Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The Unique Treasures Of Christianity 

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, January 31, 2021

After His emergence at the public scene, Jesus travels to the city of Capernaum in Galilee, the city where He launches His ministry. On the Sabbath, He enters the synagogue, assumes the role of a rabbi and teaches with authority “and not as the scribes.” What makes His teaching radically different from that of the scribes? He speaks not like a regular Jewish scholar but as God. And to make this holy day assembly even more acute, more dramatic, more magnificent, Jesus heals a man possessed with an evil spirit. By the power and authority of the spoken word (rhema), Jesus demonstrates what is possible with God and what is inevitable without God. For the Jews, the Sabbath (Shabbat) is a day of rest on the seventh day of the week— Saturday. On this day, they remember the biblical story of the creation of the heaven and the earth in six days, and also look forward to a future Messianic Age. In Capernaum synagogue, Jesus of Nazareth does three things: first, He demonstrates that He is the Kingdom in Person, secondly, He teaches the fundamentals of God’s Kingdom, that is, what the Kingdom of God looks like, and thirdly, He asserts that all longing for a futuristic Messiah should now come to an end, for the Messiah is right in their midst. 

But, there is something else I will like us to pay a close attention to. Today’s Gospel (Mark1:21-28) says “In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit…” and sensing the power of Jesus, the evil spirit in him speaks up and says, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are— the Holy One of God!” Interesting! “I know who you are— the Holy One of God!” In recent years, there has been a tendency to reduce Jesus to the level of a great teacher or a great prophet or guru. Some see Him merely as a nice and gentle figure. They claim they understand His moral teaching, that He is like many other great figures, that He repeats what other religious figures had said, and after that they simply forget about Him. But Jesus was during His lifetime and after the resurrection a deeply unnerving figure. He was a subversive and disruptive figure. If Jesus were just a nice guy, an interesting figure who echoes what other great religious figures had said, how come a demonic spirit, a supernatural being that comes from Satan and operates at the spiritual level able to recognize his identity and submit to his authority? If Jesus is not Lord, if Jesus is not the very incarnation of Yahweh, a descendant of Lucifer the prince of darkness will not fret before him. 

Notice what Jesus said after the evil spirit tried to reveal his identity: “Quiet! Come out of him!” Now, before you can expel such a spirit, you have to appeal to a higher power, a higher spiritual power that exists at a more powerful spiritual level. As for Jesus, He doesn’t have to appeal to such a power, for He is that power. All power belongs to Jesus and comes from Him. At the commissioning of the eleven Disciples after His resurrection, Jesus says “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). The one who has all the power in heaven and on earth is no doubt greater than Moses, greater than Muhammad, greater than Buddha, greater than Confucius or any other great figure. He is God. Because he is God that is why he compels a choice in a way that no other founder does. To his credit, Muhammad never claimed to be God. He only said he was a messenger, that he received a message from God. Moses to his infinite credit never claimed to be divine. He said he received the law from God and wants to give it to the people. The Buddha, to his credit never claimed to be divine. He only said he found a way and wants to show it to people. As for Jesus, he does not say he found a way, he says, “I am the Way.” He does not say he found the truth, he says, “I am the Truth.” He does not say there is a new mode of life that he discovered, he says, “I am the Life.” These claims are the unique treasures of Christianity. They compel a choice. Jesus himself says that either you are with me or you are against me. So, if Jesus is what he says he is, then we must give our whole life to him. He is God. He is the Highest Good. It is either you gather with Him or you scatter; either you are with Him or you are against Him. The Gospel is the good news about this Jesus; and it compels on those who hear it a decision and choice. 

The Yesterday, Today and Ongoing Call of God

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Year B

St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Hamel, MN

Sunday, January 24, 2021

An elementary reader of the opening chapter of Mark’s Gospel is likely going to go away with the simplistic notion that Jesus was just busy and nothing more. Indeed, the Lord was quite busy. The opening chapter of the Gospel of Mark comprises of a wide range of events in his life. It consists of his baptism in the Jordan River, his fasting and prayer in the desert, his return to Galilee where he announces the arrival of the Kingdom, his calling of his first disciples, and the healing of many who were sick or possessed. But the goal of the opening chapter of Mark like every chapter in the Gospel is meant to draw the attention of its readers or hearers to the stubborn fact that something spectacularly significant is happening, a new system of allegiance is being proposed, a new type of order is emerging, the time for the fulfillment of the age-long- promises has come. As such, it deserves an immediate attention of all. Stop whatever you are doing and pay attention. In Mark’s version, Jesus was silent during his baptism and  says nothing as he was being tempted by Satan in the desert, but his very first words are: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand.” These opening statement deserves our complete attention and rapid response that is radical and faith filled. It is not something that can be delayed or postponed until later hour or day. The response needed is the kind demonstrated by Simon and Andrew, James and John when Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 

