The Storms of Life

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily of the 12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church

Memphis, TN, USA

June 21, 2009

The storms of life simply speaking are those things that inconvenience us. They are those life’s experiences that bring us to tears. They trouble us and sometimes can lead to a loss of interest in life itself. The storms of life keep us sleepless at night. In extreme situation they lead some people to depression. They are those life’s experiences that make people ask questions like “God, where are you?” “God, why me?” Lord, why must I suffer?” “God, have you abandoned me?” The storms of life can come in different fashions. Sometimes they come unannounced and when we least expect them. These storms of life can be emotional, psychological, spiritual, material etc. No matter one’s state of life, storms are unavoidable. From time to time, we experience one form of storm or the other. Some people even experience more than one storm at the same time. When one is confronted by the storms of life, how he or she handles it will go a long away in determining how long the storm will last. If handled wrongly, it can lead to another storm thereby multiplying the person’s misery. This is the reason why many people go through life carrying all forms of storms without any end in sight.

Dearest beloved, I want you to mark this: no one goes through life without any storm. The storms of life are part and parcel of our human life. Jesus never promised us a stormless or a painless way of life. The Lord himself had his own storms. As a matter of fact, his started from childhood. He was born in a manger; he was born in a place of animals. As an infant, he was a target for destruction by Herod. Mary and Joseph had to flee to Egypt for his safety. Besides, Jesus was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His foster-father, Joseph was a poor carpenter. Jesus was born in poverty. Like poor children from poor backgrounds, he experienced hardship and lack. As an adult, he was even more vulnerable. Despite the huge crowd that followed him daily, Jesus knew he was exposed to danger. The religious leaders never liked him. As an adult, Jesus was hungry. He had his own storms of life. And he never promised his followers a storm free life. He knew that life would be rough and tough for us. For in his own life he had experienced the roughness and the toughness of life. But he has a message for us. In Gospel of Matthew 11: 28-30, Jesus says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” From the above quotation, our Lord acknowledges the weariness and the burdens that there are in life. He therefore invites us to come to him and learn from him for he is gentle and humble in heart. Even after coming to him, he did not say it is going to be a pain free life. But coming to him would obviously make a huge difference in our life. Jesus says “You will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is life.” With Jesus in our life, the yoke will be easy and the burden will be light. With Jesus in our life, the storms of life will be easy and light. With Jesus in our life, even with the presence of storms, we will not be defeated. With Jesus in our life, the storms of life will not overwhelm us. With Jesus in our life, we will not be crushed and obliterated by the painful wind of life. With Jesus in your life, whatever may be the storm in your life, you will always have a companion. Jesus will accompany you in the journey and lighten the weight of the burden and refresh you when you need it. Scripture says “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” I add, the strength of the Lord will be your joy.

In today’s Gospel taken from Mark 4: 35-41, Jesus was “crossing to the other side” with his disciples. As the boat sails, a violent storm came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. But Jesus was fast asleep. Having worked all day, he became tired and dozed off. Terribly afraid of the situation, the disciples yelled at Jesus “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” The Lord’s smooth sleep has been disturbed. So he woke up and rebuked the wind “Quiet! Be still!” As soon as he said that there was great calm again. Jesus now turned to his disciples and asked “Why are you terrified? Do you not have faith?” Filled with shock and awe, the disciples wondered and said to one another, “Who then is this that even the sea and wind obey him?”

Great event Brethren! Great story, dearest beloved! With Jesus in our life, with Jesus in our journey, with Jesus in our relationships, with Jesus in your marriage, with Jesus in your job, with Jesus in your studies, with Jesus in my ministry and in religious life, with Jesus in our families, with Jesus in your business, with Jesus in our vocation, with Jesus accompanying us in life, the storms will still come. With Jesus in our life, the wind could still turn violent. With Jesus journeying with us, we can still be exposed to danger. We can still be in trouble. With Jesus in your life, the difficulties of life would still come. Your spouse can still betray you; he or she can still be unfaithful. Your son or daughter can still misbehave. With Jesus in your life, it is still possible to lose your job. With Jesus in her life, the young lady over there could still find it hard to find a life-partner. The man out there could still suffer from heartbreak because his lover walked out of his life. With Jesus in your life, health can still fail you sometimes. With Jesus in your life, business can be slow at times. You might even lose your life-benefit and would have to begin afresh. Your credit card company can still overcharge you; the money you pay for your health insurance can still double up; you can still experience a foreclosure of your house. With Jesus in your life, raising your children and having to pay for their tuition and other expenses can still be tough. With Jesus in your life, you are still not immune to the adverse effects of the current global financial crisis that started here in America.

