Your Five Loaves And Two Fish Are Needed

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, August 2, 2020

John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, the great prophet who first recognized Jesus, witnessed for him and introduced him to the people has just been beheaded on the orders of Herod Antipas. The enemies of truth and workers of iniquity have murdered a great man who boldly fulfilled the mission that God gave him. Jesus hears about his death and immediately withdraws from public scene to a deserted place by himself. The abrupt and violent death of John, his cousin, may have shaken him. So, he needed time to sort things out, to mourn, to pray, to commune, and to reflect over his own fate. Unfortunately, the crowds of people seeking for all manners of favors from him did not afford him the sacred space and time he needed to grieve and to pray. Although he withdrew to a lonely place, people nevertheless got wind of his whereabout. They traveled on foot from their different towns to his “hideout.” Upon seeing them, Jesus is moved with pity for them. Casting aside his own need of quiet time, he attends to them, cures their sick, and no doubt, preaches the message of the kingdom to them. By sunset, his disciples came to him, and encouraged him to dismiss the people so that they can go to their villages and find food to eat. But Jesus balked and said, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” Five loaves and two fish were all they had. Mathematically, it is not enough to feed a crowd of people. But Jesus, the Lord of life has a plan. After ordering the people to sit down, he took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, from where all help comes from. Then he broke the loaves, gave them to his disciples and the disciples in turn distributed them to the crowds. Everyone ate to their satisfaction and some left overs were also picked up. According to today’s Gospel, those who were fed were more than five thousand people. 

Sisters and brothers, each of us can without hesitation identify with Jesus’ disciples concern for the people. Like the disciples, we feel the struggles, pains, misfortune, hunger, and suffering of others. Like the disciples, we feel the injustice being meted on some of our fellow citizens. Like the disciples, we understand their reasons for calling for justice and a new normal. When we hear stories of people who are sick with no health insurance, we feel for them. When we see, encounter or hear stories of those who work but still live in extreme poverty, we feel for them. When we see videos and pictures of people who hunger and thirst for their human dignity to be respected and valued, we feel for them. When we watched the public gruesome murder of George Floyd, we feel sorry for him and his family. There is no shortage of people who feel sorry for the misfortune of others in the Church and in the society. We always wish that things can be different and better. Like the disciples, we wish people well but often have no intention of taking positive steps to make ugly situations better. Like the disciples, what prevents us from taking positive action is often our own realistic assessment that the little we are able to do is not really going to make any appreciable difference. 

But today’s Gospel (Matthew 14:13-21) shows us that when our sorry feelings for the misfortune of another is matched by action, even the little we are able to do will be multiplied by God’s grace and power to a degree that they become sufficient enough to help others. When God is involved, miracles happen. But why didn’t Jesus just go ahead and produce bread, fish and other kinds of food to feed the crowd? It is because God needs our  five loaves and two fish in order to perform the amazing miracle of feeding a multitude. When Mother Teresa of Calcutta was told that her work for the poorest of the poor in India was only a drop in the ocean, she replied, “Yes, it is; but without that drop, the ocean would be missing something.” As individuals, we suffer all kinds of hunger— for food, for love, for peace, for justice. God is able and willing to satisfy all our hungers. But he is waiting for men and women who believe enough to give up their lunch pack, their “five loaves and two fish,” which God needs to make the miracle possible. 

What Would You Ask?

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

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

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, July 26, 2020

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 and accepted his ordination as the king of his chosen people, Israel. Solomon was a young man, untried, untested, and inexperienced. As such, he had self-doubt as anyone of his age would about his ability to lead the great nation of Israel. So, in his dream, the Lord appeared to him and said, “Ask something of me and I will it to you.” That’s huge! When Solomon opened his mouth, he did not ask for money/wealth, power, honor, death to enemies, or fame. He did not ask God to help him control the whole world and make everyone submissive to him. He did not even ask God for good health, long life and an easy life. He only asked for wisdom: Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.

