GET RID OF IT!

GET RID OF IT

Fr. Marcel Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the 26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church

Memphis, TN, USA

September 27, 2009

Many of us have favorite Bible passage. Those who read the Bible have favorite quotes from the Bible. The favorite quotes are the quotes in the Bible that either touch us more deeply or make a lot of sense to us. Some of us have more than one Bible passage that we consider favorite and special. Ask some of us to say our favorite Bible quotation and it is likely none of us will mention the verses we just heard from today’s Gospel:

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:43,45,47).

Now what are we to do with these words from Jesus? What is Jesus actually saying to us in those words? Surely, the Lord is not talking of literal amputation of our hands. He is obviously not asking us to pluck out our eyes, or amputate our foot. Jesus was speaking metaphorically. At that time in Palestine, it was common to speak in this exaggerated way just to make a point. In literature it is called hyperbole. Everyone in this Church can agree that Jesus is not asking us to literary get rid of any or all the parts of the body mentioned in the passage we just read. Now knowing what Jesus is not asking us to do leave us with the question: What then is the Lord saying in that passage? What does he expect from us?

A story was told of a woman who bought a very expensive dress and when she went home her husband said to her, “When you were trying it on why didn’t you say, ‘Get behind me Satan?’” She said, “I did say ‘Get behind me Satan,’ and when I looked at it from behind in the mirror it was just as nice!”

Human life is a life of battle. Within us there is a battle going on. There is a battle going on in the lives of each of us; it is a battle for the lives of each of us. It is a battle between good and evil. At the end of that battle, we will either hear Jesus say “You are mine” or hear Satan say “you are mine.” We thank God for the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ. Through his death on the cross, he has won the battle for us. On the cross Jesus says “It is finished.” He finished and ended the dominion of Satan over us; he finished the over-bearing influence of Satan over us; he finished and terminated Satan’s accusation, pride and control of our lives. With his own life, the Lord offers us salvation. Jesus’ death on the cross is a profound way of saying “You are mine.” Now it is up to us to accept his grace and live as those redeemed by Him. If someone gives you a cheque of $1 million, the money is not yours until you have either transferred the money into your own bank account or has cash it. The salvation that Jesus offers us is free but it is not cheap. It must cost you something. But what it costs us are the things that guarantee peace and happiness.

The words of Jesus in today’s gospel (Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48) should not be taken literary. The Lord is not asking us to mutilate our body. Jesus is simply asking us to avoid anything that leads us into temptation and sin. We call that “occasion of sin”. When Jesus says cut off your hand or foot or pluck out your eye if it causes you to sin he is asking us to avoid whatever it is that leads us on to commit sin. Whatever it is that in the long run makes us commit sin, Jesus says avoid it.

For some of us, consumption of alcohol is a trigger that leads to sin. I think we should say the same thing about TV, the internet, some magazines etc. Some TV channels are occasion of sin for us; some internet websites are not only occasions of sin, they are cancerous. They eat up the spiritual organs in us leaving us empty, dry and spiritually dead. Consider the manner with which the virus carried by porn sites eats and crashes our computers, it is the same way those porn sites eats and destroys our defenses making us more vulnerable and more gullible to indulge in some reckless sexual behaviors. Talking about TV, Mother Teresa of Calcutta said “we have a tabernacle to Jesus in the Church and we have a tabernacle to Satan in the home.” Some of the TV channels are tabernacle of Satan. These are what Jesus asks us today to avoid, to get rid of. Going to strippers’ club or Girls gone wild parties is dangerously dangerous and bad for any Christian who is serious with his or her spiritual and moral life as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Jesus says to us today “Get rid of those things that will deny you heaven. Disengage and dissociate yourself from that relationship that is leading you away from God. Walk out on her or him if his or her relationship with you will lead you to hell. Better go to heaven friendless; better go to heaven without a boyfriend or a girlfriend than with a boyfriend or a girlfriend end up in Gehanna.