Our attitude to the storms of life is what distinguishes us from non-believers and faint believers. The disciples’ journey to other side is our journey. Their experience is our experience. They had Jesus with them, yet there was storm. We have Jesus with us too and there are storms also. If you have never experienced any, wait for your turn. The storms are part of our life; from time to time we will experience them in different fashions and forms. When the storms come, there are basically two opposite reactions: Fear and Faith. A true believer leans on faith; he is not totally destabilized. When the violent wind of life begins to blow, he remains calm because he knows he has a very big God who is always standing by his side. For a non-believer and a faint-believer, fear easily creeps in. Fear is false evidence about reality. Fear makes you doubt the power of God to save you from your situation. Satan loves people of fear. In fear and out of fear, we can easily do something that radically goes against our belief and value. But the person of faith remains calm and prayerful. Like the disciples, he goes to Jesus in prayer. But unlike the disciples, he does not call upon the Lord in fear. He calls out to the Lord he believes in. He calls in faith; he calls in expectant faith.

Dearest beloved, what is your present situation now? Are you sick? Have the doctors written you off? Have they concluded that you not going to live again? Have they given you the month, date, and year to die? Have you already lost your job? Are you worried and troubled by anything? Are the storms of life blowing so violently that you are almost being blown away? I urge you right now to run to Jesus (RTJ- Run To Jesus). Do not run away from Jesus; run to Jesus. Remember what he did when the disciples called out to him “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Today’s gospel says he woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea “Quiet! Be still!” When you run to Jesus, he will speak the same words to your troubles “Quiet! Be still!” You will experience calm and peace again. The violent storms threatening to destroy you will cease. What is your storm? Do not let that storm destroy you. Stop keeping silent. Speak out to the One whose words are obeyed even by sea and wind. Run to Jesus and speak out. Break that silence; stop hiding and crying in the secret corners of your house. Instead of being quiet, let the storms of your life be quiet. By the time Jesus is done with you, you will sing:

What manner of man is Jesus that even the sea and wind obey him? What manner of man is Jesus that even the storms of my life fled in obedience to him?

Fr. Marcel’s Bulletin Message on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ

Dearest beloved, today we celebrate the reason for our gathering together each week. Today we celebrate the Precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Today we celebrate the Lord’s gift of himself to us. Today we celebrate the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Jesus manifests himself to us. He manifests his Real Presence in the Bread and Wine which he offered to the Father. The Holy Spirit takes possession of the bread and wine so they become the Body and Blood of our Lord. Just as the Holy Spirit made him to become flesh in the womb of Mary, the same Spirit transforms the bread and wine so that the Body and Blood of Jesus become really present on the altar of the sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist.

Brethren at every Mass, our Lord Jesus Christ is really present. He is present to nourish our lives with his teachings and with his Body and Blood. He feeds us with his Body and Blood in ways that are beyond our expectation and imagination. The Bread of Life that Jesus gives us does not just renew our bodies. It gives us a new body by making us the body of Christ itself. For we become the body of Christ when we eat the Body of Christ. The Eucharist brings us into union with Christ and with on another.

The Body and Blood of Jesus is the most precious jewel of inestimable value. It is the ultimate and supreme fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to be with us until the end of time. The Eucharist is an Epiphany. Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus to the whole world. As our Epiphany, Jesus manifests himself to us in the form of bread and wine. And when we receive him in the right disposition, we enter into communion with Christ, we become like Christ, and we become what we receive. The rice, steak, lobster, barbecue ribs, spaghetti, chicken sandwich etc we eat, only blend with our body; but in the case of the Eucharist, we become what we eat, we become the body of Christ.

