Pride compares us with others; humility compares us with God

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the 30^th Sunday in Ordinary Year C, 2010

Holy Names Church

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

A story is told of a king who once visited a prison and talked with each of the inmates. There were endless tales of innocence, misunderstood of motives, and of exploitation. Every prisoner claimed innocent of the actions that brought them to jail: “I am innocent, I didn’t do it” every one of them said. Finally, the king stopped by the cell of a convict who remained silent. The king said to him, “Well, I suppose you are an innocent victim too?” “No sir, I am not, I am guilty and deserve my punishment,” replied the man. Now turning to the prison warder the king said, “Release this rogue immediately before he corrupts all these fine innocent people here.”

Dearest beloved, today’s gospel is one that every believer is called to pay close attention to. It is the story of two believers, a Pharisee and a tax collector. It is important to emphasize that both men were believers in the same God; both belonged to the same religion, and both worshipped in the same temple. Both men were active believers who took part in temple worship and said their daily prayers. At the end of worship, one of them went home at peace with God but the other did not.

As we already know, the Pharisees were disciplined and devout men of religion. They were serious-minded believers who committed themselves to a life of regular prayer and observance of God’s law. In fact, they went beyond the requirements of the law. They fasted twice a week- Mondays and Thursdays, even though the law only required people to fast once a year, on the Day of Atonement. The Pharisees paid tithes of all their income duly, not just of the required parts. So when the Pharisee in today’s gospel said, “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity- greedy, dishonest, adulterous or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income (Luke 18: 11-12), he was not kidding or lying. There are few Christians today who can measure up to the visible moral standards of the man.

Tax collectors, on the other hand, were generally regarded as people of low moral standard. They worked for the pagan Romans, mixed up with them and constantly handled their unclean money, because of that they were said to be in a state of ritual uncleanliness. As far as the religion of that day was concerned, tax collectors were public sinners on the highway to hell. They were categorized and classified on the same list with the prostitutes. But the tax collector in today’s gospel knew that the voice of the people is not always the voice of God. He believed he would be saved not on the merit of any religious achievements but on the unlimited mercy of God.

Both the Pharisee and the tax collector believed in God. But believing in God is not enough, after all, the Islamic extremists who destroy human life and human wealth also believe in God. The epistle of James 2:19 has this to say, “You believe that there is one God; you do well, but the devils also believe that and tremble.” What really matters is what people believe about God and how their faith in God affects their view of themselves and of others. The Pharisees believed in a discriminating God who loves only good people and hates bad people. People behave like the God they believe in. So the Pharisees quickly learn to love only good people like themselves and look down with contempt on bad people and sinners like the tax collectors.

Jesus told this parable against the Pharisees because they “trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” The Pharisee did not really go to the temple to pray to God, he prayed with himself. True prayer is always offered to God and to God alone. The Pharisee was only giving himself a testimonial before God. The tax collector, on the other hand, trusted not in himself or in anything he had done but only in God’s mercy. Standing far off, he would not even look up to heaven, but beat his chest and prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” This is the man who went home at peace with God and not the self-righteous Pharisee.

Today’s gospel teaches us the following; firstly, it teaches us that no proud man can pray. The gate of heaven is very low that none can enter it except on the knees. The gate of heaven is small and narrow that the puff-up, proud and arrogant man who raises his shoulders high or spreads his hands wide in arrogance cannot enter it. Secondly, it teaches us that no one who despises a fellow human being can be at peace with God; the person cannot pray. In prayer we do not lift ourselves above others. True prayer reveals to us that we are all in this together, that we all are sinners in desperate need of God’s mercy. Thirdly, true prayer comes from setting our lives beside the life of God. No doubt all that the Pharisee said was true. He did fast; he did give tithes; he was not as other men are, he was not like the tax collector. But the question is not, “Am I as good as my fellow humans?” The question is, “Am I as good as God?” “Am I more than others or more of Jesus?” The whiteness of a whitewashed house will obviously be diminished and soiled when surrounded by the virgin whiteness of fallen snow.

It all depends on what we compare ourselves with. Pride compares us with others and tells us that we are better than them. But when the virtue of humility compares us with God, it tells us the truth- “We ain’t better.” When we set our lives beside the life of Jesus and beside the holiness of God, all that we can honestly say is, “Be merciful to me O God a sinner.”