Today we hardly talk about hell. We erroneously believe that every one will go to heaven. We convince ourselves that hell is not real. Some argue that a loving Father cannot let his own child suffer in eternal hell. My response is “a loving and obedient son or daughter will not walk away from his or her Father.” Some argue that the teaching of hellfire was injected by the Church to make us comply and that ultimately there is no hell. But even in human society, there are laws, rules, policies that should and must be followed. One cannot graduate from Elementary school, High school, College or University if one did not meet up with all the requirements. Every human institution has laid down policies that must be followed. How come we think that God doesn’t have any? Is God lawless? Is God lax? Who is the origin of human beings’ ability to discover the need of laws, rules, and policies?

Dear friends, God is not lawless. God is not lax. God’s philosophy is not the philosophy of anything goes. If you want to spend eternity with God, you must live like one who wants to go there. Get rid of those things that lead you into sin. Spend sometime in prayers asking God to help you. There is a battle going on in the lives of each of us. It is a battle for the lives of each of us, a battle between good and evil. Through his cross Jesus has won the battle for us but it is up to us now to accept this victory and his grace and live as those redeemed by Jesus. Let us try to avoid occasions of sin and live in the grace of Jesus so that we may hear him say to us at the end, “You are mine.”

God bless you!

THE GREATEST AMONG YOU

THE GREATEST AMONG YOU

Fr. Marcel Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily of the 25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church

Memphis, Tennessee

September 20, 2009

The human society is composed of two groups of people: the society of persons who can do things for themselves and the society of persons who need others to do things for them. We have the society of the influential people and the society of people who are influenced. We have the society of givers and the society of receivers. Children fall under the society of persons who need others to do things for them. They fall under the society of persons who are easily influenced; they are under the society of receivers. A child has no influence at all; a child cannot advance a man’s career nor influence his prestige. A child is not a giver; he is a receiver. A child relies on others to do things for him. A child is the number one dependant. In our calculation, children are primarily receivers and not givers.

In today’s gospel reading taking from the gospel of Mark 9:30-37, Jesus shocked his apostles. The apostles were in a heated disagreement. They were arguing among themselves which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus expressively showed them that what they were after was just a big waste of time. Jesus took a child and set him in the midst. In Palestine at the time of Jesus children were, however, the lowest of the low. And the child that Jesus called up may have been a wondering child. In those days it was common to abandon a child after birth, as a method of birth control, because a family may not be able to feed another mouth. At the time of Jesus, children had no status and were more or less regarded the same way as slaves until they matured. In our time, we place children first, but not in the time of Jesus. So you can imagine what a shock it was for the apostles who were arguing which of them was the greatest when Jesus placed a child before them and said “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all. Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

As I said before, a child is the number one dependant. A child cannot give us things; a child cannot advance any career or enhance anyone’s prestige. In the time of Jesus, children had no status; they were the lowest of the low. By saying “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me…” Jesus was saying “If you welcome the poor, ordinary people, people with no influence, people with little or no power and wealth, the people who need things done for them, the people who need you more than you need them, you welcome Him.”

Beloved, did you notice the emphasis Jesus made? “Whoever receives one child such as this…” Who was that child? Remember I told you that in those days it is common to abandon a child after birth as a method of birth control. The child in question may be one of those abandoned children who loiter around. The child may have come expecting to be fed. He may have heard that Jesus was feeding people. He may be there to be fed. Jesus took him and set him before us and said “If you accept a child like this, you are great.” Pitching your tent with the society of persons who needs things is what we must seek. Doing that is the path to greatness.

Sisters and brothers, we all want to make friends with persons who can do things for us. We want the friendship of persons of influence who can be useful to us. It is easy to avoid the society of those who inconveniently need our help. Friendship with influential people is materially more rewarding. It is easy to carry on with the wealthy and the powerful while neglecting the simple, humble, ordinary people. It is easy in a public function to seek out the attention of those who are highly placed in the society. But today the Lord urges us to seek out not those who can do things for us, but those for whom we can do things for. The greatest among us are those who seek out the little ones, the little man, the little woman, the neglected child, the not-too dressed guy out there.

