Keep Your Eyes On the Ball!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Mary’s of Assumption Church, Whittier, CA

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Solomon, also named Jedidiah, was the son of King David and Bathsheba. He was not the oldest son of David, but David promised Bathsheba that Solomon would be the next king. While David was still the king, his older Son, Adonijah declared a palace coup and made himself the king. But he was outsmarted and outmaneuvered by Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan, who urged David to declare Solomon king according to his earlier promise. Solomon was thereby anointed a king while his father, David, was still alive. He inherited a considerable empire from his father. Like his father David, Solomon was also devoted to God. God was pleased with him. God accepted his ordination as the king of his chosen people, Israel. In today’s reading (1 King 3), God appeared to him in a dream and said to him, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” Wow! That’s an open check offer. But when Solomon opened his mouth to ask, he did not ask for money/wealth, power, death to enemies, and fame. He did not ask God to help him control the whole world and make everyone submissive to him. He did not ask to be spoken well of and be loved by everyone. He did not even ask God for good health, long life and an easy life. He only asked for wisdom: “O Lord, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.” 

Solomon’s request thrilled God. His request delighted God. His request made God dance. Because God was so happy with him, God answered his prayer and then gave him more than he requested: “Because you have asked for this— not for long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right—I do as you requested.” God blessed King Solomon with matchless wisdom, and the best known story of his wisdom was the case involving two prostitutes. Both women had given birth to male children almost at the same time, but one of them lost her baby. When she realized at midnight that her baby boy was dead, she quickly exchanged her dead son with the other woman’s living son. When the case was brought to King Solomon, he resolved to cut the living child in two—half to one and half to the other. But the rightful mother of the child, deeply moved out of love for her son said, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby. Don’t kill him” (1 King 3:26a). But the other woman said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two” (1 King 3:26b). With this, Solomon was able to know the true mother of the living baby, and ordered that the baby be given to the woman who did not want the child be cut in two. 

Solomon was a young King, but it did not take long before his wisdom spread far and wide. People came from surrounding nations just to hear his wisdom. One of those celebrated visits was that of the Queen of Sheba who came from southern Arabia to listen to his wisdom. Apart from his wisdom, Solomon was also known for being the one that build the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. He is the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem. After the temple was completed, he erected many other buildings of importance in Jerusalem. By every human standard, King Solomon was a very successful king. He had wisdom like no one. He had massive wealth like no one. He was the wisest and wealthiest king. He was loved, protected and blessed by God immensely. He started well with God. He started with the Spirit of God, but ended in disaster. Solomon is the definition of the Latin adage, “Corruptio optimi pessima,” (the corruption of the best is the worst). At the beginning of his kingship and through his reign as the King of Israel, he was the best. Best man. Best king. Best soul. But he ended his life with this memorable quote: “Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” 

But how did a man so blessed, so gifted, so endowed with the best things life has to offer ended in disaster, in failure and in huge disappointment? The answer is very simple! He took his eyes away from the Ball. He took his eyes away from the kingdom of heaven. He took his eyes away from God.  The writer of the book of Hebrew urges us, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God (12:2). King Solomon had large fields of treasure, fine pearls, net that collected the best of fishes. He had everything he wanted, but didn't use what he had to get himself a seat at the table. He chased the beauties, the pleasures and the kingdoms of this world, found them, but in the process he lost his way. 

Sisters and brothers, the story of Solomon reminds us once again of the fleeting nature of things and of the vain nature of most of the things we pursue in life. Whatever we have and are today are passing away. Everything! Wisdom. Wealth. Fame. Power. Profession. Vocation. Status. Position. Class. Everything is fleeting. But we can use what we have and are to acquire the field and treasure of the kingdom of heaven. We can use our knowledge, wisdom, beauty, treasure etc. to get for ourselves a place in the kingdom of God. Jesus, in today’s Gospel (Matthew 13:44-52) compares the kingdom of heaven like a treasure buried in the field which a person finds and hides again, then departs with joy. After selling everything he has, he buys that field. God’s kingdom should be something that we are willing to sell everything we have in order to purchase. Nothing else should come ahead of it. It should be our greatest pursuit and greatest inheritance. Nothing in life should top it! Not parents, siblings, friends, jobs, spouse, country, profession, children. Absolutely nothing should top our pursuit of heaven. God wants heaven for us even more than we want it. He wants us to be right where he is. Another word for heaven is happiness. If we resist heaven, we resist happiness. 