What was Simon, Andrew, James and John doing when they were called? They were looking for fish for they were fishermen. They were working and doing what earns them a living. Surprisingly when they heard the command, “Come… I will make you fishers of men” they abandoned everything and followed Jesus. James and John not only left their professional tools behind, they left their father, Zebedee as well. Jesus invited them to become fishers of men. What does that mean? Jesus wants them to fish people out of something. The implication here is that there is a sea that people are swimming in that is not good for them. Today, that sea is the sea of secularist ideology which says you can be perfectly happy with the goods of the world. This ideology does great violence to the human heart because as St. Augustine says our heart is wired to God, our heart is restless until it rests in God. We are ordered by innate natural desires towards ultimate truth, ultimate goodness, ultimate beauty. No truth, goodness or beauty in the world, no wealth, pleasure, honor or power in this world can finally satisfy that longing of the heart. This is why the secular ideology is a destructive ideology. 

The image of a fish is a good one for there are a lot of people today who like a fish are floating around aimlessly, dead eye, glassy eye in the sea of the secularist ideology. They may have a lot of wealth, pleasure and honor, but they are like a fish with dead eyes and glassy eyes floating aimlessly in the sea of secularism. Jesus wants helpers who can fish people out of this savaging environment. This is the call yesterday and today, and it will be the call for all ages. Although this call can be said to have been addressed to priests and those intending to become priests, but it addressed to all Christians. Jesus is calling followers to be light bearers. What is required to answer this call? The Gospel says, “…they (Simon and Andrew) abandoned their nets and followed him.” The nets is the principal tool for a first century Galilean fisherman. As they row the sea, they cast the nets out and wait for it to catch fish. The nets symbolize livelihood, professionalism, connection to the economic world, it meant security too. If you take a Galilean fisherman’s net away, you take away his livelihood. So leaving their nets means they left their preoccupation, livelihood, money and financial security in order to follow Jesus and do what he wants. 

As Jesus walked a little further, he saw James and John with their Father Zebedee. They were also in their boat mending their nets. He called the two brothers and immediately they left their father in the boat along with hired men and followed him. What is a boat? It is another tool used by fishermen. It is the symbol of a first century Galilean fisherman’s autonomy and livelihood. By abandoning it in order to follow Jesus, they were abandoning their own autonomy. They were leaving their boat behind in order to get into the boat of Jesus. They surrendered their autonomy. Secondly, they left their father, Zebedee. There is no society more family centric than the society of Jesus’ time. One’s duties and obligations to mother, father, brothers and sisters, and even to extended family were norms and life defining. When Jesus said to a man, “Follow me,” and the man replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father,” (Lk. 9:59), to which Jesus answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead,” (Lk. 9:60) it was shocking and sensational. It was a sacred obligation at the time to bury one’s father. Another Jesus’ breathtaking declaration is “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…” (Mtt. 10:37). The most pressing obligation we have is to love our parents, but Jesus is saying that unless you him more than your parents you are not worthy of him. Is Jesus against family? No! But he is relativizing family; he is relativizing the hold of the family on us. What is most important is our relationship to him. 

Simon and Andrew left their nets, that is livelihood, money, security. James and John left their boat, that means autonomy. They left their father, that is, all their obligations to the family to follow Jesus. Am I asking you to leave your job? No. Am I asking you to leave your family? Absolutely not. Am I asking you to stop making money? Not at all. However, none of these— livelihood, money, or family should hinder your relationship with God. Accept the simplicity of life so that you can be free to follow the Lord wherever he leads. Don’t be entangled in your nets or allow your nets to capture you just as it does to a fish in the sea. Don’t be trapped in your boat or allow your boat to capsize and decimate or kill your spiritual life. Don’t allow your family— as much as you love them hinder your spiritual growth. Our family should aid and support our decision to follow the Lord more closely and not hinder it. Our primary and most important goal in life is to follow Jesus wherever he leads us. That is the number one purpose of a Christian. 

