Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Discipleship And Mission: Lessons From The Seventy-Two

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Jesus had twelve intimate followers whom we call Apostles, “apostellein” in Greek, meaning “to send.” He chose them at the beginning of his public ministry. But in today’s  Gospel (Luke 10:1-12,17-20), Luke says, “…the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.” What is the first spiritual lesson here? We are a missionary Church. Who is a missionary in the Christian context? It is a person sent out by the Church, either in a foreign land or to a new culture, to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples for him. Christianity is not a quiet religion. Yes, there are times when silence and quietude in prayer are important. However, the basic goal of Christianity is mission. The good news of Jesus Christ is not for keeping. It is not like a piece of art you purchased to enjoy or to decorate your house. Upon receiving it, you are obligated to share it with someone else. If you are baptized and confirmed, you are essentially speaking, a missionary. You are disciples of the Lord. You are like one of these seventy-two. By the way, you don’t have to cross an ocean. You don’t have to go to a foreign land to be a missionary. Imagine waking up in the morning and asking yourself the question: How will I bring the Gospel to someone today? It does not have to be through eloquent preaching or a high theological debate; it can be as simple as an act of love and kindness. It can be being patient with your children, your spouse, or someone in your workplace. Sometimes it can be being vigilant and alert for when a theological gate is open, and then ceasing the moment to tell someone about Jesus Christ.

Now, if you notice, Jesus does not send them out as individuals; rather, in pairs. When I was in the formation house, Redemptorists in Nigeria never sent any seminarian alone to a diocese for Apostolic work. It was always in pairs. In this faith journey, you need someone with whom you can talk and share experiences. I believe everyone listening to me now has friends. But which of those friends are people you discuss your spiritual and religious life with? If your religious approach is corrected in love, do you listen? We don’t know it all; as such, we need fellow travellers in the Kingdom who can listen to us and give us feedback. You need someone you can pray with and share a meal with, laugh and cry with. Life is a journey. Don’t travel alone. There’s nothing like a lone disciple. A lone disciple could easily become a lone wolf. In our tradition, we have men and women like Benedict, Francis, Dominic, Alphonsus, Ignatius, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who started their missionary work alone. But immediately invited others to join them. Make friends with people who believe in what you believe and who are interested in walking the spiritual path with you. 

Before sending the seventy-two disciples, Jesus says to them, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.” Catholics love their priests and nuns. We need priests and nuns today more than ever. But as your children are discerning what they will become in the future, do you mention to them the idea of becoming a priest or a nun? Are you only thinking about your children becoming doctors, nurses, engineers, IT professionals, etc? Are you only thinking about your children becoming great in the fields of the world? When I was discerning mine, a cousin of mine who is a medical doctor strongly encouraged me to study medicine and become a medical doctor. He said to me, “If you become a medical doctor, you are going to be so rich.” He is right! But I remember saying to him, “What about spiritual doctors?” In addition, Jesus says, “Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” I believe many of you are men and women of prayer. But when was the last time you prayed for vocation to the priesthood and religious life? When was the last time you prayed for priests and religious, asking the Lord to sustain them in their vocation? Remember this: nothing great ever happens apart from prayer. Prayer is the key and the master key. Yes, we need planning, strategic planning, and execution. But if it is initiated, sustained, and backed up by prayer, success is likely going to be the result. So, whatever you are planning to do in your family and in the church, back it up with prayer. 

Furthermore, Jesus instructs them: “Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way.” What does that mean? Don’t be bogged down by material things. Why? Because of the urgency of the mission. We are created beings; as such, we are often tempted and drawn to created and material things. When we see someone driving an expensive car, there is a tendency to admire them and want to be like them. But I tell you, there is more admiration for a saintly man or woman who lives humbly and poorly. The Holy Father, Pope Francis, after his death, what people talked about the most was his humility and simplicity. People spoke eloquently about a custom-built Lamborghini donated to him in 2017. Upon receiving it, he blessed it and asked that it be sold. The proceeds were donated to various charitable causes. As for greetings, it is good to greet, but sometimes greetings can open up conversations that could distract you. Left to me, I wouldn’t want to see anybody before Mass, because a simple greeting opens up a conversation that I am not interested in. Whenever I have Mass, all my attention is focused on it. And it annoys me when someone comes in with a request, “Father, please this, and please that.” 

