Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

Fr. Marcel Emeka Okwara CSsR

In the Gospel of John 14: 1-3 our Dear Lord speaks to us in a veryassuring and comforting way when he says, "Do not let your hearts betroubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house,there are so many mansions. If it were not so, I would not have toldyou that I am going to prepare a place for you. And when I finishpreparing a place for you, I will come back again and take you tomyself, so that where I am you also may be."Firstly, the Lord wants us to do away with fear and worry. He wantsus to be strong. He wants us to be courageous, and this courageshould be based on our faith in God and in Him; "believe in God,believe also in me." Some translations have it as, "Have faith inGod; have faith also in me." Either believe or faith, they are sayingthe same thing. The real issue here is that Jesus wants us to havefaith in God and in him. What then is faith? According to St. ThomasAquinas, faith is a spiritual contact through which we receive thefruits of the Passion of Christ, fruits that are constituted of theremission of our sins and of the gift of grace that introduces usinto eternal Life, the very Life of God. In other words, let us saythat, through faith, we live of the Life of the risen Jesus, and weare already resurrected with Him, in the measure that we remain incontact or in communion with the Passion of the Lord. Now, there aretwo aspects of faith: The first is that we must accept withoutseeing, touching, hearing, smelling or tasting what we believe. Wemust be ready to accept first what we believe before understanding.The second aspect of faith although simultaneous with the firstaspect, but it is its consequences: Faith gives us light, faithenlightens us, and faith illuminates all of our life. Faith accordingto Fr. Anayo Nna CSsR, gives us stability in life, stabilityespecially in the face of trouble, death of beloved ones, sufferingassociated with poverty and sickness. Faced with human suffering,faith in God and in Jesus keeps us going. It keeps our head up andnot down. Faced with disappointments, frustrations and failures,faith in God and in Jesus Christ keeps us strong. We believethat "this too shall pass away." We believe that because he lives, wecan face tomorrow. Faith in God and in Jesus also makes us to yearnfor God. Remove faith in God, and life will become meaningless.Recently, a research in America shows that believers in God arehappier than atheist. Faced with economic recession, inflation,poverty, sickness, loneliness, abandonment, scandals, hatred, crime,insecurity, corruption, moral decadence, wars and rumors of wars,believers in God and in Jesus cast all their worries on Him who caresfor them. God had said to us in the Sacred Scripture "Do not beafraid." And this injunction "Do not be afraid" is recorded 365 timesin the Bible, meaning we have one for each day. Each day, God says toyou, "do not be afraid."So today, our dearest Redeemer invites us his followers to believe inGod and also to believe in Him. But my question is this: Is there anydifference between believing in God and believing in Jesus Christ?The answer is Yes, and it essential. For us Catholic Christians, webelieve in Jesus Christ the Son of God. We do not believe only inGod, as followers of other religions do. We believe in Jesus Christ;we believe that he suffered, died and resurrected. We believe inthis Man, Jesus of Nazareth, who died and was resurrected, who isfirst and foremost God, and the Son of God! We believe that Jesuswill come again in glory to take us to himself.
Brethren our dearest Redeemer and Lord has gone to prepare a placefor us. He says there are so many mansions in his Father's house. Itmeans each and every one of us has a mansion in God's kingdom. Butremember that Jesus is the only Way, the only Door, the only Gate togain entrance into your own mansion. There is no other name by whichwe can be saved, but the Precious and Powerful name of Jesus. Do notallow the pleasures of today constitute an obstruction to gainentrance into your mansion. Do not allow the riches of today become astumbling block for you; never allow the pains of now, the sorrows ofnow, the disappointments of today hinder you. In Romans 8: 38 St.Paul says, "I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love:neither death nor life, neither angels nor heavenly rulers andpowers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world abovenor the world below- there is nothing in all creation that will everbe able to separate us from the love of God which is ours throughChrist Jesus our Lord." This love can only be perfectly enjoyed whenyou get to the mansion above. If you have no means of owing amansions here on earth, do not miss the one our Lord has kept for usin heaven. And if you have acquired mansions here on earth already,remember they are like a passing shadow. Remember the words ofJesus "Store up your treasures above where moth will not destroythem, and where thieves will not be able to steal them." The PromisedLand is no where here on earth, not even in America.

WHERE IS OUR FAMILY?

WHERE IS OUR FAMILY? 

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR 

Feast Of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph 

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church Memphis, Tennessee, USA 

December 28th 2008

Christmas is one of the special times for families to get together. During this time, families get together for special meals, get together to enjoy each other’s company, relax together, make jokes together and have fun. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ who is the only reason that families get together, it is most fitting that during this family time, we reflect on the Holy Family of Nazareth- Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This Holy Family of Nazareth is put before us by the Church this weekend as a model for our families. It even makes more sense to us because today is also the celebration of Kwanza which is the celebration of family, community, and culture. 

 We call the Nazareth family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph “The Holy Family” but that does not mean they did not have problems like every other family. Just as every family has to face problems and overcome them, so also the Holy Family had to face problems. For those who are in doubt of whether they really had problems and for those who have forgotten of the numerous problems they faced, let us enlighten or refresh ourselves: 

The conception (or the pregnancy) of Mary through the Holy Spirit must have been tough for Mary and Joseph. Their worry would be that no one would ever believe their story. Who would believe that her pregnancy was by the power of the Most High? Most would accuse her of infidelity. 

 Do not believe for a split second that Mary was indifferent or untouched or unmoved when Joseph was planning to divorce her before the intervention of the angel of God in a dream. 

Jesus’ birth did not take place in a hospital or even in a human home. It rather took place in an animal’s habitat. This could have inconvenienced both Mary and Joseph a lot.  

When Jesus was born, it was announced that a King has been born. Herod became threatened. He ordered children from ages two down to be slaughtered. He thought that in doing this; somehow the so called child-king will be killed. The family fled to Egypt as refugees because Jesus’ life was in great danger. Mark this; the news of hundred or thousands of Innocent Children wantonly destroyed may have caused so much grief to Mary and Joseph. Their flight to Egypt wasn’t an easy ride. A man or a woman of little faith may have questioned the message of the angel and even given up. Think of what refugees from war-torn countries go through when they flee their nations in search of security and protection. 

When Jesus was twelve years old, the Holy Family experienced anxiety and pain as they searched for Jesus who was later found in the Temple. Mary and Joseph suffered an unpleasant experience for three days as they searched for him. Like Jesus on the cross who asked his Father “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? and did not receive a reply from his Father, Mary too asked Jesus, “Son, why have you done this to us?” and Jesus’ reply “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s affairs?” does not seem to take account of her pain or that of Joseph. 

Before Jesus began his public ministry, we did not hear of Joseph anymore; we presume he died before Jesus could become a grown man. This means the Holy Family suffered the greatest pain of all families- the pain of bereavement and separation through death. The death of a beloved is always a painful experience in any family. The death of my own father when my family needed him most was an excruciating painful experience. It somewhat slowed down my family’s growth; exposed me, my brothers and sisters and mother to unspeakable hardship that we weren’t prepared for yet. 

 When Jesus started his public ministry, it was not in any way easy for him. His constant absence from home must have taken its toll on Mary. Simeon had prophesized in the Temple that a sword of sorrow would pierce her soul. The rejection of Jesus by the same people he toiled and labored for must have grieved him and his Mother. Before Jesus was eventually put to death, there were other times that the Jewish authorities- Pharisee, Scribes and the Levites plotted to kill him. The growing hostility to Jesus must have caused huge pain to both Mary and Jesus. These experiences must have cost sleepless nights for his Mother. Like most single mothers of today, it was difficult for Mary dealing with her son’s absence from home and the consequent exposure to death. The vulnerability of Jesus must have caused Mary the loss of appetite. In the Gospel of Luke 7:34, Jesus was described as a useless person, as someone who is of no use to the community: “Behold a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners.” This public definition and description of Jesus must have caused some grief and great concern to Jesus and Mary. It is possible the Mother called his attention and probably asked him to reconsider his vocation. Most mothers will want their children to think again about what they do since the community is not appreciating their contribution. If I were despised as such in my community in Nigeria because of the selfless work I am doing among my people, I am sure my mother, out of care for me, will ask me to reconsider my contribution. Mary may have done that! Jesus, in his humanity may have even questioned himself at times. 

The saddest moment of all came when Mary watched her only Son die a shameful death on the cross. Watching her Son killed as a common criminal, killed in the midst of other robbers must have broken her heart. 

