What Defines Christians is Love

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church 

Sunday, April 28, 2013 

Christians have always had a problem of how to tell the world who they are. At some periods in history and still in some places in the world, uniforms have played a very important role in announcing our identity to the world. Think of the various uniforms of the various Christian societies of consecrated life, which distinguish consecrated people not only from other Christians but also from one another according to their institutes. The Redemptorist habit is different from that of the Dominicans and Franciscans etc. The quest for uniforms, habits, badges, banners and pinups designed to distinguish believers from non-believers does indeed have its place in the celebration of who we are. We are symbolic beings who need to express our faith in symbolic ways. Jesus himself wrestled with the question of how to distinguish his followers from the non-believers around them. But his prescription goes much farther than external habits and uniforms.

For Jesus the essential mark of distinction between Christians and non-Christians is not in the way we dress but in the way we live: I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-5).

Love is the Christian identity. Love is the Christian uniform. Love is the Christian habit. If you are wearing the habit of love, you are in. If you are not wearing love as a habit, you are out. Love is the essence of life. It is what keeps us together and keeps us going as children of God. Love is the summary of Christianity; it is the summary of life; it is the summary of our faith. Love is the reason for faith and hope. 

Love is the identity and the uniform of Christians. Jesus wants the world to recognize us as his followers not because we carry the Bible about, or because we wear the Rosary and other religious objects. Jesus does not want the world to recognize us as Christians simply by the stickers we have in our houses and in our cars. He wants the world to recognize us by the way we love each other. He wants the world to recognize us by the language of love we speak. Love should be the lens through which we see each other. Love should be the language we speak as sons and daughters of Jesus. And when the world sees how much we love each other with the love of Christ, they will know we are his disciples. Although Jesus wants us to “go to the whole world and preach the good news,” but the most effective evangelization and witnessing has less to do with how fluent we speak and how powerful we preach; it is more to do with how much we love each other.

Love has been defined, explained and discussed in various ways. but for me love is “I accept you the way you are; you accept me the way I am. And together we can enrich each other, shape each other and recreate each other better in the image and likeness of God.” By accepting each other the way we are, we teach the world the virtue of tolerance and compassion. By enriching, shaping and recreating each other, we teach the world the virtue of charity, character formation and human development. A gospel preached is useless without a gospel lived. And the gospel is better lived in love. No member of a church stops coming to church because the people love each other genuinely. No one hates a church because the members practice the love of Christ. The world will probably not hate us because we love each other. No one leaves the church because the priest is kind and compassionate. No one becomes an atheist because we, Jesus’ followers love him or her. Atheism is rather created because we do not act as Jesus directs us. Atheism is created because Christians do not practice what they preach; they do not practice the virtue of love. Genuine love is infectious.

Scripture says that God created us in his image. And this image is an image of love because God is love. At the very core of the human person is love. Our feelings and emotions incline us to act and not to act in relation to what is good or evil. The most fundamental of all these feelings and emotions is love. Love brings new things in our life and society. Love makes God live among us. Remember the song: “Where love and charity abide, there God is found.” Love enthrones the reign of God in our family and society. It wipes away tears from people’s eyes- tears of frustration, hunger and sickness, and hopelessness. Love makes the whole of creation new. Love removes mourning or sadness. Even in suffering, love from sisters and brothers lightens the burdens. It really feels good to love and be loved.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C

We cannot walk alone and cannot be alone

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church

Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Sunday, April 21, 2013

In today’s gospel taken from John 10:27:30, Jesus  says: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Jesus speaks of “My sheep” which means there are other sheep out there and that he is a shepherd. And the requirement for belonging to the sheepfold of Jesus is listening and hearing the voice of the shepherd: “My sheep hear my voice” Jesus says. And what distinguishes and marks Jesus out from other shepherds is this: “I know them” (that is, the sheep). The Lord knows his own. He knows his sheep. His sheep equally know him. In the midst of several and divergent voices and opinions  in today’s world, they are able to single out the voice of the shepherd and follow him.  

Shepherds were primarily called to care, to serve and to protect the sheep. They were absolutely responsible for the sheep. If anything bad happens to the sheep, the shepherd in-charge of the flock must produce some kind of proof showing it was not his fault. The Israel of Jesus’ time had two kinds of shepherds: shepherd-owner and hired one. The hired shepherd saw keeping the sheep as just a job. He moved from one flock to another depending on the condition of pay and service. Because he was a hired hand, he would not risk his life for the sheep. He cared less for the sheep. Seeing a wolf, a lion or a human intruder coming, he would abandon the sheep and flee leaving the sheep at the mercy of the invader. The hired shepherd’s knowledge of the sheep and the sheep’s knowledge of the hired shepherd is not intimate.  

On the other hand, there was the shepherd-owner. He is the good shepherd. It is a natural thing for him to risk his life in the defense of his flock. The sight of a wolf, a lion or a human intruder never scared him. He would fight to save his flock. The sheep had good care because the faithful shepherd had personal interest in their wellbeing. He saw that they find plenty to eat and drink because he was personally attached to them. As a  good and faithful shepherd, he fed the sheep, but a bad one fed on the sheep. 