Who is the greatest among us? The greatest among us is not the most intelligent among us, although it is good to be intelligent. The greatest among us is not the wealthiest among us. The greatest among us is not the person with the biggest wages. The greatest among us is not the finest and the prettiest. The greatest among us is not the person with the best shape, everything fitting perfectly. The greatest among us is not the person with the most expensive car, living in an exclusive area in a house built with bricks. The greatest among us is the servant of all. The person who looks out for the little guy is the greatest. Mother Teresa said that anybody can be great because anybody can serve. Sometimes the number of the needy people around us can scare us away. Helping every one of them can break us down. Lifting every one of them up might be too heavy for us. But if you look at the mass, you cannot do anything; but if you look at one, you can do something.

If you are not doing anything to serve the Church or the community, would consider doing something to serve the Church, to help the Church? When we serve others, we receive something that money cannot buy. There are treasures that money cannot buy and when we serve others we receive something that money can never buy. Mother Teresa gives an example of this:

One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition. I told the Sisters: “You take care of the other three; I will take care of the one who looks worse.” So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand, as she said one word only: “Thank you” - and she died. I could not help but examine my conscience before her. And I asked: “What would I say if I were in her place?” And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself. I would have said: “I am hungry, I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain,” or something. But she gave me much more, she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face.

When we serve we receive something that money can never buy. With the example of Jesus and Mother Teresa before us we can ask ourselves, “What is our attitude to others?” Do we relate with some people and avoid others? Why do we avoid some people? Is it because they have hurt us and we have not yet forgiven them or is it because we are like Jesus’ disciples on the road thinking we are the greatest? Let’s consider the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me a channel of your peace,

that where there is hatred, I may bring love,
where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,
where there is discord, I may bring harmony,
where there is error, I may bring truth,
where there is doubt, I may bring faith,
where there is despair, I may bring hope,
where there are shadows, I may bring light
and where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may comfort, rather than to be comforted,
that I may understand, rather than be understood
that I may love, rather than be loved.
For it is by forgetting self, that one finds,
it is by forgiving, that one is forgiven,
it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.

"BE OPENED"

“BE OPENED”

Fr. Marcel Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily of the 23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church

Memphis, TN 38107

September 6, 2009

In today’s Gospel taken from Mark 7: 31-37, Jesus healed a deaf man. As soon as Jesus arrived at the district of Decapolis, people brought to him a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. His inability to hear anything may have been responsible for his speech impediment. Jesus did something different in the process of restoring the hearing and speaking ability of the needy man. He took the deaf man away from the crowd, put his finger into the man’s ears, and with spittle, he touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven from where shall our help comes from, Jesus groaned and said to him “Ephphatha!” which means “Be opened!” According to today’s gospel, the man’s ears opened immediately following the prayers of Jesus for him, his speech impediment was removed and he started speaking with ease.

Did you notice that Jesus did not say to the deaf man “Hear!” or “Speak?” Rather he used the expressions “Be opened!” This is an indication of how we are to live. We are to be opened to the Word of God. Psalm 119: 11 says “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I may not sin against you.” And in verse 105 of the same Psalm 119, the Psalmist declares “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” In the gospel of John 6: 63 Jesus says “The words I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.” We are to be opened to the Word of God- the Word that is a lamp to our feet; the word that is a light for our path; the words that are spirit and life; the words that strengthen us to avoid sinning against God. When we open up ourselves to God, when we open up ourselves to the Word of God, God enables us to open up ourselves to each other. We will be able to see Jesus in rags.