What else does the Lord say to his disciples? “Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment.” He wants his disciples not to be bogged down by material things. However, there is an obligation on the part of believers to support those who do the work of the Church, like the office manager, music directors, priests, the Director of Religious Education, janitors, and those who are caring for the poor in a formal way. Whenever you conduct any church business with these people, remember to give them stipends. During offertory collection, give something you believe with all your heart is fair and just. Consider giving the same amount of money that you spend when you go out to eat in a restaurant. Don’t just throw in a dollar and think you have done enough. When you invite a priest to do something for you, like blessing your house or car, give him something. Don’t just say, “Thank you, Father, for coming,” and then do nothing else. The basic justice demands that we be generous to those who do the explicit work of the Church. 

What message does Jesus give to his disciples? “…Say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.” When Jesus first appeared on the hills of Galilee, the first words out of his lips were, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” The kingdom of God! What does it mean? Jesus himself! He is the Kingdom of God. He is the coming together of divinity and humanity. Therefore, the world that he ushers in is the kingdom of God. What does it look like? Saint Augustine speaks about two cities: the City of God and the City of Man. The City of God is characterized by love of God and neighbor, peace, forgiveness, and nonviolence. The City of Man is defined by self-love, selfishness, sin, injustice, violence, cruelty, scapegoating, even to the point of disregarding God. But Jesus, in his own person, is the reign of God, the Kingdom of God. So, the central mission of the Church is to proclaim him. We announce him. We offer him to the world. Proclaim him at home. Proclaim him to your children. Yes, we, the members of the Church, are not perfect, but Jesus is perfect. We don’t always get it right. But Jesus is faithful! We are oftentimes beset by the temptation to one thing or another because of the effects of Original Sin. But Jesus is the sinless One. He is trustworthy. He is reliable. This is the reason why we go to him and seek him. 

Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Homily on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was originally established by Pope Pius XII in 1944 to be celebrated annually on August 22. But in 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the celebration to the Saturday after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is an offshoot, a development of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mother Mary. If Mother Mary was immaculately conceived, if by the special grace of God she was exempted from the stain of Original Sin, then she must be Immaculate Heart. Yesterday, we celebrated the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. By sacred, we mean “connected with God.” The Sacred Heart is a symbol of God’s love, particularly his merciful love for humanity. 

On this day, we venerate the Heart of Mary in a similar way we adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is important to note that we are not looking at a specific organ, the biological heart of Mary; rather, we are looking at her purity and love. We are looking at what she loves, just as in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we fix our attention on what our Blessed Lord loves in his sacred humanity. Just as the Sacred Heart represents the whole person of Jesus Christ, so also the Immaculate Heart represents the entire person of Mary. Symbolically, the Immaculate Heart represents what Mary loves. 

In the sixth Beatitude, Jesus said, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.” Now, what does it mean to have a clean heart? It is to be a single-hearted person! According to the great Danish philosopher and theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, “The saint is someone whose life is about one thing,” centered on God. Although you are involved with all sorts of things, you are very active, but all of it is centered around one thing— God alone. That one thing is the anchor of your entire life, around which your whole life revolves. If you are so busy, very active, you are spread all over the map, people may admire you, they may think you are a hard worker, that you accomplish a lot, but if there is no anchor, if there is no one thing that gathers all you do in your life, you will lose your way.

To have a clean heart is to have a heart that is completely free from disordered attachment. Yes, we are created beings. As such, it is very easy for us to have an excessive attachment to created and material things. And when this happens, we become unclean. Our hearts become dirty and occupied. Now, we are not Platonists or Puritans. I have said it multiple times that the Catholic Church rejects puritanism in all its forms. In the Bible, Genesis 1:31, we hear, “God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.” We do not advocate a flight from the goods of this world. We are meant to enjoy the world that God has made. We believe the world is created good. In our tradition, nature reflects the glory, power, and awesomeness of God. So, the world is good. But our heart does not belong to anything in this world. We believe we live in a world of good things, but nothing in this world can finally satisfy the deepest longing of the human heart. The core and deepest principle of our life must belong to God alone. A clean heart is completely free of these attachments. A clean heart loves created and material things only to the extent that God wants us to love them.