Solomon asked for an understanding heart to judge his people and to distinguish right from wrong, and God was so pleased with him and promised to do as he requested. Now, when the Bible says that God was pleased with Solomon, it does not mean that Solomon gave God what will make God happy. No! God does not need anything from us to be happy. What pleases God is what makes us fully alive. God was happy with Solomon because the answer that Solomon gave is the answer that will make him fully alive and spiritually alert. Solomon was asking that his very life be seen from the standpoint of God. Wisdom is not looking at one’s life from the perspective of others, from what the culture expects but from that of God. Solomon asked for wisdom. He knew that with wisdom in his heart, he will judge things right. He will know what to do whatever comes his way. If a wealthy person has wisdom, he or she will know what to do with that wealth. If he gains power and becomes powerful, he will know what to do with that power. He won’t abuse it or use it for his own end and purpose. He won’t twist it for his selfish gain. If he is victorious over his enemy, he will know what to do with that victory. If given long life, he won’t squander it or use it for self-destruction.

God’s outreach to Solomon to make any request from him brings to mind the encounter between Elijah and Elisha when Elijah was passing the mantle of spiritual leadership to Elisha. As the ceremony was taking place, Elijah said to Elisha, “Request whatever I might do for you, before I am taken from you” (1 Kings 2:9). Elisha asked for a double portion of his master’s spirit. It also reminds us of the story of Jesus and two of the disciples of John the Baptist. The Gospel says that after John saw Jesus walk by, he said to the two of his disciples with him, “Behold, the lamb of God.” Upon hearing John’s declaration, the two disciples left him and followed Jesus. As they were following, Jesus turned and said to them, “What are you looking for? Interestingly, their response to Jesus’ question was a question as well, “Rabbi, where do you stay?” Jesus replied, “Come and see.” And they followed him and stayed with him the whole day (John 1:35-39). Remember Jesus asking the blind Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” Of which Bartimaeus wonderfully answered, “Lord, I want to see!” (Mark 10:46-51). Story has it that after St. Thomas Aquinas has written a masterpiece on the Eucharist, he still felt that what he has written so far was not sufficient enough. So, he went before a crucifix and prayed intensely for more inspiration. As he prayed, he heard a voice say to him, “Thomas, you have written well of me. What would you have as reward?” Thomas replied, “Non Nisi Te, Domine” (Nothing but you, Lord”). 

Sisters and brothers, wisdom is key. Without wisdom, we are dangerous. A wealthy and powerful man without wisdom is dangerous. Look around us. Powerful people, young people, young athletes and celebrities who gain power, wealth and fame but lacks wisdom. Look at what happened to them eventually. Put yourself in Solomon’s shoe. Put yourself in Bartimaeus shoes. Put yourself in Elisha’s shoe. If the Lord stands before you and says: Ask something of me and I will do it. I will give you whatever you ask me, what would be your request? Bear this in mind! The answer you give will say a lot the state of your soul. Surely, the temptation to ask for one of those worldly goods will be there. That is the human person for you. A lot of us may have more than one request to make. This may appear very sanctimonious. But if the Lord appears to me now and tells me he will give me whatever I ask, I will no doubt ask for a double portion of Jesus’ spirit. That’s all I need. With Jesus, I am perfectly satisfied. 

Reflection on Matt. 13:18-23

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Friday, July 24, 2020

In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains the Parable of the Sower. The Parable of the Sower is similar to the Parable of the Lost Sheep. In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus compares God to a shepherd who has a hundred sheep, of which one of them goes astray. Upon learning of the disappearance of the sheep, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine in the hill and goes in search of the missing one. After finding it, the shepherd celebrates and rejoices. Every shepherd in Jesus’ time would definitely shake their heads in disbelief for no shepherd will be so foolish to do that. And that’s precisely the point. God’s love is so lavished, so extravagant, so excess, so elaborate that it breaks everything we consider rational and reasonable. 

