Reflection On Luke 2:22-35

Reflection On Luke 2:22-35

As an infant, Jesus was presented in the temple by his mother, Mary and foster-father, Joseph. After coming of age, precisely at 33 years, Jesus was definitively presented once again on the cross of Calvary. This Presentation of Jesus, perfected on the cross, is re-presented at the Mass. So, upon every Catholic altar, Jesus is re-presented every time the Mass is celebrated. Although the Mass is a festive meal— because in it we are fed with the Lord’s very Body and Blood; but the Mass is also a sacrifice. How come? It involves the offering of Jesus’ Body and Blood to the Father. Does God really need this sacrifice? Not at all! God needs nothing. We serve an all-sufficient God (El-Shaddai). God lacks nothing and needs nothing. However, our salvation is effected and made possible through this very sacrifice, through this presentation. Whenever this sacrifice is offered, whenever this re-presentation of Jesus to the Father occurs at Mass, we are brought back to the Father through the Son. This is the primary reason why the Mass is considered the great Catholic prayer. 

Some Catholics complain that the Mass is too routine, that it is not spirit-filled, meaning that it doesn’t move them emotionally; that it has no room for speaking in tongues, to clap and dance, and to be spiritually rowdy. Others complain that the homily is dry, boring, too short, too long and doesn’t address their situations or questions. As a result, their Mass attendance becomes irregular, and with the passage of time, they eventually stop altogether. When such persons meet any of their priests or church member and the priest or church members says, “Hey, it’s been a long time since I saw you in church,” some of them usually say, “Yeah, I don’t attend Mass as regular as I used to, but I still pray at home.” Now, it’s a good thing they still pray, but they are missing the great Catholic prayer. They are missing the great spiritual space where the Son, Jesus, bearing the sins of the world, is presented to the Father. Christians are urged to pray in season and out of season. We pray the rosary, Divine Mercy devotional prayer, Novenas, vocal prayers, recitation of Psalms, the Our Father, Jesus’ prayer. Some read the Bible, meditate on it and pray with it too. Each of these prayers are great and we are constantly encouraged to make prayer an important act in our lives. But one prayer that stands out, that ranks higher than all these prayers is the Mass. In the long list of prayers we say, the Mass sits far at the top of it all. Why? At Mass, Jesus is re-presented to the Father and we are brought back to the Father over and over again through the Son. At every Mass, we are, so to speak, redeemed afresh. Our Burden-Bearer, Jesus, bearing our sins, is offered and presented to the Father repeatedly. 

If you are still looking for the reason to attend Mass regularly, this is it. If you think your sins have separated you from God, attend Mass regularly. If you are weighed down by sin and guilt, attend Mass regularly. If you are seriously interested in making heaven, you should make Mass attendance a top priority. No matter what your spiritual or moral life is about, the Mass is always the place where you and all the faithful are brought back to the Father through the Son.

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

At IHM Convent, Minneapolis, USA

Friday, December 29, 2023

Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family

Family Is meant To Be An Ecclesiola— A Little Church

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Nowadays, lots of people talk about what makes a family healthy, well integrated, functional and peaceful. But on this Feast of the Holy Family, we can see on full display, the one thing necessary that makes a family holy. Our Gospel passage (Luke 2:22-40) is the narrative of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. What is the significance of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple? The temple was, in a practically literal sense, the dwelling place of Yahweh. In the temple, divinity and humanity met and embraced. In the temple, the human race was brought back in line with God. But according to the great prophet Ezekiel, the sins of the nation had caused the glory of the Lord to depart from the temple (Ezekiel 10:18-19). One of the deepest longings of ancient Israel was to rebuild and reestablish the temple as the place of right praise so that the glory of the Lord might return. When Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus into the temple, it was appreciated that the glory of Yahweh is returning to his rightful and favorite dwelling. This is what the old seer, Simeon, saw that made him to pray, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace… for my eyes have seen the salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the people….” 

