May 25, 2020 | Homily
By Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe, CSSp. (Acts: 1, 1-11; Eph. 1, 17-23; Mt 28, 16-20 )
Dear friends in Christ,
Today we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord Jesus into heaven. The first reading details the account of the Ascension while the gospel deals more with the account of the commission of mission to the nations. The second reading places us before God to be filled with the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge without which we cannot bear true witness to Jesus.
The Ascension is an event that opens a very important dimension to the Christian faith. When Jesus rose from the death, he gave us the assurance that all who believe in him will have life beyond the physical death. By the fact of his resurrection Jesus gave a new dimension to his teaching in the house of Mary and Martha before the event of rising Lazarus from the death when he said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25-26). From this very moment in the Gospel narrative of John, Jesus furthered his teaching on the resurrection, using every opportunity to teach his disciples that the Son of Man will suffer and be put to death, but on the third day he will rise again. The resurrection was something more than a physical event in a space-time limit as in the case of Lazarus. What resurrection really meant was not clear to the disciples at this time.
As the disciples continued to wonder about the mystery of the resurrection, Jesus introduced in John 14 the concept of his ascension into heaven saying that he would go to the Father. He wasn’t going to be in heaven alone, but he would go to prepare a place for his disciples and all who will come to believe in him so that they could be together again. This is true to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-21 that all those who will come to believe through the words and messages of his disciples may all be one in Him even as He is one with the Father. The ascension is an assurance of life with Jesus in heaven when the battle of life is won by being his true disciple through living according to his commandments and witnessing to him here on earth. It is the glory that God has prepared for us, to be with us forever. That is the aspiration of every believer – to be with God forever in His glory.
In today’s first reading from the acts of the Apostles, which is a somewhat continuation of Luke’s gospel narrative, we see the sequence of events up to the ascension of Jesus into heaven. While still in the presence of his disciples moments before ascending into heaven, Jesus gave them specific instructions not to go away from Jerusalem until they have received the promise of the Father, The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will empower them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth. The gospel account of his resurrection we read today describes the same event with greater emphasis on the commissioning of the disciples to go make disciples of all nations, ‘baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ knowing that Jesus is with them till the end of the age (Matthew28: 19-20). The commissioning to witness comes from Jesus to all the baptized who in turn are empowered by the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Father.
The second reading leads us through a beautiful prayer and a sincere wish that God gives each and everyone who believes in Him (you and I) the Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of Him. True knowledge of God offers us the right predisposition to grasp our position in His plan of salvation, but also to understand how richly blessed we are in Christ. It enables us to place the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus in the right perspective so that we can understand the call His Spirit makes on us to be his witnesses in the present time. The author of the letter to the Ephesians touches on the rich position of the Christian who enjoys the backing of Jesus because Jesus wields power over all the principalities and powers. Thus, we Christians need to be bold in the face of present apathy and challenges towards witnessing to Jesus in our secular society.
Christians sometimes feel shy to speak of Jesus in public or around circle of friends, partly because they feel their lives are not completely measuring up to the Christian values. But that should not be a hindrance. While working to live the call to perfection, lets not forget what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4: 7, “we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” In today’s gospel, some of the disciples doubted Jesus, even in his presence (Matthew 28:17). But their doubt did not stop Jesus from commissioning them because He knows that by witnessing to something, one begins to align his or her thoughts and lifestyle towards it. The failure to witness weakens the commitment to act in line with what one witnesses to, and vice versa. In his speech to declare churches and places of worship as essential places that need to be opened, Donald Trump said something that one rarely hears from politicians, “In America, we need more prayers, not less.” Whatever one may think of this, it is a bold speech to publicly recognize the place of God. In the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic or other global challenges, there has been some tendency to think that humanity is capable of handling the situation outside of God. There is the arrogance to arrogate successes to ourselves as if we could achieve it if God was not on our side. This secular tendency often results in statements that show how far the modern man has failed to recognize the presence of God in his daily activities. When the New York governor was warning against reopening places of worship, he was bold to say, ‘the number is down because we brought the number down. God did not do that’. While unbeliever are bold to air their faithlessness, modern Christians, and even religious leaders, have become naive to speak openly about God. That is unfortunate.