Pray in season and out of season

Father Marcel-Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the 29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Alfonsus “Rock” Catholic Church

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Mrs. Lucy was a good Catholic woman who believed in the power and effectiveness of prayer. She trusted God so much that every day, she would go to God in prayer. Then one day, her beloved husband became sick and was dying. Mrs. Lucy prayed day and night for God’s divine intervention and healing of her husband. Every morning, she would attend morning Mass; during Mass, she would pray for her husband. After Mass, she stayed behind and prayed to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. In the evening, Mrs. Lucy would come again to pray for her husband before Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. But despite all her prayers, fasting and supplications, her husband’s sickness did not go away. Throughout the period of her husband’s sickness, Mrs. Lucy had lost so much weight because of fasting and mortification. Everybody in the Church knew of her situation. Eventually, her husband died. When the news of her husband’s death broke out, people wondered what Mrs. Lucy would do now. The general opinion was that God did not answer her prayers which were accompanied by several fasting and mortification.

At the funeral Mass, people were amazed to see Mrs. Lucy looking so calm and beaming with smiles. During the oration, she said “First, I want to thank you all for coming here today to be part of my thanksgiving to God. I thank God from the bottom of my heart for hearing my prayers. For days, weeks and months, I had prayed for my husband’s healing. I prayed for temporary healing, but God decided to grant my husband a permanent healing. So I thank the good God for being so good to my husband, me and my family.” Later, she said “My friends, prayer actually works.”

Friends in Jesus Christ, today’s gospel taken from Luke 18:1-8 is about prayer. It is about persistence in prayer. This persistence in prayer is not essentially about praying until something happens (PUSH), that is, praying until the things you asked for in prayer are given to you, it is rather remaining in prayer, praying in season and out of season whether your intentions are granted or not. Prayer is not only a solemn request; it is also an expression of thanks to God. Prayer is dependence on God; it is deepening one’s relationship with the almighty. Prayer maintains our relationship with God. It enables us remain in God. In John 15:5, Jesus says, “Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit.” Our remaining in Jesus can only be made possible, strengthened, and deepened through a relationship of prayer.

Prayer is humility; humility is “less of me, more of God.” According to Father Richard Thiele CSsR (My Novitiate Director 1998-1999), “Prayer is touching God our heavenly Father.” Praying in season and out of season is touching God in season and out of season. It means touching God always. Through the constant act of touching God, we derive the powerful and electrifying current of grace. Grace enables us to carry on loving God and neighbor even against all odds.

In today’s gospel, Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity of praying always and not loosing heart. The parable is about a certain judge, one of those robber judges who constantly refused to grant a poor widow a just decision. The poor widow had no resources to hire a lawyer to adjudicate her case. But she had one weapon, and that is persistence. The judge, afraid of being worn out by the poor widow, decided to act.

This parable is like the parable of the Friend at Midnight (Luke 11:5-8). The parable does not liken God to an unjust judge; it rather contrasts God to such a person. Jesus was simply saying, “If in the end, an unjust judge can be wearied into giving the widow justice, how much more will your just God, who is loving and caring, give to his children what they need?” God will surely give us what we need, not what we want. And who defines and determines what our needs are? God!

Now, the image of God portrayed in today’s gospel by Jesus is that of a Father who answers every prayer. Yes, God answers every prayer. But God’s answer to our prayers may not necessarily be exactly what we asked for. When we pray, God gives only three answers: one, either yes; two, or not yet; three, or I have something better in mind for you.

We should not expect to get whatever we pray for. Sometimes, a loving and caring father has to refuse the request of his child because he knows that what the child asks for world in the end hurt rather than help. That is how God is like. We don’t even know what would happen in the next hour, week, or month, or year. But God knows. He knows yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He knows the past, the present and the future. Only God knows what is good for us in the long run. That is why Jesus urged us not to be discouraged in prayer, especially when what we asked for is not given to us. That is why the Lord wondered if our faith would remain till he comes considering the fact that not everything we asked for would be given to us.

