Homily for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Be Careful What You Ask For

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, October 20, 2024

The idiomatic expression which says, “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it” is often used to warn people to think deep and hard before they say what they want because if that request is granted, it might not make them happy. It is a cautionary tale that encourages us to think properly, to consider the pros and cons of our request before we make it, because what we want may have unexpected negative consequences. It was the great Saint Teresa of Avila who said, “More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.” For example, someone who wants to be a manager at work may find that the job has too many responsibilities and he no longer enjoys it. A couple may want and pray for twins without knowing the cost of having twins. About two weeks ago, a young priest said to me over the phone, “Father, you did not tell me this is what my life will become.” This priest was recently installed as a pastor. This is his first time being a pastor. Before then, he had worked as an associate and a hospital chaplain. Previously, he had told me he would like to be made a pastor, and I had actually warned him that if I were him, I would prefer to stay in the hospital as a chaplain. Now, he is a pastor and he is dealing with the different intricacies that come with the work. 

Today’s Gospel readings (Mark 10:35-45) begins with two of Jesus’ disciples grasping for greatness, as they understand it. James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, want to sit at Jesus’ right hand and his left when he comes into his glory. Approaching Jesus, they said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” After their first request, Jesus indulges them, “What do you wish me to do for you?” They make their second request, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” Now, from their vantage point as Jews, their request makes sense. At this time, the two brothers are convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. And the Messiah is meant to be the king who is going to reign over the twelve tribes of Israel, and by extension, he is going to be the Lord of all nations. That was the expectation of every Jew, and it was also the expectation of these two brothers. Simply stated, James and John want to be Jesus’ prime ministers when he begins to reign as the king of Israel. But they clearly don’t know what that means. And if Simon Peter or any of the Apostles knew the true cost of what the two brothers were asking, they would have said to them, “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.” Jesus offers them a path to greatness, but it is a very different path than the one they had in mind and had imagined.

What is the supreme irony of this story? The two brothers wanted a place of power and honor when Jesus comes into his glory. When does Jesus come into his glory? On the cross where he wears the crown of thorns. James and John wanted the glory of sitting next to Jesus, but what they did not know is that Jesus’ glory is not glory as we know it. They did not understand that Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). They came to Jesus asking for privileged positions in his anticipated success, his power and glory. But Jesus’ success, power and glory will come through his self-abandonment, passion and death. His success would be to die in order to give us life. Jesus came into the world for that very purpose: to die. That is what he meant by “the cup that I drink” and “the baptism with which I am baptized.” James and John asked for earthly glory, but they would get something far greater than all that is in this world— a far higher kingdom and power and glory, namely, heaven and holiness. They would become saints, not Caesars. They would attain true and permanent happiness and joy, not one that comes and goes. They would be remembered globally long after they lived and died, not just for a time. 

Sisters and brothers, it is okay to have ambitions. It is okay to seek privileged positions. It is okay to aspire for places of honor and power. But seek them for the sake of God. Seek honor for the greater glory of God. Seek for power in order to use it to do the will of God in the world. Do you want power and honor? Ask for them as long as you want them on Jesus’ terms, and not yours. And before you make that request, think properly about it. Be careful what you ask for. Your request may actually be what you don’t want. 

God bless you!

Homily for the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The Highest Adventure Of the Spiritual Life

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, October 13, 2024

The great French Catholic philosopher Blaise Pascal, made a distinction between the goods of the body, the goods of the mind, and the goods of the heart. The goods of the body are those things that money can buy—a nice place to live, nice car to drive, nice clothes to wear, good and healthy food to eat. In themselves, they are good, but we are not meant to be stuck at that level. We must move towards the goods of the mind which transcend any of the goods of the body. And what are those? Blaise Pascal says they are philosophy, metaphysics, mathematics and higher sciences. Why are these important? He said they make you more refined and bring you to a more refined world. But Blaise Pascal said that beyond the goods of the body and the goods of the mind are the goods of the heart. What are they? They are those values, those things associated with God.

