (cf. Is 25:6-9) and described by the New Testament as ‘the marriage-feast of the Lamb’ (Rev 19:9), to be celebrated in the joy of the communion of the saints” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 31).

 

Consequently, all of us are called to experience more intensely every Eucharist, in all its dimensions, and particularly its eschatological and missionary dimensions. In this regard, I would reiterate that “we cannot approach the Eucharistic table without being drawn into the mission which, beginning in the very heart of God, is meant to reach all people” (ibid., 84). The Eucharistic renewal that many local Churches are laudably promoting in the post-Covid era will also be essential for reviving the missionary spirit in each member of the faithful. With how much greater faith and heartfelt enthusiasm should we recite at every Mass: “We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection, until you come again”!

 

In this year devoted to prayer in preparation for the Jubilee of 2025, I wish to encourage all to deepen their commitment above all to take part in the celebration of Mass and to pray for the Church’s mission of evangelization. In obedience to the Saviour’s command, she does not cease to pray, at every Eucharistic and liturgical celebration, the “Our Father”, with its petition, “Thy kingdom come”. In this way, daily prayer and the Eucharist in particular make us pilgrims and missionaries of hope, journeying towards everlasting life in God, towards the nuptial banquet that God has prepared for all his children.

 

3. “Everyone”. The universal mission of Christ’s disciples in the fully synodal and missionary Church

The third and last reflection concerns the recipients of the King’s invitation: “everyone”. As I emphasized, “This is the heart of mission: that ‘all’, excluding no one. Every mission of ours, then, is born from the heart of Christ in order that he may draw all to himself” (Address to the General Assembly of the Pontifical Missionary Societies, 3 June 2023). Today, in a world torn apart by divisions and conflicts, Christ’s Gospel remains the gentle yet firm voice that calls individuals to encounter one another, to recognize that they are brothers and sisters, and to rejoice in harmony amid diversity. “God our Saviour desires everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4). Let us never forget, then, that in our missionary activities we are asked to preach the Gospel to all: “Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, [we] should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet” (Evangelii Gaudium, 14).

 

Christ’s missionary disciples have always had a heartfelt concern for all persons, whatever their social or even moral status. The parable of the banquet tells us that, at the king’s orders, the servants gathered “all whom they found, both good and bad” (Mt 22:10). What is more, “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” (Lk 14:21), in a word, the least of our brothers and sisters, those marginalized by society, are the special guests of the king. The wedding feast of his Son that God has prepared remains always open to all, since his love for each of us is immense and unconditional. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have life eternal” (Jn 3:16). Everyone, every man and every woman, is invited by God to partake of his grace, which transforms and saves. One need simply say “yes” to this gratuitous divine gift, accepting it and allowing oneself be transformed by it, putting it on like a “wedding robe” (cf. Mt 22:12).

 

The mission for all requires the commitment of all. We need to continue our journey towards a fully synodal and missionary Church in the service of the Gospel. Synodality is essentially missionary and, vice versa, mission is always synodal. Consequently, close missionary cooperation is today all the more urgent and necessary, both in the universal Church and in the particular Churches. In the footsteps of the Second Vatican Council and my Predecessors, I recommend to all dioceses throughout the world the service of the Pontifical Mission Societies. They represent the primary means “by which Catholics are imbued from infancy with a truly universal and missionary outlook and [are] also a means for instituting an effective collecting of funds for all the missions, each according to its needs” (Ad Gentes, 38). For this reason, the collections of World Mission Day in all the local Churches are entirely destined to the universal fund of solidarity that the Pontifical Society of the Propagation of the Faith then distributes in the Pope’s name for the needs of all the Church’s missions. Let us pray that the Lord may guide us and help us to be a more synodal and a more missionary Church (cf. Homily for the Concluding Mass of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, 29 October 2023).

 

Finally, let us lift our gaze to Mary, who asked Jesus to perform his first miracle precisely at a wedding feast, in Cana of Galilee (cf. Jn 2:1-12). The Lord offered to the newlyweds and all the guests an abundance of new wine, as a foreshadowing of the nuptial banquet that God is preparing for all at the end of time. Let us implore her maternal intercession for the evangelizing mission of Christ’s disciples in our own time. With the joy and loving concern of our Mother, with the strength born of tenderness and affection (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 288), let us go forth to bring to everyone the invitation of the King, our Saviour. Holy Mary, Star of Evangelization, pray for us!

 

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 25 January 2024, Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul

 10^th Sunday, Year B: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Theme: What we shouldn’t do after falling into sin

Readings: Gen. 3:9-15; 2Cor. 4:13-5:1; Mk 3:20-25

Dear friends in Christ, on this 10^th Sunday, the Church wishes to call our attention to what a person who has committed a sin should not do. Often, when people commit sin, their reactions range from running away from God to refusing to acknowledge that they did anything wrong and to blaming others for their sins. Today, the Church is telling us that the proper response after committing a sin should not be refusal to admit our sins, nor blaming others for our sins, nor hiding from God, because these actions will not restore peace between us and God, nor between us and our fellow human beings.