Check this out, everybody! At the Presentation, the whole family was present. Joseph was present. Mary was present. Jesus was present. Jesus was not presented in absentia. There was no stand-in for Mary or Joseph. The three were present in the temple, the dwelling place of Yahweh, the God of Israel. Lots of people are telling us what makes a family healthy. But the Church is interested in something more, something deeper. The great St. Pope John Paul II often said that the family is meant to be an ecclesiola— a little church. That means that the family is the forum in which the worship of God at home and in the church is the supreme value and discernment of mission is the supreme task. Parents should realize that their first responsibility is to teach their children to seek God’s wisdom, God’s will and purposes before worldly accomplishments. Early enough, parents should demonstrate the quality so clearly displayed in the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, which is, the willingness to make the family a domestic church, a little church that is rooted in God and in what matters to God. Make Mass attendance and participation, the great Catholic prayer, a sine qua non (something absolutely necessary), for it will make your family holy. 

Happy New Year, everybody!

What “You Have Found Favor With God” Could Mean For You

If an angel of the Lord appears to you in your residence and greets you as follows, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you,” your initial reaction would most certainly be that of fear and tremble, shock and awe. Why? Because a reality from another dimension has invaded your space. You will be shaken because an agent from a realm beyond what can be seen and known has crashed into your familiar and safe environment. When the Blessed Virgin Mary was visited by angel Gabriel, she too was “greatly troubled.” And if the visitor angel, after a brief conversation, now says to you “Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God,” I bet, your reaction would most likely be, “Okay, which of my many prayer points and petitions is God about to answer?” “Has God finally decided to heal me of my diseases?” “Am I about to get my dream job?” “Am I about to get out of my financial mess?” “For long, I have prayed to be powerful, to be loved and honored, to hit a jackpot and win millions of dollars. I have long prayed to enjoy life and to enjoy myself. Which of my long list of ‘give me’ and ‘do for me’ is God about to answer?” “Is God about to take away all my worries, sorrows, pains, aches, and problems away?” “I have been praying for the return of my children to the faith, is God about to do something about it?”

What do you think came to the mind of the Blessed Mother the moment she heard the angel say, “You have found favor with God?” Did she think in the way many of us would do? The authors of the Gospels did not tell us. But since Mary was fully human— flesh and blood like us, it is possible she did think in those terms. She had recently been betrothed to Joseph. They were possibly planning and preparing for their wedding. And as a little girl with deep religious faith in God, it is possible she prayed like many religious women and girls would do: that Joseph is the right man, that her wedding be a successful event, that she would be happy in the marriage, and that the marriage will not derail her from loving and serving God. She may have prayed in those terms. But sometimes, due to our great love and affection for Mary, due to our great appreciation of her fiat, her saying yes to God, we sometimes almost deify her and in the process, we strip her of her humanity. But let’s not forget that Mary was fully a human being with desires, wants and aspirations. So, upon hearing the angel say, “You have found favor with God,” she may have thought that God is assuring her that Joseph is the Mr. Right; that the wedding event, which was a big deal in Mary’s cultural setting (remember the wedding in Cana), would be a huge success and that her marriage to Joseph will offer her peace and joy. Remember, none of the Gospel authors gave us the details of what I am highlighting here. The Gospel narratives are synthesis and summaries of Jesus’ public life and ministry. If everything and every detail was written, John says “I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25b). 

In the Annunciation story, we are told that before Mary could figure out which of her intercessory prayers was about to be answered or to ask the angel, “What do you mean?” “How have I found favor with God?” the angel Gabriel dropped a spiritual bomb upon her: “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” I tell you, this is an atomic spiritual bomb being dropped on a teenage girl of 14 years. In the face of this overwhelming declaration, Mary is utterly shocked. Mary is confused, nevertheless, she is able to exercise the powers of her mind: “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” she asks. The Blessed Mother is presented in the Gospels as someone who prays. The beautiful prayer generally known as the The Canticle of Mary or The Magnificat could not have been said by a prayerless, casual and unserious person. So, Mary was a prayer warrior on earth and remains so in heaven. This fact leads me to assert that she most likely did pray for some particular things. She must have prayed for Ann and Joachim, her parents. She must have prayed for Joseph, her husband to be. She must have prayed for many other things just as we do today. But when God particularly remembered her, when she found favor with God, what she was given was something she never imagined or dreamed or prayed for. Did Mary ever pray, “Lord God, I want to be the Mother of God? I want to be the Ark of the New Covenant?” I don’t think so. Such a thing is not in the list of things we pray for. We can ask God to make us more like him, but no untested teenage girl or even an adult would ever pray to be the definitive House of God. 