The situation in which Jesus commissioned his disciples to ‘go make disciples of the nations’ was more hostile tot he gospel than that of today. It was the society that crucified their master; a society that perceived ‘the Way’, as the new teaching was called, as something very dangerous, such that it was met with heavy persecution (Acts 8:1). Yet they traveled all through the known world of their time proclaiming the gospel. We too are being commission by Jesus today, on his ascension event, to go make disciples of all the nations using the communication media available to us in the present age. That is why we celebrate the world communication day today.
Communication is not a complex word. It simply means the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. Communication is vital to humans as social beings. We engage in it every now and then. Various electronic communication media in use has bridged the geographical distance between people. The present Covid-19 pandemic has shown how the electronic media, has become part of our lives. This Eucharistic celebration is possible thanks to this communication channel that makes it possible for us to be united in worship. The challenge today is to employ these communication media for purposes that promote the kingdom of God on earth. There is so much going on with the social networks, YouTube, blogs, internet channels, and even on the older media as the television and radio. How much of them promote the glory of God and the dignity of the human person? The Church calls on us to evaluate our use of them and find ways to employ them in the spreading of the gospel and promotion of the good purpose for which we are created.
Let us pray that we may be true disciples of Jesus who employ every means available to us to fulfill the mission of witnessing to him in the present life so as to ascend with him to heaven when our time here on earth is over. May God bless you and fill you with his love… Amen.
Apr 26, 2020 | Homily
By Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe
(Acts 2:14,22-33, 1Pet.1:17-21 & Lk24:13-35)
This Sunday’s Gospel deals with the encounter between Jesus and his disciples on the road to Emmaus. The disciples had embraced Jesus as the Messiah but all their hopes were dashed when he died like a common criminal on the cross. They were furthermore afraid for their own lives because the whole project for which they dared both the Jewish and Roman authorities has failed. In frustration, two of them were walking away from the city to the margins, from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
The two disciples (Cleopas and his friend) were discussing their shattered hopes because of Jesus’ death while journeying away from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Behold, all of a sudden Jesus joined to walk with them but they didn’t recognize him. Seeing their obvious despair, he asks what they are talking about. He wants to hear their version of what happened. First, they referred to him as a “prophet” in their narration as though after his tragic death, they could not see in him the Messiah they had earlier acknowledged. Then, they saw his death as the failure of his mission. They dejectedly lamented about their unmet expectations; how they had hoped that he would be the one to set Israel free. For them, freedom meant political liberation from foreign domination, not just freedom from the tyranny of sin and death.
Still unrecognized, Jesus explained to them how all of the Scripture points to him as the Messiah and how, far from being a tragedy, his suffering and death were destined unto his glory. As they reached their destination, in a gesture of hospitality, they invited the stranger in since it is nearly evening. As they sat down to the meal, Jesus the visitor, curiously started acting as the host. He took the bread, said the blessing over it, broke it and gave it to them. And in that very act their eyes opened and they recognised him.
In the experience of these two disciples, we find some elements of the Christian life. First is the tendency of believers to run away from where Christ is to be found. The present situation has given rise to so much pain that people are confused on the way out. Like these two disciples, some people are already on the road to Emmaus, questioning the existence and power of God. The road to Emmaus represents the path of people who have met with disappointments and frustrations in life; people whose world had collapsed and their hopes and dreams are shattered. There are many like that in our world today. In frustration, we usually tend to walk in the wrong direction.
Second is meeting Jesus in the unexpected place, person or situation. The Corona virus pandemic has shown us that God can be found and worshiped, not just in the churches, but also in our homes, in the streets and even on the internet. How often does this happen and we do not recognize God in the people and events around us, or worse still mistreat him? Yet, imagine how lost the two disciples would have remained had they not welcomed this stranger.
There is something interesting about the two disciples. They were ready to share, not only their pain, but also their lodging and their bread with the stranger. On the part of Jesus, he was willing to listen, without interruption, to the sorrows of those young men. The ability to listen is a great quality. It gives the sense of worth, being loved and hope to the one in distress. We have seen a number of video clips of people who committed suicide these past few weeks as a consequence of the corona virus loses. Should there have been good and caring listeners around them, and were they willing to share their stories with these listeners, maybe they would still be living. Unfortunately, people often refuse to share their sorrows for fear of betrayal, or for lack of empathic listeners.
Further on the meeting with these disciples on the way to Emmaus, Jesus first spoke his healing words to them before the breaking of the bread. By this Jesus gave two gifts to these disciples; the gift of understanding the significance of the Word of God and the gift of the Holy Eucharist. The disciples did not recognize the Risen Lord until he had broken the bread with them.