 Now, we say that the Heart of Mary is Immaculate, which means absolutely clean. There are degrees of cleanliness. Something can be clean, but not absolutely clean. Anyone who is in the state of grace has a clean heart. A saintly monk can be said to have a much cleaner heart than an average lay person who is out there in the world trying to make a living. But the one who has an Immaculate Heart, one that is absolutely free of any attachment whatsoever, is our Blessed Lady. Why? Because she never had the effects of Original Sin. She was immaculately conceived. She was never guilty of Original Sin. And she did not have the tendency to sin. For the rest of us, no matter how much we mortify our hearts, no matter how much we resist temptation, and this is true even of great Saints, there remains that tendency, that attachment of the heart toward material things. Every single day, we are beset by the temptation to one thing or another because of the effects of Original Sin. And this will happen to everyone, even if you achieved a very high degree of sanctity. But the Blessed Mother did not have that tendency to sin because she was untouched by Original Sin. Her heart was not even drawn to those things. It is Immaculate. So, her heart loves God alone. And her heart loves her neighbor in God. That is why the Blessed Mother Mary is the Greatest Woman, the Greatest Created human being ever. After the Blessed Trinity, the next person in the hierarchy in heaven is Her. This is why we go to her with our problems and with our requests. She has the perfect love of God and the perfect love of neighbor.

Fr. Marcel

Homily on the Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul

The Question That Matters: Who Is Jesus To You?

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, June 29, 2025

After his emergence on the public scene, Jesus travelled with his disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way, Jesus conducts an opinion poll about himself. He asks his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13; Mark 8:27) The disciples did not waste time giving answers, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matt. 13:14). The answer given by his disciples is the general public's wide range of opinions about Jesus. And if we were to take a public opinion poll today about who Jesus is, we would hear “prophet, teacher, good man, wise man, guru, crazy man, philosopher, etc. 

Having heard the results of his opinion poll, Jesus turns to his inner circle, the Twelve, and asks, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter speaks, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Peter could have said, “You are the Messiah,” that is, “the anointed one” who would gather the tribes of Israel, cleanse the temple, and defeat Israel’s enemies; but he added that astonishing phrase, “Son of the living God.” So, even at the early stage of Jesus’ public ministry, Peter knew that Jesus was much more than a prophet or rabbi, or seer. He knew there was something qualitatively different about his Master. Responding to Peter’s amazing confession, Jesus makes one of the most extraordinary declarations in the New Testament: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Neither the crowds nor the aristocrats knew who Jesus was— only Peter knew. And Peter knew not so much from his intelligence or from the great education he had. Peter wasn’t well educated. He was a small business owner and a fisherman. His knowledge of Jesus is purely a gift from God, a special charism of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift, given only to the head of the Twelve, Jesus called Simon by a new name: in Aramaic Cephas (rock or rocky), translated in Greek as Petros and in English as Peter. 

Now, it is important to note that Jesus did not ask what people thought of his teaching or what impression he was making. His question is about his true identity— Who do people say that I am? By the way, no other religious figure focused on himself. Buddha said there is a way that I discovered, and I want you to know it. Muhammad did not focus on himself. He said there is a revelation I received, and I want you to know it. Confucius did not talk about himself, but about the path he found. As for Jesus, he asks, “Who do people say that I am?” and “Who do you say that I am?” To answer Jesus’ first question is easy. It does not require a personal experience of Jesus to answer it. The reading of the Bible, the hearing of the good news, meditation, prayers, Mass attendance, participating in the sacraments, membership of the Church, lively faith, pursuit of holiness, working for peace and justice, practicing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, etc. are not needed to answer it. A person does not necessarily need to have an ongoing relationship with Jesus to attempt to answer it. To answer it, what a person needs is to simply look around and listen to public opinion, to gossip, to what people are saying about Jesus. But to be able to answer the second question, one must look inward, listen to a completely different voice, a voice that is not of flesh and blood but that of the heavenly Father. The answer we give to Jesus’ second question will be determined by how each of us relates to him. Is Jesus someone you make time to visit and speak to in prayer? Is he worth your time on Sunday, on Holy Days of Obligation, and even during the week? Is he someone you can trust? Does he deserve your love? Is Jesus worth falling in love with? Do you see him as someone whose love and compassion for you are exceedingly profound and whose forgiveness for you is matchless? Do you see Jesus as someone who has the authority to tell you how to live, what to do, what not to do, how to relate with others, and how to honor God? Is Jesus your numero uno? Is he someone you are enthusiastically looking forward to spending eternity with? If you haven’t been in touch with him, do you miss him? And do you think he misses you?

God bless you!