Today’s Gospel is the narrative of a rich young man. This story must have struck a strong cord for the authors of the Gospels because it appeared in all the synoptic Gospels. Matthew wrote about it. He says the man was young and rich. Luke wrote about it. He says the man was an official and rich. Mark also wrote about it. He says the man was rich. This unnamed man has four things to be admired of— money, political power, social power, the energy and enthusiasm of youth. These four things, in themselves are good, but without wisdom, knowledge from on high, they can be misused, abused, and idolized and can become addictions. In every way, this young man is a good man. Mark says that as soon as he sees Jesus, he runs to him, kneels before him and then asks the most important of all the questions anyone can ask in this life: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” I tell you, there is something absolutely right about this young man, something spiritually alive, something so powerful that it should never be ignored, and that is his profound desire to share in everlasting life. He is looking for what Blaise Pascal calls “goods of the heart,” those things associated with God. 

Look at it this way. He has the goods of the body. The Gospel says he is wealthy, which means he can afford all the pleasures of this world. He also has the goods of the mind. How do we know that? This is evident from the fact that he called Jesus “good” and “teacher.” Obviously he has been listening to Jesus’ teaching. He has been taking it all in. The Lord’s teachings have evidently refined his mind and thought. Now, he wants the goods of the heart, which are those things associated with God. And where can he get them? Not from the world. Not from his vast resources. Not from the company of fellow rich people, not from his social status, but from God himself. So, he comes to Jesus. Although he has all the goods of the body and the goods of the mind, he implicitly knows they are not enough. If they were enough, he would not bother an itinerant preacher. He knows that the goods of this world, no matter how great they are, are not eternal. They don’t and can’t satisfy the deepest longing of the heart. 

How does Jesus respond to his crucially important question? He takes him to the commandments. Jesus enumerates many of the commandments. The rich young man considers it, and then replies, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” He has covered the basis; he has eliminated the fundamental violations of love. This is a sign that this man is spiritually serious. Reading his heart, Jesus senses he is being honest, and with love he says to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have. Give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” Actually, this is the pivotal moment of this story. This is the rising or falling point of the story. The young man is a good man. He has good instincts. He has the goods of the body, but he is not stuck at that level. He is seeking for the highest goods, the goods of the heart. He comes to Jesus in search of the goods of the heart. Jesus looks at him and sees that although he is a spiritually serious young man, he is still too drawn, too attached to the goods of the body, the goods of the world. He still has the tendency to switch back to the goods of the body— power, wealth, honor and pleasure. So, Jesus invites him to set aside those things and to follow him to the height, to the height of spiritual life. He invites him to a great spiritual adventure. Jesus points to him what it would take for him to inherit eternal life. What does the rich young man do now? 

At this point, we hear one of the saddest lines in the whole Bible, “…his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.” You know, it is so rare in the Gospel that Jesus calls someone and the person does not respond. When he called Matthew, Matthew got up and followed him. When Jesus called James and John to follow him, they left everything including their father and followed him. When Peter said to Jesus, “Depart from me for I am a sinful man,” Jesus did not depart from him, instead he called him to become a fisher of men. As for the rich young man, he went away sad. He is looking for eternal life, but at a decisive moment, he tragically balks. He decisively refuses to comply. He allows his many possessions to possess him. What is this young man lacking even though he keeps all the commandments? What is going to prevent him from entering eternal life? Two things! First, his attachment to his wealth. Second, his unwillingness to follow Jesus as a disciple. The Lord is basically saying that you not only have to keep the commandments, you also have to detach yourself from your possessions and then come and follow him as his disciple. Following Jesus, so to speak, is the eleventh commandment. Detachment is actually freedom. We are enslaved to whatever we cannot part with that is material. We need detachment from everything that is not God. My late mother used to say, “That which you think is greater than God, don’t give it to me. I don’t want it.” So, it is all about detachment from the goods of the body and then giving ourselves to our Lord Jesus Christ. The Buddha did not know of Jesus, but he knew the human race very well. He taught that the source of all human misery and suffering is attachment, “grasping” or greed, or selfishness. In Luke’s version of the Beatitude, Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor.” Is Jesus glorifying economic poverty? Not at all. He is basically saying, “How lucky you are if you are not addicted to material things.” Authentic freedom does not come from clinging to things, but by detaching from things. What is your attachment? Are you willing to let it go and to follow Jesus? 