In the Parable of the Sower, God’s love is quite extravagant that he spreads and sows it everywhere— good places and bad places, worthy places and unworthy places, beautiful places and ugly places. As limited beings, we are fond of talking and setting limits to God’s love. In our own way of thinking, we conclude that God only loves those who love him. We convince ourselves that He only loves those who are in the right church and who practice the right doctrines. We argue that God loves only those who pray to him, who worship him, who praise him, who honor him, who are righteous and upright. But if there is one thing the Parable of the Sower teaches us, it is that God spreads and sows his love on receptive hearts and unreceptive hearts, on fertile hearts and on hardened and infertile hearts. God sows his love in places we consider right places and in places we conclude are wrong places. His love has no limit and nothing can ever limit his love. God loves us with an everlasting love. He loves us not because of anything we have done, but because who He is.  If God only sows his love in the hearts of those who please him, then someone like St. Paul who wrote most of the books in the New Testament wouldn’t have got the chance to turn his life around and did what he did for God and Christianity. Someone like St. Augustine of Hippo, a great scholar and theologian of the fourth century, and one of the giant saints in our Catholic Church wouldn’t have had the chance to say notably, “O Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in you.” If God’s love is only sowed in the hearts of the saints, St. Augustine would have perished in the world, God wouldn’t have found him and he wouldn’t have been able to respond. If only the righteous are loved by God, St. Augustine would have lost the chance to make this declaration, “Late have I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new.” Even St. Peter who denied Jesus thrice would not have found his way back on track. 

I am so glad that God loves saints and sinners alike. He loves the weak and the strong alike. He loves the faithful and unfaithful alike. He loves those who believe in him and those who don’t. If God only loves the saints, if his love is only sowed in the hearts of the faithful ones, I wouldn’t have stood a chance. I would have been totally lost many years ago. I am sure many of you listening to me now would have been lost as well. But thanks be to God for the God we serve is lavishly, extravagantly and excessively generous in the distribution of his love. Amen.   

Keep Your Eyes On the Ball!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

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

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, July 26, 2020

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 and 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, “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, and in the process lost his way. 

Sisters and brothers, the story of Solomon reminds us once again of the fleeting and 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. Honor. 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 heaven. In today’s Gospel, Jesus (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 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! 

Reflection on John 20:1-2, 11-18

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

On the Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene 

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene. From various accounts in the gospels, we learn that she was among a group of women from Galilee who followed Jesus. From the Gospel of Luke, we learn that Jesus delivered her from seven demons, and also freed her from her past. At the cross, she stood faithfully by Jesus even when others, including Jesus’ disciples abandoned him. Although Mary was healed and delivered by Jesus, and from that moment, she persisted in her faith, one of the great gifts that Jesus gave her was hope. But when Jesus was crucified, all hope seemed lost. The seeming loss of hope took her to the grave early in the morning. She did not wait for the day to break. It is possible she did not even sleep. On coming to the tomb, the empty tomb worsened her hopelessness. In desperation, she ran to tell Peter and the other disciple about her sad finding: They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him. After Peter and John ran to the tomb to verify her claim, they returned to their home. But not Mary Magdalene. She stayed behind and wept bitterly. As she went, she bent over to look into the tomb as if to check again if it is really true that the body of her Lord is not there. Surprisingly she saw two angels who questioned her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Just as she said to Peter, she said to the angels, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” As this was going on, she noticed that someone was standing behind her. She turned around and saw a man who looked like a gardener. But the gardener is Jesus. Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Because she thought the man speaking to her was a gardener, she pleaded, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” The Gardener then called her by name, “Mary!” And she recognized that the man talking to her is Jesus. 

In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “My sheep will hear my voice. I know them and they follow me.” Mary hears Jesus call her name, and immediately recognized him. Then she attempted to hold onto Jesus, but Jesus has an urgent mission for her, “…go to my brothers and tell them, I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” With her hope restored and full of joy, Mary Magdalene went to the disciples and announced, “I have seen the Lord.”