Today’s first reading highlights some of the harms sin causes and some wrong reactions after committing sins. The first damage highlighted here is that sin wounds the nature of man. Man was innocent by nature before the fall, not knowing what is evil. But, as we saw in this reading, after the fall, man lost his innocence, realized that he was naked and covered himself with leaves; He became a slave to concupiscence, not only knowing evil but also yearning for it or suffering the attraction of it in everything he does. Sin steals our resemblance of God and gives us the nature of the devil.

The second damage mentioned in this reading is that sin ruptures our relationship with God because every sin is a violation of God’s commandment and, therefore, it distances us from God. In this reading, when Adam and Eve heard the sound of God's footsteps, they fled and hid themselves instead of running to embrace and kiss Him. They lost their friendship with God and, consequently, instead of receiving warm greetings and blessings from their Father, they received curses. Man’s loving relationship with God was destroyed by sin and has continued to be destroyed by sin.

The third damage is that sin weakens human solidarity by rupturing our relationship with one another and causing disharmony or disorder in the social realm. Sin causes a breach of peace, love and harmony, and breeds suspicion, hatred and discord. In this first reading, the relationship of mutual love between Adam and Eve was weakened. The snake that once had a conversation with human beings became the enemy of human beings and now inspires revulsion in them because enmity has been put between it and the offspring of Eve. There was also enmity between man and other animals. Let us say that creation lost its harmony with the entrance of sin.

This reading also highlighted the wrong reaction most people make when they fall into sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, their reaction after covering themselves was to hide from God out of shame and fear. When most people commit sins, they hide themselves from God and from anything that will remind them that what they did was wrong. In some cases, some people will stop coming to Church, so that they will not hear homilies that will condemn their actions, their choices or their lifestyles. Most times when people fall into error, they typically isolate themselves, refuse to listen to voices that prick their consciences and only open up to those that condone what they have done. Some people go to the extent of attacking those that tell them to repent.

In the gospel reading, the latter was the main point of contention between Jesus and the scribes. Rather than acknowledging their mistakes as exposed and corrected by Jesus, the scribes took to denying the authority of Jesus and rejecting his teachings and healings. Dear friends, we are reminded that hiding from God or from his words does not restore the relationship between us and God that has been weakened by our sins, it rather turns us into God’s enemies.   

The second wrong reaction we saw in this reading was the refusal of Adam and Eve to admit responsibility for what they did. Adam blamed Eve and God for what he did; Eve, on the other hand, blamed the serpent. There was no admission of the sin committed, there was no apology. Dear friends, refusing to admit our wrongdoings does not absolve us of our guilt before God and man, rather it causes us to refuse God’s freely offered forgiveness and restoration. 

Dear friends in Christ, the damages which sin causes to our nature, to our relationship with God and to solidarity among God’s creatures cannot be undone or restored by running away from God’s presence nor by denying our responsibilities for our wrong actions. Our healing and restoration can only come from sincere acceptance of our wrong actions, genuine repentance and confession in Christ.

Peace be with you

Fr Isaac Chima   

 10^th Sunday, Year B: Reflection by Fr Julian Ekeh

THEME: WHO POSSESSED YOU?

(Mark 3:20-35)

God created us for Himself.  He made us, and we belong to Him. He wishes that we share in His life. Our well-being gives Him joy. He wants to possess us. He owns us. We are marked by his image that we carry. Unfortunately, the enemy also wants to destroy the will of God for man. He feeds man with poison and opens his eyes to see evil as good and to always stretch out his hand to make the wrong choices in life. The enemy targets the moments man moves away from God. As an opportunist, he strikes to steal, kill, and destroy.

The same God who came to know where Adam and Eve were, to know their spiritual, physical, and moral condition comes again and again in Christ.(God with us).

God in Christ feels for us.  He refuses to eat because of the crowd the enemy wants to possess. He started the work of liberation, He teaches, He feeds, and He heals them, manifesting His possession and their belongingness to Him.

Seeing the things Jesus was doing, the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said of Jesus "He is possessed..." Yes, Jesus was possessed, but they did not know who possessed Him. Their jealousy did not allow them to know it. The father of all lies, the devil must have possessed them to see the Truth as a lie, to see the Way as no way and to see the Life as death. They even dared to ascribe the glory of God to the devil.