I don’t think there is anybody in this Church that is deaf. Deafness is not a problem for most of us here. So today’s healing of the deaf man may not really interests some of us that much. But yet, Jesus uses the expression “Be opened!” Our problem may not be physical deafness. But we may be too busy to hear Jesus. With our ears wide open and able to hear what is said far away, we still are not able to hear the sweet voice of our Lord. Because of this kind of deafness, we are not able to recognize him in the events of our life. Some people are too busy making money that they don’t even have time to enjoy the houses they are so busy working to pay for. Some people are so busy with work, career etc that they don’t spend much time at home with their children. They don’t even have time to be alone with self.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta once gave a speech about her work with the sick, the dying and the orphans in India. Afterwards, someone who seemingly wanted to assist her in her work asked “You have done so much to make the world a better place. What can I do? Mother Teresa smiled and simply said, “Love your children.” The questioner was not pleased with her answer and wanted to raise another question but Mother Teresa interrupted and said, “There are other things you can do, but that is the best. Love your children. Love your children as much as you can. Cater for them, be there for them. Listen to them. That is the best.” Parents give money to their children, pay their tuition fees, provide accommodation for them and other material things but good parents give their children something more. “Be opened” to the needs of your children.

If children live with criticism,

They learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight.

If children live with ridicule,
They learn to be shy.

If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty

On the other hand when we uplift and encourage children we help them for life:

If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.

If children live with encouragement,
They learn confidence.

If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.

If children live with fairness,
They learn justice.

If children live with security,
They learn to have faith.

If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.

If children live with acceptance and friendship,
They learn to find love in the world.

We are so busy that life is slipping by at a very fast rate and we need to slow it down. We are so busy that we don’t even see or notice others. We don’t notice the teeming number of the not-haves in our society. As a nation, we seem to be deaf to the crying and mourning of those crying for a helping hand. We seem to have been deafened by the huge and massive wealth in the nation that we seem not to hear the voices of those who have not benefitted from this massive wealth. The unfounded fear of losing capitalism has deafened us and impaired our speech. We no longer speak the language of the Spirit which is love. Those who don’t speak the language of the Spirit- love, have speech impediment. They may be speaking clearly and hearing clearly, but as long as their speech is not the speech of the Spirit, they have speech impediment. If we don’t hear the voices of those on the margins of our society, we are deaf just like the man healed by Jesus today. We need to hear the healing voice of Jesus saying to us “Be opened!”

The healthcare debate going on in the country right now has exposed the bitterness and the evil that lies unchecked in some people’s heart and mind. The healthcare debate has exposed the spiritual and moral deafness of so many people who are deaf to hear the moaning and mourning of those without healthcare coverage. The early month of August was terrible. All sorts of things were said and done. Some people became unreasonably frantic and hysterical because they think that the healthcare reform will affect their status. When that issue was addressed, they became worried that illegal aliens will benefit from the reform as if they are not benefitting from the status quo. With all the wealth in this nation, many seem to be deaf to hearing the wailing voices of those sitting at the corners of our society watching helplessly while the rest of us enjoy. I have seen many rich Americans spend some of their millions in other poor nations. Some of them made names for themselves in doing that. America as a nation too doles out billions to help other poor nations. Don’t get me wrong, those are commending and plausible acts of charity. America is known for its generosity abroad. We have also seen our nation spend trillions of dollars in an unjust war in Iraq. The Washington Post on March 9, 2008 reported that the US government has spent $3 trillion on what it called “a failed war”. As a nation, we can spend any amount to prosecute a war, an unjust war for that matter. But when it comes to reforming our healthcare system so that it could accommodate the not-haves in our society, we call those trying to do that “socialists”. If what President Obama is trying to do is socialism, then I will welcome socialism.

