3^rd Sunday of Easter, Year B: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Theme: You are my witnesses

Readings: Acts 3:13-15,17-19; 1Jn 2:1-5a; Lk 24:35-48

Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus has resurrected and has continued to appear to His disciples. The Gospel of last Sunday told us that he appeared to the disciples, gave them the message of peace and made them messengers of forgiveness and mercy. Today, we have another story of His appearance to His disciples. After giving them the greeting of peace, he spent time discussing and eating with them. At the end of His stay with them, He gave them a mission to be His witnesses to the world. The gospel of today ended with this beautiful verse: ‘you are witnesses to these things.’

In the first reading, we saw the mission of witnessing to Christ in action in the life of Peter. Peter did not forget to tell the crowd that he and the other disciples of Christ are witnesses to the great events of the life of Jesus. He said: ‘to this we are witnesses.’ As Christians, we have also received the same mandate to witness to Jesus through our baptism. Jesus has mandated us to go and tell our friends and the whole world that he has risen from the dead. He has commissioned us to tell our friends of the goodness of his name. He has sent us to tell our friends that to follow Him is the best of all choices. But then, how can we do all these if our lives do not show that Jesus is the Lord? How can we reflect the light of Christ if our lives still bear traces of darkness? How can we witness to the light if our life is still the abode of darkness?  What, then, are the best ways to fulfil this task of being witnesses to Christ? 

Dear friends, the first step towards witnessing to the risen Christ is by repenting of our sins. The reason for this is very simple. It is this: If your actions contradict what your mouth says, you are not a true witness. To convincingly witness to Christ, our actions and our words must be saying the same thing. In fact, friends, the best witness to Christ is through our actions, through our behaviours, both in the church and in the society. This was the lesson of the second reading of today. It says: “and by this we may be sure that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know him’ but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected.” We cannot be Christ’s witnesses if we disobey his commandments.

Hence, the big task for all of us who have received the mandate to witness to Christ is to know the extent the resurrection of Christ has influenced our lives; to know if the resurrection of Christ has changed us personally or whether we are still living our old life. Let us change any behavior in us that does not reflect the power of Christ’s resurrection. Let us repent of our own sins so that we can invite others to repent.

Another step towards witnessing to Christ is by being courageous. The courage of Peter and the other apostles in their mission should be our model. In the first reading, Peter stood up before the very people who condemned and killed Jesus and told them their sins to their faces. He told them of the wrong choice they made by requesting that a criminal be released, and that Jesus be crucified. This is the courage of a true witness to Christ. This is the courage that we need before our friends and the entire community if we want to be true witnesses. Most of the times we are afraid of being criticized, of being insulted, of losing our friends and acquaintances, and then, we prefer to close our mouths when we face occasions to defend our faith.

Friends, we must be ready to suffer criticisms and insults if we want to be true witnesses of Christ. Let us imitate the courage of Peter and the other apostles. With prudence and courage, let us go out and win our friends for Christ, this is the mission handed to us by the Risen Christ.

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima

 

3^RD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YR, B: REFLECTION BY FR. JULIAN EKEH

THEME: SEE MY HANDS AND MY FEET

(Luke 24:35-48)

Jesus continues to appear and reappear after His resurrection. He comes to make us see Him. He comes to make us feel Him. He wants to stay with us. He wants to communicate with us. He wants to commune with us.  He wants us to experience Him in reality. He wants us to live beyond theories and hearsays.

The Gospel of today is a follow-up from the Emmaus story. The two disciples told the story of the event on the road and how they knew Jesus during the breaking of the bread. The other disciples may have doubted. Jesus came in and authenticated the message of the two. He came to bear witness to the witness they were bearing about Him. He came to give them reasons to move on. He came to show them His Hands and Feet. He shows how ready He is to help us.

AKACHI: THE HANDS OF GOD

Jesus has got a mark in His hands with which He is to be known. They became marks of recognition (ahumarachi), God's mark, and divine imprint.

Let us reflect a little on the hand of God. This is the hand with which man was formed out of clay. This is the hand that took up the cross. This is the hand that received the nails drilled with the hammer.

It is the hand that indicates divine presence. When one is called, he answers by raising his hands. Jesus raised His hands today and showed it to the disciples. He means to say: It is I. I am present. I am living. I live for you. Take my hand and give me yours. Let me create you anew. By the power of my hand, I will make out something new in you.