The truth remains that we, at every point in time, are possessed either by the Spirit of God (Finger of God as Jesus puts it) or the evil spirit. Who do you make yourself available to for possession? The things you do show the spirit operating in you. There is a power that should work in us as Christians, that power gets hold of us and drives us to do good always, that power helps us to avoid evil and sins especially the sins against the Holy Spirit. It opens our eyes to acknowledge the good in others and the good we ought to do. It is the power that gives us spiritual fortification. It is the grace to live for the kingdom of heaven and make our hearts temples of the Holy Spirit.

Which Spirit have you allowed to possess you all these while? If it is not the Spirit of God, then know that something is wrong. Do you recognise the things God wants you to do for Him to take absolute possession of your soul and yet decide otherwise? Then you're far from the kingdom of God. A very clear sign to know those who are not possessed by the Spirit of God is that they call evil good and call good evil. They detest the good and embrace the evil.

Dear child of God, be possessed by the Spirit of the living God, and may your heart become a true abode of the Most High

May God bless His word in your heart.

LET US PRAY

Oh God, we thank You for the gift of today. Help us to recognise You and Your work in us, deliver us from every evil possession and manipulation, grant that we may be possessed by Your Spirit all the days of our lives through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Happy Sunday to you (10th Sunday, Ordinary Time Yr B)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

 

Monday after Pentecost: Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church

O Mary, Mother of the Church, Pray for us

Readings: Acts 1:12-14; Jn. 19:25-34

On November 21, 1964, at the conclusion of the third session of the Second Vatican Council, the Blessed Virgin Mary was declared the "Mother of the Church, that is, of all the Christian people, both the faithful and the clergy, who call her the most loving Mother".

Therefore, the Holy See, on the occasion of the Holy Year of Reconciliation in 1975, proposed a votive mass in honour of the Blessed Mary, Mother of the Church, and subsequently included it in the Roman Missal. The Holy See also gave the faculty to add the invocation of this title in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1980.

Carefully considering how the promotion of this devotion can favour the growth of the maternal sense of the Church, as well as of genuine Marian piety, in 2018, Pope Francis directed that the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, be celebrated on Monday after Pentecost, which is today.

Indeed, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church, the Mother of Christians. In the gospel reading of today from Jn. 19:25-34, while Jesus was hanging on the cross, He handed His mother over to John and the Apostles - the men he gathered and instructed to carry on his mission to the entire world - to be their Mother.   

Then, the first reading of today from Acts 1:12-14 showed us Mary playing the role of a Mother to the early Church that gathered in the upper room and waiting prayerfully for the descent of the Holy Spirit promised by her son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.  

It is, however, strange and unfortunate that the people who are ever ready to address the wives of their ‘men of God’ or their female pastors/prophetesses as “Mummy” of their Christian communities are the same people who become enraged when the Mother of Jesus, their Lord and Saviour, is referred to as the Mother of those who follow His ways on Earth. It is even more unfortunate that those who believe that the respect they owe their pastors should be extended to their wives are offended when Catholics honour the woman who gave birth to Jesus, the woman who was greatly favoured by God, the woman whose praise the angel Gabriel sang.

Whatever one's feelings about the Blessed Virgin Mary are, the fact that she is Jesus' mother remains unchanged. And if she is Jesus' mother, she is also our mother and deserves the highest level of respect from us, because any disrespect to the mother of Jesus is disrespect to Jesus.

As we continue our May devotion, let us continue to call on the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church, to intercede for us, for our families and for the Church. Amen

Fr. Isaac C. Chima

 

 

 

 

Thursday of 7^th Week of Easter: reflection

Theme: Come, O Holy Spirit, our defender

Reading: Acts 22:30;23:6-11

On one of the occasions where Jesus informed His disciples that they will be arrested, beaten and taken to court or synagogues on account of His name, He immediately assured them that they should never worry about what to say or how to defend themselves at such moments, because the Holy Spirit will teach them what to say (Mk 13:9-11; Lk 12:11).

The narrative of the first reading of today showed us Jesus’ faithfulness to His word, for He cannot fail.

St. Paul was arrested, beaten and brought before a tribunal to be tried and imprisoned. When he was asked to defend himself, only a word that came out his mouth sent his accusers into a great confusion, divided them into opposing camps and turned them against themselves. That night, Jesus appeared to him and congratulated him for bearing witness for Him in Jerusalem. He also urged him to do the same in Rome

Dear friends, the Holy Spirit, our defender is with us. Therefore, let us not be afraid of what the enemy will do to us when we bear witness to Jesus with our words or actions. If God wants to set us free from any case brought against us, He will do so because He has complete control over all situations.

