The Good Life Community

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the First Sunday in Lent, Year B

St. Gerard Majella Church, Baton Rouge, LA

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Today’s Gospel taken from Mark 1:12-15 tells us that after Jesus emerged victoriously from being tempted by the devil, he proclaimed, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Before now, the devil was, as it were, holding sway. He thought he was in control. He thought that no one could resist his offer. But Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah knocked him out. He tempted Jesus with comfort, inviting him to provide bread for himself from the stones. He tempted him with easy success, urging him to throw himself down from the temple and everybody would admire him. He tempted Jesus with power. He offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth if Jesus would give Himself over to him. But Jesus resisted all of his enticements and suggestions. Soon after that, he proclaimed, “The time of fulfillment is here now. The Kingdom of God is at hand.” The time of the enemy’s reign is over. Therefore, it’s possible to resist the wandering Beast of wickedness. “The kingdom of God” is here now.

Jesus came from heaven to earth to reveal God and to teach us about him. He came to heal our brokenness, to set us free, to forgive us, to and reconcile us with God and with each other. He came to establish a new order. He came to establish a new world, which he called the Kingdom of God. In this Kingdom, there should be no Jews or Gentiles; no slaves or masters, no haves and have not. His Kingdom is a Kingdom of love, peace, justice, equality, compassion, righteousness and joy. Everything the Lord did on earth, he did to establish, teach, and to further this Kingdom. With his very life, Jesus showed us that it is possible to live out the tenets of his Kingdom. In his Kingdom, all are welcome!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described this Kingdom as The Beloved Community. He envisioned this Community as a society based on justice, equal opportunity and love for one’s fellow human beings. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because our common origin, which is rooted in God’s image and likeness will not allow it. In the Beloved Community, injustice to one, will be treated as injustice to all. The hunger or sickness or deprivation of one person will be a misfortune to all. An injury to Tom will be treated as an injury to Dick and Harry. The Beloved Community will not condone the notion of ‘us versus them.’ Fundamental to the idea of the Beloved Community is inclusiveness, both social and economic. No one should be left behind. Every child of God must have the same opportunity to pursue life, liberty and happiness. In Dr. King’s writing on Beloved Community, he teaches us that love is active; love is strong, love is urgent, love is practical and love is possible. But from time to time, we forget that love is possible. Folks, against all odds, in the face of extreme discrimination, bigotry, hatred, brutality and even death, love is possible. I dare to say that love is our message. Love is not a feeling, it is a decision. We can choose to love by seeing everyone as sisters and brothers. We can choose to love by seeing things differently. We can choose to love by choosing to let go of past hurts. We can choose to love refusing to live in our self-imprisonment of greed and selfishness. We can choose to love by refusing to be weighed down by the burden of hurts and resentments. The word resentment means “to re-feel.” That’s an optional activity. You may not be able to determine when you would be hurt and who would hurt you. We may not be able to avoid being hurt. That’s something others do to us. But resentment is what we choose to do to ourselves. Nobody can take away our peace of mind, we can only give it away. 

The Beloved Community is the community of love with no resentment. It is a community of genuine friendship with no betrayal. It is a community of no deliberate injury or harm to another. It is a community of feasting in God’s benevolence, faithfulness and forgiveness. In this Community, everyone must strive to build relationship with all and sundry, because relationships are the building blocks of the Beloved Community. We must be open to each other, care for each other, celebrate with each other, and mourn with each other. 

Jesus called this type of society the Kingdom of God. Dr. King called it the Beloved Community. But I call it “The Good Life Community.” In this Community, love reigns supreme! It is the Community where Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.