AKARAKA (Divine Destiny)

Jesus shows the disciples that it is in his hands to save. It is in His destiny to suffer and die. It is a divine mandate. It is what he received from God (Onatarachi ya). He bore witness (aka ebe) with His life to God. He is pierced that He may make our own akaraka to shine in Him (ka anyi chakee).It is in Christ's destiny to change our own destiny for good. Look at your hands. Whose marks do you bear? Do you have the marks of righteousness, of peace, and of love? May God make all He has deposited in you to shine. Your destiny will never be denied even after many delays and nailing.

 

ENYEMAKA (DIVINE ASSISTANCE/ SANCTIFYING GRACE)

The Igbo Catechism 'nke abuo' defines Sanctifying Grace as: Aka Chineke tiirim, I ji mara ihe oma, meekwa ihe oma (God's hand on me, the divine assistance helping me to know and do good). Enyemaka in Igbo will mean literally (give hand, I give my hand).

Jesus gives us his helping hands today. He knows we can't do without it. Let us in humility and holiness receive those hands. These hands are capable of lifting us up, saving us from drowning, carrying us to God and away from evil, catapulting us to our destiny, feeding us and indeed handling the troubles troubling us spiritually and otherwise.

AKA DI OCHA (Clean Hands)

The hands shown to the apostles today are pure, and they purify. Jesus shows us these hands that we may learn from Him to keep our hands clean. Not to put our hands in things that dishonour God. He challenges us to keep our hands clean even when we bear the marks of hatred, injustice, bitterness, accusations, etc. Don't drive nails into people's hands again. Don't destroy the people placed in your hands. Handle the responsibilities given to you by God well. God will bless the works of your pure hands.

SEE MY FEET

With the feet of Christ, He went about doing good; preaching, healing, feeding the people, and raising the dead.

By calling us to see His feet, Jesus reminds us of what He did with His feet. With my feet, I walk towards you. Why not walk towards me? Why do you walk away from me? Keep my feet ever in mind and ensure you continue to walk in the path of life eternal.

HANDS AND FEET: A NEXUS

With His feet, Jesus walks towards us. He walks with us. May we also walk up to Him in faith, hope, and charity. When we walk to Jesus as He walks towards us, we shall meet Him and embrace Him with our hands. We shall be healed by His Holy Touch. We shall receive the blessings from His hands. May the marks of Christ's hands and feet attract abundant blessings and grace for us.

May God bless His word in our hearts.

LET US PRAY

Thank You, dear Lord, for showing us the mysteries of Your Redemptive marks. Give us the grace never to relent in walking the path Your feet trace for us. Grant that we may merit to receive the blessings flowing from Your holy hands, that we may savour the joy of Your eternal bliss after bearing witness to you here on earth through Christ our Lord. Amen

Happy Sunday (Third Sunday of Easter)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

https://chimaisaac.medium.com/3rd-sunday-of-easter-yr-b-by-fr-julian-ekeh-2b5db5ed0395

 

Thursday of 2^nd Week of Easter: (memorial of St. Stanislaus – Bishop & Martyr)

THEME: WE MUST OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MEN

Acts 5:27-33

The daily readings continue to show us how Christ's resurrection has transformed the lives and actions of his disciples. It is a power that raised soldiers of the faith in Christ from men who were first hesitant to identify as Christ's disciples. What a power.

In today’s first reading, Peter courageously told the high priests, who wanted to stop the apostles from preaching in Christ’s name, that the first person to whom Christians owe allegiance and obedience is God, not man. He said to them: “We must obey God rather than men.” What a courageous response.

By this response, Peter has revealed what should be the attitude and response of all Christians in the face of intimidations, or laws, rules and directions that contradict God’s commandments and the teachings of Christ, as well as in the face of temptations or desires that go against God’s teachings.  

Ours is a world where people are forced to accept practices, teachings, jobs and ideologies that contradict moral values and faith in God if they want to put food on their table. Many people have lost their jobs or promotions, friends or have been outrightly denied opportunities to work or receive assistance because of their resolve to obey God first in everything. Tragically, some of these ill-treatments are frequently perpetrated by people who identify as Christians.

