Make Jesus Your Fixed Star!

First Sunday of Advent, Year C

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

St. Bridget Catholic Church, Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, November 28, 2021

In liturgical sense, today is New Year’s Day. With the first Sunday of Advent, we begin the liturgical year of 2022. As you already know, New Year’s day is always a good time for resolutions, for taking stock, and starting over again. In today’s Gospel (Luke 21:25-36), Jesus is in full apocalyptic mode and spirit. He is speaking about the end of the world: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay… people will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world…” Scaring stuff, right? From the very beginning of the Church, people interpret this kind of text as actual description of the ending of the world. In her eschatology, the Church does indeed believe that in his second coming, Jesus will usher out old state of affairs and usher in the new world. But if the actual end of the world is the only meaning we can possibly assign to this text, then it will only be relevant for the generation that will experience the actual end of the world. But the Church insists that this text and other apocalyptic texts in the Scripture clearly speak to every generation, not just the one that will experience the actual end of the world.  

So, how do we read this? In ancient times, the sun, the moon, and the stars were the fixed points that helped people to navigate their lives either on land or sea. Before the construction of good roads, the invention of signs and GPS etc. people were guided by the fixed points of the sun, moon, stars, planets. So, when Jesus speaks about the falling of the sun, moon and stars to the ground, he is metaphorically speaking, indicating that the old established way of life is yielding to something new. For some of us, the acquisition of wealth, or the procurement of power, or the accumulation of honor or the basking in lavished and ostentatious living might be our navigational constant, something that lead and guide our lives round-the-clock. By those fixed points we tend to order our lives. They are values that drive us daily. So, if someone were to ask, “What kind of person are you?” The answer that might be given is “I am a businessman” or “I am a medical doctor” or “I am a nurse” or “I am an attorney” or “I am a professor of physics.” For others, their fixed points might be family, country, personal honor etc. If such people are asked, “What kind of person are you?” The answer may be, “I am a family man,” “I am a patriot,” “I am a honorable man.” Is it bad to say, businessman, medical doctor, family man, attorney etc? Not at all! Is it a bad thing to aspire for any of those? Not at all! But here is the point, when Jesus comes into your life, everything has to change. All the previously fixed points have to become fluid. What does that mean? When Jesus comes into your life, he is the star, the sun, the moon and all the planets. He’s the fixed point. He is that by which we live, and move and have our being. He becomes terminus ad quo and terminus ad quem—the beginning and the end of everything we do in life and everything we pursue. That means following him, pleasing him, and doing what he wants is finally all that matters. Everything that previously guided our lives, although they are good things in themselves, have to find their place in relation to him. They have to fall to the ground allowing Christ’s light to shine. If money or wealth is your fixed point, what does Jesus say? Go, sell all you have and come follow me. If prestige and honor are your fixed stars, what does Jesus say? He who humbles himself will be exalted. If popularity is your fixed star— that by which you navigate your life, what does Jesus say? Blessed are you when men hate and despise you because of the Son of Man. If worldly glory is your fixed star, Jesus says, take up your cross and follow in my footsteps. If your family is your sun and moon, your fixed star, what does Jesus say? Unless you love me more than your mother, father, more than your very life, you are not worthy of me. If religion itself and its institutions are your fixed stars, what does Jesus say? I tell you no one stone of this temple will be left standing upon another. Consider Saul who later became Paul. He dedicated his life to the preservation of the traditions of Israel and the Torah. But once Jesus came, Paul says, I now consider all these things rubbish. The moment Jesus came into Paul’s life, Paul’s fixed stars fell to the ground. 