Homily for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Year C

The Eucharist: The Heart Of Christian Worship And Life

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Year C

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Almost every time we gather here in church, we gather to celebrate the Eucharist. We participate with the priest, as he realizes and makes possible, in an unbloody sacramental manner, the death of Jesus. We join the priest as he offers to the Eternal Father the Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son. When you see the priest elevate and raise the chalice at Mass, that is the moment when the Blood of Christ is offered as an atonement for our sins. In this gathering, we are also fed with the Body of Christ. In other gatherings where the Eucharist is not celebrated, what we do there is always related to the Eucharist. When we gather for the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, it is to have our sins forgiven so that we may be ready and worthy to receive the Lord. If it is for a retreat, it is still linked to our participation in the Eucharistic celebration. This is the reason why, at the Second Vatican Council, the Council Fathers prominently and emphatically stated that the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life, meaning that the Eucharist is the beginning and the end. So, there is the be-all and end-all quality of the Eucharist.

The last words of Jesus to his immediate disciples and us were: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). As you can see, Jesus’ last instructions to his disciples were not about the Bible but about the Church and her two main sacraments: Baptism and Eucharist. The first thing he told them was not what to say but what to do, “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” What did Jesus command? At the Last Supper, he said to them by way of commandment, “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). 

If you look at the way the early Christians worshipped when they gathered together, you will see that it has all the essential elements of the Mass. In Acts 2:42, we read, “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” Everything they did centered around the Eucharist. For the first fifteen hundred years of the Church’s history, all Christians placed the Eucharist at the center of their worship, until the Protestant “reformers” replaced the Mass with the Bible. The preaching of the Bible was put at the center of their worship. When you look at the architectural designs of their churches, what do you see? A pulpit and not an altar for Eucharistic sacrifice. Don't get me wrong. The Catholic Church holds the Bible in high esteem. We believe that the Bible is indeed the Word of God, but it is only the Word of God in print and on paper. As for the Eucharist, we believe it is the Word of God in person, in flesh and blood. In his encyclical letter, “Mysterium Fidei,” Pope Paul VI acknowledges that Christ is present in the Church when she preaches, since the Gospel is preached through the authority of Christ.” But he maintains that in the Eucharist, Christ is present in his Church in a higher, more sublime, and indeed unsurpassable manner. 

In the course of his public ministry, Jesus commands us to do many things, like “Love your neighbor,” “Pray for those who persecute you,” “When someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other.” Jesus commands us to feed the poor, to preach the whole Gospel, to practice justice and peace, to detach from earthly goods, to carry our cross and follow him, to be humble and gentle, to be merciful, to hunger for righteousness, to aspire for purity of heart. The Lord calls us to be peacemakers, to be compassionate, to practice self-control, and to grieve and mourn over our sins, etc. As a Church, have we always been faithful to all those commands? Not! As an individual, have you always kept all the commands of the Lord? Not at all! Up and down the Christian centuries, there have been wicked Christians. Not all Christians have been peacemakers, and not all of us have a hunger for righteousness. We still struggle to keep our hearts and minds pure. Earthly goods— power, wealth, honor, and pleasure still have a strong hold on us. Some of us still ignore the poor and blame them for their poverty; we all still struggle to forgive those who offended us. We still shrug off calls for justice. When a great opportunity presents itself to preach the Gospel, many of us still shy away from telling others on whose side they belong. We still struggle with being kind and merciful. However, there is one command of Jesus that has masterfully been followed throughout the centuries by the Church. Despite our sins, our stupidity, our weaknesses, and failures, somehow the command, “Do this in memory of me,” has been upheld. It is as if Jesus himself realized he had to give us a command that we will always follow, a command that is so central to what it means to be his disciples. So, despite everything, we always remember to carry out the Lord’s injunction: “Do this in memory of me.” 

Unlike all other commands, the command of Jesus that the Church has faithfully upheld is the celebration of the literal, actual, and Real Presence of Jesus Christ himself. In this Sacrament, Jesus is worshipped and adored. If you worship and adore anything, you are committing idolatry. Check this out! We don’t worship the Bible. We don’t worship the Church. We don’t worship the creeds. We don’t worship the virtues the Lord asks us to cultivate. We don’t worship the saints. We don’t worship the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick, Confession, or marriage. But we worship the  Sacrament of the Eucharist. Why? Because it is Jesus Christ himself, in person, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. I tell you, if this is not true, then Catholics are the world’s biggest fools and idolaters, for they are confusing mere bread and wine with the eternal, perfect God, and worshipping this false god. But if it is true, then Catholics are the most privileged people in the world because they are given the greatest gift anyone ever gave humanity, the Real Presence of God Incarnate in their bodies as well as their souls. 

God bless you!