Don’t be a Solomon! Keep your eyes on the ball. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Solomon took his eyes away from God and ended up in disaster. Peter took his eyes away from Jesus and almost got drowned. Keep yours firmly fixed on him! 

The Four Types of People in the Church

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Mary of Assumption Church, Whittier, CA 

July 16, 2017

In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23), Jesus used a familiar picture to describe different responses to the word of God whenever it is preached. He used the image of a sower to teach how people receive the word of God, how they react to it, and what they do with it. A sower went to his farm to sow seeds. As he spread the seed, some fell on the path and were quickly eaten up by some hungry birds. Some fell on rocky ground, but due to lack of sufficient soil, it sprang up immediately. When the sun arose, it was scorched and killed for its lack of support and foundation. Some seed fell among thorns, and as the thorns grew up, it choked it to death. But the sower’s effort and industry was not entirely a futile one. Some of his seed did fall on rich soil and produced bountiful fruits. You know, it’s not difficult to figure out that the sower is the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and his Bride, the Church; the seed is the Word of God, and the soil is each of us, our hearts. It’s about the kind of soil we provide for the seed, God’s word, to either thrive or die. But from the parable of the sower, we can identify four types of people that can be found in the Church.

The seed that fell on the path are people who go to church regularly but the church never goes into them. They go to church with their minds and hearts shut against the life-changing word of God. Pride, prejudice (i.e. preconception) and fear prevent them from hearing the truth. Prejudice causes them to reject anything they don’t want to hear; pride convinces them that they know everything and do not need any further instruction; and fear shuts their ears from hearing anything that condemns the things they love and do. The Gospel of Jesus calls for a change of life and lifestyle. These churchgoers are fearful of the new life expected of a disciple; they don’t want to lose their old lives, which obviously they enjoy. As such, they remain on the pathway and hardly get to the destination of complete union and enjoyment of God. They stay on the side-way and never gain entrance to enjoy the rich soil of the Kingdom of God. Eventually, they are eaten up by spiritual hawks and are denied the opportunity to bear fruit.

The seed that fell on rocky ground are church-folks who hear the word of God, receive it with great joy, but easily fall away when tempted, tested and persecuted. After hearing the gospel of prosperity, breakthrough, and material abundance, they become so excited at what they stand to receive from the Lord, even when they don’t plan to give anything, not even their life to him. But once it appears that God is delaying to answer, they give up. They want the crown but not the cross. They are addicted to good feeling, and their addiction has convinced them that every form of suffering, even redemptive suffering is unacceptable. They want to live the kind of life that Jesus, our Master never lived. To such Christians, every inconvenience, no matter how small, is a reason not to go to Church or be involved in the life of the church. When they pray at all, they do so telling God what they want, what he has not done and never thank him for what he has done for them. These Christians pick and choose the passage of the Bible to accept and believe. Their faith in God is so shallow that any itchy feeling is a reason to walk away from him and go in search of a sharp-sharp miracle working God. 

The seed that fell among thorns are Christians who are anxious and troubled about many things that they forget the most important of all— knowing, loving and serving the Lord.  Such Christians become too busy to go to church, too busy to pray, too busy to read the Bible, too busy to volunteer for anything in the church, too busy join any ministry and sometimes, too busy for their families. They are so engrossed in the things of this world, so absorbed with their businesses that they have no time for God, the church or anyone else, including themselves. The fleeting things of this world crowd their hearts and finally crowd Jesus out.

But glory be to God! There are some seed that fell on rich soil and produced bountiful harvest. These are Christians who accept the word of God with an open mind. They are not too proud to listen and to obey. They don’t assume to know it all. They are attentive to the word of God and accept it even when it condemns what they love to do. They understand that it is not enough to show up in church, that the church must show up in them. In the house of God and in the community, they use their talents, time and treasure in the building up of God’s house and God’s people. They continuously give and never get tired of giving. Like Jesus, the Holy Redeemer, they give without counting the cost, they make sacrifices for others, and lay down their lives for others. Like St. Paul appealed, they are not tired of doing what is good because they believe that at the proper time, they will reap a harvest (Galatians 6:9). Because of their unyielding attachment to Jesus, they constantly bear the fruits of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

Friends, what type of Christian are we in the Church?