How often do we fail to pay attention to the Lord when he speaks to our hearts and opens his mind to us in the Scriptures? The Risen Lord is ever ready to speak his Word to us and to give us understanding especially in our moments of crisis and confusion. We need to listen attentively to his Word and allow it to change and transform us. Let us make time to allow him speak to our troubled hearts especially at this period of providential quarantine, by engaging in daily Scripture reading.
Do we also recognize the Risen Lord at our Eucharistic celebration? It is the same Lord who speaks to us through the Scriptures that gives us himself in the Eucharist. The two disciples did confess that their hearts were on fire when Jesus explains the Scriptures to them on the way, but they recognized him in the breaking of the bread. This informs the pattern of the Church’s Eucharistic celebration. Firstly, allowing the Lord to speak to our hearts through the Scripture readings which then prepares us to recognize and meet Him in the Holy Eucharist. In other words, listening to his Word first helps to set our hearts on fire and prepares us to receive the Eucharist which is the fullness of Jesus divinity.
It is important to note that as soon as the two disciples recognized the Risen Jesus at the breaking of Bread, they immediately set out to return to Jerusalem, seven miles away (not minding that it was getting dark already as they had earlier expressed, Lk.24:29). It didn’t seem for them so dark and full of danger any longer. What a wonderful sense of urgency! They couldn’t wait till the safety of daylight the next day. The journey back to Jerusalem to share their experience with others had to be done immediately. This is what the power of experiencing the Risen Lord can do in the life of a fervent Christian.
As we also hear the Scriptures explained to us and receive the Holy Eucharist daily, Let us act with the same sense of urgency to convey and share the Good News to others who are in dare need of knowing and recognizing the Risen Lord in their lives. May the Lord who journeys with us daily to revive our broken hearts and drooping faith with his Word and the Eucharist also make us his fervent witnesses. On our own part, may we give Him the first place in our lives and allow his principles and values to determine our daily decisions and life choices. Amen.
Apr 12, 2020 | Homily
Easter Sunday Homily by Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe
(Acts 10:34,37-43, Col.3:1-4 & Jn 20:1-9)
Today we joyfully celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was all dark for the disciples of Jesus on Good Friday when they watched their master being put to death and buried. Their experience got no better as the day dawned on Saturday with Jesus still in the tomb. But “on the first day of the week” something different happened. Their darkness was turned to light and their sorrows melted away. Fear disappeared as courage took the stage. Sin and death were conquered by righteousness and life.
As today’s gospel reading relates, very early in the morning of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen went to the tomb to perform the burial rituals that could not be properly done earlier because of the Sabbath preparations. Certainly, Mary Magdalen wasn’t going to the tomb to see the Risen Lord but to anoint the body of Jesus whom she so much loved for changing her life for good. There is something about Mary’s action that is touching. Her encounter with Jesus that transformed her life has resulted to such a great love for Jesus that she remained united with him even in death. It is common for people to abandon their friends in difficulty. But Mary Magdalen’s first thought in the morning was Jesus in the tomb. By so doing, she became the first to encounter the risen Lord Jesus. While her first encounter with Jesus brought a transformation from being a dejected sinner to being a beloved follower of Jesus, the second encounter with the risen Lord made her the first witness to the power of the resurrection.
The story of the resurrection is, therefore, a story of encounter – the concept of being born-again. To be touched by Christ, like Mary Magdalen was, is to be resurrected. The ability to say, I used to be this kind of sinner/person or the other, but not any more, is the story of the resurrection. Not just observing the empty tomb, but walking away from it as a Christian is the issue at stake. Even the disciples of Jesus needed conversion to the reality of the resurrection. Easter is therefore a great event because, in Christ, and because of his death and resurrection, a new dawn of grace has arrived. Christ’s resurrection ushers in the divine power that dispels the darkness of sin and death, and gives way to the light of Christ, the Rising Sun of God bringing happiness and forgiveness to our lives. The power of the resurrection opens the door for a new evangelization. It is an evangelization by the testimony of repentant and forgiven sinners to the power of love, the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. With the resurrection of Christ, every sinner has a hope of a share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, the hope of a life beyond the grave finds its concretization in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Mary Magdalene prepares the way for our first reading today, she convinces us that the power of the resurrection is present in every encounter with Jesus. Anyone who encounters Jesus in His word and embraces the teaching is destined for the resurrection/immortality: “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). These two-fold encounters (what Jesus did while physically present, and what he does today through the power in His word) are evident in the speach of Peter in the house of Cornelius.