God bless you!

Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Biblical Anthropology And Christian View Of Marriage

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, October 6, 2024

The central themes that run through this weekend’s first reading (Genesis 2:18-24) and the Gospel (Mark 10:2-16) are biblical anthropology, that is, who we are in the presence of God and the Christian understanding of marriage. In the opening line of the first reading we hear, “The Lord God said: ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.” I tell you, if you sit and meditate on those words, you will discover it is one of the most fundamental statements of biblical anthropology. God has created Adam, but God immediately realizes that it is not good for the man (Adam) to be alone. The implication here is that we belong in community; we belong together. After the creation of Adam, God brought forth to Adam all kinds of animals and Adam named them one by one. Although Adam was not literally all alone, he was surrounded by many animals, but none of these animals could function as a proper partner to Adam. None of them was a suitable partner to Adam because they are not co-equal to Adam. What Adam needs is not someone he can dominate but someone that can respond to his intelligence, to his emotion, to his creativity, and to his depth of personality. Adam was basically a lonely man. To solve this problem, God puts Adam into deep sleep, and from his rib God creates Eve. Now, don’t read this as a symbol of a woman’s inferiority. It is rather of a woman’s radical co-equality with the man. She is not like the other animals that God brought before Adam that Adam dominates and controls. This is the reason why upon seeing the woman, Eve, Adam joyfully says, “This one, at last, is the bone of my bones and the flesh of my flesh.” In other words, his co-equal partner. Long ago, Aristotle said that you can only have authentic friendship with someone who is your co-equal. And he’s so correct. You can only have authentic friendship with someone whose gaze meets your gaze, whose intelligence meets your intelligence, whose curiosity meets your curiosity, whose capacity for love meets your capacity for love. So, in Eve, Adam finds his friend, the one whose bone is his bone, and flesh his flesh. 

In the last verse of our first reading, we hear, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). What a truly loaded statement. Three things mentioned in that statement that we should not ignore are leaving, clinging and becoming one. For those who are married, if you want to know how your marriage is going, use the three to assess it. For those who are single, if you want to know how your relationship with Jesus Christ is going, you can also apply those three things. Those three things relate not only to Jesus’ relationship with us but also our relationship with Jesus. For those who are married, it relates to your relationship in holy matrimony. If there is any problem in your marriage or in your relationship with the Lord, it is in one of these areas or in all of them. 

The first is leaving. In a marriage relationship, it is very important that the man and woman leave their past behind. It is important they detach from friends and sometimes family members that are affecting their relationship in a negative way. It is also important that you leave behind your spouse’s past ugly life behind and begin to see her or him as a new person. Oftentimes we leave our own past behind, but then we find it very difficult to leave our spouse’s past behind. In general terms, if we are serious in following Jesus, we need to leave the philosophies of this world behind. We need to leave secular views and start listening to Jesus. We need to leave false idols— power, wealth, honor and pleasure of this world behind and then give ourselves completely over to the Lord. Interestingly, Jesus left heaven and came to earth in order to pursue us. We need to leave sin behind and follow the Lord. In our last weekend Gospel, Jesus uses  exaggerated language to urge us to cut off anything or anyone that is hindering and blocking our salvation. So, in your relationship with the Lord, have you left everything behind and follow him? The second thing is clinging. In a marriage relationship, the husband and wife are to cling to one another. What does that mean? It means they are in a sense vigorously pursuing one another, trying to outdo and beat each other in the expression of their love, affection, and in every aspect of their life. As for all of us married or single, being a Christian is often described as a journey out of the world of sin into the world of love. In John’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that even though we are in the world, we are not of the world. And to be not of the world will require clinging tenaciously to the Lord. In Jesus of Nazareth, God came to the world to pursue us. So, rather than run away from him, we should run towards him and cling to him. 

