DON'T TURN BACK NOW!

DON'T TURN BACK NOW!

Homily for the 13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Jesus spent a whole lot of his life in the region known as the lower Galilee. Apart from his birth in Bethlehem, and his family’s visit to Egypt, Jesus grew up, lived and worked in a place so near to the Sea of Galilee. He only relocated to Capernaum when he began his earthly ministry. From Capernaum, the Lord was going out to preach, to heal the sick, and to deliver those troubled by evil spirits and demons. But he never went too far away to live. From Capernaum, he will go out and then return home by the sea. But a time came when Jesus will take his message to the very heart of Jewish faith, to Jerusalem, and to its center, the Temple. The Lord’s decision to go to Jerusalem was the beginning of the end. He knew what would happen to him in Jerusalem. But he was not deterred or afraid.

Today’s gospel taken from Luke 9: 51-62 begins with “When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem…” He was resolutely determined to go to Jerusalem, not because he has something to gain there. He was determined to go there because that’s where the will of God for him will be accomplished. Jesus was determined to obey the will of his Father regardless of cost. The Lord knew exactly what he was doing and where he was going and what would happen to him there. He was not going to Jerusalem because he ran of things to do in Capernaum; he was not going to Jerusalem because the Galileans wouldn’t listen to him. He was not going to Jerusalem because he was searching for greener pastures. The Lord set his face to Jerusalem, he was determined to go there because in Jerusalem God’s purpose for him and for the world will be fulfilled. St. Paul says “In Christ Jesus, God was reconciling the world to himself.” This reconciliation will reach its apogee in Jerusalem. That’s why Jesus was determined to go there. He believed going there to die was the will of God.

The terminus ad quo of our life as Christians is to always seek what the will of God is. When the world tells us to weigh the pros and cons, to place all options on the table, we remember that Jesus says “Seek you first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and other things will be added unto you.” When the world tells us to choose the safe thing to do,” we remember that God wants us to choose the right thing and to do it. Christian life is all about doing what Jesus wants us to do.

Jesus was “resolutely determined” to go to Jerusalem because of his determination to obey the will of God. He never allowed anything to stand in his way. Not even the Samaritan people were able to stand in his way. The gospel says “On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.” Jesus was focused. The Samaritan people refused to welcome him because he was going to Jerusalem through their city. The direct way from Galilee to Jerusalem led to through Samaria; but Jews often times avoid going through it because of an old quarrel between Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans did not allow any Jew to pass through their territory. It was therefore very unusual for Jesus to take that way. But Jesus took that route for a purpose.

Jesus used every chance, every time, and every opportunity he had to do something good. Jesus followed the direct route that led to Samaria because he wanted to extend a hand of friendship to a people who had been enemies to his people. Jesus wanted to tell them “It’s alright now. Let us reconcile.” Remember he was going to Jerusalem to reconcile humanity with God by his death on the cross. He wanted to begin by reconciling people with people. He wanted to reconcile his people, the Jewish people with their age-long enemies. But his hand of friendship was rejected by the Samaritan people. And they also wanted to hinder him from continuing his journey. Two of his disciples, James and John suggested they call down fire from heaven to consume the Samaritan people. But the Prince of peace rebuked them and their offer.

In this passage, Jesus strongly taught the virtue of tolerance. In our world today where the virtue of tolerance is mistaken as weakness, timidity and cowardice, Jesus’ reaction to the Samaritan people’s behavior is something that we need to consider seriously. But on his way to Jerusalem, one of the would-be disciples said to him “Lord I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” The Lord was simply saying to him “Before you follow me, count the cost.” To the second who said “I will follow you, but first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said “Let the dead bury their dead.” That sounds cruel, but Jesus was simply saying to him “Devotion to God should come first before devotion to those dearest to us.” Remember Jesus also said “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” The third would-be follower said to Jesus “I will follow you Lord, but first let me say goodbye to those at home.” To him Jesus said “No one who sets a hand to the plough and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”

The Lord wants his followers not to look back. Remember Lot’s wife. She looked back to what she has left behind in Sodom and Gomorrah and eventually became a pillar of salt. Do not look back to the things you have left behind. Do not look back to the time when you did not know the Lord and wish you can go back to that time. To look back is to think of your past sinful life with a feeling of regret for having abandoned it. If you are a Christian who looks back, remember Lot’s wife. The watchword for Christians is not backwards, but forwards, forward ever looking at the time of our redemption. Don’t turn back now. Our salvation is very near!