 But in all these problems, the Holy Family triumphed. In all these trials and tribulations, the Holy Family remained together as their face their daily problems. You may be asking what kept them together leading to a glorious triumph. The answer is LOVE. The answer is love for each other and God. Jesus’ love for Mary and Joseph and Mary’s love for Jesus and Joseph, and Joseph’s love for Mary and Jesus kept together. On the cross, Jesus demonstrated the great love he has for his Mother when he became worried about leaving her behind, so he asked his close friend and disciple John to look after her, saying to Mary, “Woman, behold your son’, and to John, ‘behold your Mother’ (John 19: 26-27). 

 What should hold our families together in times of difficulty is love and forgiveness. It is love which triumphs in the end. The love that binds up the family should lead to honest talking, dialogue and reconciliation. Parents should love their children and children should love their parents. 

 The greatest threat facing our families today is that we don’t spend enough time together. We don’t pray together. Most parents don’t know what their children are doing. And sometimes children too don’t understand why their parents don’t make themselves available to them. We are too busy working or socializing or watching TV that we spend less time for each other. We are too busy to even hear the cry of our sick child, or sick spouse. We are too busy to take care of our elderly father and mother. What matters to us more is becoming successful in our profession. In his address to Irish families, Pope John Paul II said, “Dear fathers and mothers believe in your vocation, that beautiful vocation of marriage and parenthood which God has given to you. Believe that God is with you…do not think that anything you will do in life is more important than to be a good Christian father and mother. …do not listen to those who tell you that working at a secular job, succeeding in a secular profession is more important than the vocation of giving life and caring for this life as mother (and father). The future of the Church, the future of humanity depends in great part on parents and on the family life that they build in their homes. “ 

 Brethren, where is our family? What is happening in our family today? Where is papa and where is mama? Why is the family life so broken down that some young people are so scared to step into it? Where is your child? Whether you like it or not, you will one day have to answer this question before God. Sacred Scripture says in Psalm 127: 3 “Children are a gift from the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” This alludes to the fact that children are gifts from God. Parents are therefore stewards and care-takers, to mould and shape the lives of the young ones. To all those men, who get women pregnant and abandon them to cater for their babies, you will one day have to answer to that question “Where is your child or children?” To those women who dump their new born babies in Refuse dumps or elsewhere, you will one day have to answer that question “Where is your child or children?” To those women who abort their pregnancies due to their greed and selfishness (oh! I don’t want this baby to inconvenience me) you will have to answer the question “Where is your child or children?” To parents who spend more time pursuing career and profession, who hardly spend time with their family, who come back late when the kids have gone to bed, to those men who sneak into the house late and drunk and drugged, “Where are your children?” To those mothers who at least provocation, file for a divorce, thereby exposing the children to danger, the question today is “Where are your children?” 

 Our society today is burdened with confusion and chaos because our children, like plants, have been without tending. Many children have grown so wild and ugly that there is complete moral decadence and spiritual bankruptcy. And these are our future doctors, priest, nuns, teachers, scientists, lawyers, community organizers, community leaders and national leaders; these are the hopes of the future, the hope of the Church and society. What we make of them determines the kind of society we will live in; for they are the products of whatever training we give them. The book of Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” The parent is the most important teacher a child will ever have. 

 Looking at the human families today, I have identified five reasons why parents fail in the raising of their children: 

 Failure in Family Devotion: The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II called the family “The Domestic Church”. It is the domestic Church because that is where children learn to love God, learn to love their neighbor and respect others. The greatest school a child can attend is the family altar. It is often said that a family that prays together, stays together. There are people who pride themselves in leadership positions, either in the Church or society and help build other people’s lives while neglecting to feed their own families spiritually. According to Pope John Paul II, “Your homes should always remain homes of prayer, homes of daily prayers.” 

Failure to Give Enough Attention: When parents neglect and fail to supervise their kids, they expose them to the corrupting influences of the society. The mother and the father must know what their children are doing. As long as they live under your roof, you must know where they have gone. A child left to himself or herself certainly engages himself or herself in some other things. It is disheartening that most homes today are merely boarding houses or dormitories. Children merely pass the night there, while receiving their training outside from wrong sources. There is a mad rush for basic necessities, rush after wealth and thirst for sophistication. We get money, we make money but end up loosing the reason we labor and work so hard. 

Failure to Lay Good Example: Many parents fail today because their lives and practices contradict what they teach and instruct their kids. If you do not want your kids to tell lies, why do you tell lies and equally encourage them to tell lies to visitors when they come? If you count it wrong to be immoral, why do you bring in your sex-partner into the house? Why do you engage in illicit and questionable affairs with other women who are not your wives? It is shameful to hear Elementary school kids talk about the boyfriends of their mothers. What example are the men leaving for their kids to emulate? What is your legacy? What are you leaving behind for your children? If you do not want your kids to be tale-bearers, why do you always gossip and backbite? If you do not want them to be disrespectful, why do you slander and despise others? If you want them to be neat and organized, why are you dirty, rough, unkempt, and even in house-keeping? What of parents who argue, quarrel and fight before their children? In Church and in school, they are taught that fighting is wrong, that every disagreement should be settled amicably, while misunderstanding should be resolved in the spirit of love and forgiveness. But at home, papa and mama openly quarrel, abuse themselves and fight every other day before them. 

Failure to Give Balanced Education: Every child needs informal and formal education. Parents should not leave their responsibility into the hands of the teachers at school. No teacher can train or educate your children better than you. No one can perfectly assume the responsibility of parents. It is not enough to send your children to school; you must give them the domestic training. They must learn how to clean the house, wash their clothes, and how to cook. 

Failure to Reprimand: It is most unfortunate that our society has become such that children are no longer corrected for fear of being accused of child- abuse. When a child acts dishonorably, the best the parents can do is, “Go into your house and never watch the TV and never touch the Computer.” We can hardly spank the kids when they misbehave. I know there are abuses; there are mothers or fathers who abuse their kids in the name of correcting them for an error done. Some mothers or fathers excuse the faults of their children on the ground that they are still young. “Oh! He is still young, she is still young, he will change; she will change; he does not even understand what he is doing”. But what they fail to understand is that the seed of vanity is so deeply sown in young hearts that parents must never make the mistake of cultivating it. The Book of Proverbs 13:24 says “He who spares his rod hates his son; but he that loves him chastises him at times” Dearest beloved, as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family today, as we celebrate Kwanzaa, as we celebrate our family and culture, let’s ask ourselves today, “Where is my family? “Where are my children?” 

 May the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph help us in our struggle to shape our families like theirs Amen.

The Light Has Overtaken the Darkness

THE LIGHT HAS OVERTAKEN THE DARKNESS
Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR
Christmas Day Homily
Holy Names of Jesus and Mary Catholic Church
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
25th December, 2008.

Dearest beloved, today is Christmas! Today we celebrate John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life.” Brethren, today, we celebrate John 10:10 Ut vitam habeant, et abundantius- “I have come that they may have life, life in abundance.” Today we celebrate the joy of the world. Today we celebrate the overtaking of darkness by the Light. Today we recall as we celebrate the greatest miracle ever to occur in human history. The Creator became a creature. Divinity assumed humanity; the Master became a servant; the Giver became a beggar, the Protector looking for security and protection. Today’s gospel says

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The Word, Jesus was from the very beginning. He was with God and he was God himself. From the very beginning, he was with God. Everything on earth and in heaven came through him. If he were not, if he never was, if he is not, then nothing would have come to be. This Jesus we celebrate today, according to today’s gospel is the source of life; his divine life is the light of the world. And guess what? This light shines brighter than the sun and stars. As it shines, it attacks the darkness in the world, it attacks the darkness in our lives; it attacks the darkness in human families, societies and communities. It reveals secrets; it reveals to us our sins, the sins we have covered for too long. The light also reveals the loving-kindness of God. It dispels the silence and loneliness of darkness. It wages ceaseless wars against the darkness of ignorance- the lack of the knowledge of how much God loves us. Our joy today is that darkness will never overcome the light. The light leads us to freedom. It is in this light that we see light, the light of glory!

Dearest beloved, today we celebrate the victory of the light over darkness. Sometimes we mistakenly think it is only Easter that we celebrate the victory of Christ Jesus. No! Christmas is also a celebration of victory. His entrance into the world was the entrance of light. And as the gospel of today says, “…the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” That darkness has not overcome it means he is the one overcoming darkness, and that is victory.