As I already said, prayer enables us to remain in constant relationship with our Lord. Prayer is touching God in order to remain in a deep relationship with him. Therefore, we pray in order to remain in the Father, through the Son and with the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is a longing for “more of God.” Today, Jesus wants us to pray always in order to keep our faith alive. When we pray, it is not in order to inform God about our misfortunes because God already knows those things. Prayer is not about getting the Lord to change his plans. It is incorrect to say or to think that God only helps those who pray, while refusing those who don’t. When we pray, we open ourselves up to seeing the world through God’s eyes, from God’s perspective. When we pray, we open ourselves more to the Fountain of life, and we open our eyes to see through his light; as the Psalmist says, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light” (Psalm 36:9). Prayer is also a weapon against the forces of darkness. It is a weapon of removal. Through prayer all the obstacles hindering us from receiving what God has already given to us are removed.

Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, he prayed regularly; he also taught his disciples how to pray. Prayer is not only about asking and asking. It is about knowledge and encounter and friendship. It is in prayer that we know Jesus personally. It is in prayer that we encounter him in a special way. It is in prayer that our friendship with him is deepened. Prayer strengthens us. The one-to-one talking and listening to Jesus enhances our relationship with him. It moves us into intimacy with him.

Prayer is not about turning God into a coke machine (once you slot in your money into the machine, your drink drops out, and if you don’t put in your money, no coke for you). Prayer is about remaining in a relationship with God. If you keep praying, you will keep your faith, and then when the Son of Man returns, he would not find you in despair but in burning love for him. And even when we make request in our prayer, we should do so bearing in mind that God would only give us what is best for us. And guess what? We will never be weary in prayer and our faith will never wobble if, after we had made our request to God, we can add the beautiful prayer of Jesus, “Thy will be done.”

When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, let your will be done, not mine.” That prayer was persistent and also trusting. But that prayer did not save Jesus from the cross, but it did lead to resurrection. If we can pray with Jesus’ faith, we will never lose heart. If God’s will is done, then it is victory for us because God’s will is the best for us. With that we can say that our prayer is surely answered.

Keep on praying in the Spirit. Pray in season and out of season.

Don’t ever forget to say always “Thank You Lord”

Father Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the 28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Holy Names Church

Memphis, Tennessee

Madam Lora, even in her nineties was still taking a taxi to Mass every Sunday morning. She resorted to taking taxi because she was no longer able to drive to church unassisted. Very often she was lucky to get the same taxi driver that had driven her to church many times. One Sunday morning, the driver taxi who had driven her to church at many other Sundays said to her, “Why do you bother yourself going to church every Sunday at your age? Madam Lora replied, “Just to give thanks,” “Just to say “Thank you Lord.” Touching the driver at the back, she said again “I think you should join me to give thanks and praise to God almighty.”

Madam Lora had a good grasp of what we do when we come to Mass. When we come to Mass, we have come essentially to say “Thank You Lord.” In fact, that’s what the word “Eucharist” means. The meaning of the Mass is summed up in the dialogue of the Preface when we say “It is right to give Him (the Lord) thanks and praise.”

Today’s gospel begins with “When Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem…” The Lord was obviously on the border between Galilee and Samaria and was then met by a group of ten lepers. I want us to remember that Jews had no dealings with the Samaritan people. But in this group of lepers, there was at least one Samaritan with others who were Jews. Here is an example of a great law of life. A common misfortune had broken down the racial and national barriers, and had brought them together. Humans can discriminate against each other, but not life’s misfortunes. Diseases, poverty, and loneliness do not discriminate. These lepers had a common problem- leprosy. The tragedy of life had helped them forget they were Jews and Samaritans; it has rather made them aware that they were all humans in need of help.