Indispensably Vital Question 

Rev. Marcel Emeka Divine Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of Saints Peter & Paul, Loretto, MN

Sunday, January 17, 2021

The Lord’s question to the two young men— John the Baptist’s disciples, who left John to follow him, “What are you looking for?” is an absolutely necessary and relevantly important question for all people, especially Christians. Many people go through life without really knowing what they fundamentally want, as such like a drift wood, they drift and get lost. In times past, everyone of us have wondered about aimlessly. But due to mercy, God’s mercy, tender-loving mercy, mercy that is ever anew, we found the Lord, or better still God found us. “What are you looking for?” is addressed to anyone who is lost in the wilderness of the world; it is addressed to those who are wandering about in a lonely road of spiritual and moral aridity. It is addressed to anyone who is anxious, angry, bitter, hateful, divisive, restless, and violent. It is addressed to all those who are so restive and edgy in our nation today. The question is addressed to you and me and to all regular people, everyday Christian here and out there. The question is an opportunity for John’s disciples to declare their intention. Before Jesus appeared on the public scene, they have been John’s disciples. John is a forerunner, a great prophet, but not the Salvator (Savior). His disciples wanted something more, something that John is not able to provide. By asking Jesus the question, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” they are basically declaring their deepest desire to be with him. The Lord’s reply, “Come and you will see,” is his warm invitation to them as well as to us. Come and you will see what is possible with God. Come and you will see what is inevitable without Him. 

Beloved in Christ, the correct answer to the question, “What are you looking for?” is eternal life. It is friendship with God. It is holiness. Those are the simple, clear, and unambiguous articulation of any believer who truly wants to be more like Jesus. Some people may know, more or less, what they want spiritually, but due to worldly distraction and opposition they are not able to summon the courage and attention needed to actualize their spiritual aspiration. They know they should be growing in holiness, but the secular culture that continuously proposes sex, sensual pleasure, power, honor, vain glory, esteem of others etc cause them to lose their way. They know their life should be all about Jesus, that Jesus should be at the center of their life, that everyday is an opportunity to deepen their relationship with him, but due to criticism and mockery of people who are stuck in the way of the world, who call their choice of life old fashion and outdated, they quit walking with Jesus. 

“What are you looking for?” is Jesus’ first words at the beginning of his public ministry according to John’s Gospel. After the completion of his ministry, he asks Mary of Magdala a similar question, “Whom are you looking for?” (Jn. 20:15). The two questions not only set the ministry of Jesus but are questions that every man and woman should and must ask themselves as they explore the meaning and direction of their lives. What are you looking for? Whom are you looking for?  

Baptism And It’s Implications 

Members of the Church are not just members of Jesus Christ Society. We are not here just to fondly remember a distant figure, to merely keep his ideals alive just as the members of Abraham Lincoln Society do. We are something much more than that, something stranger, more dramatic and more challenging. We are molecules, cells, organs in the living Body of Christ. We have been grafted unto him in such a way that he now continues to live his life in us. No member of Abraham Lincoln Society thinks that Abraham Lincoln is living his life in them. Do they admire him? Absolutely! Do they consider him an exceptional historical figure? Yes! But do they think Abraham Lincoln is living in them? Not at all! We, members of the Church do not see ourselves the same way that the society of Abraham Lincoln see themselves. We are the Church, and the Church is that organism, that living thing, that body which Jesus is the head and we are the active members. St. Paul says that Christ is the head of the body, the church (1 Col. 1:18). He also says we are the body of Christ and each one of us is a member (1 Cor. 12:27). But according to the conversion story of this very Paul (he was Saul at the time), we are told that while he was traveling to Damascus to obtain authorization letter to arrest more Christians, a light from the sky hit him, and brought him to the ground. Then the voice of the Lord said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts. 9:2-3). The Lord did not ask Saul why he was persecuting those people who believe in him , rather he asks him, why are you persecuting me? Why? Because the Church is Christ’s living body. To persecute the Church is to persecute Him. In Matthew 25 we read those words that still challenge us today: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (v.40). This is not Abraham Lincoln talking about his society. This is the head of the living mystical body of which we are members talking about us, His Church. 