Brethren, the night Jesus was born is usually regarded as a ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’ as we sing in a song. It is indeed a holy night because it was the night Jesus, as it were, left his throne in heaven and walked into human neighborhood. He identified with us in our humanity. He came from the bosom of the Father, to the bosom of a Woman. He put on humanity, that we might put divinity. He became the Son of man that we might become sons and daughters of God. We needed Jesus to come and save us. If he did not come, we would be lost-lost of eternity with God. Through Jesus, God shut down the cycle of sin. Jesus came into the world to sympathize with us in our weakness. Hebrew 4:15-16 says, “Our high priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weakness. On the contrary, we have a high Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin.

The night Jesus was born was also called a Silent Night. Remember that when people are expecting something vitally important, when people are in high expectation of something, they tend to be silent. Remember “Deal or no deal” show! When the box of any of the contestants is about to be opened to him or her and to the audience to see whether he or she has won the million dollar buck, there is usually a dead silence. People are so silent in great expectation of winning. The world stood still in great expectation of the Great King Jesus Christ. It was indeed a Silent Night. It was the most silent of all the nights when we stand in awe, in great expectation of our Deliverer, our Healer, our Reconciler with God. It was the most silent night of great expectation of the Prince of Peace, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. We were anxiously waiting for redeeming Lord and Savior. We were so silent and anxious! Like the “deal or no deal show” contestants, we stood still in great silence, anxious to win, but not money, but freedom and salvation.

On another note, the night Jesus was born was the most silent night of all the nights because it was the night God silenced the Devil. It was the night our enemy was silenced. It was the night “the accuser of the brethren” was silenced. It was the night the bragging wings of that despicable evil doer were cut short. It was the night God silenced him and sealed his lips. It was the night the pride of that shameless, old, ugly looking creature was put to an end. It was the night that pompous, unrepentant and unremorseful evil hawker, whose only job was to kill, to main and to destroy was humbled and disgraced. He was ultimately silenced and shut up. It was indeed a silent night!

Dearest beloved, the message of Christmas is the triumph of life, goodness, and love over death, evil, and hate. In a world where genocide is tolerated, where many are forgotten in different corners of the world, where the cries of the poor and suffering do not touch hearts any longer, the birth of Christ reveals how God so loves each of us that he sent His only Son to take up all human pain and sorrow, in order to nail it to the cross and transform it into eternal life in the Resurrection. We are living in a time of global financial crisis, wars, suffering, diseases and global warming caused by reckless exploitation of our planet; consequently these have brought us to a crisis of humanism. Most people now think that social life is so broken that the best we can hope for is survival, just for the time being. But Christmas brings us a much deeper hope. The stable at Bethlehem unveils and reassures us that despite all we see and hear, despite all the tears and the bleeding happening especially in Africa, there is still One who has utter compassion for all who suffer, for all who are obliterated and abandoned. The angels’ song of “peace on earth” brings hope in the face of difficulty. The worst thing to do is to loose hope. Christmas tells us “we cannot walk alone”. Christmas tells us the best is yet to come.

The Christmas message is a message of hope. The Light has overtaken the darkness. God became a human person and shared our common human and earth pattern. Our best hope is that we are not walking alone; we are not standing alone; we don’t have a God who is so far away; we have a God who lives with us and in us. He is Immanuel- God-with-us! He is not Deus Absconditus; He is Jehovah Shammar- God who is present here! He is Immanuel- God who is with us in all life journeys. In joy and sorrow, he is there. In sickness and good health, he is there. In gloom, doom and boom, he is there with us. In decrease and increase, he is there. In abundance and empty, he is with us. In tears and laughter, God is there with us. At birth and at death, God is with us. From the cradle to the grave, he is right with us. At loss or in gain, still call him Immanuel. In riches and in poverty, still call him Immanuel. In times of crisis and in times of serenity, still call him Immanuel. When couples sit in their sitting rooms, watch TV together, tell lovely stories, and enjoy the gift of each other, call him Immanuel because he is there. When these same couples quarrel, and threatened to go their separate ways, still call him Immanuel. He is still there. He never leaves. In Darfur, Burundi, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Iraq, Rwanda, Bosnia, and other regions of our planet that have witnessed bloodshed and genocide, God is there. He is still Immanuel. In America, Japan, Germany, Nigeria and worldwide, God is there. He remains Immanuel.
The darkness of evil
The darkness of hunger
The darkness of diseases
The darkness of slavery
The darkness of human trafficking
The darkness of genocide
The darkness of ethnic cleansing
The darkness of silence of powerful nations over the penury and human loneliness and abandonment of other not so fortunate nations
The darkness hatred
The darkness of wars
The darkness of unspeakable and untold human suffering
The darkness of missed opportunities
The darkness of lost hopes
The darkness of indifference to other people’s needs
The darkness of fraud and greed and selfishness that crumbled the Wall Street and end up affecting the Main Street
The darkness of corruption of most African leaders
The darkness of deceit and deception
The darkness of “anything goes” politics and morality
The darkness of blindness to truth
The darkness of ignorance and dishonesty
The darkness of oppression and suppression
The darkness of racial divide and ethnic divide
The darkness of such lines like first world countries, third world countries, developed countries, under-developed nations, upper class, lower class, white, Caucasian, Black or Brown, Red, that end up diving nations
The darkness of defining people in relation to accidents only and not in essence
The darkness of loneliness and loneliness and abandonment

All these darkness can never overtake the Light. That Light is Jesus who is born for us today. That Light will always overshadow and dominate the darkness. Jesus is born brothers and sisters. Come on let us go over to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is derived from two Hebrew words “Beth” or Bayit meaning “House” and “Lehem” which means “Bread”. Put together, it means “House of Bread”. The house of bread is the house of fulfillment. It is Bethel, which means, house of God. Come on, clean up your tears, and let’s go to Bethlehem!
Merry Christmas!

The Lord is with You

The Lord is with You

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR
Homily of the 4th Sunday of Advent, Year B
St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Savannah, Tennessee
21st December, 2008

Brethren, Christmas is almost here! All shopping malls are crowded by people trying to make a last minute shopping. The streets are all decorated with fanciful Christmas flowers and trees, and Christmas lights. Many homes are looking very beautiful and smelling good and better. Christmas songs and carols are being sung on radio and TV. People are happy; children are getting excited. People are having Christmas party and having rare fun. The whole environment is seriously charged. Even atheists know that something is happening. They know that this period is quite different from others. Although they may not be happy about it, but there is nothing they can do about it. Christmas is a season of the beloved. No wonder they try to undermine the season by introducing “Happy Holiday” instead of “Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas”. Christmas is the most pleasant of all the seasons. But let’s not forget we are still in the season of Advent.

In today’s Gospel, we are presented with the dialogue between angel Gabriel and Mary. In the dialogue, the angel announced to Mary that she will bear a child, the Son of the Most High God. The angel’s first word to Mary was “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you”. The Lord’s constant presence is a promise he has always promised to any man or woman he has called into his service.

To Isaac in Genesis 28: 15 God said: “Be sure that I am with you; I will keep you safe wherever you go, and bring you back to this land, for I will not desert you until I have done what I promised you.”

To Jacob God said “Go back to the land of your forefathers and to your kindred; and I will be with you.”

To Joshua, God said, “As long as you live, no one shall be able to stand in your way; I will be with you as I was with Moses; I will not leave you or desert you.”

To Gideon the Lord said, “I will be with you and you shall crush Midian as though it were a single man.”

To Solomon God said, “I will be with you and will build you as enduring a house as the one I built for David. I will give Israel to you.”

When Moses told God that he was not going to be the person to free the Israelites from Egypt, the Lord made a simple but huge promise, “I will be with you.” When the Israelites began their long trek to freedom, God again reassured them “I am with you.” The Israelites had the Ark of the Covenant, the Covenant God made with them, which reminded them that God was with them in every step of the way. When they entered the Promised Land and had to fight other tribes for the possession of the land, God again said to them: “I will be with you.” To all those he called- David, Jeremiah, Jonah, Daniel and so many others, God assured “Don’t be afraid, I will be with you.”

In today’s Gospel, God through angel Gabriel assured Mary of his presence: “The Lord is with you.” His forever presence is God’s greatest gift to us. We need him to stay and survive on earth.

Dearest beloved, God is with us always! The joy of Christmas is that God is coming to be with his people. The prophesy of Isaiah says, “…the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall be called Immanuel, a name which means: God-is-with-us.” When Jesus came, he promised us saying, “I will be with you until the end of time.” Brethren what is at stake now is not whether God is with us. What is doubtful right now is not whether God is here with us. What is worrying now is not whether God-is-with-us. What is at stake and doubtful is where we are. The crucial question is not whether God actually is with us, for he is always with us. The crucial issue is where we are presently.