As for us, we don’t have leprosy. We are not lepers. But we have a common problem, which is our susceptibility or proneness to sin. We are all prone to sin. Sinfulness is our common problem. This common problem ought to break down all racial and national barriers, and make us aware that we are all humans in need of God’s help. Our common origin and problem should draw us together in one love for each other and in one love for God. Unfortunately, in some time of need, some of us flee from God. Our need for each other and our common need of God ought to draw us together

These ten people with leprosy were under a sentence of death; there was no cure for their diseases; they were isolated from their families, friends and from the human society. In fact, they were considered worthless, and no one dared to come near them. No one would touch them, or handle anything they had touched. The rules laid down in Old Testament is clear about this: “The leprous person shall wear torn clothes, and let the hair of his head hang loose, he must cover the lower part of his face, and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” You must also live outside the camp, away from others” ((Leviticus 13: 45-46)

Mindful of this rule, the lepers called Jesus from a distance, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” These lepers were dead men walking. They were dead physically and socially, but not spiritually. When they saw Jesus, they saw God; they saw the Master. When they saw Jesus, they saw the Man to heal them and restore them to their community. That’s why they called and shouted “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” Now the name Jesus in Greek is Iesous; and in Hebrew, it is Yeshua which means “God is (my) help” or “The Lord is salvation.” Their greatest desire was healing and restoration, to return back home to a normal life. That’s all that they were asking for, just a chance to be like other people.

Sickness like leprosy was regarded as a punishment from God during the time of Jesus. So the sickness of these ten lepers was a sign that they were “guilty” of great sin. They were therefore shunned and avoided. When people looked at them, they saw sinful men. But when Jesus saw them, he saw something else; he saw their pain, not only physical pain but also the pain of being isolated and separated from their families, friends, neighbor and their familiar environment. Jesus saw the pain of being shunned and avoided by everybody. He saw their loneliness. Everyone else saw them as living corpses, but Jesus saw them as God’s living children. The Lord saw their need and healed them, “Go show yourself to the priests.”

On their way home, they were cleansed and healed. Nine of them went on their ways, only one returned to give thanks to Jesus, “One of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.”

You know what? We often praise the disobedient ex-leper who came back to thank Jesus and criticize the nine for not coming back to thank Jesus, but they only obeyed the command of Jesus who said to them “Go show yourselves to the priests.” One reasonable reason why we often criticized them is that they were all readily ready, all too ready to accept what the priests would offer them: their old lives. That’s why they were sent to the priests. The priests would certify the cure, and then they could return home and have their old lives back.

Confronted by misfortune, we usually yearn to have our old lives back. When we are confronted by tragic events, by sudden reversal of fortune, by the death of a beloved one, by the loss of jobs or homes, by sickness or advancing years, we want our life back. This one Samaritan, healed from leprosy perceived that with Jesus, something more, something better, something new is being offered to him, which is more important and far greater than simply having his old life back. The healed man realized that his old life is not sufficient for the life of discipleship. That’s why we praise him for coming back. He came back to thank Jesus and to also accept him as his Lord and Savior. The gospel says on coming to Jesus, “…he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.” The prostration is a symbolic act of surrender to Jesus.

This gospel story shows clearly humans’ ingratitude. The lepers desperately called Jesus for help; he cured them; a large number of them never came back to give thanks. So often, once a person has got what she wants, she never comes back. Some of us are ungrateful to our parents; we easily forget the time we depended entirely on them, a week’s neglect would have killed us. Of all the living creatures, human beings require the longest time to become self-sufficient. For years, we were totally dependent on our parents literally for everything. Yet, the day comes when we regard our aged parents as talkative, nuisance, and burdens and we are ready to dump and abandon them in senior citizens’ homes even when we can afford to cater for them in our own homes. We are reluctant to repay our parents for taking care of us.

We are ungrateful to our fellow humans too. There were times when we thought we will never forget the good done to us by others. But only few end up satisfying the debt of gratitude they owe. When teachers teach well, when your doctor takes care of you excellently, when a friend is of a great help to you, what do you say? Thank you? Or I appreciate this?

What about our God? In times we need, we desperately pray with intensity asking for God’s help. And as time passes, we also pass God by and we forget God. God has given us so much; He gave us his Son Jesus Christ, and often we never give to him even a word of thanks. The best thanks we can give to God is to deserve his goodness and mercy a little better. As the Psalmist says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” The best thanks we can give to God is the gift of our lives. God wants us to offer our lives to him as a sign of our thanksgiving for all he has done for us.

Thanksgiving is not an added extra. It is absolutely central to the life of a Christian. Like Madam Lora said, it is saying “Thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you Lord.” Showing that gratitude sincerely and always helps us persevere in our relationship with God. If we are thankful, and God is essentially part of our lives, it becomes difficult to walk away from him.