What should we learn from Mary Magdalene? The first is persistence. From the moment she was exorcized by Jesus of seven demons, she never looked back. She followed Jesus and followed him till the very end. The second is courage and bravery. Courage is the ability to taken on difficult task despite the fear, and bravery is the ability to confront danger. Mary Magdalene was brave to stand at the foot of the cross with other women knowing the dangers involved in doing so. She was courageous to visit the tomb of Jesus before sunset all alone. The fourth virtue to learn from her is sacrificial love. She truly loved Jesus and was willing to sacrifice everything including her very life. Her love for Jesus was not private or secret. It was not mild or lukewarm. Her love of him was her passion. As such she was rewarded for being the first person to see and encounter the risen and triumphant Warrior himself. Fifth, she is a model of discipleship. Those of us who have encountered Jesus must be willing to tell others our experience of him just as Mary Magdalene did after encountering the Risen Lord. 

Reflection on Matthew 12:38-42

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Friday, July 20, 2020

Jesus has been accused by the Pharisees of relying on the power of Satan, the prince of demons to drive out demons. But in today’s Gospel, the Pharisees were accompanied by some scribes in demanding a request from Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” They are asking him to do something that will authenticate him as God’s agent, that he is truly using the power of Yahweh to expel demons from people. Now, it is not clear the kind of sign they want Jesus to show them. Before they made their request, Jesus has brought a dead girl back to life, and if this was not enough for them, I wonder what else would have convinced them. And going by what we know now, there was nothing Jesus did that ever convinced them to believe in him. They opposed him from every side, lied against him, and had him crucified. And Jesus himself knew that nothing he says or does would convince the scribes and the Pharisees. So, rather than give them a sign, he says to them, “And evil and unfaithful generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.”

What is the sign of Jonah? The sign of Jonah is the Son of Man being in the heart of the earth just as Jonah was in the belly of a large fish for three days. The Pharisees were already plotting to kill Jesus (Mtt. 12:14), so with his own mouth, Jesus predicts that their plot to have him killed will be actualized. However, after his death, he will only be in the tomb for 3 days just as Jonah was in the belly of a large fish for 3 days. Jesus also predicts his resurrection as well. Just as Jonah did not remain in the belly of the great fish, so also will the Son of Man not remain in the heart of the earth. After three days, he will rise. 

Sisters and brothers, we all would like to see more evident signs of God’s presence and power in our lives and in the world. When we struggle in life— sickness, hardship, failure, job loss, marriage collapse, addition of a family member, loss of a loved one, grief, financial difficulty etc. we wish for a more evident signs of God’s presence and power in our lives and situations. However, when you feel that way, remember Golgotha and the empty tomb. The events that occurred in those historic places are the greatest and most mysterious signs of God’s presence and power in our lives. At Golgotha, God died on our behalf. He took upon himself our sins, our shame, our failure, our dysfunction and paid the price on our behalf. On Golgotha, we were absolved, acquitted and declared worthy and free again. The empty tomb is the source of our hope. It tells us that every pain, misfortune, suffering etc has an expiry date. Golgotha tells us how much we are loved; the empty tomb assures us that victory is ours if only we stay connected with the Triumphant Warrior, Jesus Christ. He is our Lord and Redeemer. He is our Refuge now and thereafter. 

Reflection on Matthew 12:1-8

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Friday, July 17, 2020

Jesus and his disciples were going through a field of grain on the sabbath when his disciples began to pick the heads of grain and eat because they were hungry. Now, the law of Moses allowed those who were walking through a field of grain to eat some of the ripened grain but not to harvest the field. When the Pharisees saw this, they accused Jesus of allowing his disciples to violate the sabbath law, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” The law of Moses commanded that the sabbath be a day of rest, when no work should be done (Ex. 20:8-11), even at harvest time (Ex. 34:21). Rather than challenge and correct the Pharisees for their myopic application of the law, Jesus drew their attention to what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how they entered the house of God and ate bread of offering which only the priests are allowed to eat. Using the action of David, Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees that just as David was not condemned, his disciples should not be condemned as well. He also reminded them that priests in the temple who work in the temple even on sabbath do not violate the sabbath law. Quoting from prophet Hosea, Jesus says “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” 