Let’s do a summary of the Gospel readings we have had for the three Sundays of Advent: On the first Sunday of Advent, Jesus warns us to “Be watchful, be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” On that day, the Lord cautions us not to be carried away by anything, but to stay awake!

On the Second Sunday of Advent, the desert preacher appeared urging us to repent and receive forgiveness of sins.

On the Third Sunday of Advent, the desert preacher defined himself as “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert: make straight the way of the Lord.” On this Sunday, John the Baptist urged us to “make straight the way of the Lord” to prepare our hearts to receive the One he says “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

Today, being the fourth Sunday of Advent, Mary who humbly accepted to cooperate with the Lord in the task of salvation was promised “The Lord is with you.” The Lord is not only with Mary; he is also with us. Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant; we are the New Israel God entered into covenant with. His ever presence with us is not in doubt. We know God is with us, but the all important question remains: Are we, am I, are you with God? Living a sinful life is a concrete way of not being with God. Are we ready, awake and repented to receive the God that is coming to be with us?

Make Straight the Way of the Lord

MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD

Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR
Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B, 2008
Holy Names Catholic Church, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Last Sunday, Fr. Maurice preached a homily he titled, “the voice crying out in the wilderness”. But the voice that was crying in the wilderness or desert was crying for something. The voice was addressing an urgent need; it was a voice of urgency. That voice had a message; and the message is “Make straight the way of the Lord.” So this Sunday, I am preaching a message I have titled, “Make Straight the way of the Lord”.
“To make straight” simply speaking is to make amends; it is to repent, to level the stumps in our heart that stand against the entrance of God and God’s words. The expression “make straight the way of the Lord” was first addressed to the old Israel. But as the New Israel, it is also addressed to each of us. A profitable way of reading and meditating on the Old Testament is for each Christian to regard himself or herself as not only a “little Israel” but also the “new Israel”. Like the old Israel, each of us has been called to a covenant relationship with God. Again, like the old Israel, each of us has not been faithful to that covenant relationship through personal sin. In the Old Testament, Isaiah in Isaiah 40: 3 said, “A voice cries out in the wilderness, ‘prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God.” As Isaiah called the Israelites to repentance, John the Baptist is calling each of us to repentance today. He is asking us to “make straight the way of the Lord” in our hearts. He is asking us to get rid of all the impediments we have allowed into our hearts that inhibits or prevents the growth of grace God wills for each of us.

We are in the season of Advent. The word Advent means “arrival, or coming into a place”. During the season of Advent, we, the Church, prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, while also anticipate his Second Coming. We expect the arrival of our Savior either as an infant in the manger or as the King of glory. Advent reminds us that Christmas is near the corner; it also reminds us that Jesus’ Second coming will happen some day. The Lord promised us in the Gospel of John 14:3 that he will come back to take us to our eternal home. Advent also prepares us for the arrival of Jesus into our hearts. And this is why the message of the desert preacher, John the Baptist is vitally important. When he cried in the wilderness, his single message was, “make straight the way of the Lord.” Prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord. Prepare for the arrival of the Good Shepherd, the righteous Judge. To do that, we must rid ourselves of anything that is foreign or alien in the Kingdom of God.

“Make straight the way of the Lord” wherever the path has been crooked, wherever it has sunk low, wherever obstacles have arisen, wherever the pavement has produced potholes and cracks. “Make straight the way of the Lord” let the Lord, the King of glory enter into our lives. But how can the Lord enter where hate abides? How can the Lord enter where lust has made its bed? Where remorse and guilt over bad behavior no longer exist in our lives? We rather take pride in doing what is shameful. How can the Lord come into a place where falsity, stealing, bribery, cheating and lies have been enthroned? To those gripped by gossips, the message of today to you is make “straight the way of the Lord.” To those reveling in sexual immorality, the Lord speaks to us through John the Baptist saying, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” To an unforgiving heart, he says to you, “make straight the way of the Lord.” To the habitual liar “make straight the way of the Lord.” Stop now and think! What will prevent me from reflecting the glory of the God?

The problem with the contemporary Christian is not that he sins. We all sin! Romans 3: 23 says, “All have sinned and have fall short of the glory of God.” The problem with today’s Christian is that he sins and calls it virtue. We sin and call it a mistake. There is a difference between a mistake and transgression. We call our sin a mistake. We sin and call it how God made us. We sin and call it unrealistic. We sin and call it unavoidable. We sin and call it our neighbor’s fault. We deliberately sin and blame it on the devil- “Satan made me do it”. Like Eve, we never take responsibility for our actions. We sin and still claim that sin has not made us sinners, that we are still good people. We sin and give reasons to justify our actions. We sin and never feel remorse or guilty of wrongdoing. We sin boldly during the week, and without going to confession, boldly approach the altar to receive the Eucharist during Mass. We sin and claim that we are not hurting anybody; rather we are just catching fun. We call sin, fun! Any message that condemns sin is equally condemned, and the preacher is seen as outdated, old-school, out-fashion and out of touch with the real life.

The voice crying out in the wilderness is asking us to “make straight the way of the Lord”. He is asking us to rebuild old bridges. Like his listeners, we should not be stubborn as to ask him, “Who are you?” We often times ridicule those who correct us or who rebuke us for wrongdoing. We ask them questions like “Who are you to speak for God? Who are you to decide what is true? Who are you to judge me or call me crooked? Who are you to accuse? When John was asked “Who are you? His answer was, “I am the voice crying out in the wilderness saying, make straight the way of the Lord.” He is the one who called out, not because of who he is, but because of who is coming. And if we refuse to listen, we will be judged for rejecting the content of the message.

Brethren, today is the third Sunday of Advent. Today is called in Latin Gaudete Sunday and in English Rejoice Sunday. The theme of joy is everywhere in the readings and prayers of Advent Masses.

The very first words of today’s Second Reading (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24) insists “Brothers and sisters, rejoice always.” It is perhaps unusual to tell someone burdened by the problems of life to rejoice. Yet, we can still be joyful in the midst of suffering.

As a Redemptorist Seminarian on Pastoral Year in a Redemptorist parish in Lagos, Nigeria, part of my weekly assignment was to visit the sick and the elderly either in their homes or in the hospitals to pray with them and give them the Eucharist. In doing this I met two kinds of sick people. On one hand were sick people who were bitter, angry, worried and frightened by death. They complained and lamented that if God truly exists, then he has abandoned them. Their family members also asked what their beloved ones had done to merit such punishment (sickness). But on the other hand were people who, in the midst of their pains and brokenness, still appreciate God and what he has done for them. A man once said “Brother Marcel, I thank God for saving me. He is chastising me by my sickness; I am peaceful and joyful that when all is said and done, I would not have suffered in vain.” Another person said to me with a broad smile, “The Lord Jesus has taught us how to live and how to die, so I am serene and happy.”

Without making any judgment on people, the point I am making here is that it is possible for joy to coexist with suffering. We can still be joyful in the midst of tribulations, trails, persecutions, loss of jobs and homes, death of a beloved one, sickness, divorce, and disappointments of life. Our joy has its origin in Jesus Christ. Our joy is contingent in our relationship with him. Joy is a concrete sign of God’s presence within an individual. Only those who are friends of Jesus, who are close to him, can experience this joy. The closer you are to him, the happier you are. This joy transcends every pain and suffering.

If we truly know who we are, (the image of God, friends of Jesus, temple of the Holy Spirit) we can always entrust to God all our cares and worries. Psalm 55: 22 says, “Cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” Then in 1 Peter 5: 6, it says, “Cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you”. John the Baptist knew who he was, “A voice of one crying in the wilderness.” He knew he was a witness. He knew he was not the Christ or Elijah. He knew his mission on earth. He defines himself only relation to Jesus. John the Baptist also knew who Jesus is “the Light”. In humility, he says he is not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals.

Dearest beloved, the season of Advent calls each of us to know who we are- children of God. The discovery of who we are can ultimately lead to hope and joy; and do not forget that this joy is only possible if we who are created in the image and likeness of God, in reality and concretely reflect that image. But if we do not reflect the image of God due to our lifestyles, then the urgent message of the desert preacher John the Baptist in today’s Gospel “make straight the way of the Lord” becomes an urgent message we cannot possibly ignore; and that means we need to get rid of those sins that have build up as high as a mountain in our lives and consequently shut out the friendship of God and the arrival of Jesus Christ in our hearts. Get reconciled with God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and be really joyful once again! Let the humility of John the Baptist lead us to acknowledge our sinfulness and return to the Lord.