Peter encourages persecuted Christians never to relent in their resolve to put God and his teachings first in everything they do and, then, reminds those who call themselves Christians yet accept and obey laws and practices that go against God’s commands that anyone who sets God and His commandments aside cannot really be called Christian.

Aware the One to whom he owes first allegiance and obedience, St Stanislaus courageously stood against the orders of king Boleslaus II and refused to give in to evil demands, even in the face of cruel death in the hands of the king while he was celebrating Mass.

May God fill you with courage to resist evil and all its demands as you embark on the activities of this Thursday. Amen.  

Fr Isaac Chima

 

Wednesday of 2^nd Week of Easter: reflection 

THEME: GOD ALWAYS COMES TO OUR RESCUE.

Reading: Acts 5:17-26

 

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus freed us from the dominion of darkness and death; He conquered the evil one. Then, through the services of His angels, He continues to come to our rescue, freeing us from every attempt by the devil and his human agents to enslave us anew.

In the first reading of today, the apostles who were preaching the New Life were arrested by the Sadducees, who were jealous of them, and they were locked up in the dark world of the prison house. But Jesus, who had already defeated the lord of darkness and shattered his domain, will not stay silent whenever the world of darkness rises against those who faithfully trust in Him. Thus, He sent his angel, who miraculously rescued the apostles from prison much to the astonishment of those who wanted them to remain in chains.

Dear friends, God’s angel stands by our side every day to help us against every effort of the evil one and his agents to return us to the world/rule of darkness. We should, therefore, no be afraid when the agents of the underworld threaten us with whatever power they possess. Like the apostles, we should be focused on doing what is right and refuse to succumb to intimidations when we are witnessing to Christ.

May God’s angel come to your assistance and rescue in your activities this Wednesday.

Fr. Isaac Chima

 

Tuesday of 2^nd Week of Easter: Reflection

THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION.

Reading: Acts 4:32-37

No one will hear the account in today's first reading without admiring what was stated about the first community of believers in Christ. They were reported to have embraced communal living, with members of the community willingly and wholeheartedly handing over whatever they owed to the apostles to be used to assist members who were in need.  

In that community, selfishness was eradicated, hatred was banished, jealousy was buried, and all vices were defeated. But what was the magic? How did those that were once vying for positions at the right and left hand of Jesus in His glory suddenly become changed to the extent that outsiders started admiring how they conducted themselves? The answer is that such was the power of Christ’s resurrection; a power that transformed fear-ridden men into courageous harbingers of the good news; it is a power that transforms whoever opens himself and embraces it. The disciples of Jesus allowed themselves to be transformed by the power of Christ’s resurrection and what we read in today’s first reading is a testimony of the fruits of their openness to such power. It enabled them to become the best they could be.  

Dear friends, there is a power that comes from the resurrection of Christ. It transforms whoever welcomes it, filling him with new life and bringing out the best in him. In today’s first reading, it enabled Barnabas, whose name means “son of encouragement”, to set a good example and, thus, became a real source of encouragement to all believers in the early Christian community.   

If you open your life to the power of Christ’s resurrection and allow it to transform you, the best in you will be unleashed; it will empower you to be the best you can be.

May your activities this Tuesday receive Divine empowerment. Amen.

Fr Isaac Chima

 

SOLEMNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD: Reflection

THEME: BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.

Readings: Is 7:10-14;8-10; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38

 

Dear friends in Christ, today the Church celebrates the annunciation of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary by angel Gabriel. The proper date for this solemnity is March 25^th, which is nine months before Christmas (25th December). However, since 25^th March this year fell within the Holy Week, the solemnity was moved to today, Monday of the Second Week of Easter.

 

The feast of annunciation celebrates the abundant love of God for humanity. God loved the world so much that He took the initiative to send His Only Son to the world to redeem this world by dying a shameful death on the cross.

 

The first reading showed us the prophecy of the birth of the Immanuel, the One through whom the house of Israel (and the entire world) will be redeemed. In the gospel reading, the angel of the Lord was sent to Virgin Mary to announce to her that God has chosen her to be the mother of His Only Son. Our attention is drawn to the positive response of Mary to God’s message and choice of her despite the fact that the message was discomforting and shrouded in mystery. So, it was Mary’s total, unconditional and complete availability to God’s message/mission that set in motion the events of our salvation; her fiat opened the door for the realization of the prophecy of the birth of the Immanuel. She said to the angel: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”

 

The second reading captured the same kind of response that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave to God. It said: “behold, I have come to do your will, O God.”