Is religion a good thing? Yes! Is family a good thing? Yes! Is running a business, being lawyer, a professor, a doctor etc a good thing? Yes! Is striving for success a good thing? Yes! They are all good in themselves. None of them is morally objectionable. However, all of them must revolve around something more permanent. If you have worldly success, give it to Christ. Give your family to Christ. Give your fame, if you have it, to him. Make Jesus your Fixed Star. So, to prepare for the coming of Christ, to prepare for the invasion of Christ which will upset  the whole of our lives, we have to be ready for a kind of apocalypse, a revolution. This is why today’s Gospel passage which is about the end of the world is relevant to us and to every generation. Our world has to be upended when Jesus comes in. I know it is no fun to be turned upside down. It is a wrenching business to rearrange one’s system of values, behavior, and mindset. But that’s the challenge of Advent. At the end of today’s Gospel passage, Jesus says, “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.” Our watchword for Advent is to pray. Pray so as to be able to withstand the upset that will come into your life as you rearrange things around Jesus and to stand before the Son of Man. Jesus is the Sun, the Moon and the Planet. He is the Fixed Star, and the Light. Throughout this Advent, let’s get ourselves ready to stand before him. 

Rearranging Our Lives Around The New Fixed Star

First Sunday of Advent, Year C

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

St. Bridget Catholic Church, Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, November 28, 2021

In liturgical sense, today is New Year’s Day. With the first Sunday of Advent, we begin the liturgical year of 2022. As you already know, New Year’s day is always a good time for resolutions, for taking stock, and starting over again. In today’s Gospel (Luke 21:25-36), Jesus is in full apocalyptic mode and spirit. He is speaking about the end of the world: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay… people will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world…” Scaring stuff, right? From the very beginning of the Church, people interpret this kind of text as actual description of the ending of the world. In her eschatology, the Church does indeed believe that in his second coming, Jesus will usher out old state of affairs and usher in the new world. However, as N.T. Wright maintains, if this text only mean the actual end of the world, then it will only be relevant for the generation that will experience the actual end of the world. But the Church insists that this text and other apocalyptic texts in the Scripture clearly speak to every generation, not just the one that will experience the actual end of the world.  

So, how do we read this? In ancient times, the sun, the moon, and the stars were the fixed points that helped people to navigate their lives either on land or sea. Before we had good roads, signs and GPS etc. people were guided by these fixed points of the sun, moon, stars, planets. Metaphorically speaking, the falling of these fixed point to the ground indicates that the old established way of life is yielding to something new. For some of us, the acquisition of wealth, or the procurement of power, or the accumulation of honor or luxurious living might be our navigational constant, something that lead and guide our lives round-the-clock. By those fixed points we tend to order our lives. What keeps us focused would be these values. So, if someone asks, “What kind of person are you?” The answer that might be given is “I am a businessman” or “I am a politician” or “I am a man who treasures his friendship.” Any of these could be our fixed point. For others, their fixed points might be family, country, personal honor etc. If such people are asked, “What kind of person are you?” The answer may be, “I am a family man,” “I am a patriot,” “I am a honorable man.” Is it bad to say, businessman, politician, family man, a patriot? Not at all! Is it a bad thing to aspire for any of those? Not at all! But here is the point, when Jesus comes into your life, everything has to change, and all these previously fixed points have to become fluid. What does that mean? When Jesus comes into your life, he is the star, the sun, the moon and all the planets. He’s the fixed point. He is that by which we stir our lives. That means following him, pleasing him, and doing what he wants is finally all that matters. Everything else previously mentioned, although they are good things in themselves, have to find their place in relation to him. They have to fall to the ground allowing Christ’s light to shine. If money or wealth is your fixed point, what does Jesus say? Go, sell all you have and come follow me. If prestige, honor, worldly success are your fixed stars, what does Jesus say? He who humbles himself will be exalted. If popularity is your fixed star— that by which you navigate your life, what does Jesus say? Blessed are you when men hate and despise you because of the Son of Man. If worldly glory is your fixed star, Jesus says, take up your cross and follow in my footsteps. If your family is your sun and moon, your fixed star, what does Jesus say? Unless you love me more than your mother, father, more than your very life, you are not worthy of me. If religion itself and its institutions are your fixed stars, what does Jesus say? I tell you no one stone of this temple will be left standing upon another. Saul who later became Paul dedicated his life to the preservation of traditions of Israel and the Torah. But once Jesus came, he said, I now consider all these things rubbish. The moment Jesus came into Paul’s life, Paul’s fixed stars fell to the ground. 