To Die is Gain

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Commemoration Of All Souls' Homily

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Church, Memphis TN

Saturday, November 2, 2008

The Gospel contains some amazing paradoxical statements made by Jesus himself. Although it is the message of Jesus, but sometimes, it seems upside down and backwards. For instance, in the Gospel of Matthew 19: 30, Jesus says “Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” This means first are last, last are first. In Matthew 23:11, he says “The greatest among you will be your servant” In Luke 17:33, the Lord says again “Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” This seems to go against the natural instinct of self preservation. Many years later, St. Paul wrote something paradoxical, something that sounds very much like the same kind of contradiction. In Philippians 1:21 he says “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Brethren, today we commemorate the souls of all the faithful departed. Today, we remember our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, friends and colleagues who have gone before us in faith. We remember them today because they are dear to us. They once lived with us, ate with us, dinned with us, worked with us, fellowshipped with us, joked and chatted with us, worshipped with us in the house of God, but today they are no more with us. Although they are not with us physically, our faith tells they are not extinct or destroyed. Their death is not a total destruction, it is not a complete loss; it is not a pure absurdity. Today’s first reading says “The souls of the just are in the hands of God, and no torment shall touch them.” (Wisdom 3:1) They are in the hands of God because our dearest Savior and Lord Jesus Christ says in John’s Gospel 14:1-2 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are so many mansions, and I am going to prepare a place for you... so that where I am you also may be.” Today, I am going to talk about death. The issue of death frightens some of us. Most people don’t even like to talk about death and dying. Most shun the subject or make jokes about it. But death is real. We have seen people die. We cannot hide from it or avoid it. No one can escape death. Most times death is viewed as a loss. When an important person dies for instance, his death is usually viewed as a great loss. In ordinary life situation, we express death as the “loss of life;” death is the loss human life. It is always a painful experience for those left behind. Bleaching the pain of death is denying the loss of the diseased. But death is not a complete loss. For St. Paul, it is gain. We know that gain is the opposite of loss. While we view death as a loss, St. Paul views it as a gain. For him, death was profitable. It is worthy to note that St. Paul wrote those words while he was in prison in Rome. And those words were addressed to the Christians in Philippi. St. Paul had been in jail but was miraculously set free by an earthquake. While in a Roman prison, he did not see any immediate release, and he was facing an uncertain future- he may not come out alive. But despite his trials and tribulations, he did not despair. He still expressed great joy in the midst of suffering. And he puts it beautifully: If I get to live, that will be good because it will allow me to continue the work of preaching the Gospel; but if death is the sentence, it is gain for me. He was so clear in affirming that death would be a better outcome because it would signal the end of misery, sorrow, suffering, pain, hardship, tribulation etc and will be the genesis of a beautiful life in God and with God in the presence of Christ. Death for him would mean the realization of his goals, dreams, aspirations, ambitions and inner yearnings. Death would be a gain for him because he would no more suffer in the flesh. His faith in God and hope of everlasting life would be fully realized. 

 Brethren, death is not the final word. Death is not total oblivion. Although it does bring loss, but not for the person who died, but for those left behind. When someone dies there is sadness, but not for the person who died, but for the ones left behind. As we grieve for the dead, St. Paul warns in 1 Thessalonians 4: 13, “that we should not grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope”. Hope is like an antibiotic for the despair of death. Hope assures us that the person who died believing in Christ is now very much alive in His presence and is filled, as the Bible says, “with unspeakable joy.” The dead person has not lost anything worth keeping, but has gained something that can never be taken away. Obviously the death of a beloved one brings some sadness and grief, but we are not sad for them. 

When Jesus was on his way to Calvary where he was crucified, there were women weeping for him. But he turned to them and said, “Women of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, rather weep for yourselves and your children” (Luke 23: 28). We can say the same thing today, don’t weep for Bob, don’t weep for Jessica; don’t weep for Jane; don’t weep for Francis, weep for yourself. Why? Because you and I must plod on this dark, sinful, and hurtful world. But not for Bob, not for Jessica, not for Jane and not for Francis. We will endure sickness and pain, abuse and shame, disappointment and hatred, but not for them. We will grow weary and even come close to despair; we will be maligned and dismissed; we will be treated unjustly and arrogantly; our leaders will hurt us and lie to us; but not Bob or Marie or Jessica. Therefore, do not weep for them but for yourself. We are still poor; they are rich. We are fearful; they are secured. We still suffer; they are healed everlastingly. Our souls are still yearning and longing for God, they are already with God. We still hope and pray; they are already enjoying full friendship with God. We still strive, they are already fulfilled. We aspire for perfection; they are perfect already. We still visit the doctor for medical treatment; they are finally free from all kinds of sickness. We lose; they gain. As we remember our beloved ones who had died, let’s pause for a while and think of where we stand today. Are we on the Lord’s side? Who are we working with? Are we right with God? A faithful servant of God needs not to fear death. Just like St. Paul death is a gain. St. Paul says “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”. With lens and eyes of faith death is a gain because: First, by death you shall gain incomparable crown. A Crown of life (Rev. 2: 10, James 1: 12; a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4: 8); an incorruptible crown (1 Cor. 9: 24-25); a crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4) 

Secondly, by death you shall gain a glorious kingdom (Luke 12:32) “It is your Father’s pleasure to give you a kingdom.” Thirdly, by death you shall gain a safe and honorable convoy into that other world (Luke 16: 22). Fourthly, by death, you shall gain a glorious welcome, a joyful welcome, a wonderful welcome into heaven. Fifthly, by death, you shall gain full freedom and liberty from all your enemies within and without- sin, Satan, and the world. (Luke 1: 70-75) Death is freedom from the indwelling power of sin (Romans 7: 23). It frees you from all provocations, temptations and suggestion to sin. Death will free you from all the effects and consequences of sin- losses, crosses, sickness, diseases, deformity, disgraces and suffering. It is freedom from all bodily infirmities and diseases. When Lazarus the poor found himself in heaven, all the sores in his body were no more there. Death will free you from all your sorrows, whether inward or outward, whether for your own sins or the sins of others, whether for our own sufferings or the sufferings of others. Death frees believers from all those troubles, calamities, miseries, mischief and desolations found in our world. But this does not mean we should take away our lives in order to avoid all these. Some people when overwhelmed with trails, heartaches, pain that come with living our life, desire to die. Many even commit suicide. But these have a perverted view of death. They view death as an empty escape. It is wrong. Death is not an empty escape; it is the beginning of a new life. 

Finally, by death we shall gain a clear, distinct, and full knowledge of all great and deep mysteries (1 Cor. 13:10- 12). Brethren, we should not at any time be afraid of death. If we are right with our Lord, it is always a gain. In Revelation 1:17-18, the Lord says, “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last; the living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.” Just as Jesus was raised, we too will be raised to life. When we have put on the cloth of righteousness, then will come the saying, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting” (1 Cor. 15:50). The only way we can say “to die is gain” is if we are living with Christ and for Christ. Ask yourself the all important question, am I?