With those words Jesus emphasizes how important the virtue of mercy is. The philosophy and spirituality of the Old Testament and of the Jewish tradition was very much based on law and legalism. Of course being strict of the law and obeying the rules requires self-discipline, and no doubt, sacrifice. For the Jews, law was both important and sacrosanct. The Pharisees believed that the disciples of Jesus were not respecting the law and therefore expressed outrage. But Jesus was not in anyway condoling the breaking of the law. He himself said he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Jesus did not ignore Jewish traditions. In general, we can see from the Gospels that he was careful to obey the laws of the people he was living with. What Jesus stresses in today’s Gospel is the vital importance of striking a balance between obeying the law and caring for the needs of people. He is teaching us that human beings are far more important than laws and traditions. He is telling us that human need should trump laws and traditions. The sabbath was made for man, he tells us, not man for the sabbath. 

Jesus also talks about the temple, the great monument of Jewish tradition, the place they believed God dwelt, and that God dwelt in a special way in the holy of holies. He says that something greater than the temple is here. Of course, Jesus is referring to himself. He is that which is greater than the temple. Now that he is here things must change. With Jesus, God has come among God’s people. God’s presence on earth is in the presence of Jesus. The temple is also a place where people offer sacrifices to God for remission of sins. Now that Jesus is here, there is hardly any need for all that. Sacrifice was offered to a God who is far away, but mercy is to the God who is present to us. What Jesus wants is mercy, and not sacrifice. He wants us to be conscious of the needs of those around us and to minister to them. He is not so interested in pious and legalistic practices but in works of mercy. 

Whoever Welcomes a Sinner Welcomes a Fellow Sinner

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Jesus began his public ministry by announcing that the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17) and is crashing upon us through his redemptive preaching, healing, exorcism, signs and wonders. But what is the kingdom of heaven? What does it look like? In today’s Gospel passage (Matt. 13:24-43) Jesus does not present a definition of the kingdom of heaven. What he does instead is to use parables to convey what the kingdom of heaven is like. He likens or compares the kingdom of heaven to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but when everyone was asleep, his enemy came under the cover of darkness and sowed weeds throughout his field and then took off. As the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared and grew as well. The wheat and the weeds were growing together and sharing all the minerals and nutrients that the soil is endowed with. Eventually, the field owner’s servants discovered the presence of the weeds and alerted their master: “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?” The master replied, “An enemy has done this.” The servants zealously asked for permission to immediately uproot the weeds, “Do you want us to go and pull them up? The master relied, “No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.” The weeds and wheat have grown together and their roots are interlaced and interwoven that any attempt to uproot the weeds would also lead to the destruction of the wheat. So, the master instructs his servants to allow the wheat and weeds grow together until harvest time when the weeds will be collected and burned, and the wheat gathered together and stored in his barn. 

Like most of Jesus’ parables, the parable of the weeds among the wheat has different meanings and applications depending on the context. However, in the context of Jesus’ ministry, the kingdom of heaven is like a field or a farm with wheat and weeds growing together. As Jesus explains to his disciples, the field is the world, good seed are the chidden of the kingdom, the weeds are the children of the evil one, the harvest is the end of the age, the harvesters are angels. The sower of good seed is Jesus; and the sower of bad seeds is the devil himself. Jesus is sowing good seed in the field (the world) through his liberating message, healings and many acts of miracles. The enemy, which is the devil is sowing weeds in the field through cunning seductions, allurements and divisive nature. Jesus wants the good seed and and the bad to grow together to avoid collateral damage. Some Jews wanted Jesus to embark on housecleaning, to sort out the good from the bad. Even John the Baptist expected Jesus to gather the wheat into his barn, and to cast the chaff into the unquenchable fire (Matt. 3:12). But Jesus has not come to draw lines between friends and foe. He has not come to condemn but to save. He welcomes everyone regardless of their condition. He is not interested in where people have been but where they want to be moving forward. He is not interested in drawing lines that alienate and separate sinners, but on reaching out to them and urging them to repent for the kingdom of heaven is here. Separating and isolating the righteous from the unrighteous is something that will happen down the road when the Son of Man will sit on his throne as the Judge of all nations. For now, the presence of weeds should be endured and tolerated. 