Where am I taking you to with this exegesis and eisegesis? After all is said and done, always remember this very stubborn spiritual fact— your life is not about you. Our faith encourages us to pray without ceasing. Jesus enjoins us to pray without losing heart (Luke 18:1-8). Jesus urges us to ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7). The lives of the saints calls us to be people of prayer. St. Alphonsus said that those who pray will be saved and those who do not pray will be lost. Pray for good health. Pray for a long and healthy life. Pray for salvation. Ask God to better your life. Pray to have a good and happy marriage. Pray for financial freedom. Pray for protection and victory over the forces of darkness. Pray for your loved ones. Please, pray all the time as you are able to. Remember that prayer is the sine qua non of Christian living and of being linked to God. However, be open, be ready and be willing to hear what Mary heard, “You have found favor with God.” This God’s favor may not be in the list of the things you have asked in the past, and in the present or would ask in the future. You finding favor with God might drastically change and alter your life in ways you never dreamed or imagined. Like Mary, what God is giving you might “crush” your life. Mary’s life was changed forever. The favor she found with God is not in the list of the things we ask God for and most certainly was not in the list of items that Mary prayed for. 

Check this out! Responding to Mary’s question, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” the angel says to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). In other words, someone much more powerful than you will overwhelm your physical, moral, intellectual, and spiritual abilities and capabilities. That person will take you to the place you cannot possibly go on your own. After the initial fear and confusion, after going through some emotional distress and spiritual crisis (What does God want me to do?), Mary completely surrenders, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Do I think that the Blessed Mother understood in great detail the message of the angel, I don’t think so! At the time of the Annunciation, did the Most Amazing Woman comprehend these words, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you?” I am not sure! She was just 14 years old. What does a 14 year old girl in the first century know about being overshadowed? But what is going well for Mary is her spiritual acuteness. She was spiritually alert and vigilant. She knew that Yahweh, the God of Israel, is the One speaking to her through angel Gabriel. She trusted God and trusted the message of the messenger. By surrendering to God’s will and purposes for her, she exhibits great faith and thereby undoes the refusal of Eve, the first woman. Mary’s fiat to something impossible made possible the Incarnation of God. She allowed God’s love to become enfleshed for the salvation, transfiguration and transformation of the world. God’s favor to you may not be what you bargained for or prayed for or imagined. It might crush your life, change and alter the trajectory of your life. It may not be what you want today, tomorrow or in the future. However, if you, like the Blessed Mother, agrees that “you have found favor with God” and yields to God in toto, God is able to gather your apparently crushed life together and use it to create pequena navidad, little Christmas. The Blessed Mother is often praised as the Mother of the Church, and the matrix of all discipleship. What it means is that her fiat is now the ground and model of every disciple’s response to God’s desire for incarnation. We are all called to be “mothers of Christ,” that is, bearers of the incarnate word, in the measure that we agree and consent to God’s will and purposes. There was a time in my life I thought God crushed my life by calling me to become a priest. But now I believe that God has put my life together and has continued to use the unworthy me, as a conduit, a vehicle of spreading and making his love and mercy real. 