MORAL DECADENCE IN OUR SOCIETY: A PASTORAL SOLUTION

MORAL DECADENCE IN OUR SOCIETY: A PASTORAL SOLUTION
Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

As a little boy growing up in Dikenafai, a village of Nigeria, my favorite TV program was Tales by Moonlight which was shown on NTA. It was a program that I and some of my peers yearned to watch. And when there is no electricity to watch it, we greatly missed it. For those who still remember this program, it was a story telling one through which ancient stories involving the ever cunning Tortoise, the king of the jungle- Lions and other animals were used to represent the Nigerian and African values, morality, norms and commendable behaviors of our society. It was a very simple program that was designed to teach the young and probably the disappointing adults that which the voice men condemn and uphold. Through Tales by Moonlight, we learnt about the virtues of respect and obedience to our parents and elders. We learnt good manners, love for the other, honesty and trustworthiness, maintenance of peace and being assiduous with one’s studies or training as an apprentice. Through the program, we learnt that every action has a corresponding consequence. If you sow good, you will reap good, and if you sow bad or evil, you will reap evil. Tales by Moonlight promoted African values, moral sanity, healthy living, love and decent lifestyle. It promotes generally, the African virtues- which is our way of life.
But a critical look at the society today, a look at the “signs of times” easily suggests a gradual disappearance of these values. Everybody is moaning and grieving about the emerging morally decadent age. From the traditional rulers, religious leaders, preachers of Christian message, parents, teachers, to political leaders, everybody is lamenting over the emerging atrocities of this age. And our world has been variously described by many experts as the most rash and hostile world. Others describe it as a very wicked world, a perilous world and a wicked generation.
All the unspeakable descriptions of the world are not targeted to the geographical space called the earth. When we say ‘it is a wicked world, a perilous world, a harsh and immoral world, a wicked world’, we are not talking about the planet earth. We are talking and describing about the people who live on it; we are passing judgment on human beings created in God’s image and likeness. We are describing ourselves, God’s reflection of himself. Everybody is shedding tears about the trend of things in our world today. The older generations are greatly concerned about the future of their children. An elderly woman once complained, “Fr. I am very scared! The future seems to be bleak.” She is worried and troubled by the direction the nowadays generation is taking.
The issue here is moral decadence in our society. What then is moral decadence? Simply speaking, moral decadence is a flight from moral virtues. And moral virtues according to St. Thomas Aquinas are good habits which incline and allow their possessors to make good moral choices. And without virtue, argues Bernard Haring, “everything is hollow and dull. Indeed, without virtue, men and women are good for nothing and public dangers.”
Moral decadence is the corruption of moral consciousness. Moral decadence is a flight from fides et ratio (faith and reason). It is attitudes that disregard the Christian theological and moral virtues and in many dimensions debase mankind. For the morally decadent, nothing is condemnable, and nothing is evil; nothing seems atrocious. A morally decadent society upholds the philosophy of “anything goes”.
Several factors contribute to the moral decay evident in our society. One of the factors is secular humanism. Whatever else is responsible for moral vacuity, this movement called secular humanism is the most culpable for most of the moral crisis plaguing our society. Simply speaking, secular humanism is a worldview. It is a non-religious worldview that stresses human values without any reference to God or religion or spirituality. Theologically, secular humanists are atheists. According to them, there is no God. God does not exist; he has never existed, and would not exist. For humanist Paul Kurtz, representing other humanists argues “humanism cannot in any fair sense of the word apply to one who still believes in God as the source and creator of the universe.” They believe that instead of God or gods creating the cosmos, the cosmos, in the individualized form of human beings giving rein to their imagination, created the gods or God. In other words, God did not create; rather he was created by human beings. The only thing that exists therefore is nature; the material world is all that exists. There is no God, no spiritual dimension, and no afterlife. The universe, they stress, is all that is or ever was or will ever be. Human life according to them is as result of a purely natural phenomenon. Man, his body, his mind and his soul were not supernaturally created but are all products of evolution.
The atheism of secular humanism leads most of them to adopt ethical relativism. Ethical relativism is the belief that there is no absolute moral code; therefore man must adjust his ethical standards in each situation according to his own judgment. Morality is not discovered, it is made. Ethical relativism says there is no moral right and no moral wrong. In other words, nothing is praiseworthy and nothing is condemnable. No human action should be commended, and no human action should be blamed or condemned, because its right and wrong are based on social norms. What is considered as wrong in one place might be seen as right somewhere else. And what is considered wrong today might be upheld as right tomorrow. Therefore, no human action should be judged.
Just like every other dangerous teachings, the teachings of secular humanism spread like wild-fire. Through articles mostly found on the internet, Magazines, Newspapers, etc, they spread their message. They also organize seminars, lectures, conferences and talks. And through this avenue, they confuse the society especially the young people. They want the world to believe that no matter what we do, it is acceptable as long as it makes us feel good. They ask us not to be judgmental. Don’t judge your feelings. Obey your passions and emotions. Follow your feelings. If you feel like having sex, any form of sex, go ahead and do it. And do not judge whether it is wrong or right. As long as you feel cool doing it, go ahead. If you feel cool getting married to another person of same sex, it is in order, after all, that is how you feel.
The teaching of “do not be judgmental” is the reason why all forms of despicable acts are committed around the globe especially in Europe and North America. Sexual perversion is becoming so pervasive in our reprobate society, that one must be very careful about what he sees or hears. The degraded, dissolute occupants of the sodomite world are no longer in their hiding caves. They have come out from their closets with a raucous and unashamed insistence that decent, moral people accept them as being normal. Look at how in Europe and North America, those in positions of authority tolerate homosexuality and homosexuals and even make laws accommodating their disgusting and unholy unions. The biblical teaching that says “from the beginning, God made them male and female” is regarded as a fable from a mindless religion. Note that they are now even receiving the protection of law in many venues as if they were a minority class of citizens that has experienced discrimination. And those who speak out against these perversions are attacked ad hominem as homophobes, hate-mongers and intolerant.
The central message of secular humanism is secularism. And of course, secularism leads to loss of sense of the sacred, loss of sense of God, loss of sense of morality, loss of sense of moral sanity, loss of sense of shame. It leads to moral anarchy, moral vacuity and moral decadence. Secularism leads to loss of sense of moral excellence. Anything can be done as long as it is cool for the individual. As a result of this, people even have sexual relationship with animals, and even with the dead.
Another factor responsible for moral decadence is the apparent absence of role models. In times past, there were prophets who act as the conscience of the people; there were martyrs who died for their beliefs; there were virgins who died protecting their virginity. In times past, there were honest elders. In those days there were honest leaders- both in small communities, and in the society at large. In those days, there were preachers of the message of Christ. In those days, there were so many honest and straightforward parents. In those days, there were assiduous teachers in schools either in the primary schools, secondary schools or in the university. In those days, there were Amos, Jeremiah, Hosea, Isaiah etc. In those days, there were Archbishop Oscar Romero of El-Salvador; there were Martin Luther King Jn. In those days, there were highly moral traditional rulers. In those days, there were healthy families. But the question today is “Where are the prophets”? By prophet, I don’t mean the prophets of the Bible alone. By prophets I mean speakers of the truth. I mean those the younger generation can look up to and learn virtuous living. The absence of role models in our modern society once made the Lagos based legal luminary, Gani Fawehimi to say “I will never respect any traditional ruler in Yoruba land, because they have deposited their crowns in the shrine of money.” The same can also be said of other traditional rulers in other parts of the county. If the traditional rulers, the custodian of customs and values are so morally deficient as not to deserve Gani Fawehimi’s respect, then the future is bleak. Where will the younger generations learn righteousness and upright living? If the leaders are morally bad, then from where will the led learn decent living? The Igbo aphorism that says, “An elder does not stay at home and watch a goat tied to a stake suffocates to death” is no longer the case. Today many elders are watching as many needy ‘goats’ die unassisted. Come to think of it, who are the elders? Do we still have elders today in our society? Who are those encouraging the youths to take the shortcuts to riches? The elders encourage the young people to acquire riches by any means by conferment of chieftaincy titles to public crooks and land grabbers. In my community, a particular rogue known to everyone became wealthy overnight. And in order to gain relevance, he went to another community, bought his way through, and was given a chieftaincy title. All that matters today is wealth. Nobody questions the source of wealth. A young lady can return home with an expensive car or cars from her sojourn in Italy or elsewhere in Europe. And her homecoming will be lavishly celebrated by all and sundry. Of course nobody is interested in what she does for a living. It is a known fact that a good number of our girls are into prostitution, drug trafficking and other forms of wild living. But as long as she is bringing hard currency, it is alright. Even some parents are selling their valuables like lands and houses just to sponsor their daughter or daughters abroad. If there is no money to send their daughters to school, there will be money to send her to Italy or any other part of the world. With no good education and trade, what do people think these girls do abroad? Again, in time past, there were honest parents, godly parents, and virtuous parents.
Hard work or the virtue of industry is no longer appreciated by many young people; they prefer shortcuts to becoming rich. Everybody- leaders, parents, preachers, teachers, traditional and religious leaders, political leaders etc are all racing towards the so called ‘Trend of Time.’ In the Tertiary institutions, professors and teachers ought to be role models to the students, but some of them are disappointedly showing them how to be corrupt, how to be morally deficient. Some teachers demand sex from some female students before they can pass whatever subjects they teach. The male students are not left out; some are asked for monetary compensation to pass a paper, thereby teaching them that the shortcut to success is not only thinkable but also possible. Some students kill themselves for worldly reasons. Of course, the issue of student-prostitution is longer a news. The virtue of chastity is considered today as archaic, obscure and impossible. The issue of rape, stealing, child-trafficking, bribery and corruption is on the increase.
If our society is short of role models, then good examples will also not abound. Role models show good examples. And when role models are lacking, good examples will also be lacking. From head to toe, the system appears to be dirty, unkempt, and grossly corrupt and messed up. There is moral decadence in every sector of our life. Anything and everything seems possible. Nothing is considered an eye-sour again. In the midst of all these, some conclude that the end-time is very close at hand. Some even argue that nothing can be done to remedy this situation. But as a man of God, I believe there is a way out. Something can be done to remedy the society and human life from moral crisis.