It has been said that to live is to experience suffering in some degree, and to survive is to find the meaning of suffering. But to find the meaning of suffering is to overcome it, to overcome suffering is to be healed, and healing can be real even when it is not seen. The Christian finds the true meaning of suffering when he or she enters into intimate union with Jesus. For Jesus in his own suffering answers the question of the meaning of suffering. And what brings us into intimate union with Jesus is the Eucharist. By bringing us into union with Christ, the Eucharist brings meaning to human suffering; by bringing meaning into suffering, the Eucharist brings healing into our lives, even in our suffering. Whoever eats the Body of Jesus and drinks his Blood, the power of Christ lives in such a person. That is the greatest healing you can get. That is why whoever eats this bread, even if he dies he is healed, because even if he dies, he shall live forever.

Dearest beloved, the three Apostles on the way to Emmaus recognized Jesus at the breaking of Bread. Let’s recognize him in the Eucharist. When the three Apostles recognized Jesus, they pleaded with him to stay with them. Like them, may we be able to say “Stay with us Lord for it is evening.” When Jesus was manifested to the Magi, they paid him homage, and also gave him three things: gold, myrrh and frankincense. Like them, let us always pay homage to our Savior and also offer him three things: time, talent and treasure.

May the Body of Jesus Christ heal us of all infirmities; may his Blood wash away our sins.

He SOUGHT ME, BOUGHT ME AND TAUGHT ME

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church

Memphis, TN, USA

June 7, 2009

Dearest beloved, today the Church celebrates the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Today we celebrate one of the great mysteries of our faith: that God is three persons-Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Faith in the mystery of the Trinity is usually simply expressed each time we make the sign of the cross: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This is perhaps the most common religious gesture demonstrating belief in the Trinity. As Catholics, we were initiated into the Trinitarian faith when we were baptized ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’.

The mystery of the Trinity is perhaps one article of Christian belief that most Christians are not particularly knowledgeable about. That there are three persons in one God is easily accepted by them, but what that really means is not really their chief concern. My mother believes strongly that there are three persons in one God, but I remember asking her to explain to me the meaning of Ito na-otu di Ngozi (Blessed Trinity) after a catechism class, her response was quite simple: Nna na Nwa na Muo Nso bu Chukwu- meaning Father, Son and Holy Spirit are God. That is all my mother knows about the Trinity; and there are not a few Catholics who have that simple understanding of the Trinity.

During my reflection, prior to the writing of this homily, I had the excitement to centre my homily on the theology of the Trinity. I had thought of giving a simple analysis of the mystery of the Trinity. That led me into studying the summary of St. Augustine’s Trinitarian theology (De Trinitate) and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Trinitarian theology I wrote when I was in the Major Seminary. After that, I picked up the Catechism of the Catholic Church and read the entire Part One, Paragraph 2, subtitled “The Father” (CCC 232-267). It is under this section that the mystery of the Trinity is explained and taught. After reading all that I was ready to prepare my homily. But before I could even start, I remembered the story of St. Augustine’s experience.

The story says that St. Augustine was walking on the beach contemplating the mystery of the Trinity. Then he saw a boy in front of him who had dug a hole in the sand and was going out to the sea again and again and bringing some water to pour into the hole. St. Augustine asked him, “What are you doing?” “I’m going to pour the entire ocean into this hole.” “That is impossible, the whole ocean will not fit in the hole you have made” said St. Augustine. The boy replied, “And you cannot fit the Trinity in your tiny little brain.” The story concludes by saying that the boy vanished as St. Augustine had been talking to an angel.

While reflecting on the experience of St. Augustine, several things crossed my mind. Something said that doing an analysis of the mystery of the Trinity could appear scholarly, and in end, I might have succeeded in putting my parishioners to sleep. In the end, I had to re-articulate the content of my homily. So this morning brethren, I preach to you a message which I have titled “He sought me, bought me and taught me”.

