Without Jesus We Are A Flock of Sheep Without A Shepherd!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church

Baton Rouge, LA

July 22, 2012

Last Sunday, we read from the Gospel of Mark 6:7-13 of the sending out of the Apostles in twos by Jesus. Having completed their learning and tutorship under Jesus, the Lord decided it was time to send them out on their own without him (Jesus) following them physically. Today’s Gospel taken from Mark 6:30-34 tells us that when the Apostles came back from their mission, they reported to Jesus all they had done and taught. Jesus was pleased with their accomplishments. So, unlike many masters especially today, who view humans as money making machines, who do not value the importance of rest and do not think that rest is a fundamental human right, he told his Apostles: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” 

Jesus valued the importance of rest and understood that every human worker is not just an instrument at the service of the employer. The worker is the very purpose of work. As such, his or her moral and physical well-being make periodic rest very important, and because the human conditionality is limited, no person can go on and on working without resting. Pope John Paul II in his Encyclical (An encyclical is a Pope’s letter to all the Catholics in the world) titled Laborem Exercens: On Human Work said that the human worker needs enough rest before he or she wears out too quickly. Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical titled Rerum Novarum: On the Condition of Labor pointed out that the human person’s ability to work is limited, that there is a point beyond which each person cannot go. Every human worker, he argued, deserves rest for recuperation and leisure and also to attend to his or her spiritual needs. Jesus knew this all too well. So, as soon as his Apostles returned from a difficult and tasking mission, he saw their weariness. He noticed their need for rest and recuperation and then invited them to a quiet place where they can rest, eat and refresh. What a compassionate and caring Master! 

In today’s Gospel, we see the pattern of the Christian life. We see what the Christian life should be. It is a life which begins, first, with an experience of God; secondly, expressing the God whom we have experienced by way of conduct and finally communicating the God we have loved or rather the God who has loved us. As we live our lives in faith and carry out our daily activities in faith- faith rooted in God, we must remember to continuously be in the presence of God, so that from there, we can go into the presence of men and women. It is absolutely impossible to live the Christian life without spending some quiet time to be alone with self and with God. It’s possible our problems are largely caused by our refusal or failure to make out time to speak to God and to give God time and opportunity to speak to us. Some of us do not know how to be still, how to be alone, and how to listen, therefore, we do not give God time to refresh and recharge us with his spiritual energy and strength. We forget that Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” It’s not possible to deal with life’s troubles if we do not maintain a constant contact with the Lord of life himself. We have to come to him daily with an open mouth and with an expectant faith. After all, in Psalm 81:10, the Lord says, “I am the Lord your God...Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” 

Our Lord Jesus recognized the weariness of his Apostles after they had accomplished the mission he sent them. He did not want to overwork them. He decided it was time for them to rest and recuperate: “So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.” But the rest that Jesus and his Apostles wanted was thwarted by the crowds who wanted to see Jesus. When the people saw him and his Apostles leaving with a boat, they knew where they were going. They hastened to the place on foot and got there before them. 

Now, when Jesus saw them waiting for him, he was not in anyway displeased or upset. Many of us would have been upset. The rest that he wanted for himself and for his Apostles was interrupted. But he did not resent them; he did not scold them. Some of us priests would have yelled: “Please I want to take a nap; it’s my siesta time. I am tired! Please leave and come back tomorrow during office hours.” But not Jesus! Yes, his Apostles wanted rest, but these multitude of people also wanted rest. His Apostles wanted bodily rest, but the crowds wanted the rest of mind; they wanted peace for their souls, and the rest and peace they yearned for can only be given by Jesus. Was it not Jesus who said in the Gospel of Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