Don't Suffer Alone!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Mary of Assumption Church, Whittier, CA

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Today’s Gospel (Matthew 11:25-30) begins with Jesus’ prayer of praise to the Father for revealing to little ones what he has hidden and kept away from the so called wise and learned. But who are the wise and learned? From the Bible, we know that these are the scribes, pharisees, religious and political leaders of Jesus’ time who callously rejected the salvation Jesus so clearly lays before them. They are folks who, due to their intellectual pride, deny themselves the gift of God’s grace. They are those who would mock biblical passages like “Blessed are the meek…” “Blessed are the poor…” “Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you” as utter nonsense. For these egotists, hedonists, the “wise and learned,” the message of Jesus will never make much sense. The “wise and learned” are those who, after hearing the message of Jesus would say, “It was nice talking to you,” or “We will hear you concerning this topic another time” (Acts 17:32b). 

But this Gospel is not about them. It’s not about the proud and arrogant who do not want to receive the good-news of Jesus. It’s not about the know-it-all. It’s rather about the little ones, that is, his own disciples “to whom the Son wishes to reveal himself and the Father,” and those who are burdened. By the calculation of the world, the little ones are losers and unintelligent, but not so by divine calculation. As a mater of fact, Jesus calls them “blessed by the Father” (Matthew 25:34). Little ones are blessed because they know that “The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25)  as such, they lean on God totally. Little ones know that God can confound conventional wisdom, and that apart from God, no one knows it all. They know that pleasure is illusory; that the things we own can actually own us; that power not rooted in Christ can breed corruption; and that fame is always an unfaithful spouse. Little ones are those who yield to the Lord’s solemn invitation: 

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

You know, whenever a loved one passes away, we often pray and ask that God will grant them eternal rest. Wherever their names appear, it is usually accompanied by the abbreviation R.I.P. which means “Rest in peace.” Our concept of rest for a departed relative is living and spending eternal life in the presence of God and being wrapped in God’s loving embrace. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus assures those who labor and are burdened that he will give them rest when they come to him, indicating that rest is not only an after earthly life gift. Life on earth does not have to be all about labor, toil, exertion, sweat and burden. Rest can be attained right here. Rest is possible right here. Rest is achievable right here. Do not make your life all about labor, toil, and burden. Jesus promises rest to those who come to him. This rest is a taste of eternal life. It’s a joyful refreshment even in the midst of the storms of life. It’s a secure communion and relationship with God and God’s people. Jesus’ rest is not a delusion or a figment of imagination or a hallucinatory feel-good experience. The rest that the Lord promises is not an opium. It does not make you forget about your problems and life’s troubles. It’s rather an assurance, blessed assurance that God knows about our problems, and that God is going to help us deal with them. It comes from the belief that we are not carrying our burdens alone. It comes from our unyielding faith that God would not allow the problems of life to swallow us up, that in God’s time, God will intervene. God will step in. And guess what? When God steps in, miracles happen. 

Friends, Jesus never promised us a burden free life. What he said is: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me… For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. We are definitely going to carry something that we do not want, something that inconveniences us. But Jesus promises to lighten them and to give us his rest. Like I said before, this rest comes from the knowledge that God knows. God knows what he is doing! God will do something! God will intervene! “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end, he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25)  to deliver and save me. Coming to Jesus does not and will not add even a feather-weight burden on anyone. On the contrary, coming to him lightens every human burden. He says that his yoke is easy unlike the heavy burdens placed on people who ignore him. 

Are you burdened by sickness, come to him!

Are you burdened by family problems, come to him!

Are you burdened by addiction and failures, come to him!

Are you burdened by any burden, come to him!

Are you burdened by financial issues, come to him!

Are you burdened by emotional, social and spiritual issues, come to him!

Don't suffer alone!