Homily on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year C

Credo In Unum Deum

Rev. Marcel Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year C

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, June 15, 2025

In the Nicene Creed, we say, “Credo in unum Deum,” which means, “I believe in one God.” If I believe in one God, why are we talking about the Trinity? Where does this doctrine come from? From Jesus himself! Throughout his public ministry, Jesus consistently referred to himself as one whom the Father sent: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21). Although biblical figures like Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc. were also sent, there is something qualitatively and altogether unique about Jesus. There is something that sets him apart from those figures. He spoke and acted in the very person of God. Jesus was sent by another, whom he called in his beautiful Aramaic, “Abba,” that is, Daddy, and whom we acknowledge as divine. And Jesus himself is divine. As he was coming to the end of his public ministry, Jesus repeatedly spoke about another, whom he would send— the Holy Spirit. In John 16:7, he says to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” Jesus promised that He and His Father would send the Spirit who would lead the church into the fullness of truth (John 14:26). It was this divine Spirit who invaded the church at Pentecost, who sustained the early Christian community, and continues to guide the church in the present day. 

Christianity is a monotheistic religion. From ancient Israel, it inherited its monotheistic faith in the one God: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God is God alone.” Therefore, any movement in the direction of multiple gods, of polytheism, is ruled out completely. Check this out! The first Christians were all Jews trained in the strict monotheism of Israel. All of them believed in the existence of one God, not many gods. Yet, they believed passionately that the one God had revealed something new through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They believed in the Trinity of one God. What is Trinity? A good definition of the Trinity is that there is one true God who exists in three persons— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— one in nature, equal in glory, and distinct in relations. The Trinity is not about what God has done in human history, like the creation, the Incarnation, the institution of the Holy Eucharist, atonement of sin on the cross, the Resurrection, etc., but about who God is in himself. 

A lot of people, Christians included, are uneasy with the language of the Trinity. Why? Because it seems so abstract, so rationalistic, so out of touch. How should we understand the Trinity? When we say that “God is love,” everyone is relaxed and happy. What if I tell you that the idea of the Trinity is the explicit declaration of what is implicit in the claim that “God is love.” How come? The biblical claim is that God is love, which means that love is not just something that God does; it is not just an attribute of God, but rather what God is through and through. Other religions, spiritualities, and philosophies might say that God loves. Christianity says it, too, but much more. According to G. K. Chesterton, when we say that “God is love,” it means that in God’s own nature, God is love; within God’s unity, there must be a lover, beloved, and shared love. In other words, you cannot really say that “God is love” without affirming the Trinity. 

Furthermore, another basic claim of Christianity is that God has spoken. In the book of Hebrews, we hear, “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; but in these last days, he spoke to us through a Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2). For the Protestant theologian, Karl Barth, if God has spoken, there must be within God a speaker and a divine Word spoken. Who is going to interpret the divine Word to our little, fallen, and compromised finite minds? asked Karl Barth. It is the Holy Spirit. In today’s Gospel, Jesus, the Word spoken, says,  “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth…Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason, I told you that he (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:12-13 and 14). The Holy Spirit is called “parakletos,” in Greek, which means, “someone who is called alongside.” And in Latin, he is called an “Advocatus,” which means “an attorney or an advisor.” Karl Barth said that if we accept that God has spoken, then there must be a speaker, which is the Father, there must be the Word spoken, which is the Son, and there must be the interpreter of the divine Word, the Holy Spirit, who is the “parakletos” and “advocatus.” 

Why do we need the Holy Spirit? Jesus knew that a lot of what he said and did during his public ministry would take his followers time to grasp, understand, and make sense of. He said, “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now….” (John 16:12). In his seminal work, “An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine,” St. John Henry Newman argued that Christian doctrine unfolds over time, becoming more detailed and explicit while remaining consistent with earlier statements. This development, he said, is not a corruption of doctrine, but rather a natural and beneficial consequence of reason working on revealed truth. Did the first disciples of Jesus understand the Eucharist the way we do today? I doubt! Did they understand the inner relationship of the Trinity the way we do today? I doubt! So, the understanding of doctrines unfolds over time due to the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit so as to guide us in the understanding of the truth. If we believe that God has spoken, then there must be a divine speaker, and we call him the Father;  there must be a divine Word spoken, and we call him the Son. And then a divine Interpreter, whom we call the Holy Spirit. If God is love, we must speak of the Trinity. And if God has spoken, we must speak of the Trinity, as well. 