In his speech (our first reading), Peter takes his listeners down memory lane, in order to prove the power in the encounter people had with Jesus: “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil for God was with him” (Acts 10:37-38). It was important for Peter to link the person of Jesus with the effect of his encounter with the people during his time on earth for Cornelius to understand the experience that made him send for Peter. That served as a step for Cornelius and his household to understand the mystery of Jesus’s death and resurrection that Peter was going to explain. As humans, we meet with several people every now and then. But only experiences of special encounters linger on in our memories. These experinces enable us to know something about the person beyond what is readily observeable. Being touched by the word of God enables us to seek to know more of Jesus and the power of His resurrection, like Paul desired in Phil. 3:10.
Our second reading provides us with an index to measure whether we have resurrected: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1-2). There is one fundamental reason for this new lifestyle because “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God”. That implies that mundane concerns should give way to Christlike attitudes. By living the love of Jesus and making it felt by those around us, we proclaim Him alive. Each time we let go of our selfish interests to be of service to others, we become the embodiment of the risen Lord in their midst. Helping others in difficulty, especially during this Corona pandemic period is replicating Jesus’s life in the world of today. The unfortunate situation of the Corona virus has forced us to realize how unimportant some of the things that consume our time and efforts are. We now realize the most important things in life which are life and love. And these are the very things that Jesus offers us in His resurrection: the power to live and to love.
As a people who have encountered the love and mercy of God in the risen Lord, this is our chance to bear testimony to that love. Being freed from the power of sin and death, we have been granted life, justification and grace. Above all, we are now entrusted with the mission of bearing witness to the good news of salvation to others. You and I who celebrate the Risen Lord have been made missionaries and preachers of God’s offer of forgiveness, love and life. That is the Easter gift to us. May His resurrection open new channels of love and service in His name, and may we enjoy the fullness of Life in His presence (John 10:10). Amen.
(Featured photo credit: Jonathan Petersson)
Feb 23, 2020 | Homily
By Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe. Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48
Children always have something of their parents. They are actually part of their parents in many ways, though they can develop differently due to nurture. Nature and nurture play vital role in the development of every individual. By nature we acquire the attributes of a certain generic identity such as the fact of being human and not animals like dogs or chicken. And by nurture we acquire characters and habits that define the kind of human being we become. The readings of today points out our true identity and how we can develop and become true to that identity.
It is amazing that it was written in Psalm 82:6 that we are Gods. The gospel of John 10:34 also talks about it, and today, in our second reading, St. Paul confirms it—“You are Gods, all of you, children of the Most High” (Psalm 82:6). If you think that Jesus is demanding the impossible by commanding us to offer no resistance to those who hurt us, but instead to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us, you are very much mistaken. You are only looking at it from a purely human perspective without regard to your real identity. From a purely human perspective, it might seem as if being a Christian is the same as being a weakling, victim, timid, coward, etc. But reflecting deeper on it, you could find out that it is about mastery and power which takes a lot of time and character to build. It is very easy to mess things up, very easy to hurt or wound people. Where the difficulty lies is in building up, healing and restoring what is destroyed. Our power as Christians lies in what we can build, heal, develop, construct, restore, improve, reconcile, salvage, nurture, unite, and not what we can destroy or mess up. That is the difference between love and hate. Since God our Father is Love, we His children cannot be children of hate but of love. Thus, the command is based on Jesus’ understanding of who you and I are: we are Gods. As such, we should behave like God, not just like human beings—simple mortals. Our nature and status has been elevated, our citizenship transformed from earthly to heavenly. Philippians 3:20 notes that we are citizens of heaven. But do we realize it?
Fr. Anthony de Mello told a story about a hunter, who went into the forest to hunt. He came upon an eagle’s nest with eggs in it. The hunter picked the eggs and brought them home. He gave the eggs to his wife, who mixed them up with the eggs of an incubating hen. The unsuspecting hen hatched, what she thought were all her eggs, unknowing that she had both chicks and eaglets. One day, the brooding free-range hen was pasturing her chicks around the compound, when one of her chicks that was actually an eaglet, noticing some creatures like itself flying in the sky, said to the hen: “mom, look up, who are these guys flying up there?” The hen said to the supposed chick, “you belong down here, they belong up there, you just follow me!” The poor eaglet lived its life believing it was a hen, even though it was an eagle, for lack of knowledge. What a pity!