As I said before, none of the things I mentioned earlier is bad. They are good. Religion, institutions of religion, family, running a business, striving for success etc are all good in themselves. None of them is morally objectionable. Yet, all of them must revolve around something more permanent. If you have worldly success, give it to Christ. Give your family to Christ. Give your fame, if you have it, to him. Jesus is the Fixed Star. So, to prepare for the coming of Christ, to prepare for the invasion of Christ which will upset  the whole of our lives, we have to ready ourselves for a kind of apocalypse, a revolution. This is why today’s Gospel passage which is about the end of the world is relevant to us and to every generation. Our world has to be upended when Jesus comes in. I know it is no fun to be turned upside down. It is a painful and wrenching business to rearrange one’s system of values, behavior, and mindset. But that’s the challenge of Advent. At the end of today’s Gospel passage, Jesus says, “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.” Our watchword for Advent is to pray. Pray so as to be able to withstand the upset that will come into your life as you rearrange things around Jesus and to stand before the Son of Man. Jesus is the Sun, the Moon and the Planet. He is the Fixed Star, and the Light. Throughout this Advent, let’s get ourselves ready to stand before him. 

The Kind Of King Our Lord Jesus Is

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

On the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Dayton, MN

Sunday, November 21, 2021

At the end of the liturgical year, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. Some people have argued that this feast is considerably anachronistic. By that they mean it belongs to the past, that since we no longer have much to do with kings nowadays, it is no longer fitting in the present time. They suggested may be we should change metaphors and celebrate the feast of Christ the President. Although the notion of kingship is alien to many of us, and history books show that a lot of human kings, up and down the centuries were cruel, bloodthirsty, and corrupt, nevertheless, the metaphor should remain. Why? The whole idea is that Christ must become the Lord of our lives. He is the one to whom an absolute submission is due. Presidents serve at our pleasure. We vote them in and we vote them out. But when it comes to Christ, it cannot be that way. That’s why the metaphor of kingship, even though it is politically awkward for us, is theologically right. We don’t vote him in and out. We submit completely to him. He must be the Lord of every aspect of our lives— private, public, physical, intellectual, spiritual, our friendships and relationships. Christ must be the center and the Lord of everything we do. So, he is in deed the King. 

But what kind of King is Jesus Christ? The salient point is this: we are not dealing with another Louis XIV, or Napoleon, or Caesar Augustus. Just the contrary. We are dealing with the one who rightly reigns over all those earthly kings and who does not resemble them in any way. Jesus is King of every aspect of our lives. He is a different kind of King. The first clue to the kind of King he is comes from today’s Gospel (John 18:33b-37) which is John’s account of Jesus’ conversation with the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. After summoning Jesus before him, Pilate asks him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus famously responds, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” By that he is implying that he is a King, but not a worldly king, not a head of a worldly kingdom. As we know, from the very beginning of his preaching and ministry, Jesus is all about a kingdom. He is proclaiming the kingdom of God. His kingdom does not belong to the power structure of this world that relies upon violence, cruelty, and domination to gain power and to persists in power. A good example of this kind of power structure is the one that Pontius Pilate represented. Romans did not send nice and gentle people to be governors of their provinces, particularly the province of Judea, which is famously restive. Pilate is a very tough man; he knew how to play the game of dirty and tough politics. Aside that, Pilate also knew how to deal bluntly and brutally with any political unrest. He carried out mass crucifixions to respond to rebellion. So, he is a prime example of a worldly king. 