PASTORAL SOLUTIONS TO MORAL DECADENCE
As a Catholic Priest, I want to remind my fellow workers in the Kingdom- Bishops, Priests, and Deacons that as chief guardians of religion and the chief dispensers of what pertain to the Church; we cannot possibly keep silent in the face of moral vacuity that is gravely threatening human life and society; because by keeping silence we will be neglecting the duty incumbent on us. The prophetic task of the Church calls us to action. As men of God, working for the ‘enthronement and expansion’ of the kingdom, we are to challenge everyone including ourselves to pay attention to his sanctuary (conscience) where God speaks to us “do good and avoid evil.” We are to challenge God’s people to wake up and live out the true meaning of their dignity and origin.
We should be the voice of the prophets, a vehicle through which God speaks to the community and to the world. We should become contemporary prophets, a voice that has to emerge from the society in which we live; a voice that must call all men and women to be what God has meant them to be in a world burdened by moral crisis and inordinate ambitions. As we preach from different pulpits, let our voice compel the people to listen because we are addressing a reality that is urgent. We must become prophets! It is our duty in history to lend our voices to Christ so that he may speak, to lend our feet to Christ so that he may walk today’s world, and to lend our hands to him to build the reign of God. The tough mission that Christ has given us is to uproot evils from history, to uproot sins from the political order, to uproot sins from the economy, to uproot immorality from the society and wherever they are.
As we passionately preach the word of God from our different Churches, we should not be too comfortable, too intimidated, and too timid to name these morally decadent behaviors. Our preaching should make evil doers feel bad and remorseful for their evil deeds. Our preaching should be able to bring about conversion and change of lifestyles. And as we preach we should not be afraid of persecution.
We should not allow ourselves to be caught up by this immoral web. The Church, the society and the world are in dire need of role models. We should be able to practice what we preach. By the way we live; we should be able to convince people that it is possible to live above the standard of the society. Both our preaching and our lifestyle should be prophetic and life-changing.
I have so far been addressing my fellow workers in the Lord’s vineyard. But the onus of changing our society does not lie in their hands alone. Every Christian, every human being is saddled with the task of transforming our world because we all live in it. The task of bringing about a meaningful change in our world should begin in the family. The family is the domestic Church where moral, religious and cultural values should be inculcated in the life of the young ones. To be able to do this, parents, guardians and upright elders of the community should do everything possible to teach and encourage the younger ones of the importance of virtuous living. The society is in danger today because the family life is in shambles. Many children grow up without knowing who their fathers are; some grow up with morally underprovided mothers who only drink, smoke, and invite different men to spend the night with them. Again, Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Religious men and women, Catechists, Seminarians etc. should be in the forefront of repairing the damages already done, and educating our people on how to live decent lives.
In our schools and colleges, moral lesson should be re-introduced, and if possible be made a compulsory subject. Real efforts should be made to balance academic excellence and moral uprightness. A concerned mother here in USA told me that she has consistently told her 14 year old daughter that academic excellence minus virtuous lifestyle is absolutely nonsense. That should be the approach today in all our schools, at all levels.
To those who engage in all sorts of immoral behaviors because of hardship, the Church should repeatedly tell them that possession of wealth and material goods is of no importance for eternal life. They should also be reminded that there is no disgrace in poverty, and that the “true dignity and excellence in men reside in moral living, that is in virtue.” In doing this, the Church should constantly remind the political leaders of the long consequences of not improving the quality of life of its citizens; by failing to create job opportunities, adequate housing scheme, and other social amenities, people suffer untold and unspeakable hardship which in turn ‘force’ some people into taking short-cuts to survival. The Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) should become more gospel oriented, more prophetic, more active and more powerful in this regard.
To save the Nigerian society from sliding into moral anarchy which is obviously responsible for all the evils and crimes in the society, the Church which has always been the “voice crying in the wilderness” should cry even louder now than ever. The Church should seek new ways to educate the people by her teaching and forms them by her discipline. The Church’s hierarchy in Nigeria should become more charismatic, more prophetic, more eloquent and more exemplary in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the society is to be saved and healed now, in no other way can it be healed and saved save by a return to Christian life and Christian institutions. “Whoever is thirsty”, says Jesus Christ, “let him come to me and drink.” In our dryness- moral dryness, spiritual dryness, social dryness, psychological and emotional dryness, a return to Jesus Christ, the Lord of life and Prince of peace becomes inevitable.

Note: This article of mine has already been published in a Magazine Pentiful Redemption of the students of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Nigerian Vice-Province.

Abortion: The Only Issue to Consider before Voting?

According to a report published in the Memphis Local News, Thursday, October 23, 2008, our dearly Bishop Terry Steib says he “is not telling Memphis area Catholics how to vote in this presidential election, but he is asking them to avoid casting their vote based on one issue.” In furthering his argument, he said “If our conscience is well formed, then we will make the right choices about candidates who may not support the Church’s position in every case.” I cannot agree more with the Bishop’s argument and position. His comments on the forthcoming presidential election is coming on the heels of some Catholic Bishops here in USA urging the Catholic faithful to ignore voting for any candidate that supports abortion. Put differently, the candidate’s position on abortion should be the sole criterion or the prerequisite of getting votes from the Catholics. Two Catholic Bishops in Dallas and Fort Worth co-wrote a letter stating that it is immoral to vote for a candidate who supports abortion. Wonderful! According to the Local News Newspaper of Memphis, the Bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania circulated a letter through the diocese stating that a “candidate’s abortion stance supersedes all other issues. Public officials who support abortion should be denied Communion.
The reason for this write-up is not to argue with the Bishops. My target here is not to enter into dispute with the Church’s hierarchy. I am a simple and a loyal servant of God and the Church. I also want to state here that I do not support abortion. I am a strong believer and a promoter of culture of life. But I have some concerns and worries with the arguments of Bishops of Dallas, Fort Worth and Scranton. First, the two bishops in Dallas and Fort Worth states that it is immoral to vote for a candidate who supports abortion. What they are saying in essence is that anyone who votes for a pro-choice candidate is culpable. First, it is important to point out here that what the two Bishops had done appears to be partisanship which the Church’s leadership should not get involved in. It is not the duty of the Church to tell her members who to vote for and who to vote against. At best, the Church can help its members in the discernment process without being overly partisan. What the Bishops of Dallas, Fort Worth and Scranton had done is obviously a public endorsement of a candidate or a group of candidates which is a violation of the American law. Such an act can cause a deep division within the Church because within the Church are members of the Democratic and Republican party who naturally will support their candidates either in presidential election or senatorial election etc. Within the Church are also Independents who listen to the issues being discussed and may be drawn to a particular candidate. When such division occurs, it will in a long run hurt the Church. We can be political without being partisan.
The argument of the two Bishops of Dallas and Fort Worth that “It is immoral to vote for any candidate who supports abortion” can lead to another argument. In 2004, shortly before the presidential election took place before the incumbent president, George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry, the present Pope, as Cardinal Ratzinger warned in a letter sent to the American Bishops that voting for any politician that supports the 1973 US Supreme Court judgment Roe vs Wade or back abortion rights of women would make the voter immorally culpable in the sin of abortion. In the letter, he speaks of how the people become responsible for the actions of those they choose to support. It is the same argument that the two Bishops are putting forward today. But here is the problem with that logic: Since Pope Benedict XVI, as Cardinal Ratzinger was speaking about how the people become responsible for the actions of those they choose to support, shall we also claim that the Pope should consider himself morally culpable in the many sins of President George W. Bush as the President of United States as from 2004: whether it is the immoral invasion of Iraq or the Guantanamo Bay or his endorsement of torture as instrument of State policy? Can one wildly claim that all the US Catholic Bishops and probably all the Catholics and Evangelicals who supported and voted for President George W. Bush are morally culpable in the many sins and errors of the president in the last four years? Or is it only in the case of abortion that culpability becomes possible?
My contention may be attacked by another argument that a pro-choice politician is a manifest sinner; a known sinner whose moral position regarding abortion is a public knowledge. While he is viewed as such, the one who claims to be pro-life is supported on the basis that he will be a proponent of culture of life. But history and events have proved us wrong. For many politicians, pro-life agenda is just an ideology, an instrument of winning election; a tool to corner votes from Catholic, Evangelicals and Conservatives. While speaking against abortion, they are thinking of another nation to invade and bomb down. Unfortunately, most of us ignore or forget that both abortion and wars or torture ultimately kill. They do not promote life! They violate the sanctity, the integrity and the dignity of human life. Not a few moralists even claim that war is the worst of all human crime and evil.
The position of the Bishop of Scranton that “a candidate’s abortion stance supersedes all other issues” amounts to reducing all the nation’s problems in healthcare, education, infrastructures, economy, jobs, energy, gas hike, immigration, housing etc to just one moral issue- abortion. At a time when the wealthiest and the most powerful nation is seriously threatened by economic collapse, everything should be put on the table. It is not enough to have a President who is pro-life but a president whose socio-political, economic and ethical policies will actually promote life. We need to examine his ethics of war too. In the last eight years, we have had a faith-based presidency; we have had a president who is pro-life. But has the number of abortions in America reduced? No! And I want to state that pro-life begins from the womb to the grave. To say that a candidate’s stance on abortion supersedes all other issues is to profoundly ignore what an average American is going through at this difficult time in history. It is denying the fact that there are millions of people who have no healthcare insurance; it is denying the fact that more than seven hundred thousand people have lost their jobs this year alone, it is denying the fact that many people are presently facing foreclosure; it is a denial of what has been happening in the Wall Street and the anxiety and panic that have gripped our people who stand and watch as their retirement security plunges. Being a pro-life politician is not enough to be elected a candidate for any political office. We have a president who is pro-life; what have we got from him for the past eight years? We have got unjust war in Iraq, huge deficit, rampant loss of jobs, financial crisis etc.
I cannot agree more with my Bishop, Terry Steib who has urged the Catholics in Memphis not to vote for a candidate based on one issue. There are varieties of issues that deeply concern our people. Asking them not to consider those issues is asking them to become irrational. We may never have a presidential candidate who will entirely agree with the Church’s teachings. But looking at varieties of issues, we can come to some sort of agreement in choosing a candidate who agrees more with the Church. Abortion should not be the only issue of consideration; it is just one moral issue. There are other moral issues like war, torture, capital punishment, gay marriage etc. What about socio-political and economic issues? Asking Catholics to vote based on one issue (abortion) is asking them to ignore myriads of problems people are facing presently. It is asking them to pretend that all is well.
I want to respectfully disagree with the argument that voting for a candidate who supports abortion is immoral and any Catholic who votes for such a candidate is culpable. If that argument holds and in fact is true, then the Church in US should come out publicly to confess and apologize for the many sins of President George W. Bush because she supported his election and re-election on the ground that he is pro-life. The Church should be careful when entering into politics. Our chief aim is to educate our people to take a close look at all the issues, to help them form their consciences. We should guard against a direct or indirect endorsement of a candidate. Doing that can cause a painful problem of division and hatred in the house of God.