Finally, the third thing is becoming one flesh. Husbands and wives are literally called to become one flesh. What does that mean? They are to have one vision, one dream, and one plan on how to raise their children. The Bible says that two people cannot walk together unless they agree. Husbands and wives should have one aspiration. Both should love God and pray together. And if you are single, you are called to become one flesh with the Lord. He leads and we follow. If you want a healthy relationship in your marriage, you have to leave many things behind, you have to cling unto each other and when you do, you will become one. If you want a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ, you have to leave the world, cling to Jesus and become one with him, especially by attending Mass regularly and receiving the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the most real and profound way we are christified and become one with the Lord and with each other in the Body of Christ.

God bless you! 

Homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Cutting Off Occasions Of Sin

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Many Christians have certain Bible lines or passages they consider as their favorites. Why? Because those lines or passages inspire, motivate and touch them specially and profoundly. They particularly address their situation in a more significant manner. For instance, John 3:16, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” is the most widely recognized one-liner from the Gospels and it is the favorite quote for many in the entire Bible. But I am not sure there is any Christian who considers the following text we read from today’s Gospel as their favorite verse: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:43-48). 

But is Jesus asking us to literally amputate our hand and foot and to pluck out our eyes in order to avoid committing sin? Not at all! Jesus is using an exaggerated language called hyperbole in literature to urge us to flee from anything that is blocking and hindering our salvation. If these things— hand, foot and eye are a block, a hindrance to your salvation, Jesus says, get rid of them, for it is better to enter eternal life maimed than enter hell with all of your limbs and members intact. Why did Jesus use the symbolism of hand, foot and eye to make his point?  The hand is the organ that we use to reach out and grasp things. St. Augustine indicates that the soul is wired for God. The soul is meant for union with God, but we have, instead, reached out to created things with all of our energies and grasped them. What about the foot? We use the foot to set  out and travel on a clearly defined and determined path. But we are meant to walk on the path of light, the path of Jesus Christ. But do we always walk on that path? Each of us can remember the many times we walked deviant and sinful paths that made wealth, honor, power, pleasure our only and primary aim in life. What about the eye? It is the organ that enables us to see and behold things. But we are designed to seek after and behold the face of God. But do we always seek God’s face? What prevents us from seeking the face of God always? Whatever they are, Jesus is asking us to cut them out, and to abandon them. 

Jesus is asking us to avoid the things that lead to sin. He’s asking us to run from anything, anyone, any event, any place that makes us yield to sin. We call it occasion of sin. For some of us, consumption of alcohol is the occasion of sin. For others, it is the TV, internet, magazine etc. For some, it is the friends they keep and the places they go to. Whatever and whoever it is that will deny us heaven, Jesus says, cut if off. Disengage and discontinue that friendship or membership that is leading you away from God. Walk out now! It’s better to go to heaven friendless than with a host of friends end up in Gehenna. If endless pursuit of wealth is going to exclude you from the Great Banquet of the Lamb of God, Jesus says, it’s time to stop. If membership of social media like Facebook, Instagram, X etc is exposing you and making you prone to do certain things you ordinarily wouldn’t do, the Lord says, end the membership now. It’s better to go to heaven with a few people knowing you, than with a multitude of followers end up in hell. 

Sisters and brothers, let’s not treat sin with levity. Sin hurts. It hurts us. It hurts our Church. It hurts our family. It hurts our society. It hurts our community. It hurts our world. It’s not a little thing. Sometimes its effects and consequences are hard to erase. Even though our culture is becoming less religious and more secular, we need to listen to the Good Shepherd. In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Living a virtuous life is not unpleasant, as some people believe. The pleasures of sin may appear enticing and may be offered to us as a source of happiness, it’s a big lie! It’s a big deception! Although sin can excite one’s passions, but it is only a matter of time before one discovers how miserable and unhappy his or her life has become. Sin has two companions: sadness and destruction. Get rid of whatever it is that is hindering your salvation. 

God bless you!