Yes, each and everyone of us need to think seriously about this. Reclaim your identity and dignity. You are more that just your body and mind – an earthly creature. If you don’t believe it, listen to our first reading: “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:1). God compares you and I to himself, no more no less! Are you still in doubt? Listen to Paul, in our second reading: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy” (I Corinthians 3:16-17). What other proof do you need to know that your identity derives from that of our Father who is called God? Otherwise He would would not require us to be like Him, for that would be demanding the impossible.
You know what? Holiness is what you and I are called to, not just the avoidance of sin. Don’t get me wrong, you need to avoid sin, certainly, but you will find yourself committing sin, if your plan is only to avoid sin. On the contrary, seek “holiness”! What is the difference? “Holiness” is becoming who you are, claiming your identity as a child of God. Thus, for Jesus, we must not only avoid returning evil for evil, but we must seek the good of those who wish us ill. That is the nature of our Father who makes his sun rise on the bad and the good and causes his rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Since our Father loves without boundary, we are expected to do the same. Listen to the gospel say the same thing: “be children of your heavenly Father . . . be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). So, the imitation of God is what holiness means, and that is the meaning of “you are Gods”.
Our homily today may sound idealistic, impossible and fantastic. But it is not. Take the example of a normal human behaviour. When a person is interested in doing something or in archieving a goal, he/she can spend a lot of time and energy on it, without any external coercion or obligation. Think of football fans. They could stay in the cold winter rain to cheer their club during a football match. At such time, they would be so focused on the game that one may wonder if it is really cold outside. When we want to become like God our Father, our minds would be only focused on how to achieve our objective. In like manner, we abandon sin and do not remember to commit sin because all our energy is dedicated to becoming like God. Here is where we experience and feel the power of love. When we love, there is no obligation, we find an inner motivation to crave for what we love.
Dear friends, becoming like God makes us realize that there is only one commandment—Love: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:18), says our first reading. Through love, then, we realize that our neighbor is our brother/sister and fellow citizen. The thoughts of harming others disappear. The old law, “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy” disappears because the urge for revenge which is strictly human will no longer have absolute control over us. Then we can wish them well and hope they become better: we pray for them.
Our gospel reading gives us simple rules through which we know our citizenship—heavenly or earthly: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you . . . For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that?” If you’re still struggling with the forgiveness and love of your enemies, if you cannot pray for your enemies, when your love is partial, then your citizenship of heaven and identity as “god” is still very much in question.
This Sunday provides us with the knowledge that will help us to fly like the eagles that we are, not subdued and cowed down like the chickens we are told that we are—powerless sinners. Our world keeps telling us the bad story of what we do wrong, how it is “human to err,” without the encouragement that all is possible with God. Yet, the power of knowledge is the change it brings, the audacity it inspires and the challenge kindles in people. The choice is ours to make, either to listen to the untruth that celebrates our sins and human weakness or the determination to maximize the divine that is already in us. It is for everyone to make this choice individually. Indeed, “You are gods”. Reclaim your identity as a child of your loving father, and live in the boundless love that is meant for you.
Jan 26, 2020 | Homily
By Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe, CSSp
(Isaiah 8: 23-9:3; 1Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23)
The readings of today remind us that we are children of the Light. In the light of this theme, I wish to highlight three important points that form the liturgy of this third Sunday in the ordinary time.
The first point is that Pope Francis has declared the third Sunday in Ordinary Time a special day for the Word of God. This is simply to emphasize the importance of focusing on the Word of God as a guide for Christian life. The Psalmist says “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105). Part of the Pope’s declaration reads, “Consequently, I hereby declare that the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God”. He noted that the word of God brings us close tot he Jewish people and calls for unity and world peace.
The reading of the Scripture used to be a regular event in families. Children were taught to lead in prayers and reflections at home. So it was in my family. We had to read the assigned portion and give reflection. In that way we grew in the appreciation of the Word of God. Today, the center of preoccupation is the smartphone and television. Children and adults spend time navigating channels, apps and social media. There is even little time to communicate among partners and with children. Two people sitting in the same room, each busy with someone far away on the social media and nothing happening among them. If we don’t have time for one another, how can we have time for the word of God? Thus, the Pope wishes to draw our attention back to the very Word that is Life and Light.