In the book, The Celtic Way of Prayer: The Recovery of the Religious Imagination, p. 43, we find a beautiful prayer to the Trinity:

“O Father who sought me

O Son who bought me

O Holy Spirit who taught me.”

Many religions call God “Father”. By calling God “Father” we mean that he is the first origin of everything. We call him “Father” because he is good and goodness itself. He loves and cares for all his children. God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood which demonstrates the intimacy between Creator and creature. Calling God “Father” does not mean that he is male. God is neither male nor female. He transcends all sexes. No earthly father is as fatherly as God is.

God is “Father” who has been seeking for us from the beginning. Since the fall of Adam and Evil, God has been seeking and searching for us. Seeking not in the sense of not knowing where we are. But seeking in the sense of reaching out to where we are. He knows how desperately we need him; he goes out of his way to reach us. From Old Testament, he called Abraham, formed a people for himself, the Israelites. God also called Moses and gave a covenant. He was faithful but the Jews were not. They broke the terms of the covenant. As a loving Father, he did not abandon them rather he sent out different prophets to call his people back to live in accordance with the terms of the covenant. But in their stubbornness, the Jews did not listen. In continuance of his effort to seek us, he sent his Son Jesus Christ to buy us with his blood.

Jesus, the Son of the Father bought us. St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “You are not your own property, you have been bought at a price. So use your body for the glory of God.” One of the greatest revelations of Jesus is that God is our Father. Jesus himself called him “Abba”. The word “Abba” is an Aramaic word, which means something like our “Daddy.” By that, Jesus is simply saying to us not to look on God as being far away from us. Our heavenly Father is our Abba; he is our Daddy. He is close to us; he cares about us, he loves us and watches over us. He is someone we can turn to in good times and in bad times. He listens to us because he wants our good.

The baby Jesus is called Immanuel, which means God is with us. God is no longer loving us from heaven, in Jesus he now loves us in the form of a human like us. In Jesus, God is Immanuel. In Jesus, God is really with us. In Jesus, God is really present. In Jesus, God is healing us; in Jesus, God is condemning our oppressors; in Jesus, God is multiplying our food. In Jesus, God is standing with us and by us. In Jesus, God is reassuring that he will be with us until the end of time. In Jesus, God is delivering us from the hands of demons, and other satanic forces that want to destroy us. In Jesus, God is saying to us “It is finished”. In Jesus, God is feeding us as a shepherd feeds his flock. In Jesus, God is here right now!

Remember he bought you, me and us at a great price. You are worth as much as the precious blood of Jesus Christ because that is the price God paid for you- the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus is priceless so you are priceless. Revelation 5:9 says “Worthy are you to receive the scroll and to break open it seals for you were slain and with your blood you purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation.”

The Holy Spirit, love of the Father and Son taught us. The gospel of John 16: 13 says “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” The Holy Spirit is our Helper; He is the comforter. Remember the experience of the Apostles after the death of Jesus. Gathered in the Upper Room before the Pentecost, the Apostles were terribly afraid, afraid of everything and everybody. But as soon as they received the Holy Spirit, the initial fear and depression left. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter; like the Father and Jesus, the Holy Spirit is also on our side to help us always.

Dearest beloved, today we celebrate the solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity. Today, we celebrate the relationship in the Godhead. Today, we celebrate God who is a community- a community of persons. Today, we celebrate God who is our Father, our Daddy. We celebrate Jesus who is Immanuel- God with us and there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from his loving care except we reject him. We celebrate God who is also the Holy Spirit that helps and comforts us in the long journey of life. Life is a journey, and the journey is long. We need God in this journey. The journey can be dreary without God. The journey can be dry and painful without God. The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit want to journey with us. Are we willing to let the Father who sought and found us to walk with us? Are we willing to let the Son who bought us with his Blood to journey with us? Are we willing to let the Holy Spirit, the Comforter who taught us to accompany us in this journey? This journey is too long, but if we let God in, he will make the journey easy and light. Remember Matthew 11: 28!