Homily for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The New Definition Of Greatness

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, September 22, 2024

Since my ordination to the priesthood in 2007, St. Bridget is the fifth parish I have been to. And having worked in these parishes, met so many Catholics and got to know them really well, I can conclusively say that our church is divided into two rooms. In one room, you find people, Catholics who give their time, talent, treasure and never get tired of giving. In the other room, you find people who should and ought to give either their time or treasure or talent but decided otherwise. And the saddest thing about this group is that there is actually nothing stopping them from doing any of that. They simply choose to be what I call “consumerist Christians.” In one room, you find people who humbly and joyfully serve others, in the other room, you find people who basically wait to be served and attended to. In one room we have Catholics who call the pastor or the parish office and ask, “How can I help the parish?” These are the people who volunteer to set up the tables and chairs during the celebration of the feast of St. Bridget, doughnut Sunday, Ice-cream social, Appreciation Lunch for the staff of Sojourners Truth Academy etc. And at the end of these events, they stay behind to remove the tables and chairs and return them to their rightful place. And in the other room, you have people who call to ask, “Why is no one doing something about it?” 

In today’s Gospel (Mark 9:30-37), Jesus shocks his Apostles who along the way were arguing among themselves who is the greatest: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” In the calculation of the world, the greatest are people with political power or social power. In the mind of the world, the greatest are people with lots of money and connections. In the way of the world, the greatest are those who are served. Everyone caters to them and attends to their needs. But for Jesus, the greatest among us are people who serve their brothers and sisters. Who are these people? Let’s make it concrete. Every weekend and especially when we have parish events, they are the first to be in church and the last to leave. They come to Mass early, and are the last to leave. They are the ones who clean the church, clean the restrooms, trim the bushes, weed the plants and keep outside of the church tidy. Some of us may not value their services, but Jesus said they are the greatest. 

Sisters and brothers, today is our Ministry Fair. Today is an opportunity for you to sign yourself in. If your unspoken attitude all along is, “sign me out,” or “I don’t care,” today is a great opportunity for you to “sign yourself in” and be considered by Jesus as great. I tell you, everyone has a reason to simply attend Mass and then head home. Everyone has some reasons to merely be a consumerist Catholic. You could say to yourself, “I can’t do it.” “I don’t have the talent.” “I don’t have the time.” “I am tired.” “I have done this for many years, let someone else step up.” “I am not worthy to do it” etc. But the great civil rights icon, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” If your heart is full of grace and your soul engendered by love, you will serve. You will serve as a lector, as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, as an usher. You will encourage your children to join the altar servers, and you will bring them to Mass regularly and on time. If your heart is full of grace and your heart produces love, you will sign yourself in a ministry and become actively involved in the life and ministry of our parish. 

As your pastor, I deeply appreciate your membership of St. Bridget. I am glad that you come to Mass regularly. But it is not enough. We will never change our community, society and world by simply coming to church, but by being church. If all you do is just come to Mass, be served and attended to, then you are making church all about you. If we are not serving our brothers and sisters, we are not becoming great people. In John 13:13, Jesus says, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so because that is what I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher washed your feet, you also must wash one another’s feet.” Do you want to be considered first and great by Jesus the Lord? Then serve! Wash the feet of others. Attend to the needs of others. Be the one to read at Mass. Be the one that brings communion to others etc. 

God bless you!

Homily for the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Faith Opens The Door, Love Keeps You In The House

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, September 15, 2024

Today, we explore an incredibly important issue that has continued to divide Christians, which is the relationship between faith and works. It all started with the 16th century Augustinian monk,  Martin Luther, who tried so hard to assure himself of salvation. As a good monk, he did everything that was expected of him. He attended daily Masses, frequently went to confession, engaged in works of charity and practiced pious and spiritual activities. He indulged in all those religious and spiritual activities just to assure himself of salvation. Sadly, as much as he did them, the less assured he was of his salvation. Often after confessing his sins in great detail and receiving absolution, he would return moments later to the confessional convinced he was overlooking something. His famous line was  “If ever a monk got to heaven by his monkishness, I was that monk.” One day, Luther had an experience that drastically changed his life and eventually changed the world. All this time, the young monk had lived scrupulously agonizing about his own salvation. But one day, a familiar text in the Bible hit him hard with new power. That text is Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 1 verse 17 which says, “The just man shall live by faith.” Martin Luther knew this text very well. He had been lecturing on Saint Paul. But on this particular occasion, something happened to him. It was like a revelation to him. He just realized that the key to salvation is not work, not monkishness, not scrupulosity, not rigidity but faith. What guarantees salvation is not the accomplishment of the pious, rather the simple confidence of the sinner in God who offers his grace in Jesus Christ. This new insight, this new revelation gave Luther the certitude and peace he had long for for a very long time. Once Luther grasped this, he began to find the principle everywhere in Scripture, especially in Saint Paul. Equipped with this insight, Luther called for Reformation within the Church. 