The second point is the very fact that we are called to be the Light wherever we are. In the first reading of this Sunday, the prophet Isaiah recalls an historical event recorded in 2Kings 15:27-27, where in the past, the Lord afflicted the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, the Northern Kingdom of Israel around 732 BC owing to the people’s gross disobedience and worship of foreign gods. The Lord allowed their enemies, the Assyrians to destroy everything and carried the inhabitants into exile and the pagan nations then settled in the conquered territories. That was a moment of darkness for them.
In today’s Gospel reading, therefore, St Matthew the evangelist makes a link tot his event, seeing in it the fulfillment of God’s plan to liberate his people through the coming of Jesus. After after his baptism and his forty days in the desert, Jesus began is ministry. Seeing that John the Baptist, his forerunner, was arrested and put into prison, He went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town bordering Zebulun and Naphtali. The gospel refers to this action as the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan, Galilee of the nations! The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned.’ Indeed, Jesus’ mission is to bring a total liberation to all who live in the of darkness of error and sin.
Both readings (the first reading and the gospel) of today talk about those who walked in darkness seeing a great light. Darkness brings fear, uncertainty, confusion, failure, doubts, worry, etc. Darkness is related to shadow and valley. Shadow and valley are related to depression, despair, death, chains, bondage, pit, forsaken, gloom, decay, etc. When light comes, these negative forces are driven away. Light brings celebration, joy, energy, life, optimism, certainty, enthusiasm, growth, progress and confidence.
During the baptism of Collin, we gave a lighted candle to the Godparents as a symbol of the light of Jesus that must be guarded for him. Parents and Godparents were told to ensure that he grows up in a positive environment with love and respect for people around him. He has to grow in this light and be a light to his generation. In the same way we are called to be the light of Christ to our generation – people around us. We are invited to bring something positive and liberate to those undergoing difficult situations, friends in the dark moments or situations of their lives. Our presence should offer solutions and show a way out, at least to some extend; and not complicate their situation.
As we grow in faith we develop stronger inner light, the light that is the presence of Christ in us, in such a way that it becomes the source of our inner strength and the compass that directs our thoughts, words and actions.. This light determines almost everything about us; it determines our level of joy and happiness, our ability to survive crises, disappointment, losses, heart breaks, sickness, bad news, anxieties, etc. We all need this inner light, inner power, positive energy, tough optimism.
The third point can be found in the second part of the gospel reading where Jesus calls the disciples. It is the call to collaborative ministry. The very first thing that Jesus did before beginning his ministry was to call those who were to be with him (John 1: 35-40). We often think that we know it all and can do it alone. Jesus did not do the work alone. He got collaborators. And those called left everything to follow him: commitment. Peter and Andrew, James and John were all called and they dropped everything and followed Jesus. They weren’t extra-ordinary class of people but rather, common everyday people, fishermen. Nevertheless, they were prettily extra-ordinary in their attitude and their willingness to leave everything to follow Jesus.
A true follower of Jesus, would always willingly set aside his/her plans and respond to God’s plan for him/her. We might not necessarily leave fishing boats, torn nets and even parents as the apostles did in their days, but we are called to leave behind those part of ourselves which hinder us from answering the call that God makes to us; those things that keep us away from making our gifts and talents available to serve our community. Reflect today, and ask yourself what you have to drop in your life in order to follow the Lord more lovingly and faithfully. Give God the first place in your life and allow his principles to determine your decisions and life choices.
Dec 30, 2019 | Homily
By Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe, CSSp
4th Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 7:10-24; Romans1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24)
Dear friends in Christ,
We are close to the actual celebration of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a birth like no other, for several reasons. His coming was widely prophesied. Various generations waited for him with eagerness. His birth took place in an extraordinary manner, and those who encounter him are filled with gratitude. Today is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent; a time for preparation for the great feast of Christmas. The readings invite us to develop the right attitude to life situations and to adopt principles guided by true love of God and neighbor in our decision making.