Jesus was resolutely determined to go to Jerusalem. He never allowed anything to stand in his way. In doing so, he profoundly fulfilled God’s plan of salvation for humankind. The same Jesus calls us today not to look back. Keep your hands on the plough and keep moving. Run the race looking forward. Run the race looking straight. Run the race looking unto Jesus. Run the race well so that when the sunset of your life is near you can also say with St. Paul “I have fought the good fight of faith, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

DO YOU KNOW HIM OR ABOUT HIM?

DO YOU KNOW HIM OR ABOUT HIM?

Homily for 12^th Sunday in the Ordinary Time, Year C

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church

Memphis, TN, USA

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

During one of the most crucial moments in the life of Jesus, the Lord had asked his disciples a crucial question that deserves a crucial answer: “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Jesus asked this question when he was about to head towards Jerusalem. He knew very well what waited him there. He knew he was going to Jerusalem and from Jerusalem to the Cross to die. And he wanted to know before going, if there was anyone who knew who he was. Wrong answers about who he was would have disappointed and frustrated him. Jesus was not expecting a complete and an intelligent comprehension of him. But he expected people to have a hint of who he was through his words and deeds.

Now some people thought Jesus was John the Baptist, others thought he was Elijah, yet others thought he was one of the ancient prophets that has come back to life. Not fully satisfied who the crowds said he was, he turned to his disciples who ought to know him: But who do you say that I am? Peter, on behalf of the disciples declared: You are the Christ of God.

The disciples of Jesus like the crowds had grown up expecting from God a conquering king who would lead them to conquer the world. But Jesus was the King, but not the type of king being expected. Peter and the other disciples must have been filled with excitement of being associated with the messiah who will conquer the world. But Jesus shocked and disappointed them when he told them that the God’s anointed one had come not to conquer nations with weapons of mass destruction, rather he has come to conquer nations with the weapon of mass salvation, and that weapon is the Cross. He has come to die upon a Cross so that people of every nation, language, tribe and tongue might be saved.

Now Jesus started this dialogue with a question “Who do people say that I am?” Thereafter he asked his disciples “Who do you say that I am?” It is not sufficient to know what other people have said or written about Jesus. Someone can make an A+ in any examination on what authors and believers have written and said about Jesus and still not be a Christian who knows Jesus. Knowing what others have written and said about Jesus is needed for intellectual knowledge of Jesus and for the best possible way to speak about him; but ultimately Jesus should be a personal discovery. As Christians, we should not be contended knowing about Jesus, we must know him. We must encounter him. It is this encounter with the Lord that changes lives. We must have a profound experience of the Lord. Jesus would never ask us “Can you tell me what others have said and written about me? But he will ask us “Who do you say that I am?” The Saints are people like us who have a deep and profound experience and relationship with Jesus. Christianity is not only about reciting a creed; it is about knowing a person- Jesus the Good Shepherd.

After disappointing his disciples of the fate and the destiny of the anointed One, Jesus shocked them more by declaring:

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he (she) must deny himself (herself) and take up his (her) cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his (her) life will loose it, but whoever looses his (her) life for my sake will save it.”