God bless you!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Brooklyn Center, MN

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Homily for the Solemnity of Christmas

God Is Now Here!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Solemnity of Christmas, Year B

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Monday, December 25, 2023

In the December edition of Costco Connection, the Senior Vice President, Corporate Membership, Marketing and Publisher, Sandy Torrey, writes, “For me, spending time with them (friends and family) is truly what my Christmas is all about.” Do we spend time with friends and family during Christmas time? Yes! Should we spend time with friends and family during Christmas? Yes! But is spending time with friends and family what Christmas essentially is all about? No! No! No! Christmas is much more. Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with friends and family members. It is about God, the Creator of the universe, becoming a human being. The great joy of Christmas is that the Creator of the universe, who transcends every definition and concept, took to himself a nature like ours. God became one of us and one with us. At Christmas, we celebrate with our sisters and brothers in the faith, with our biological brothers and sisters and with friends, the greatest miracle ever in human history. God’s greatest gift was given to us at Christmas, so, we acknowledge it and celebrate it as a family. Reducing Christmas to a merely family reunion or to a social gathering dishonors this great event. It demonstrates either a lack of understanding of what Christmas is about or an abundance of ingratitude to our loving and merciful God. 

In today’s Gospel, we hear, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” The word used in Greek here for “made his dwelling” is eskenosen, which literally means, “pitched his tent among us.” Now, do not read that in a casual way. 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 of Nazareth, 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 what Christmas is about, and this is what we celebrate. 

But why did God come? The Word becoming flesh is God coming to dwell definitively in his world, undoing the effects of sin and turning it into what it was always meant to be. More to it, God comes in order to make us participants in God’s own life. God wants to share his life with us. Although his arrival was quiet, silent and unknown by many, nevertheless, he has come as a warrior ready to fight. When we look at the manger, what we see is a helpless infant, born of insignificant parents in a  tiny and unknown distant outpost of the Roman Empire. However, as we learned from the Scripture and Tradition, he did conquer through the irresistible power of his love, the same power with which he created the world. 

God bless you! And Merry Christmas, everybody!

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B

Advent Is An Adventure

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, December 24, 2023

To understand the importance of Mary, who is significantly an Advent figure, we have to look at the story of Adam and Eve. In the Book of Genesis, we are told that God placed our first parents in a garden and gave them practically free reins to eat all the fruits in the garden except for one. The garden stands for science, philosophy, literature, sports, business, politics, and all the things that make human life on earth rich and wonderful. God wants us to be fully alive. In the words of the Church Father St. Irenaeus, “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.” God wants us to flourish. Sadly, the secular mindset hyper-stresses the prohibition of eating from one tree over the permission to enjoy the garden completely. Why does God order Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?, the secular mind asks. In their calculation, God does not want us to be fully alive. God wants to limit us. In fact, God is a rival and if you eat of that tree, you will be like God and God will resent it. Who is the origin of this kind of mindset, the mindset of total freedom without any interference? The devil. In the Book of Genesis, that is precisely how the devil interprets it. Coming to the woman (Eve), the devil argues, “God knows well that when you eat of it (the forbidden fruit in the garden) your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). In other words, God is jealous of you. God does not really want you to be really free. Hence, you must grasp from him or else he dominates you. You must take what God does not want to give you. But the reason for God’s prohibition of one tree is that the best things in life come to us, when, at the end of our striving, at the end of what we can accomplish, we receive them as gifts. God is not keeping anything from our first parents— that’s the old false myth. Rather he wants them to be fully alive, and that can happen only when they accept the gift. What is Original Sin? It is to grasp things originally meant to be received as gifts. That’s Original Sin and from it comes all the sufferings of the human race.