So, what differentiates Jesus from cruel kings? The Lord says, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Worldly kingship has to do with power, self-aggrandizement, and violence. This is true for Caesar, for Machiavelli, to Hitler, to Stallion, to Idi Amin and to present day dictators and wanna be kings. But the kingship that Jesus represents is ordered to the truth. Its purpose is to guide people to the truth, which is another way of saying, guiding them toward God. Pope Benedict XVI speaks about what he called “dictatorship of relativism,” which is unfortunately the attitude that governs much of the life of many people today. Relativism says that truth does not matter; that as an individual, you can decide what you want to believe. It says you don’t need to be purposeful or focused. The danger with this culture is that it produces tyrants who oftentimes use this ideology of relativism to emerge and cease control. When you relativize the truth, when truth does not matter, when each person can decide what they want to believe, when there is no objective truth, when truth becomes personal both intellectually and morally, when you say, it is up to a person to decide what the truth is, when moral absolutes fall, tyrants walk into that space and then impose their will. Everyone— political leaders, religious leaders, public servants, private citizens etc should serve the truth. Everyone should be conditioned by the truth. Jesus tells Pilate that he has come to testify to the truth and anyone who loves the truth hears his voice. By implication, anyone who loves the truth follows him. In response to Jesus, Pontius Pilate who himself is a prime example of worldly power says, “What is truth?” For power person, truth is relative or subjective. Truth is whatever works, whatever that helps you maintain power and dominion. It’s just that sort of man who would blithely send an innocent man to be crucified. It’s because Pilate is indifferent to the truth, that’s why he sanctioned the death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

So, to say that Jesus is our King is to say that we have surrendered our lives utterly to the truth that he represents and embodies. We are not under the aegis of this worldly power brokers. True kingship has to do with the truth. It has to do with great encounter with God who is truth. This is what the feast of Christ the King is about. Are we willing to give ourselves utterly to this King? 

Apocalypse is Finally About Good News

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, November 14, 2021

As we come to the end of the liturgical year, it is most fitting that we meditate upon the apocalypse, the end-time, for that is what today’s Gospel is about. Jesus and his disciples are in the Temple of Jerusalem. For anyone of Jesus’ time, coming to the capital city from the countryside of Nazareth and seeing the Temple would definitely be an overwhelming experience. Undoubtedly, the Temple was the most beautiful and impressive thing any of the disciples of Jesus had ever seen. So, as they watch and admire the Temple’s glory and splendor, Jesus announces that the day is coming when no stone will be left upon another, that all will be torn down. Could you imagine what the reaction of his disciples would be? It’s like standing in front of the White House or St. Peter’s Square in Rome and announcing that a day will come when it will be torn down. To make matter worse, Jesus adds that the world as you know it is going to be destroyed: “In those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and stars will be falling from the sky, and the heavenly host will be shaken.” Could you imagine the impact of this language on the disciples? The person speaking is not any random person, but Jesus himself, and he is saying that the whole world of meaning is ending and falling apart. This kind of language is fascinating. And up and down the centuries, people are fascinated by apocalyptic language, about the end of time, when will it happen and what is it going to be like. This fascination about the end-time persists till this day. Walk into any bookstore and you will find lots of books  about the end-time. Go to your search engine like google, you will find thousands of references on the web about the end-time. Yes, we are fascinated by apocalyptic languages just as the disciples were when Jesus first uttered the apocalyptic words. 

The question then is, what do we make of Jesus’ apocalyptic words and how do we understand it? If we take his language as an actual description of cosmological events, we Christians are going to be on a very unpredictable ground. Check this out! Right after Jesus made those apocalyptic comments, he says, “Amen I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.” This generation? The generation that he was talking to? The first century Palestine? Is Jesus predicting that the space and time will end before the generation he was addressing passes away? If Jesus means it strictly, that means he is as wrong as he can be; and his prophetic credentials are really in trouble. So, beware of taking this language literally or else we undermine our Lord’s credibility. So, what does it mean? 