So, what lesson do we need to learn from this Gospel passage? First, it teaches us the vital importance of patience and forbearance within the church and in the society. Second, it teaches or reminds us that for now the church should be seen as the assembly of saints and sinners until the final harvest. Third, it challenges us to cohabit with the so called sinners. As a matter of fact, the call to live with sinners is a call to live with everybody because everybody is a sinner. Whoever welcomes a sinner welcomes a fellow sinner for all have sinned. Fourth, anyone who embarks on a separation exercise is making himself or herself the judge. Jesus commands us to refrain from judging others (Matt. 7:1), authentic and critical judgement should be directed to the self (Matt. 7:3-5). The Christian community will and should always be a place for repentant sinners and unrepentant sinners alike. If sinners are cast out from our gathering, how can they get back on track without the example and witnessing of the saints? Come to think of it, casting out sinners from the church will render the church an institution with no human being, which is practically impossible. For now, let’s be patient with each other; endure each other’s wrongdoing and help each other become saints.   

Reflection on Matthew 11:20-24

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Tuesday, July 15, 2020

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reacts to rejection in a more specific manner. He has previously spoken in general of those who reject him when he said, To what shall I compare this generation?…For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works (Matt. 11:16-19), but now he is singling and calling out the names of towns where he has met rejection. After doing lots of mighty deeds like healings and exorcism in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, they still refused to repent of their sins. Of particular interest here is Capernaum, for it is called from biblical time till today The Town of Jesus. Why? Because at the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum (Mat. 4:13), making it his “own town” (Mat. 9:1). These three towns were not large towns. They were fishing and farming villages that are not far apart from each other. Going to bigger cities and towns could have given Jesus more access to larger crowds. But Jesus wanted opportunities to interact with women, children, fishermen, farmers and ordinary people after preaching to huge crowds. He wanted to share meals and befriend ordinary people in ordinary villages. He wanted to have personal contacts with men, women, and children who live in those towns. Yes, he was sent to the people of Israel but to them as individuals, not anonymous faces in a crowd.  

But despite the personal attention Jesus gave to the people of these towns, they still refused to repent. Central to Jesus preaching was the call to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt. 4:17). Repentance meant accepting Jesus, who in Christian standpoint is the kingdom of God or what Origen called, “Autobasileia” (the Kingdom in Person). To Jesus’ great disappointment, the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum refused to accept him and his message. So, rather than commend them, he turns against them: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! “Woe to you” is the opposite of “blessed are you.” At the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus recognizes those who are blessed. But in his “woe” speech, he reproaches three towns for their unrepentance. He tells them that if the mighty deeds done in their town were done in pagan cities like Tyre and Sidon and Sodom, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes and that Sodom wouldn’t have been destroyed. He also warns that on the judgment day, God will judge the pagan towns less harshly. Jews believe there will be a day of judgment when God would sort out those who did good from those who did evil. For many Jews, pagan nations would not fare very well on judgment day since they did not know and obey Yahweh’s law. But Jesus is rejecting their views and also warning them that those who witnessed his mighty deeds and still rejected him will be judged more severely than pagans who had no opportunity to respond to Jesus. 

Dearest beloved, we have experienced and witnessed so many mighty deeds of the Lord. Have these mighty deeds lead us to respond to him in love? 

Reflection on Matthew 10:34-11-1

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Monday, July 14, 2020

Beloved in Christ, in today’s Gospel, Jesus demonstrates through his teaching that he is truly God and not just one among the many religious figures: Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He also explains what discipleship entails: …and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. You know, once we make the decision to follow Jesus, every other thing that we hold very dear must become secondary. All attachment, affinity, and loyalty must come fourth. Jesus must come first, second and third. Each of us has something we consider greatest. For some, it is money and material things, for others, it is power, fame, pleasure, and honor/adoration of others, yet, for others, it is love of country, love of ethnicity, and love of political party or political ideology. For many of us, the greatest is family and friends. 