In today’s Gospel, the angel Gabriel greets Mary, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” Sensing that Mary is troubled by the greeting, the angel assures her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” As she is about to take a breather, the angel drops a spiritual bomb on her, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” At the end of the story, Mary surrenders, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” In the most popular Catholic prayer, we say, “Hail Mary full of grace.” The word grace, “gratia” in Latin means a gift freely given. Mary is addressed as someone who is out to receive gifts. She is full of grace. She is someone who is ready to receive. What is the problem of Adam and Eve? They grasp at God, but Mary says, “Let it be done to me.” She is ready to receive gifts. Upon hearing that she is going to become the Mother of the Son of God,  Mary’s questions, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” Notice that the angel’s promise raised the curiosity of Mary. Her mind is alive. God wants us to fully use all the powers of our mind, and that’s what Mary did. Attending Mary’s curiosity, the angel tells her something, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” I tell you, that’s the language of grace. It means, Mary, you will be taken somewhere you cannot go on your own. God is not trying to put us down or to suppress us. God is trying to elevate us to the place where we cannot reach on our own. Mary is allowing herself to be carried by a higher power. What’s in your life that is preventing God’s grace from carrying you to the place you cannot go on your own? What’s causing you spiritual paralysis, unable to move to Christ and the Church? Is it doubt? Fear and anger? Resentment and bitterness? Is it ignorance of the faith or self-reproach? Like the Blessed Mother Mary, open wide your mouth and say, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done for me according to your word.” Remember, the heart of the spiritual life is knowing that your life is not about you. If you live according to this principle, your entire life will change for the glory of God. 

Speaking further, the Holy Spirit said, “And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” The Danish philosopher and theologian, Soren Kierkegaard said, “Faith is the passion for the impossible.” It does not mean passion for the irrational, rather a willingness to be entertained and to be fed that which my mind cannot grasp on its own. It is a willingness for adventure. Things you never believed are possible are possible by the power of God. Mary is the paradigm of Advent faith. The beautiful story of Annunciation ends with Mary’s fiat, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done for me according to your word.” Eve grasps, but Mary surrenders to the alluring power of the Holy Spirit: “Let it be done to me.” Mary’s power was not suppressed, rather she got herself ready for adventure. And Advent is an adventure. We are waiting for the arrival of the Son of God. We must be willing to be taken by the Son of God where we cannot go on our own. 

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, Year B

John the Baptist: The Greatest Man Ever

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, Year B

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, December 17, 2023

On this Third Sunday of Advent, we hear about one of the saints of Advent, John the Baptist. The other two are prophet Isaiah and the Blessed Mother Mary. Today’s Gospel begins as follows, “A man named John was sent from God.” What is his mission? To testify to the light— because he was not, himself, the light. From ancient times, God has sent messengers, spokespersons. Think of the patriarchs, the fathers of the Old Testament— Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son, Jacob. Think of all the prophets of Israel— Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos, Elijah, Daniel, Malachi, etc. and indeed of every sage, philosopher, artist, or poet who has communicated something of God’s truth and beauty. Think of great political figures like Constantine, Abraham Lincoln etc. who keyed into God’s intense desire to liberate all people from the shackles of slavery and oppression. Think of all the great saints in our Catholic tradition who became “alter Christus” (“another Christ”) and by doing so became role models for us. Think of our parents, grandparents, godparents, faith-formators, priests, bishops, teachers etc. who taught us the vital importance of knowing God, loving God and serving God. In different ways, they have taught us of the necessity and indispensability of God. What do all these figures have in common? They were all sent by God to lead us to the light. Those of you who have listened to my sermons in the past know how much I speak about my mother and grand-mother. I lost my father very early in life. As such, it was these two great women of faith who relentlessly formed and guided me on the path that ultimately brought me to where I am today. When I was coming of age, I heard my mother say, as she was addressing her children, “Whatever you think is greater than God, don’t give it to me. I don’t want it.” The impact of her words was that immediately I knew that God should be the greatest pursuit of my life and of everyone’s life. I knew that God is the Highest Good, Summum Bonum. 