The final template for understanding the Trinity is in the book, The Celtic Way of Prayer: The Recovery of the Religious Imagination, page 43, where we find this beautiful prayer to the Trinity: “O Father who sought me; O Son who bought me, O Holy Spirit who taught me.” The sentiment on full display in that short prayer is that God is Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is the Father who has been seeking us from the beginning. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, God has been seeking us. Seeking, not in the sense of not knowing where we are, but seeking in the sense of reaching out to where we are. The late Pope Francis has expressed the belief that God’s presence and light are always there, even in the darkest parts of the world. In those dark corners of the Northside of Minneapolis and elsewhere, where young people are peddling drugs, poisoning themselves with drugs and hard liquor, in those horrific places where heinous crimes and sins are being committed, our heavenly Father is there searching for his lost children. In Jesus, the Son of the Father, we are bought at a great price. In Psalm 49:8, we hear, “No one can ransom even a brother, or pay to God his own ransom. The redemption of his soul is beyond him.” One of the greatest revelations of Jesus is that God is our Father. Jesus himself called him “Abba,” an Aramaic word, which means something like Daddy. By that, Jesus is urging us not to view God as being distant from us. He is Abba; he is our Daddy. He is close to us and cares about us. He is someone we can turn to in good and bad times. He listens to us because he wants our good. You are worth as much as the precious Blood of Jesus Christ because that is the price God paid for you— the Blood of Jesus. The Blood of Jesus is priceless, so you are priceless. If God the Father is seeking us, he is finding us in and through the Son, Jesus Christ. And he is teaching us and drawing us into unity through the Holy Spirit. 

God bless you!

Homily on the Solemnity of Pentecost, Year C

Indications The Holy Spirit Is Active In You

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Solemnity of Pentecost, Year C

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, marking the end of the Easter season. Today, we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the church. The Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. As they headed to the streets and preached, people heard them in all their languages, indicating the commencement of the church and its great work, which continues to this day and will continue till the end of the age. Who is the Holy Spirit? He is the love that connects the Father and the Son. From all eternity, the Father speaks his word, which is the Son. The Son is the perfect image of the Father. They share the same substance and essence. The Father and Son look at each other and fall completely in love. The love they breathe back and forth is the Spiritus Sanctus, the Holy Spirit. Today, we celebrate that time, that moment when the Father and the Son, together, breathe out love and power into the life of the Church.

With this in mind, let us look at some of the words in today’s second reading. Writing to the Christians in Rome, the great St. Paul says, “Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9b). Let me say it as quickly as possible: If you are baptized, the Holy Spirit is in you. But the fact that the Holy Spirit is in you does not mean he will always be active in your life. In his letter, St. Paul warns, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). So, the Holy Spirit can be present and at the same time be inactive in the life of an unserious Christian. What are the signs and indications of the Holy Spirit? In Galatians 5:22-23, St. Paul calls it “Fruits of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is active in you, you are going to manifest the following fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Due to time constraints, I won’t be able to preach on each one of them. If you notice, the first fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. Why so? It is because that is what the Holy Spirit is. What is love? It is not a feeling or emotional expression. Love is willing the good of the other and doing something about it. If the Holy Spirit is active in you, you are definitely going to be a person of love. Period! You will desire the good of the other. You will actively work and advocate for that which you desire for them. At the end of the day, when you examine your conscience, don’t forget to ask yourself this question: Did I will the good of the other? Did I do my best to demonstrate that love? If yes is the answer, that’s a clear sign that the Holy Spirit is working overtime in you. 

The second sign of the Holy Spirit is joy. I like to use joy as an acronym— Jesus, others, and you. Take this to the bank, the flag of the Holy Spirit is joy. Now, joy does not mean you are always excited and feel high. It means at the depth of your life, there is this enduring happiness that is not predicated upon wealth, power, honor, and pleasure. If you see an unhappy Christian, something is wrong somewhere. An unhappy Christian is a contradiction in terms. Some people live their lives by sucking the joy out of the room. Wherever they go, they spread unhappiness. The other day, I preached on whom we should not listen to. One of them is a joyless person. Lack of joy in their lives is an indication that the Holy Spirit is not operational in their lives. Again, at the end of the day, when you examine your conscience, find out the quality of your joy. How happy am I today? If you are not happy at all or not happy enough, it may be that you have allowed other things to take center stage in your life. You may not be allowing the Holy Spirit to take deep root in you. 