But what does it mean to deny oneself? Let’s recall the denial of Peter. When Peter denied Jesus, he had said “I do not know the man.” To deny ourselves therefore is to say “I do not know myself.” It is to deny the accidents of our existence and focus on the essence of our being. The essence of our being is who we are- peopel created in the image and likeness of God. When we are in touch with who we are, we realize that it is no longer us but Jesus Christ. It is this discovery that let St. Paul to declare “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Jesus also enjoined his disciples to take up their cross daily and follow him. To take up our cross means to be prepared to face and confront the difficulty associated with being loyal and obedient to Jesus. To take up our cross means being ready to endure the worst that people can do to us for the sake of being true to him. It means being ready to refuse to be intimidated by those who persecute us because we belong to Jesus. It means saying no even when it is most difficult to say so to those who want us to betray him. Being true to Jesus will bring some rejection and castigation. Those who hate your simplicity, your honesty, your faithfulness and your tidy moral life will come to paint you bad. It is usually said “If you cannot beat them, join them.” But if you refuse to join the bandwagon, they will come after you. But refusing to join the bandwagon of immorality instead preferring the castigation and hatred is part of the cross.

“Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it…” God has given us life, not to horde it or to keep for ourselves. We are given life to spend for others. Therefore the question is no longer “How much can I get”, but “How much can I give?” It is no longer “What is the safe thing to do? but “What is the right thing to do?” Life is not only about me, but about others. But ultimately, it is all about Jesus the Lord of life. And there is a connection between giving our life to others and giving our life to Jesus. There will be a reward for doing that. If we are true to him in time, he will be true to us in eternity. If we follow him in this world, in the next world, he will count us as one of his people. But if we disown him here on earth by the way we live, even when we confess him with our lips, he will disown us.

Do you know Jesus or about Jesus? Those who know about him only speak about him detachably; but those who know him, live him out in their lives. They are the ones who have encountered him. Just like the story of the poet and the monk, they don’t only know the psalm, but also the shepherd.

Compassion, Pride and Remorse Meet

Compassion, Pride and Remorse Meet

Homily for the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Father Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

In the house of Simon, the Pharisee, compassion, pride and remorse meet. Jesus stands for compassion, Simon, the host, stands for pride, the sinful woman stands for remorse and conversion.

Today’s gospel taken from the gospel of Luke is a story about the compassion of Jesus, the remorseful conversion of a sinful woman and the inhospitality of Simon. St. Luke tells us that Jesus was a guest at the house of Simon, a Pharisee, at the instance of Simon himself. It was a dinner party. In Israel, it was the custom that when a Rabbi was at a special meal, all kinds of people came in to listen to the words of wisdom that came from his lips. And people were quite free to do so. In this case, the Rabbi was no other person but Jesus Christ, the Lord of life. As soon as Jesus settled down to eat, something noteworthy happened. A woman commonly known in town as a bad and notorious woman came in, and sat at the foot of the Jesus. This woman had a sense of sin. Realizing how greatly she had sinned against herself, against her parents and siblings, against her community, against humanity, against God and against Jesus, she broke down in tears. She cried deeply with intensity, to the extent that her tears were enough to wash the feet of Jesus. He was weeping, and washing the feet of Jesus with her tears. “Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment (An alabaster flask of ointment).” Both the host Simon and the people who witnessed this event were stunned. They were stunned for four reasons:

They were stunned that she would be there in the house of a wealthy man Simon and before Jesus someone popularly acclaimed to be a holy man and a prophet. The people were stunned because she was not the right kind of woman to be sighted in such a place. They were stunned because they know her to be a very sinful woman, a prostitute for that matter. They were stunned because Jesus couldn’t even send her away; the Lord refused to dissociate himself from her. He refused to discriminate against her. Jesus refused to ask Simon to send the woman away. The Lord was not furious that a prostitute was interfering with her dinner meal.