Seeing the crowds, the Gospel says “His heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” What does it mean to be a sheep without a shepherd? The multitude of people like many of us were standing at a crossroad not knowing which way to take. But in Jesus they saw the Shepherd that can lead them safely home. You know, a sheep without a shepherd can easily stray way. Without a shepherd, a flock of sheep could easily be starved to death. A sheep without a shepherd may not be able to find greener pasture. The people were hungry and thirsty for something greater and more important than food and drink. In Jesus they saw a man who can satisfy their hunger and quench their thirst. Jesus is the living water. Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is the food for the journey. Life is a journey. The material food we eat cannot sustain us for a longer period of time. After eating them, we are still unsatisfied and hungry. After eating them, we still feel hungry and unfed. They cannot give us the strength to withstand the troubles of life. They cannot give us the spiritual strength to engage in a spiritual warfare with the forces of darkness. They cannot give us the spiritual, emotional and even the physical strength to keep on going. Only Jesus, the Bread of life can. A sheep without a shepherd has no shield or defense against trials and temptations. It’s only in the company of Jesus that we can win. Without him, Jesus says we can do nothing. Without him we are most vulnerable. But with him, we are protected, secured, and safe. The crowds of people looking for Jesus knew these, and that’s why they walked a long distance to meet him. 

More of God And Less of Material Things

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Gerard Majella Church

Baton Rouge, LA

July 15, 2012

It’s time to send out the Twelve in twos. They have been with Jesus for a while. As his disciples, they have been taught and learned enough to be sent. As students/disciples of the Rabbi, they have been equipped enough to be sent out in twos, on their own without Jesus following them physically. It’s time for them to go out there and demonstrate what they had learned. The period of tutorship was over. Graduation celebration was over. Being under the watchful eyes of their Master and watch him do all the talking was over. Like the mother bird, Jesus had finished teaching them how to fly on their own. The time has come for them to fly out “unassisted.” The moment of hunting on their own has come. In this case, not hunting for ants or other foods, but hunting for the lost sheep, God’s children. 

After giving them authority to dethrone evil spirits and render them powerless, Jesus gave his Apostles a simple but difficult instructions of taking nothing for the journey but a walking stick. He instructed them not to travel with food, or sack, or money in their belts. They can wear their sandals but should not take with them a second tunic. According to the iMac dictionary, a tunic is “a loose garment, typically sleeveless and reaching to the wearer’s knees worn in ancient Greece and Rome.” As for where his Apostles should take up residence, Jesus said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.”

But what essentially is the Lord telling his Apostles to do? The Lord wants his Apostles and disciples to embark on the journey of calling God’s children home without worrying about material things, but rather to trust in God for everything. In the Gospel of Matthew 6:25, Jesus puts it clearer when he said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” 

The Christian life is a journey towards God. As we embark on this journey daily, we should strive not to cling so much on material things but on spiritual things. We should strive daily to cling less on material things but more on spiritual things. Our very lives should not be defined in relation to the things of this world. The fancy earthly things we have are not what make us and we should not be defined in relation to them. We should be defined in relation to God. Our very lives should be a manifestation of the good God. We are called to reflect the glory of God. In God we all should trust. In 1956, America got it right when it adopted as its official motto “In God we trust.” Unfortunately, many in America today have long disregarded those words. Some do not trust in God anymore but rather in humanity. Some do not even trust in humanity at all but in dollars. For such people, a human person is important and relevant inasmuch as he or she can be used to make more money for them. 

But our Lord Jesus Christ reminds today of the importance of trusting more in God and less in material things. Every material thing is transient. Money, silver, gold, wealth etc are fleeting and transient things. Today we have them, tomorrow it is either we are gone or they are gone. But God, our greatest Treasure, our most Precious Jewel of inestimable value does not pass away; and those who believe and trust in him, those who cling on to him, those who lean on him, cannot pass away either. In John 11:25, Jesus assures us, “I am the resurrection and the life. And those who believe in me, even if they die, they shall still live.” 

Prayer

Good and gracious God, I want to be more of you; and be less of me. I pray to you that there will be less of me and more of you. Turn my eyes away from material things and fix them on you, on Jesus and on the Holy Spirit. Help me to always remember that you are an ageless and undying Treasure and make me cling on to you. You are my best inheritance. Therefore, I lay down all my earthly desires and plans at the foot of the cross and cling strongly on the One you sent to die for me, Jesus Christ. 

Make me more of you and less of me dear Lord. In Jesus most wonderful Name I pray. Amen.