Though Luther’s insight is thrilling and fascinating, there are certain texts in the New Testament that contradict it, and Luther knew it.  Some of these texts are found in the Letter of Saint James that we’ve been reading. For James, salvation is not a matter of faith alone but includes good works also. In today’s second reading, James says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14) For James, faith without good works is incapable of making someone spiritually healthy in the presence of God. More to it, James says, “Faith itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). Now, how do we reconcile these seemingly contradictory positions in the Bible? The Bible speaks about the primacy of grace, which means God’s activity and initiative always come first. And our response to God’s activity and initiative always follows. God is always the first to show his hands, and after showing his hands, he gives us the grace to open our own hands to grab his. The grabbing of God’s hands is faith. In the words of one of the greatest theologians in the Catholic Church, Saint Thomas Aquinas, “Faith is the door to spiritual life; it is the sine qua of a relationship with God.” The Bible says that “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). The moment you find yourself in the position of compelling God to act simply because you think you deserve it and earn it, you are ipso facto in the wrong attitude towards God. When you begin your spiritual life from the standpoint of “because of my accomplishment, my efforts, I deserve to compel God to love me and reward me,” you are ipso facto in a wrong relationship with God. We cannot change God. We cannot manipulate God. The Psalmist understands this so well, and that’s why he says, “Our God is in heaven and he does whatever he wills” (Psalm 115:3). You are in a very bad spiritual place if you think, no matter who you are, you can manipulate the Almighty God. So, begin your spiritual life with this stubborn fact: God is God and I am not. After that, journey with God with that very reality. 

Now, what is the Catholic Church’s official reaction to Reformation? First, the Church agrees with Luther that no one can earn and merit justification. Salvation or justification is a gift. Everything begins with divine grace and then a grateful consent to divine outreach, which we call faith. Grace comes first. But the Catholic Church rejects Luther’s theology of “Sola Fidei,” that is “By faith alone.” We believe that salvation is a gift of God’s love. Because love is what God is. We also believe that faith is the opening of the door as Aquinas said. Without faith, you cannot go in. But after going in, love is required to live in the house. The Psalmist captures this so well when it says, “But I, through the abundance of your mercy, will enter into your house” (Psalm 5:8). This means I can enter into God’s house because of God’s inexhaustible love and grace. This is the primacy of grace, God’s initiatives. But after that, God intensely desires that we live in his house through the path of love. Why is love so required? Because it is the rule of living in God’s house and God’s presence. So, the Catholic response to “Sola Fidei” is “Fides caritate perfecta” “faith perfected by love.” Another way of putting it is “Fides caritate formata” which means “faith formed by love.” We agree with Luther that grace comes first. We are saved by grace, but then, the rule of living the saved life and in God’s house is love. While we were still sinners Christ died for us— that’s the primacy of grace. Accepting that Christ died for us is faith. For this faith to be perfected, we must live in love. That’s what James meant when he said, “Faith without works is utterly dead.” Faith in God that does not express itself in love is simply worthless. If you have faith, you have opened the door, but if you don’t have love, you have not started to live in that house— God’s house. It is the same Saint Paul that says we are justified by grace through faith that also says “You have to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” It is the same Saint Paul who said, “If I have faith enough to move a mountain but have not love, I am nothing.” No one celebrated faith more than Saint Paul, and that’s what Luther later found out in his spiritual awakening, but Paul also says that if I have faith to move a mountain but have not love, I am nothing. Let’s not forget the words of the Psalmist that “The salvation of the just comes from the Lord” (Psalm 37:39).