Don’t get me wrong, none of these is bad. But, when we place any of them higher and above Jesus, that’s a problem. When we place any of them in the absolute center of our lives, they become our idols and our gods. The train of our spiritual life could miss its tracks, the boat of our life could capsize, the vehicle of our spiritual journey could break down halfway, and the airplane of our life’s journey could crash. Rather than owning the things of life, they own us. They become our masters and we their slaves. And when this happen, we drift, suffer defeat and disintegrate. 

Jesus, the greatest preacher of love for neighbor definitely wants us to love our parents, children, family, friends, neighbors and even enemies. He wants us to love our country and ethnicity too. He wants us to appreciate wealth because silver and gold comes from God, but we should love all these without absolutely attaching ourselves to them. We are to love all God’s creatures and not abuse them, but to exceedingly love the Creator. An absolute love for created things is a new form of slavery. To love creatures more than the Creator is a misguided love. So, to truly become Jesus’ disciples, we must be ready to practice distacco (detachment) in order to be ready for the mission. I love my family in Nigeria. It was not easy to leave them behind, especially my mother who was still alive when I first left Nigeria to come to America. Throughout my formation years in Nigeria, working as a Redemptorist priest in America never crossed my mind. I was actually excited when I initially learned that I would be working in the largest city and state in Nigeria (Lagos), but a few weeks to my priestly ordination, I was told by my superior to forget about my previous assignment and to get ready to work in America. My mother was not particularly pleased that I was reassigned to work overseas. But when the time came, I had to detach myself from my family and friends in order to work in America. Do I hate them? No! Do I love them any less when I agreed to come to America, No. I love them and will love them forever. But my love for Jesus was far more supreme. My love for the mission trumped my love for family and friends. This is what Jesus is saying to us today. 

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. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN 

July 12, 2020

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 13:1-23), Jesus uses the image of a sower to describe different responses to the word of God whenever it is preached; that is, 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 seeds, some fell on the path and were quickly eaten up by birds. Some fell on rocky ground, and due to lack of sufficient soil, they sprang up immediately. But when the sun arose, they were scorched and killed for lack of support and foundation. Some seeds fell among thorns, and as the thorns grew up, they choked them to death. But the sower’s effort and industry was not entirely a fruitless one. Some of his seeds did fall on rich soil and thereafter produced bountiful fruits. Now, 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. 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 but the church never goes into them or through them. They go to church with their minds and hearts shut against the life-changing word of God. They allow prejudice (i.e. preconception), fear and pride prevent them from hearing the truth. Prejudice makes 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. Because the Gospel of Jesus calls for a change of life and lifestyle, these churchgoers are fearful of losing their old lives, which obviously they enjoy. As such, they remain on the pathway and hardly get to the destination of complete union with 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 people who hear the word of God, receive it with great joy, but when tempted, tested or persecuted, they fall away easily. 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 lives 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. To such Christians, every inconvenience, no matter how small, is a reason drop out of church. Their faith in God is so shallow that any itchy feeling is a reason to walk away and go in search of a sharp-sharp miracle working God. 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.

The seed that fell among thorns are Christians who are anxious and troubled by many things that they forget the most important of all— knowing, loving and serving the Lord.  They are 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 to join any ministry and sometimes, too busy for their families. They are so engrossed in the things of this world, so absorbed with their busyness 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 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, which of these Christian are you?

Reflection on Matthew 9:32-38

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Monday, July 7, 2020

In today’s Gospel, a man whose inability to speak is attributed to his being possessed by a demon is brought to Jesus to be set free. Those who brought him to Jesus believe that Jesus is able to liberate the afflicted man, and true to his nature, Jesus rewards their faith in him by driving out the demon. With the demon cast out, the man is able to speak. 