The Rejected Nazarene Made All The Difference

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Gerard Majella Church

Baton Rouge, LA

July 8, 2012

Who are the people that we sometimes tend to ignore or reject? Who are the people that we easily pass by pretending they don’t exist? Who are the people that we want to avoid meeting, not because meeting them cause us any harm, but meeting them irritates us? Who are the invisibles in our society? Who are the easily rejected persons in our lives? For some people, beggars are the people they find difficult to deal with. For some people, the neighborhood where a person lives determines how they relate with him or her. If someone lives in a very poor, drug infested and unkempt neighborhood, he or she is immediately seen as a nobody or a riffraff . For some people, a person’s ability to speak intelligently determines if he or she would be accepted. In this case, what matters are the academic degrees acquired. If you have none, you are out, but if you have one or more, then you are in. It is as if humanity dignity is acquired and not innate.

Sometimes, we tend to ignore those who provide services to us until they err. People who serve us in shops, in restaurants, in leisure places etc are easily ignored and we only tend to notice them when they falter in their services. Even those closest to us in our households (or in our parishes/churches) can sometimes be ignored. Remember the saying, “Familiarity brings contempt.” The nearest, closest and the dearest to us can sometimes be taken for granted until we loose any of them. There is an African adage that says, “A cow does not know the importance of its tail until he looses it.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus went home as a prophet and as a Rabbi to his own people. But before he made this journey, he had expelled unclean spirits from the possessed, healed a woman with hemorrhage for 12 years, and raised the daughter of a Synagogue official, Jairus from death. His fame and popularity had spread. Multitude of people were following him. He already had disciples who believed in him and his message. But on getting home, to his own people, he was shocked by their lack of faith and respect for him. People from other villages, towns and regions were following Jesus wherever he went. They were more open to his message and more friendly to him than his own people. As Jesus taught in their Synagogue, his teaching was received not with pleasant amazement but with contempt. ”

Now, why did the Nazarenes refuse to listen to their own son? Because they knew his origin. They knew Jesus’ humble and lowly beginnings; they knew his mother, his profession and his relatives. And in their amazement of contempt, they asked: “Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary...? Jesus was rejected by his people simply because a lowly and nobody background like him could be saying wise things and doing great things: “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are done by his hands? Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary...” Immediately, they rejected him, his message and his miracles. The Gospel puts it this way: “And they took offense at him." 

Jesus came from a nobody’s family. His father was poor and obviously died a poor man. His mother Mary too was poor. There was no moneybag in his family. But Jesus at least had a job. Even though his job was ridiculed, but he was not jobless. In the Gospel of John 5:17, he says, “My Father is always working, and I too, am working.” After the death of Joseph, Jesus seemed to have taken over his foster-father’s carpentry workshop, worked hard, earned a living and supported Mary his mother. He did this for many years before he began his ministry. Jesus was a hardworking man. He was as a matter of fact a handyman who could build a wall, mend a roof, repair a gate, repair a furniture and construct a new floor or repair an old one. Unfortunately, the people of Nazareth despised him just because he was an ordinary hard working man. He was not a Wall-street man but a Main-street man. He was a man of the people, a layman, a simple man, a handyman who could do anything to help people and support his family. Just because of that, they rejected and despised him. But his rejection did not lead to the collapse of his ministry. The ordinary man of Nazareth, rejected by Nazarenes, held in contempt by Nazarenes, today is the center of history. Today, we all are here because of him.

So from Jesus, we learn that it is not only the moneybags that can make a difference in the world. It is not only the intellectually gifted people that can make a difference in the world. It is not only those who sit on the chairs of power and who walk on the corridors of power that can make a difference in the world. It is not only the famous people that can make a difference in our world. It is not only those born with silver spoons that can make a difference in our world. As a matter of fact, change happens when ordinary folks want it happen. The powerful most times want the status quo to remain unchanged because they fear loosing their powers, money and relevance. From Jesus we learn that regardless of status, fame, position in life, degrees acquired, you can make a difference by the witness of your life.

Because of the rejection of Jesus by his own people, he could not do mighty works in Nazareth. The whole atmosphere was not right for him. The mighty works of God can hardly be done in an atmosphere of religious coldness and indifference. The most power packed and spirit-filled message of salvation can fall lifeless in an environment of coldness and scorn towards God and what pertains to God. To those he healed, Jesus never said: “Your faithlessness has saved you” or “Your religious coldness and indifference have saved you.” It has always been: “Your faith has saved you.” Great things happen to people of great faith. Great things happen to hearts and lives that are open to receive the Lord. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”