First, apocalyptic language is a kind of literary genre. The Book of Daniel in the OT is the best example of the apocalyptic literature. The Book of Revelation in the NT is another beautiful example of it. The word “apocalypse” is from the Greek word “apokalypsis” which means “unveiling,” taking the veil away, revelation. It does not mean the end of the world. But what’s being unveiled here? What’s being revealed? Let’s return to what Jesus says: In those days… the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, stars will fall from the sky…” 

Sisters and brothers, that’s a code language. For ancient people, the sun, the stars, the moon were means of navigation. People used them to find their way and to know the time of the day. Today, if we want to know the time of the day, we look at our watch. Back then, people look at the sun and the shadow of the sun. They believed that these cosmic principles guided their lives and governed the world. So, what Jesus is talking about here is that the temple which has served its purpose relatively well, would now give way to a new and definitive temple, his own body. He is saying that his own body, his own person, will become the place where humanity and divinity meet, and hence  the place of right praise. He is also saying that the cosmic principles of the sun, moon and the stars that are guiding, governing and ordering people’s lives will change. Something new is going to be unveiled (apocalypsis in Greek). And this change is going to happen in this generation. What change? His death and resurrection from the dead. After being rejected by everybody, Jesus was put to death by the religious and political establishment of his time. He was put to death by the Jewish and Roman authorities— keepers of the right order. The Lord of life came, and they killed him. What does that say about them? What does that say about the sun, the moon, the stars and the cosmic principles by which their political, cultural and social life are being governed? It means something is wrong with them because they killed the Lord of life. But then, Jesus whom they killed rises from the dead on the third day. 

If there is one thing we are certain of, it is the fact of death, the finality of death. People change their lifestyles due to the fact of death. But Jesus’ resurrection from dead means that the way we are governing and ordering our life has to change. Why? Because death does not have the final word. Death has been disempowered and it does not set the parameters of our life. Because I am afraid of dying, I cave in on myself. Because I am afraid of dying, I live an epicurean life. I trumpet my accomplishment. Because I am afraid of dying, I become violent. I can’t forgive another. Because I am afraid of dying, I fill my life up with material things. Because I am afraid of dying, I distract myself with all kinds of physical and sensual pleasures. The point is this, all sin comes ultimately from the fear of death. Every tyranny, every system of domination, every governmental brutality over the centuries is predicated upon fear. Because tyrants can make you afraid of death, he can oppress you. He can manipulate you, dominate you. But Jesus rising from the dead means God’s love is more powerful than death. That means the ways of sin are broken. That means I don’t have to live in pride, envy, avarice, fear, violence. I can now live in the freedom of God’s children. I can now live as God wants me to live. More to it, I don’t have to accept the tyranny of oppressive leaders for they have now been unmasked because something has been unveiled. The thing they were relying upon, the fear of death has been broken. The apocalypse, the unveiling of this new way of seeing and thinking and imagining has been revealed to us. Apocalyptic is not a depressing language after all; it is not a language that should frighten us. It’s quite the contrary. It’s meant to show us the way out. The old order is passing away, and a new order is being unveiled, revealed. That’s a great good news. As St. Paul says, it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. It means the old self predicated upon the fear of death, guided by the sun, moon and stars of the old order is falling out of the sky. They are gone. Now, I can govern my life by the power and life of Jesus Christ who is risen from the dead. That is why this apocalyptic language is finally the language of life, the language of hope.

The Enduring Lesson of the Two Widows

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

November 7, 2021

The readings for this weekend feature two widows. In biblical times, widows were very vulnerable figures especially those who had no support and assistance from nuclear or extended family. At that time, there was no social service network, no welfare assistance to support those who lost their means of livelihood. And because women were not breadwinners, they were the most threatened in the society. They were habitually exploited by the wealthy and the powerful. This is the reason why the prophets of the Old Testament talk so much about widows and orphans, about God’s love for them and the importance of caring for them.