This mighty act of God triggers reactions from various people. Many in the crowds were astonished and thoroughly impressed by Jesus: Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel. Now, Jesus was not the only one who cast out evil spirits. There were people in the community who drove out demons as well (Check Matthew 12:27). So, when the crowds said nothing like this has been seen in Israel, they were talking about the countless miracles, signs and wonders, and several healings and deliverances that Jesus has done. But the good news here is that a child of God, an imago Dei has been liberated from the shackles of the evil one. His body is no longer going to be a house for demons, rather a temple of the Holy Spirit. With his ability to speak restored, he would be able to praise God in a loud voice, proclaim and testify what the Lord has done for him. Like those who brought him to Jesus believing that Jesus can free him of his affliction, he too is a potential disciple of Jesus. Another good news in this gospel is that there are people who acknowledge the mighty deeds of Jesus. Their faith in Jesus would even become stronger leading them to follow him altogether. 

However, not everyone who witness the life-changing deliverance of this demoniac is positively impressed. The Pharisees— men who believed in resurrection, were knowledgeable about Jewish law and tradition were not impressed. Without wasting any time, they embark on a smear campaign against Jesus: He drives out demons by the prince of demons. They did not deny that Jesus is driving out demons, after all, a man who had not been able to speak no thanks to a demon can now speak. Jesus’ mastery and power over the forces of nature and forces of darkness no doubt comes from somewhere. For the Pharisees, it does not come from God, but from the prince of demons, satan himself. This charge against Jesus is the most serious and the most damaging charge lodged against him by the Pharisees. Their goal is to sway the crowds against Jesus. By this time, Jesus is gaining some ground and the admiration of many. Many Jews had an open mind about him. But this offensive by the Jewish leaders was meant to sway undecided Jews against him. Even those who admired Jesus, the charge was meant to turn them against Jesus. Surprisingly, Jesus does not respond to the Pharisees charge, but he will reply them later. For now, he has more important business to attend to: going around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. 

What particularly amazes you the most about Jesus? When such is attacked, ridiculed and mocked by the naysayers, what would be your response? 

Reflection on Matthew 11:25-30

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Sunday, July, 2020

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 11:25-30), Jesus invites us to receive his revelation of God and the joy it brings: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” His call, “Come to me” has the same meaning as “Come after me.” It is an invitation to discipleship, to being with Jesus, to sharing his life. And the reward for coming to him is REST! Now, the rest that Jesus promises us should not be mistaken to mean “laying on the couch, watching TV, eating potato chips and enjoying a drink after a day of labor.” The “rest” here has the same theological meaning with “Shalom,” (Peace)— which is Jesus’ first utterance to his disciples when he appeared to them after his resurrection. Rest or peace is God’s original intention for the human race. It means well-being in every aspect of life. It is wellbeing in your spiritual life, wellbeing in your emotional life, wellbeing in your social life, wellbeing in your relationships, wellbeing in every facet of life. 

This invitation is for those who are exhausted with the search for the truth, with the search for God. There is a growing number of people in our society today who deny the reality and the existence of God. They proudly argue that there is no God. Some of them claim that they sought for God but did not find him. Some say that they prayed to God and he did not answer. Yet, others said they wanted to see him but he did not show up. But Jesus tells us today that the endless and weary search for God ends in himself. To have an encounter with Jesus is to have an encounter with God. In the Gospel of John 14:9, the Lord says that “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” God gives himself to the pure of heart, and he asks nothing from us but our attention. Searching for God in a scientific laboratory is a wild goose chase. Trying to picture God in our minds is a wild goose chase. But by giving attention to Jesus Christ, we can find God. 

What are your burdens? What troubles you the most? What is it that keeps you awake at night? Even as we are in church right now, what is it that makes you absent minded? Your body is here but your mind is elsewhere. What are those things that burden you? Is your ego so elevated and so puffed up? Are you trapped in habitual sin and it seems you don’t know how to break the chain and the cycle of falling into sin and falling deeper into sin? Learn to spend time with Jesus. He has a heart that is indescribably sacred, patient, merciful and compassionate. He will welcome you and also listen to you. His “Yoke is easy, and burden light.”