How does one get into the mythical body? Baptism! We are baptized in the name of Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. By means of baptism we enter into the relationship of the Trinity itself. We become sons and daughters in the Son in intimate ongoing relationship with God the Father. The Holy Spirit which is the love that connects the Father and the Son connects us to the Trinity and to each other. To be baptized therefore is to be drawn into the very life of God. When we Catholics pray, we begin it by making the sign of the cross: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” By doing so, we remember our baptism. When we pray, we don’t pray outside of God; we don’t pray with the mentality that God is out there and somewhere and we are outside praying to him. No. Baptized people do not pray like that. We pray within the dynamics of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We pray within God and in God because we are members of Christ’s mystical body. 

So, what are they implications of this? The first implication of baptism is that we are connected to one another the way organs in the body are connected. Although we have been so influenced by individualistic philosophy, the fact remains that whatever society we have is by a social contract. We agree to enter into a contract. As for the Church, whether we like it or not, as baptized persons and members of the living mystical body of Christ, we are connected to all the baptized people across the ages. We are connected to all the saints, but not just the saints alone but the good, the bad, the ugly, the indifferent. Everyone who is baptized is connected to us in way that organs in the body are connected to each other. It would be absurd for the lungs to say to the liver that is affected by cancer— that’s your problem, I’m not gonna worry about you, that is your problem. In a very short time, the problem in the liver will become a problem for the lungs and for the whole body. So, it is wildly unreasonable for us to say over the suffering of another in the mystical body, that is not my problem. I’m not worried about that. I will say a little prayer for them, but I am not concerned about their problem. Their problem is our problem. My problem is your problem and your problem is my problem. We are all connected; we are connected to each other. The second implication is this— if baptism is the beginning of the divine life in us, we need the other sacraments. One of the most disturbing statistics you see these days is the huge number of Catholics, members of the mystical body of Christ, who are staying away from the sacraments. What’s the percentage of those who come to Mass prior to COVID-19? Some estimates say it is between 20 to 25 percent. In many parishes around the country, the number of people being baptized is falling down. Fewer people are bringing their kids for baptism. The number of Marriages is falling off too. If baptism gives us new life, we need those things that will sustain that life. If a new born baby is never fed, never given to drink, he or she will die shortly. What is the Eucharist? Why are we here? The Eucharist is the feeding of the divine life within us without which we will starve to death. When we get sick in the physical term, we go to the doctor, get diagnosed and take medicine. As dysfunctional people, we get sick spiritually all the time. This is called sin. Mortal sin will put to death the life in us. That’s why it is called mortal sin. Where is the doctor and the medicine for this sickness? The sacrament of reconciliation. Catholics who stay away from the sacrament of reconciliation for a very long time, are you still wondering why you are so sick spiritually? Third implication— The Gospel of John tells us that the Word of God became flesh, took to himself a human nature, that is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He walked this earth for 33 years. That is the first incarnation. However, Catholic theology affirms that there is a kind of second incarnation which happens when the same Word Jesus Christ takes to himself the mystical body— us.  Who are we? We are his mind, his heart, his hands, his feet, his eyes. Every one of the saints, during their time functioned as the means by which Christ was continuing to transform his world. Through the conversion of  Saul who later became Paul, through the exercise of the magnificent minds of Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, through the joyful poverty of Francis of Assisi, through the radiant goodness of Vincent de Paul, through the great compassion and moral vision of Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, through the heroism of Maximillian Kolbe, through the amazing charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, through the courageous nonviolence of John Paul II, through the uncommon bravery of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, through the exceptional witness of the life of Thomas More, and the mystical prayer of Catherine of Sienna— through all these saints, martyrs and witnesses, Jesus transformed the world. 

Every baptized Christian is endowed with gifts— charism, which are meant to be exercised in this world so that Christ might continually surge into it. Are we cooperating? Are we using our charism? Do we even know our charism? The next time you ask the question, “Lord, why don’t you do something to stop all these violence, hunger, and social ills? Try and turn the question into a mission call for you. The next time you ask the question, “Lord, why not act?” pay attention to his voice that will no doubt say to you, “Why not do something.” God has given us charisms so that through us he will continue to operate in the world. Jesus is acting through us. We are his hands in the world. If we opt out, his grace will not surge in the world. As we celebrate the baptism of the Lord, remember that we are members of Christ’s mystical body, connected to each other, fed and sustained by the sacraments, and gifted with a mission that we are meant to exercise for the transformation and transfiguration of the world. 

- Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Monday, January 11, 2021

Why Christmas Matters!


Although the word "Christmas" is not in the Bible, but the event we celebrate is in the Bible. We celebrate the fact that the Creator of the universe, who transcends every definition and concept, took to himself our human nature. The central claim of Christianity is that God became human. God became one of us. Talking about the incarnation, John says, And the Word became flesh and dwell among us (John 1:14).

One of the heresies that the Catholic Church has always opposed is gnosticism. Among other things, gnostic doctrine teaches that all material things including the human body are evil. Some gnostic writers even claim that our being material is in a sense a falling away from God. So, they conclude that spiritual life can only be attained through a denial of the material. You would expect a gnostic believer to practice extreme forms of mortification of the flesh like slashing the body with razors, whipping the body with sticks, sleeping on a hardwood and using a piece of rock as pillow. They do all these because they believe that the body is evil and must be “mutilated,” punished, subjected, undermined and neutralized. But authentic Christianity, inspired and supported by the breathtaking claim of St. John has persistently fought back and exposed gnosticism as as a wrong teaching. Why is gnosticism wrong? Because the Word of God took to himself a nature like ours. John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This Word (Logos) “became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” (John 1:14). God took to himself a human nature and thereby elevated the human body and all of matter and made it a sacrament of the divine presence. As such, all material things are essentially good. 

The Greek expression behind, “made his dwelling among us” can also be translated more literally as “tabernacled among us” or “pitched his tent among us.” According to the Book of Exodus, the ark of the covenant, which is the embodiment of Yahweh’s presence, was originally housed in a tent or tabernacle. But now John is saying that in the flesh of Jesus, Yahweh has established his definitive tabernacle among us. God has moved into our neighborhood. God is now here, among us, and with us. This is exactly what we celebrate during Christmas. 

Beloved in Christ, since the Almighty God, the Creator of the universe humbled himself and in the process was humiliated just to demonstrate the stretch of his love for us, why do we sometimes raise our shoulders above that of our brothers and sisters? Why do we carry our shoulders high and display “I’m better than you” attitude? If you have more wealth than others, good for you. If you are more educated than someone else, good for you. If you live in a fancy house and drive a fancy car, good for you. If you have more power, more connection, more pleasure, more honor, and more wealth, good for you. But does any of these give you super-humanity? Heck No! The extra stuff a person possess does not make a person more human or impose on a person a super-humanity. In the same vein, the deprivation of another does not strip or reduce their humanity and dignity. If God can come down to our level, we have no reason to raise ourselves above another. Let’s be humble just as our heavenly Father is humble. 

Fr. Marcel E. Okwara, CSsR

Identity And Mission Of Baptized Persons

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Members of the Church are not just members of Jesus Christ Society. We are not here just to fondly remember a distant figure, to merely keep his ideals alive just as the members of Abraham Lincoln Society do. We are something much more than that, something stranger, more dramatic and more challenging. We are molecules, cells, organs in the living Body of Christ. We have been grafted unto him in such a way that he now continues to live his life in us. No member of Abraham Lincoln Society thinks that Abraham Lincoln is living his life in them. Do they admire him? Absolutely! Do they consider him an exceptional historical figure? Yes! But do they think Abraham Lincoln is living in them? Not at all! We, members of the Church do not see ourselves the same way that the society of Abraham Lincoln see themselves. We are the Church, and the Church is that organism, that living thing, that body which Jesus is the head and we are the active members. St. Paul says that Christ is the head of the body, the church (1 Col. 1:18). He also says we are the body of Christ and each one of us is a member (1 Cor. 12:27). But according to the conversion story of this very Paul (he was Saul at the time), we are told that while he was traveling to Damascus to obtain authorization letter to arrest more Christians, a light from the sky hit him, and brought him to the ground. Then the voice of the Lord said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts. 9:2-3). The Lord did not ask Saul why he was persecuting those people who believe in him , rather he asks him, why are you persecuting me? Why? Because the Church is Christ’s living body. To persecute the Church is to persecute Him. In Matthew 25 we read those words that still challenge us today: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (v.40). This is not Abraham Lincoln talking about his society. This is the head of the living mystical body of which we are members talking about us, His Church. 

