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.