Beautiful Prayer of Cardinal Newman

Prayer of Cardinal Newman

My God, you have created me to do you some definite service. You have given me some work to me, which you have not given to any other. I have my place in your plan. I may never know what it is in this life, but I will be told it in the next. Therefore I will trust you in all things. If I am sick, my sickness may serve you. If I am worried, my sorrow may serve you. You do nothing in vain; you know what you are doing. You may take away my friends; you may put me among strangers, you may make me feel forgotten, you may make my spirits sink, you may hide my future from me- still, you know what you are doing, and I trust you. Amen

I thank my friend Ebele Okosi for sending this beautiful prayer to me.

Homily of the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Your Entire Life To God

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

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

Your entire life to God, your honor to the Emperor Before this today’s gospel, Jesus had been on the attack. He has been launching series of attacks against the Orthodox Jewish leaders. He had spoken three parables in which he indicted them. In the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21: 28-32), Jesus presented the Jewish leaders as the disobedient son who never went to his father’s vineyard to work. In parable of the wicked tenants (Matthew 21: 33-46), the Jewish leaders are the wicked tenants who killed the several servants sent by the owner of the vineyard, and when he finally sent his own son, thinking they would spare his life, they also killed him.

In the parable of the wedding feast, they are the condemned guest who was not wearing his wedding clothes and was thereafter thrown out of the wedding hall where he will weep and gnash his teeth. So with these parables which Orthodox Jewish leaders understood as a direct attack on them, they plotted for a counter- attack against Jesus by asking a carefully formulated question meant to bring him down. Before I forget, they asked this question in the public, before the watchful eyes and the listening ears of the crowd. The aim was to set a trap for Jesus so that he could discredit himself with his own words. By the way, what was the question? The question is “Is it lawful to pay census tax to Caesar of not? Why is the issue of taxpaying so dicey and risky? Palestine was an occupied country and the Jews were subject to the Roman Empire. Being subject to the Roman Empire, they were subjected to three different kinds of taxpaying. So the question here is “Is it lawful or not to pay tribute to Rome? The 3 taxes are:

1. Ground tax: Under this, a man must pay to the government one tenth of his grain, and one fifth of the oil and wine he produced. Now, this tax is partly paid in kind, and partly paid in money.

2. Income tax: here, a man pays one percent of his income.

3. Poll tax: This is a tax paid by every male person from the age of 14 to the age of 65, and by every female person from the age of 12 to 65.

So the question the Pharisees asked Jesus was a very risky one. It sets the Lord in a real dilemma. It was so dicey because if he says it was unlawful to pay tax to Rome, they would immediately report him to the Roman government officials as a seditious and unpatriotic person and they would immediately arrest him. And if Jesus said it is lawful to pay tax, he would stand discredited in the eyes of many people who are bearing the crunch of paying these taxes. It is worthy to note to that when the Jewish people resent paying taxes, the reason is not purely materialistic. They don’t resent paying tax because they want to keep their money. The reason is spiritual and religious. It goes beyond “Joe the Plumber” reason. To a Jew, God was the only King; their nation was a theocracy; therefore to pay tax to an earthly king was to admit the validity of his kingship and it was an insult to God. Jesus’ attack on them so hurt them to the extent that strange-bed fellows like the Pharisees and the Herodians joined together for the first time to fight a common enemy. For knowledge sake, the Pharisees were the fanatical Jews, the supremely orthodox who consider payment of tax to a foreign king as an infringement of the divine right of God. The Herodians were party of Herod, king of Galilee who owed his power to the Romans and who worked hand in hand with them. So the Pharisees and the Herodians were enemies, they don’t agree. They held different views on taxpaying just like Barak Obama and John McCain. But today, they find a common ground; they set their differences aside with the sole desire to eliminate Jesus. Mind you, any man or woman who insists in doing things his or her own way will surely hate Jesus. But in his answer, Jesus demonstrated he was wiser and smarter than all.

To the question, “Is it lawful to pay census tax to Caesar or not?” Jesus replied, “Show me the coin that pays the census tax”. “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” Of cause it is Caesar’s. Then the Lord directed, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” Brethren, today’s Gospel taken from Matthew 22: 15-21 calls for faithful citizenship. It reminds us of our double citizenship. Every Christian is a citizen of the country in which he or she happens to live. Because the Christian is a man or woman of honor, he or she must be a responsible citizen; failure in good citizenship is also failure in Christian duty. Today Jesus says, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” Caesar represents our leaders, political leaders to whom we owe a duty in return for the privileges which their rule brings to us. A lawless and chaotic human society risks being extinguished from the global map.

We give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar by being faithful citizens who keep the rules and laws of the land that Caesar swore to protect and uphold. The Christian is also a citizen of heaven. Remember we have dual citizenship: citizenship of the earth and citizenship of heaven. To give back to God what belongs to God means to give your very life to God. It means offering yourself as a living sacrifice, holy, and pleasing to God (Romans 12: 1). It means offering your life to God and everything you are, everything you have, and everything you have been through, and asking him to use it for his own glory. It also means offering your days to him as a pleasing sacrifice.

Now, the two citizenships should not clash. The demands of the State and the demands of God may not clash. God ultimately will never ask us to do what will obstruct or destroy the human family; after all, he is the Origin. But when a Christian is so convinced that complying with a particular demand of the State will ultimately violate the demand of God, he should resist it. One thing is so clear in today’s Gospel, and that is “A genuine Christian is at one and same time a good citizen of his or her country and a good citizen of the Kingdom Heaven. He or she belongs to two cities: city of the earth and the city of God. He or she will strive not to fail in his or her duty to God and to the human society. Remember the injunction of St. Peter in 1 Peter 2: 17 “Fear God. Honor the emperor”. Today, let’s ask our Dearest Lord, Jesus Christ to help us as we struggle daily to be faithful citizens of earth and that of the Kingdom of Heaven. May our Mother of Perpetual Help support us, and may St.

Alphonsus pray for us!