We have a long list of people who have been sent by God and who communicated to us God’s love, God’s compassion, God’s justice, God’s will, God’s purposes, and God’s desires. But the birth and sending of John the Baptist is qualitatively different. It is one of its kind. How come? Judaism considers Malachi to be the last of the biblical prophets. Before John the Baptist was born, ancient Israel went four hundred years without a prophet. People wondered if Yahweh had stopped speaking and if Yahweh had forgotten them. Then in the early 1st century AD, John the Baptist entered the stage. His ministry started with a bang. His revolutionary message got the attention of all and sundry. Although he was a son of a temple priest, he did not preach from the temple. He preached from the desert, a place far away from home, yet, people against all odds, went there to listen to him. As shown in our Gospel passage for today, priests and Levites wondered if he were the Christ. To his credit, John did not claim to be who and what he was not. He simply said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord.” The humility and honesty of John later prompted Jesus to say, “Among those born of women, there has been none greater than John the Baptist.” Of all those sent by God, John is uniquely different. Why? He is the one that concretely and directly points to Jesus: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me” (John 1:29-30). The Blessed Mother Mary is considered the greatest woman ever. And I say that John the Baptist is the greatest man ever. When the Ark of the Old Covenant was being brought to Jerusalem, we were told that King David danced before it. Centuries after, when the Ark of the New Covenant, Mary visited Elizabeth, the infant John the Baptist danced in his mother’s womb before Mary. Of all the messengers and spokespersons sent by God, John the Baptist is the greatest. By the grace of God, he knew the long expected Messiah was in their midst. He announced it loud and clear. He called people  to prepare to welcome him. Even when people thought he was the Messiah, John said no, that he was basically a voice announcing the Adventus of the Messiah. And as soon as Jesus appeared on the public scene, John identified him as the Lamb for the sacrifice. He did not contest the stage with Jesus. In fact he said, he will decrease and Jesus will increase. And after that, John took the backstage and allowed Jesus to take the centre stage that is deservedly his.

Asked by the Pharisees in our Gospel today, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the prophet?” John says, “I baptize with water.” What’s the significance of his baptism? To show that ancient Israel was unfit and ill-prepared to meet the Messiah. His baptism is that of repentance. Repentance, metanoia in Greek. In our culture, repentance has been given a bad name. It is mistaken to be judgmental. Speak about repentance and you will see people even in church rolling their eyes and looking for a way to leave the church. But Advent is supposed to be a desert time, to strip things away and purposely and consciously ask the great questions of “How do I stand with God?” “Is the worship of God the greatest thing in my life?” We are worried about so many things— jobs, family, entertainment, politics etc. We are worried about traveling, about the airport, about money etc. Those can be our distractions and diversions. But the message of Advent, the message of John the Baptist is that of preparation. Are you ready to meet someone who is qualitatively different? Are you ready to encounter the bearer of divine truth? If you are not, the Baptist says, repent! Μετανοώ in Greek which literally means “Go beyond the mind you have!” Reform! Change your way of thinking, change your way of seeing. How do you see and assess the world? If you don’t see it as God sees it, change! Wear the world lightly. Enjoy the goods of the world but don’t become attached to them. Be ready to let them go and do not make their pursuit your greatest and ultimate pursuit in life. Be willing to share with the poor. Practice at least one of the corporal works of mercy like feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned. Do this and it will make you holy. Finally, sustain these practices with prayer. 

God bless you!

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, Year B

Subversive Words About Christ

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, Year B

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, December 10, 2023

The central thesis of Christianity is that Yahweh, the God of Israel, who displayed his matchless power in the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt after 430 years of oppression, who also displayed his awesome power in the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile, has definitively revealed himself in Jesus Christ. He has deposed all the false powers of the world and reasserted himself as the new King of the world. He has effectively rendered Pharaoh, the King of Babylon, the emperor of Rome and all their successors powerless. As such, the primary task of the First Christians was to announce the Advent, the arrival of this new King. Today’s Gospel is taken from St. Mark. Who  is he? Mark was a companion of Peter. He was the interpreter of Peter; “he helped the prince of the Apostles to put his Aramaic into Greek. He helped him, too, to address those who spoke Latin.” In the Acts of the Apostles, Mark was in some stage of his career a companion of Paul. Mark’s friends— Peter and Paul were both put to death around the year 65 AD in the persecution carried out by Emperor Nero. Mark wrote his Gospel probably in Rome around the year 70 AD, just five years after his friends Peter and Paul were crucified by the State. What’s the opening line of Mark’s gospel? “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.”