They were also stunned at her behavior- weeping profusely, washing the feet of Jesus with her tears, and wiping them with her long and beautiful hair. Can you picture the scene in your mind? Can you picture a woman sitting at the feet of Jesus, weeping, washing Jesus’ feet and wiping them with her hair? If she had been the right kind of woman, it would have been one thing. But she was that kind of woman- a common sinner, probably a prostitute. She wasn’t a religious person; she was not the kind of person that should be seen sitting very close to a person like Jesus, a Rabbi. In eyes of the people, she shouldn’t be seen where she was seen. The so called religious people tagged her a sinner. Everyone called her a sinner; consequently, she was not supposed to be around the “righteous” people. Whether she was sinful and unacceptable was not her concern. From the edge of the crowd, she was listening with rapt attention to the words of wisdom that came out from the mouth of Jesus; and in Jesus she had a glimpse, a quick peep of him as the hand that could lift her from the miry clay of sinfulness. Convinced that Jesus is the One to lift her up, convinced that Jesus is the One to restore her dignity, convinced that Jesus is the One to offer her total forgiveness and restoration from all she had lost due to her wayward lifestyle, she went and sat at his feet. As she wept for her worthlessness, she let her tears fell on Jesus’ feet. With her unbound hair, she wiped his feet and also kissed the feet of Jesus severally.

As this sinful woman was demonstrating a profound act of remorse and repentance, Simon and the people around were scandalized that Jesus allowed such a woman to keep touching him. Simon himself had thought in his mind “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him that she is a sinner.” To make him and others see their error, Jesus told them a parable. There was a banker who loaned money to two of his customers. To one, he loaned $50, 000 and the other $5, 000. When it was time to pay back, they were unable to do so. The banker, out of his magnanimity forgave both loans. “Don’t bother to pay me back again. I have written off the debt” the banker may have said to the two debtors. Then Jesus asked Simon “Which of them will love the banker more?” Simon answered “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” “You have answered rightly” responded Jesus. Then Jesus reminded Simon of his failure to provide him with water to wash his feet, a practice so common in Israel then. Because the roads were dusty and rough, when a guest visits, his feet were usually washed and soothed by a servant who stands on the doorpost. This was a sign of warm welcome. What Simon failed to do to Jesus is being done by the sinful woman. Jesus also reminded Simon that when he entered his house, he Simon did not give him a kiss of peace which was also a common practice in Israel that showed hospitality; again what he failed to do is being done by the sinful woman. Simon also did not anoint the feet of Jesus, but the sinful woman anointed his feet with a costly ointment. Because she has done all those, Jesus offered her total forgiveness “Your sins are forgiven.” The woman’s many sins were totally forgiven by Jesus.

This gospel story reveals an amazing truth. The level of a person’s devotion to God usually corresponds to the level of forgiveness one has received. The greater one experiences forgiveness, the greater his or her devotion. This gospel story shows why some people experience forgiveness and why others don’t. This woman had a sense of sin. She was conscious of her many sins. She convicted herself a sinner. She went to the One who can forgive sins; her many sins were forgiven. The greatest of sins is to be conscious of no sin; it is having a sense of need that will open the door to the forgiveness of God. One thing that shuts a person off from God is self-sufficiency. The strange thing is that the better a person is the more one feels sinful. St. Paul could speak of sinners "of whom I am foremost." It is true to say that the greatest of sins is to be conscious of no sin; but a sense of need will open the door to the forgiveness of God, because God is love.

In the parable of the debtors that Jesus narrated to Simon, where are you? Are you the one that was forgiven a great debt or the one that was forgiven little? Some people including Christians think they have been forgiven little. You hear them say “I am not really such a sinner. I never killed anyone. I never stole anything. I have never cheated on my tax or my spouse. I don’t take advantage of others. I don’t commit fornication. I don’t drink too much or eat too much. I am not as sinful others.”

No matter what you may think of yourself, we are all great debtors. In the parable of the debtors, one owed little. When it comes to our relationship with God, there is no one who owes little. We all are great debtors in God’s books. We owe God more than we can ever pay. We can only be forgiven if we like the sinful woman will go to the feet of Jesus and ask for mercy.