The good shepherd-owner had a good knowledge of the sheep. He knew each of them. He can identify his own sheep no matter where they were. He can narrate personal story of each of them. He knew each of their strengths and weaknesses. He knew their mood. He knew the meaning of the sounds they made. The good shepherd knew what the sheep wanted and when they wanted it. During the day of grazing, his flock of sheep can mix and mingle with other sheep, but as the sun set, the good shepherd was able to identify one after another, all his sheep and led them home to safety. When he had led them to the sheep-pen, he would not go home. Instead, he made his bed across the entrance of the sheep-pen. So, no intruder will be able to enter the sheep-pen without passing through him. 

Jesus is the Shepherd-owner. He is the Good Shepherd. How do we know that Jesus is the Good Shepherd? In today’s Gospel, he says: “I give them (the sheep) eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.” This is amazing! Our Lord is the Good Shepherd and only he can offer us eternal life. Under his protective wings, no one can ever take us away from him. Hidden under his shelter, we are absolutely safe and secured. No intruder is powerful enough to snatch us from him.  

The good news is that we have a Good Shepherd. We are not alone! We cannot walk alone! We have a lover that stands beside us daily. We are not like a flock of sheep without a shepherd. We have someone who has laid down his life for us and is ready to do it again and again. He cares for us so much. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your burdens on him because he cares for you.” He will not let devourers devour us. He’s with us in every step of the way. All we have to do is to listen to him and to follow him. 

EVEN AFTER RESURRECTION HE WAS IN THE FLESH 

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church 

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Two weeks ago, we started the celebration of the miracle of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead.  The visit of Mary Magdalene and others who went to the tomb and found the stone rolled away led to the breaking of the Good News: “He is risen; he is not here.” But after the resurrection of Jesus, what else happened? 

According to St. Luke, Jesus appeared to two men, one was named Cleopas, on the road to Emmaus the afternoon of the resurrection. He accompanied them to their homes, and it was when he broke bread with them, that their eyes opened and they now recognized him (Luke 24:31).

According to St. John, Jesus appeared to the disciples as they were gathered behind locked doors late Sunday evening with a greeting of peace: “Peace be with you!” During this appearance, Thomas was absent. John goes on to say that Jesus appeared again in the same place a week later (John 20:26-29). This time Thomas was there and he was able to see for himself that the Lord is indeed risen when Jesus showed him the nail prints in his hands and his side that was pierced. 

For St. Paul, Jesus appeared to Peter and then to all Twelve Apostles. Then he appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at once...Then he appeared to James, and afterward to all the Apostles. St. Paul also claims he appeared also to me (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). The Acts of Apostles also tells us that Jesus made several appearances to his disciples over the course of forty days: “For forty days after his death he appeared to them many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that he was alive. They saw him, and he talked with them about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

But it seems the last appearance of Jesus happened much later, not in and around Jerusalem like other appearances, but at the Sea of Tiberias. In this last appearance, Jesus came to his disciples who had spent the night on the Sea looking for fish but got nothing. Standing on the shore, he said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They replied him, “No.” Then he asked them to cast their net on the right side of their boat for a catch. They did what he asked them to do and caught plenty of fishes. This miracle made the beloved disciple to say: “It is the Lord!” With some of the fishes they caught, Jesus prepared breakfast for his disciples and ate with them. 

Now, there are people out there who say that the appearances of the Risen Lord were just visions which the disciples had. Some would even say that they were not visions but hallucinations. But Sacred Scripture go far out to insist that the Risen Lord was not a vision, not an hallucination, not even a ghost, but a real person. First, the tomb was empty; second, the Risen Lord had a real body that still had the marks of the nails in his hands and the spear thrust in his side. 

Today’s Gospel story testifies even further that the risen Jesus was not a ghost. His appearances were not visions or dreams or hallucinations. They were not a figment of the disciples’ imaginations. He is truly risen! He rose in his flesh. He was in the flesh even after resurrection. The tomb was empty. A vision or a ghost is likely not going kindle a charcoal fire on the seashore. A vision or a ghost wouldn’t cook a meal, share it and eat of it. But in today’s Gospel, John tells us that the Risen Lord did all these things. Jesus was in the flesh even after resurrection. When he came to Thomas, he said to him: “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side...” A ghost does not have a body that can be touched by others. A ghost cannot eat. A ghost is bodiless. But the Risen Jesus had flesh; he had body. He fed his disciples; he also ate and drank with them. What appeared to the disciples was Jesus who had conquered death through his death and had come back. And guess what he said on his first appearance: "Peace be with you," which means, "I got this! Worry no more! I have your back. I am with you. I will journey with you through thick and thin. I will help you in every step of the way. If you must carry that cross, I will help you carry it. I will lighten the weight so it doesn't crush you. You cannot walk alone. I am right beside you, behind you, and ahead of you. Be calm! Be hopeful! Be still! Stop the panic! This too shall pass away! Your storm today will pass away. Your tears today will pass away. Your sorrows today will pass away. Your failures today will pass away. Your present ugly condition is not going to be your destination. I will turn all the stumbling block into stepping stone to glory, abundance, and fulfillment. Shalom! I have come to turn things around. Just lean on me. Depend on me. Ride on my back! You will surely get to the finish line of your dreams and aspiration.