The first reading presents us with King Ahaz. He was the son of Jothan and the father of Hezekiah. Ahaz became king at the youthful age of 20 and was disrespectful of the ordinances of the God of Israel. He got involved with occultic practices to the extent of making his own son walk through the fire of Moloch, copying the abominable pagan practice of the Phoenicians. Troubles soon befell him. His kingdom (Judah) was attacked and annexed by the Edomites and the Philistines. When the king of the great Assyrian Empire of the time terrorized all the nations in the region, forcing them to pay tribute, the Kings of Syria and Israel joined forces to stop him. But Ahaz would not join them. They, therefore, decided to unseat Ahaz and replace him with an Aramean. Finding himself hard-pressed from all sides, Ahaz sent men of noble birth with gold and silver taken from the Temple of God to make a pact with the Assyrian King. Offering the pagan King of Assyria treasures from the Temple of the God of Israel was a great abomination. It was while this situation of unrest threatened Jerusalem that the prophet Isaiah approached the faithless King Ahaz with the proposition mentioned in the first reading.
Situations have ways of impinging on our faith. It is sometimes difficult to hold the fort in the face of imminent danger. That is when faith and reason seem to contradict each other. Ahaz got himself into trouble. But instead of turning to God, he went further away from God by seeking the solution in the wrong place. God was actually saying to him, ‘ask me for a sign that will guarantee you that I am God, the only one that will save this city – and not the Assyrian king.’ Though Ahaz had no faith in God, God was not willing to abandon Ahaz and his people. He is a faithful God. Even if we are faithless, he remains faithful….(2 Timothy 2:13). Isaiah assured the King that God himself will give him a sign: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call him name Immanuel. Immanuel means “God-with-us”. Paul noted in Romans 8:31 “If God be for us who can be against us?” and speaking about the troubles that afflicted him, Paul declared that we always have victory through Jesus (Romans 8:37). God’s faithfulness to Ahaz manifested in the latter’s own lifetime. He lived to see the kingdoms that threatened Judah laid low while Judah enjoyed prosperity.
Joseph, on the contrary, gives us a glimpse of what it means to be God-fearing. We see him in the Gospel faced with a difficult situation. He was upright and law abiding: a righteous person. Heartbroken to see that his betrothed was pregnant prior to their marriage, and knowing that this would result in the death of Mary should it be known that he was not responsible for her pregnancy, he decided to take the middle course: divorce her secretly, thereby saving her life and protecting her family from shame. In our present society, one would expect some kind of revenge for such a “betrayal”. But such was not Joseph. He is a reminder to us that while observing laws and maintaining personal prestige is important, the salvation and welfare of the other (inspired by true love) is more valuable. As Paul noted in 1 Corinthians 13, love is the only thing that endures. God is love (1 John 4:7).
The dilemma of Joseph became even more complicated when the angel told him in a dream that the pregnancy was a divine action, something unheard of in his days. In those days, dreams were viewed as avenues for divine communication. Joseph believed the message he got from the dream and acted accordingly. There was no crisis between his faith in God and his rationality.
Juxtaposing Joseph and Ahaz highlights some important points for consideration on this last Sunday of Advent. Ahaz, unlike Joseph, was impious and therefore got himself and the people of Judah into so many religious, social, security and economic crises. His egocentric approach to the problems he encountered made him make the wrong decisions which took him farther from God. As we approach the birth of Jesus during these last days of the year, it is important to review the principles that have guided our decisions over the year. Are these principle in conformity with Christian principles? Otherwise, we could be professing one thing while doing another.
Joseph placed the welfare of Mary over and above his ego and other personal considerations. Guided by love, he was able to understand the spirit of the law of Moses and the ultimate desire of God for humanity. Love is the driving force of the incarnation (God taking flesh in Jesus Christ). John 3:16 puts it clearly: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
As we conclude our preparation for welcoming the newborn king, Jesus Christ, let us be reminded that the ultimate desire of God is to be with us forever. Isaiah gave the virgin birth of Immanuel (God-with-us) as an assurance to Ahaz. The angel of God repeated the same to Joseph in the Gospel reading of today. What can be more beautiful than God being with us at all times?
During a visit to a dying old man, the man said to me: “I had everything I needed. I had a good life, good job and enjoyed the company of many friends. When I became sick, my friends gradually ceased to visit. My wife had died earlier, but I have a son in America.” Then he sobbed. I could see great pain in his face. When he lifted his eyes, he said, “But here am I dying lonely. I have not heard from my son for so long.” It then became clear to me that nothing can replace the presence and care of a loved one, especially in times of difficulty.
God never deserts us. His desire to be with us led Him to take flesh and be born of the Virgin Mary. Besides, Jesus’ last words to his disciples on His ascension were, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20).” It is for us, therefore, to welcome Him into our lives and allow Him operative space through a life of love and obedience to His words.
May the birth of Jesus Christ bring many blessings to us all. Amen.