How does one get into the mystical body? Baptism! We are baptized in the name of Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. By means of baptism we enter into the relationship of the Trinity itself. Through baptism we are drawn into the very life of God. We Catholics begin our prayer by making the sign of the cross: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” By so doing, we remember our baptism. We pray not with the mentality that God is out there and somewhere and we are outside praying to him. We don’t pray outside of God. We pray within the dynamics of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We pray within God and in God because we are members of Christ’s mystical body. 

So, what are they implications of this? The first implication of baptism is that we are connected to one another the way organs in the body are connected. Although we have been so influenced by individualistic philosophy, the fact remains that whatever society we have is by a social contract. We agree to enter into a contract. As for the Church, whether we like it or not, as baptized persons and members of the living mystical body of Christ, we are connected to all the baptized people across the ages. We are connected to all the saints, but not just the saints alone but the good, the bad, the ugly, the indifferent. Everyone who is baptized is connected to us in way that organs in the body are connected to each other. It would be absurd for the lungs to say to the liver that is affected by cancer— that’s your problem, I’m not gonna worry about you, that is your problem. In a very short time, the problem in the liver will become a problem for the lungs and for the whole body. So, it is wildly unreasonable for us to say over the suffering of another in the mystical body, that is not my problem. I’m not worried about that. I will say a little prayer for them, but I am not concerned about their problem. Their problem is our problem. My problem is your problem and your problem is my problem. We are all connected; we are connected to each other. The second implication is this— if baptism is the gateway to life in the Spirit, if it gives us new life, we need its food to sustain the life. One of the most disturbing statistics you see these days is the huge number of Catholics, members of the mystical body of Christ, who are staying away from the sacraments. What’s the percentage of those who come to Mass prior to COVID-19? Some estimates say it is between 20 to 25 percent. If a new born baby is never fed, never given to drink, he or she will die shortly. What is the Eucharist? It is the feeding of the divine life within us without which we will starve to death. When we get sick in the physical term, we go to the doctor, get diagnosed and take medicine. As dysfunctional people, we become spiritually sick all the time. It is called sin. Mortal sin puts to death the life in us. That’s why it is called mortal sin. Where is the doctor and the medicine for this sickness? The sacrament of reconciliation. Catholics who stay away from the sacrament of reconciliation for a very long time, are you still wondering why you are so sick spiritually? Third implication— The Gospel of John tells us that the Word of God became flesh, took to himself a human nature, that is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He walked this earth for 33 years. That is the first incarnation. However, Catholic theology affirms that there is a kind of second incarnation which happens when the same Word Jesus Christ takes to himself the mystical body— us.  Who are we? We are his mind, his heart, his hands, his feet, his eyes. Every one of the saints, during their time functioned as the means by which Christ was continuing to transform his world. Through the conversion of  Saul who later became Paul, through the exercise of the magnificent minds of Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, through the joyful poverty of Francis of Assisi, through the radiant goodness of Vincent de Paul, through the great compassion and moral vision of Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, through the heroism of Maximillian Kolbe, through the amazing charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, through the courageous nonviolence of John Paul II, through the uncommon bravery of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, through the exceptional witness of the life of Thomas More, and the mystical prayer of Catherine of Sienna— through all these saints, martyrs and witnesses, Jesus transformed the world. 

Every baptized Christian is endowed with gifts— charism, which are meant to be exercised in this world so that Christ might continually surge into it. Are we using our charism? Do we even know our charism? The next time you ask the question, “Lord, why don’t you do something to stop all these violence, hunger, and social ills? Try and turn the question into a mission call for you. The next time you ask the question, “Lord, why not act?” pay attention to his voice that will no doubt say to you, “Why not do something.” God has given us charisms so that through us he will continue to operate in the world. We are his hands in the world. If we opt out, his grace will not surge in the world. As we celebrate the baptism of the Lord, remember that we are members of Christ’s mystical body, connected to each other, fed and sustained by the sacraments, and gifted with a mission that we are meant to exercise for the transformation and transfiguration of the world.