The third fruit of the Holy Spirit is peace. Shalom in Hebrew. Shalom is what God intended for the human race from the very beginning. Shalom is the first word out of the mouth of the Risen Christ to his fearful disciples. Shalom is well-being at every level of our lives. It is a sense of togetherness with the Lord. If the world is on fire, figuratively speaking, you are not rattled by it. Your core is not shaken. Your faith is not threatened. You might be worried, but you always know that you are never alone; you cannot walk alone. Why? Because the Holy Spirit has drawn you into unity with himself. You feel like someone living in the inner castle. You are assured that no matter what happens, the good Lord will always have your back. He will come through for you. It is this faith-inspired confidence that ultimately gives you peace. Peace is inner harmony, and it comes from the realization that all the elements that make me up— mind, will, passions, power, relationships, private life, public life, professional life, all of it, are implanted in Jesus. I tell you, if you attain that level of life in your Christian life, you will have peace. At the end of the day, ask yourself: Am I at peace? Don’t get me wrong. We are going to experience problems, difficulties, and frustration. But despite all that, do I experience inner unity and harmony? If you do, the Holy Spirit is active in you. 

The fourth fruit of the Holy Spirit is patience. Paciencia in Spanish. Many of us struggle with this fruit. What is the root cause of impatience? Lack of love! If love means “willing the good of the other,” then your preoccupation will be what is good for that person. Right? If I am impatient, it means I am preoccupied with myself and what I want. I will be frustrated that things are not happening my way, on my timetable, and my terms. So, I get impatient, irritated, and angry with people around me. Patience means you are dominated by love. You put up with a lot. One of the spiritual works of mercy is bearing wrongs patiently. Years ago, my patience was deeply tested when our cook, who had just been fired by the superior of my community, came to my office. Right to my face, she unloaded on me. At the time, I was the pastor of the church. And this lady thought I was the one who sacked her. To my face, she yelled at me, called me all sorts of names, and eventually spat on my face and walked out. After that, she followed it up with a petition against me to my bosses. But in all that, I said nothing and did nothing. Was I upset? Yes! But I was more sorry for her. 

The fifth fruit of the Holy Spirit is kindness. What does it mean? It means decency and courtesy. Holding the door for someone to come in, offering your chair for an elderly person to sit, and giving your winter coat to a homeless man or woman is an act of kindness. In an African setting, people speak about the blessings they received from helping out an elderly person. At the physical level, this might be little, but not so at the spiritual level. In the Book of Hebrews, we read, “Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels” (Hebrews 13:2). Kindness is borne out of love. If my life is all about willing the good of others, then I will be attentive to little things that affect them. 

The sixth is generosity. Who is a generous person? A giver! They give without expecting anything in return. But for some of us, life is all about us. We hang on to things and don’t share. We say to ourselves, “I worked for it and it is mine and mine alone.” But if love has taken root in you, if you really will the good of the other, you will become generous with what you have. You will be generous with your time, talent, and treasure. The basic principle in Christianity is that the more generous you are, the more you give, the more grace you receive. If you like to hang on to things, the Holy Spirit, who is love through and through, is not operative in your life. 

The seventh sign that the Holy Spirit is active in your life is self-control. If you are a person of love, you want the good of the other. That means you will have yourself under control. If passions are disordered, and you are constantly expressing your frustration and anger, you are out of control. You will be harming the people around you, and also harming yourself, which is supposed to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Self-control is not puritanism or repression. It is the controlling of my passions and preoccupations so that I might become available to others, and become a vehicle of love to others. The culture tells us to be expressive. If you are angry, show it. Don’t repress it. If someone crosses your path, cross them out. If someone who does not look like you rings your bell, grab your gun and shoot them even before they speak. Look at what anger is doing to us. Someone applies for a job and loses out to someone else. He goes home, grabs his gun, and goes on a killing spree. Someone is sacked from his job, and he gets angry and embarks on a killing spree. What’s wrong with us? Lack of self-control is an indication that the Holy Spirit has been saddened and silenced. 

Sisters and brothers, if you want to know what path you are on, look at these fruits of the Holy Spirit.

God bless you!