Homily for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Whose Job Is It To Take Care Of The Poor?

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, September 8, 2024

A few years ago, a Catholic priest in Nigeria did something totally startling and downrightly dramatic. He wanted to see how his parishioners would respond to an impoverished man begging for charity. One Sunday morning, this priest dressed up in torn and worn-out clothing he collected during the week, put some dirt on his head and face as a way of disguising himself and then sat in front of his church begging. Aside from a sign in his hands that reads, “Help the poor” he also adopted a sorrowful tone of voice as he pleads, “Please, help me. I am hungry and homeless.” The priest made sure he sat outside of the main entrance to the church before people started to come to Mass. As he sat there begging, a few people who entered the church gave him money, while the rest, the vast majority of the people, wondered why a beggar was allowed to sit there and beg. Eventually, the priest who disguised as a destitute was harshly ordered to leave. When he hesitated and continued to beg for help, some men came, picked him up and threw him out of the church compound. And they made sure he didn’t come back. To make the long story short, the priest eventually made his way back to the rectory and dressed up for Mass. By the way, this whole drama was captured on video by a young man who was hired by the priest. During his homily, the priest stood before his parishioners and said something like “Brothers and sisters, I am that poor beggar at the door that was thrown out of the church premises.” And that was his entire homily. The silence that followed was deafening. 

In today’s second reading (James 2:1-5), St. James sharply criticizes Christians who discriminate against the poor just as the disguised priest in the story was treated by his parishioners. In Catholic social teaching, there is something called “preferential option for the poor.” It is a principle which is littered throughout the Bible that encourages all people and particularly Christians to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable in society. It says that priority should be given to the well-being of the poor and the powerless in our society. Now, before you frown, “option for the poor” is not a slogan that pits one group against another. Instead it is a way to recognize and always remember that the deprivation of the poor affects not only the poor but the whole community and the whole society. What does this entail? Here in our country, hundreds of billions of dollars are yearly budgeted for military purposes. While this is necessary, the Catholic Church urges our leaders to also prioritize production that meets social needs. The Church also encourages everyone to help the poor, to think about the poor and to follow Jesus’ example and teaching. Jesus taught that feeding the hungry, welcoming strangers, and caring for the sick are ways to look after him. The Church has always seen almsgiving, which means all kinds of charity to the poor, as an essential part of the Gospel, not an extra or a specialization for a few. 

How are the poor discriminated against? One of the ways we discriminate against the poor is not always very obvious. It is rather subtle and subdued. We do this not so much by commission as St. James says in our second reading for today, but by omission. We do this by ignoring the poor, deliberately avoiding the poor, not paying attention to their existence and their needs and by convincing ourselves that there is nothing we can do to help them. We give reasons why they are poor, which is always their fault. Another way we discriminate against the poor is giving undue and disproportionate attention to the well-off. In some Christian churches, some individuals are assigned to particularly attend to the rich who come to church. The pastor caters to them, pays particular attention to them and regularly recognizes them individually in the assembly. Meanwhile the not so rich members who ensure that the church is tidy are hardly recognized. Finally, another way we discriminate against the poor is by ignoring the spiritually poor and their spiritual needs. We forget that some of the poorest people in our society are actually people with good and comfortable houses, good jobs, and fat bank accounts. But by our very calculations, they are truly rich, materially rich. But by God’s calculations, they are the poorest among us. 

Now, what is the Catholic Church’s position on this matter? Everybody, from the leadership of the Church to the man and woman in the pews, should care for the needs of everybody. If the spiritually alert among us are materially poor, the Church must preach and promote causes that lift them up. And if the materially wealthy among us are spiritually poor, the Church must speak the truth to them. From the lips of Jesus we hear, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). The materially poor and spiritually poor need our charity, and the foremost and greatest act of charity we can give, the great St. Thomas Aquinas writes, is to lead our neighbor to the truth. In reality, everyone is poor, either materially poor or spiritually poor. As such, everyone needs to be led to Christ Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Speak the truth in love and practice charity with clarity!

And may God give you peace!