 

Dear friends, God has many initiatives for our lives. However, he wants us to trust Him and to give a total positive response to Him and to His many plans for us, even if we do not fully understand them or how they will be realized in our lives, as it happened to Mary. The Church encourages us to always respond to God saying: “behold, I have come to do your will, O God”, for His plans for us are for good and not for evil.

 

May your new week be blessed and fruitful. Amen.

 

Fr Isaac Chima

 

2^nd Sunday of Easter, Yr B: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima

Theme: The Qualities of a Community whose Christ is risen.

Readings: Acts 4:32-35; 1Jn 5:1-6; Jn 20:19-31

Dear friends, the church invites us to learn the qualities of a community whose Christ has risen from the dead. She also challenges us to be transformed into a community that forgives, loves and cares for its members.

Before the death and resurrection of Christ, the disciples of Jesus lived like every other person, with their daily selfish passions and struggles for who will be the greatest among them and who will sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in His glory. But the resurrection of Christ made a positive impact on this community of disciples. It transformed them into a community that became a model of a good community, a community that was admired by other people. From the first reading of today, we learnt that the community of disciples began to live a communal life, a life characterized by peace, love, mutual help, and unselfishness. The reading said: “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common… There was not a needy person among them, for those who owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” We can say that they allowed themselves to be transformed by the power of the resurrection of Christ and by the gift of peace given them in the gospel of today.

Dear brothers and sister, our Christ has resurrected, and He has also blessed us with the gift of peace. However, taking a sincere look at our own Christian community of today, one would notice that it falls short of the qualities that the early Christian community possessed. What, then, is our problem? Why is our community still reflecting hatred, injustice, lack of help for the needy, and other unchristian behaviors? Why are our families, our relationships, and our individual lives yet to reflect the light of the resurrection of Christ? Why are we still lacking peace, love and forgiveness in our relationships with others even when our Christ has resurrected? Why do we still live as if our Christ has not risen from the dead?

Today, the church celebrates the Divine Mercy. As we recall the Mercy of our God, the church gives us one of the reasons why our communities, our families and our individual lives are not yet manifesting some qualities of a community whose Christ is risen. She tells us that the reason is because we are yet to emulate God’s pattern of mercy and justice. Without forgiveness and mercy, there will not be lasting peace and love. A community without peace and love cannot really be called Christian.

Our God is a merciful God, a God who loved us even while we were still sinners, a God who forgave us without conditions. He is a God who corrects with love and without condemning the offender. From every indication, many people are still finding it difficult to adopt God’s pattern of mercy and treating of offenders. They are rather comfortable with a pattern founded on revenge for wrongs committed against them, the type of treatment written in Genesis 4: 23-24 (I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times).

To experience the presence of peace of Christ in our communities, families and other relationships, we must love as our God loves, and forgive as our God forgives. The pattern of God’s mercy was shown by Christ in his teachings, especially in two of his parables. The first was in the parable of the prodigal son. In this parable, God was shown as a Father who went out to meet the son who offended him, to embrace him, to forgive him and to restore him to his lost glory. This challenges us to go out and encounter those who have offended us, to forgive them and take them back. Don’t sit in your comfort and wait for those who offended you to come and ask for forgiveness, and don’t let their offences fracture your relationship with them. Go out in search of them today. The second was in the parable of the unforgiving servant. This parable teaches us that God wants us to forgive offenders without giving conditions to them. Often, we demand conditions before forgiving offenders; this is not the pattern of God’s mercy towards us. God’s pattern is that He forgives without giving us conditions.

Dear friends, Peace cannot bear fruits where there is no forgiveness. Our community cannot be lovely and peaceful if we don’t forgive each other. The second reading tells us that we have conquered the world by our faith. Let us, therefore, witness to this victory through the way we love, help, and forgive one another; this is our faith. Let us teach the world how to love and how to forgive, beginning from our families and Christian communities. Let us make our Christian communities, families and relationships abodes of love, mercy, and mutual help. Let us make our Christian communities to testify to the power of the risen Christ. When our families, communities and relationships reflect peace, love, and mutual help, our lives will be able to attract the presence of Christ, just as the early Christians attracted the presence of the risen Christ in the gospel of today.

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima

PUSC, Roma