In spite of the gains of capitalism, it has its downsides. As an economic and social system, capitalism is better than communism or socialism. But we should know that just as it creates the rich and the wealthy, it also creates the poor. The poor are citizens just like the rich. No matter what we do, we will always have the poor. Even Jesus in Gospel of Matthew 26: 27 says “The poor you will always have with you…” But it is the duty of any responsible and moral society and its government to cater for the poor. No human government can possibly make all the poor people wealthy, but it can at least lend a helping hand to the poor. It can at least make sure that the rights of everyone including the poor are protected and uphold. The ongoing healthcare debate has exposed the deep deafness of so many people. It should weigh heavily on our moral conscience if in a hospital someone is undergoing a $25,000 surgery while in another room, of the same hospital someone is rejected and denied of the same treatment because of his/her status- because he/she has no health insurance. Let the America that spends billions in helping other poor nations do the same to its citizens. If we are not able to hear the crying voices of help of so many in our society, then we are deaf just like the man cured today by Jesus. We have seen heated and spirited rallies at some of the town hall meetings. Someone who did not know that Africa is a continent injected the idea of death panel in the debate thereby setting what would have been a meaningful debate and dialogue into a show of panic, anger and sheer stupidity. Within all these, there is a background noise of resentment based on race. In the State of Missouri, a black woman was disgraced simply because she was carrying a poster of Rosa Parks. What worried me was the deafness of the crowd. The white man who ripped off the Rosa Parks’ poster the black woman had was applauded. The woman was literarily assaulted. She was later howled away by the police for standing up against her assaulter. Meanwhile in that same room, there were some white folks with posters that referred to the president by the “N” word. But no one seemed to care about that. We have heard some say that the healthcare bill is really not about healthcare, that it’s the president way to get reparations for black people. That is absolutely absurd! It is pure nonsense. What kind of reparation do you have to get sick first in order to get paid? We have heard some say that Obama hates the white people. Some said that white people are experiencing exactly what the black people experienced during the segregation. These kinds of comments suggest deafness and impairment of speech. To kill the healthcare reform, Sarah Palin with a head full of nothing claim that Obama wants to kill grandma. Unprintable names have been given to the president. People are simply throwing out words like socialism, fascism etc and comparing the president with Adolf Hitler. See, when you portray Obama as Hitler, you are saying he is evil. Think of Adolf Hitler. He was not just a fascist, he was a racial fascist. So to portray Obama as Hitler is to suggest that he is a racial fascist. Saying that raises a question like “What particular race is he going to obliterate? And since someone that Rush Limbaugh has said that Obama hates the white people, some white people will begin to think that the president wants to exterminate them. And those who say these things should realize that words have consequences. These are the kind of words that deepen division and hatred in our society. People forget that sickness, suffering and poverty do not discriminate. They are not friends of any race or people. We are all in it together. Anybody can be humbled by sickness and poverty. This is the time we should be facing serious issues that face us as a nation and not engage in racial paranoia. To kill the healthcare reform, some have claimed that it is a healthcare welfare. People are simply being unreasonable because when they hear of social spending for the have-nots like income support, housing support, nutrition support, or healthcare support, they simply think of Black people, Mexicans, and immigrants etc. It is absolutely annoying hearing people say “they want to take from us the hardworking people and give to the lazy ones”. And let me quickly say this, when someone says “Give me back my country, I want the country that the Founders envisioned” please tell the person that the country the Founders envisioned had slavery; there was slave trade and slaves as part of its system. That system cannot be said to be morally perfect and acceptable. We have moved beyond that stage and need to keep perfecting what needs to be perfected.

Sisters and brothers, Jesus healed the deaf man. Sometimes we can be deaf to life, to others and to Jesus. In 1 Kings 19, the story has it that prophet Elijah was in a cave, then he was told to go out and stand on the mountain before God. There was a hurricane but God was not in the hurricane. There was an earthquake but God was not in the earthquake. There was a fire but God was not in the fire. After the fire there was a gentle breeze. Immediately Elijah knew that God was in the gentle breeze so he went out to the entrance of the cave and covered his face. We also need gentle breezes in our life in order to hear Jesus speak to us. If we have noise, yelling and shouting as people were doing in some of the town hall meetings we will not be able to hear the Lord.

Before Jesus healed the deaf man in today’s gospel, he took him off by himself away from the crowd; he took him to a private place, looked up to heaven and then prayed for the man’s healing. We need to step aside sometimes in private with Jesus so that we can hear him speak to us. Be opened so that you can hear the language of the Spirit, and that language is love. True love demands that we think of others especially those at the bottom of the ladder of life. Remember the word JOY. It stands for:

J- Jesus

O- Others

Y- You.

Think of Jesus first, think of others secondly, then think of yourselves. This is the summary of Christian love and life.