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

The Reward Of Heaven: Reflections On The Ascension Of The Lord

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Writings about heaven do not get press coverage. You can hardly read an article about heaven in the New York Times Magazine or hear a discussion of it on any national television stations. In some churches these days, this ultimate goal of every Christian is rarely preached about. Preachers and their congregations are more interested in the immediate blessings of life. The preaching of “receive it” dominates. As such, some people say they know nothing about heaven. Heaven, they conclude, is a mystery. To make matters worse, atheists and secular humanists say to their listeners that the idea of heaven is nothing but utopia, which can be achieved here on earth through social and political reform. Some argue that the quest for a more perfect place is attainable through the pursuit of power, wealth, honor, and pleasure. Some religious people depict heaven as an extension of this earthly life where “lions will lie down with lambs.” But what does the Catholic Church say about heaven? The Catholic Church teaches that heaven is the ultimate destiny of those who live a life pleasing to God, a state of supreme happiness and eternal life in communion with the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary, angels, and all the saints. Heaven is principally a state of utter and absolute fulfillment. In the presence of God, in the possession of God in the beatific vision, the blessed will experience what cannot be put into words: a radical union with God and with other members of the Body of Christ that transcends anything we could envisage.

Today, we celebrate the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. In our first reading (Acts  1:1-11), we hear, “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” In the second reading, St. Paul prays, “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones…” And in the Gospel, Luke tells us, “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them, he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.” What do these readings have in common? The theme of heaven! 

As we celebrate the Lord’s Ascension into heaven, three points may be considered. Number one: Jesus is going up to heaven, but not exactly as he came. From heaven he came as the Son of God, now he goes up as the Son of God and also the Son of Mary. He came from heaven as the only Son of God, but now returns as our Brother and Redeemer. In one sense, he is the only begotten Son of God, but in another sense, he is not the only begotten of the Father, for through his suffering and death, he has ransomed and begotten each of us as sons and daughters of God. Through his redemption, we all have become God’s adopted sons and daughters. We have become brothers and sisters of the Lord. 

Number two: Jesus goes up to heaven without really leaving us. He stays with us as the Risen Lord. Although he is not physically present with us, he is spiritually present in and among us. He is present in the Holy Spirit whom he sent to us, for it is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. He also continues to be with us supremely in the Eucharist, in common and private prayer, in our neighbor, in the poor, and in those who evangelize for the Lord. In Matthew 21:20, Jesus promises us, “And behold, I am with you always until the end of time.” So, the Ascension of Jesus is not a change of place for Jesus. We must avoid the danger of boxing Jesus into heaven, away from us. After all, heaven is living in God’s presence, a presence which begins here and now with the grace of the Lord and then culminates in the glory of heaven. Jesus knew this all too well, and that’s why in John 17:3 he defines eternal life (that is the glory of heaven) like this: “And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ who sent.”

The third point to consider as we celebrate the Lord’s Ascension is that his Ascension into heaven reminds us of the destiny of his followers. A Christian is a pilgrim. We are on a journey, and when someone embarks on a journey, they want to get to their destination. The hope of the Christian pilgrim is the destination of heaven. Heaven is the reward of righteousness and uprightness. Heaven is the reward of compassion. It is the reward of love—love of God and love of neighbor. Heaven is the reward of holiness and purity. It is the reward of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, welcoming strangers, visiting the sick, and the imprisoned for the sake of Jesus. Heaven is the reward of forgiveness and patience. It is the reward of not getting tired of doing what is good. It is the reward of working for justice and peace for the sake of Jesus, the Prince of peace. Heaven is the reward of prayer, which is looking up to God and touching God through prayer. Heaven is the reward of simplicity and humility. Heaven is the reward of not giving up on God even in the face of unspeakable suffering and hardship. Heaven is the reward of keeping the Lord's commandments. Heaven is the reward of working for God wholeheartedly with no regrets. Heaven is the reward of joy drawn from a profound relationship with God. Heaven is the reward of being a faithful witness of God. It is the reward of not clinging too much to the things of this world. Heaven is the reward of depending and relying on God. Heaven is the reward of following Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Heaven is the reward of honest living devoid of hypocrisy. Heaven is the reward of saying yes to God daily. Heaven is the reward of dreaming of heaven. It is the reward for those who spend their earthly life storing up treasures in heaven.  

Sisters and brothers, heaven is our goal and our target! Over there, our tears will be wiped away. Over there, all our limitations will be gone. Over there, we will see Jesus, our Brother and Redeemer. Over there, we will see our loving Father. Over there, we will see the Holy Spirit, our Comforter. Over there, we will see our awesome Mother Mary. Over there, we will be in their company and the company of all the saints and angels. Over there, we will not hunger anymore; we will not be sick anymore. Over there, there will be no more trouble again. Over there, all people of different races, nations, and tongues will be united in one big family. Over there, our song is not going to be composed by Jay-zee, Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Davido, Rude Boy, Burna Boy, Wizboy, Bob Marley, Tu Face, P Square, Cyndi Lauper, etc., but by the Angels.  

God bless you!