In the first reading, we hear of the widow of Zarephath and her encounter with prophet Elijah. This story happened in the 9th century BC when the wicked Ahab was the king of Israel and his idol worshipping wife, Jezebel, was the queen. During this time, there was a severe famine in the land which prophet Elijah maintains is caused by king Ahab’s apostasy. For Elijah, God is punishing Israel because of the king’s idolatry. The bitting consequence of the draught brings the widow of Zarephath and her son on the edge of a precipice, on the edge of dying of starvation. They are now down to their last meal. Everything else they have is finished. And she has no tangible means of support, no helper and no hope. It is at this desperate moment that Elijah enters the scene. He comes to her and begs, “please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” Elijah’s request brings to mind another request made in the New Testament. To the woman at the well Jesus says, “Give me to drink.” The woman at the well was an outsider for the following reasons: she was a woman, which made her a second class citizen; she was a Samaritan, that is untouchable for the Jews; she had been married so many times, and probably seen as adulterous. So, both Elijah and Jesus spoke to women in rather desperate situations and asked them to give. What? To give? These women need something. They need to receive something. But here is the paradox. It is precisely when you need something that you are asked to give. This giving can take many forms. It might mean the giving of your wealth, it might mean giving joy, giving life, giving peace, becoming instrument of God’s purposes. Give out of your poverty. 

After Elijah asks for water, he intensifies his request. Like Oliver Twist, he asks for more. When the widow protests that what she has is just one meal for her and her son before they die, Elijah asks her to make him a cake. At the very bottom of her life, when she has nothing, she is invited now to give and give. The great spiritual truth is that when you are linked to God who is nothing but Gift, you can give and give and never run out. As Elijah says, “The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry.” The widow of Zarephath was able to eat for a year with her son because they gave everything away. The flip side of this truth is this— when we cling to false substitutes to God- wealth, power, pleasure and honor, we can amass as much as we want, but we will never get enough. If you turn something that is not God into God, you can store up all you want, it will never be enough. God is love. To be filled with God is to be filled with love. This is the biblical principle and once you get it, you have the Bible. If you want your life to increase, give it away. If you want your faith to increase, share it. If your faith is not strong enough, share the little you have with someone, and it will grow. If you want joy in your life, become a bearer of joy. Make other people joyful. When we are running out, the tendency is to panic and to cling to the little we have. But the biblical principle says that your being increases in the measure that you give it away. If you want more life, become a bearer of life to others. You become more peaceful by being a conduit of peace, by spreading peace around. 

In the Gospel (Mark 12:38-44), we encounter another widow. Towards the end of his life, Jesus comes with his disciples into the temple precinct. He notices the scribes and pharisees wearing their distinctive robes, accepting greetings according to their proper titles and taking seats of honor. In order words, they were in a classic hoarding mode. They are not so much hoarding money but they are taking much honor and privilege and attention as possible. Some people think that grabbing more honor and title from people will make them happy. However, anyone who has tried this trick knows how hopeless it is. Because the thrill one gets from such attention, such greetings, such titles wears off very quickly. And after that, one needs more and more of it, and the person will never get enough. But with the widow in today’s Gospel, we see a great contrast. Like the widow of Zarephath, this poor lady gives the last thing she has for the glory of God. As Jesus puts it, she contributed from her poverty, not from her surplus. A widow with no welfare system behind her and no visible means of support, but she takes the tiny gift she has and offered it to God. We don’t know what eventually happened to this widow. We are not told if she was rewarded like the widow of Zarephath, however the biblical principle still holds: your being increases in the measure you give it away. Do you feel like you have hit bottom? Are you like the widow of Zarephath and the widow in the Gospel? Are you down to the last meal, to the last bit of money? Look for Elijah especially now. Look for the presence of the Lord and he always invite you to do one thing— to give. Mark this! The divine comes into our lives precisely at the moment of  great vulnerability and need. When we rely absolutely on own power and resources, we can rarely reach out to God. When everything is going well, and we have plenty of comfort, money and satisfaction, we depend on those securities. We tend to be indifferent to God and tend to keep God at bay. We become confident that our education and job can guarantee us all the goods of the world. However, when ego and those securities are knocked around, wounded, rendered powerless, that is often when God moves in. It is precisely when we hit bottom like the widow of Zarephath, that we are ready to receive divine grace.