May the Holy Spirt speak for you in all encounters and activities this Thursday. Amen

Fr Isaac Chima

 

Wednesday of 7^th Week of Easter: reflection

Theme: Let us keep the fire of faith alive in all we do

Acts 20:28-38; Jn 17:11b-19

The two readings of today's Mass come with two touching farewell messages/wills and prayers. The first reading was taken from Jesus' final prayers for his disciples before His passion, in which He commended them to God, asking God to keep them united, and protect them from the evil one for they are not of the world. Following the footsteps of Jesus, when St Paul was departing Ephesus after his missionary work there, he assembled the elders, commended them to God and gave them his parting will, charging them to take good care of the Church and to stand against wolves that would come to attack God's flock. In these two scenes, we see honest efforts to keep the faith alive and to ensure that it continues to thrive in coming generations.

From these two readings, we can extract some points that will assist us to keep alive the light of faith in our world and to pass it successfully to future generations.

First, Jesus prayed that we may be one in His name. Friends, to convince the world with the message we preach, we must eschew all backbiting, divisions, unhealthy competitions and campaign of calumny against fellow Christians.

Second, Jesus said ‘we are not of the world’. Friends, it is true that we live and operate in a world tainted by sin, with temptations lurking around every turn. However, if we must keep our faith alive, influence the world by it and successfully pass it on to future generations, we must be true to our Christian identity in all circumstances, swimming against the current of sin everywhere we find ourselves.

Third, St Paul urged the elders to guard against wolves that may attack the Christian community with perverse teachings. Friends, we have the Christian duty to stand against any ideology that goes against our Christian moral values, whether it is coming from within the church or from the state. The devil, as we know him, can use anyone to achieve his plans.

May God’s grace light up your way as you carry out the activities of this Wednesday. Amen.

Fr Isaac C. Chima

 

May 14 – Feast of St Matthias: reflection

Theme: This I command you, to love one another as I have loved you.

Reading: Jn 15:9-17

The theme of love occupied a special place in the discussion of our Lord Jesus Christ with His apostles in today’s gospel. He told them two times that whoever loves him will keep his commandment, and also two times that his commandment to them is that they should love one another, and this love must be as He loved them. It should be the love that moves one to lay down everything, including his life, for the beloved; the love that compels one to always consider the best interest of his beloved in all his actions and decisions.

Today, the Church is celebrating the feast of St Matthias, who replaced Judas among the twelve apostles. If Judas had loved as Jesus preached, he wouldn’t have sold Jesus and wouldn’t have lost his position in heaven. If Judas had considered the best interest of the one he sold, he would have conquered his selfish desire for money. Recall that when Judas was promised 30 silver coins, he lost his mind, allowed his selfish desires to overcome him, and sold a friend to whom he owed the duty of love.

Our world is dotted with many cases of people who betrayed the ones they owe a duty to love just because of material interests and gains. Selling out has become a common practice in our world. But then, we must understand that failing to love as Jesus commanded is sufficient to deny us a position in the community of the apostles and saints in heaven, as it happened to Judas. If we fail to love as Jesus commanded, our position will be taken by another person. Let us resist every temptation to betray our call to love as Jesus loved us.

May God’s blessings be abundant in your life this Tuesday. Amen.

Fr Isaac C. Chima

 

 

Monday of 7^th Week of Easter: reflection

Theme: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

Reading: Acts 19:1-8

Dear friends in Christ, the question St Paul asked the disciples he found in Ephesus, as recorded in today's first reading, who had been converted and taught about Christ by Apollos, continues to beg for answers from Christians today. The question is simple, but its answer requires a thorough examination of one's life. He asked if they had received the Holy Spirit and, in all honesty, they said no.

In Gal 5:19-22, St Paul listed the fruits of the Holy Spirit as prudence, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control. Then, the fruits of a life devoid of the presence of the Holy Spirit were listed as immorality, indecent actions, idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, lies, jealousy, anger, ambitiousness, division, envy, drunkenness, and orgies.

When we compare the fruits of the Holy Spirit to the fruits that many Christians bear in our society, we can't help but wonder if we truly received the Holy Spirit the day our bishops laid hands on us, or if the Holy Spirit we received is still active in our lives.

Which fruits stand out in your life? Fruits of a life controlled by the Holy Spirit or those of a life devoid of the Holy Spirit? A closer look at how things are in our world will reveal that one of the reasons our world has become a theatre of evil is that people whose lives manifest the fruits of a life devoid of the presence of the Holy Spirit are greater in number, even in our Christian communities. Therefore, it makes sense to ask this important question again: have you received the Holy Spirit?

We are in the week of Novena to the Holy Spirit. Let us open ourselves through prayers and invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, so that His fire will burn away the evil fruits in us and, then, revive His own fruits that are lying dormant in our lives. When this happens, our world will be a beautiful home.

May the Holy Spirit guide and direct you as you embark on this Week’s activities. Amen.

Fr. Isaac C. Chima