When we read those words today, it can sound harmlessly familiar to us. It can sound pious to us, but in the first century, those were fighting words. Those were problem-seeking words to say. How come? The Greek word used there is euangelion, which means “good news,” “glad tidings.” Evangelism also comes from that word. In ancient times, euangelion was used to describe an imperial victory. When Caesar won a battle or stamp out a violent rebellion or insurrection, he would send out evangelists ahead with the good news, euangelion that he had won a battle. But in the opening line of his Gospel, Mark is now saying that the real good news doesn't have anything to do with Caesar. He is saying that the real victory, victory over sin and death, has been won, not by Caesar but by the one Caesar put to death but whom God raised from the dead. He is the real and true King. Mark is saying that you can have and associate with the kings of this world and with the powers that be, but he has the real good news, and it is about the victorious God of Israel. 

To rub it all in, Mark refers to Jesus as “the Son of God.” Again, calling Jesus “the Son of God” is very familiar to us, but those were fighting words too. Caesar had many titles and one of them was “Son of God.” The famous Julius Caesar was assassinated in 42 BC; but right after his death, he was formally deified as “the divine Julius.” He was given the status of a god. His adopted son, Augustus, became “the Son of God;” and that title was assumed by the Roman emperors after him. Romans more than the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks carried out the order of their emperors to the letters. They considered their emperor a divine figure. So, when Mark now said, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God” he was looking for a life ending trouble. His words were deeply subversive. He was trying to destroy or undermine an established system of governance, institution and belief. Without fear or favor, Mark was saying that the Roman emperor was not really the Son of God, that he is not the bearer of God’s order, rather, Jesus is. He is saying that Caesar’s kingdom is not the Kingdom of God. Where is Mark making this declaration? In Rome! Not in Galilee or Jerusalem. He was in the capital of the empire that killed his friends, Peter and Paul. Mark was certainly in the minority. But right at the beginning of his work he says, “I have the real Gospel; I  have the real good news, and I am here to tell you the one who is really “The Son of God” and his name is Jesus Christ.” Mark is saying that the authentic Son of God is the one who is more powerful than Caesar. 

But why did the Church give us this Gospel passage on the Second Sunday of Advent?What is the Church doing here? What’s the Church saying? The Church, which is the Bride of Christ, is saying loud and clear that Advent should not just be seen or considered as a sentimental exercise. It should not be treated as one more box to be checked in the long list of your religious questions and exercises. In the season of Advent, the Church stands up and says that all those powers that claim to be the source of order, the source of authority, the bearer of truth whose messages ought to be announced around the world, thread on social media and become breaking news on major newspapers and cable TV networks etc are not it. Jesus Christ is the bearer of divine power and the bearer of divine order. He is the true King to whom final allegiance is due. Advent is a penitential season to make the necessary adjustments in our lives and to finally allow the true King to enter into every sector of our lives and then reign and dominate.  

Veni Sancte Spiritus! 

Homily for the First Sunday of Advent, Year B

What It Means To Be Watchful And Alert

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the First Sunday of Advent, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, December 3, 2023

We’ve come to the beginning of the liturgical year in the life of the Church. We’ve come to Advent, Adventus in Latin, which means “coming” or “arrival.” As you already know, Advent is a time of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas and his return at the Second Coming. In our today’s Gospel (Mark 13:33-37), Jesus urges, “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.”  What time? The time of his coming that is happening right now in the life of the Church and his definitive coming at the end of time, his Second Coming. What does it mean to be watchful and alert? First and foremost, to be watchful and alert is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and being. It is to persistently and delightfully find rest and refuge in God. God is the Summum Bonum, the Highest Good. To stay awake therefore is to make God the greatest pursuit of your life. Nevertheless, this does not stop you from living your ordinary life. It does not prevent you from having interests in entertainment, in politics, in social issues, in science, in finance, in marketing, in innovation, in friendships, in family, in religion, in community organizing, in advocating for justice and peace etc. Christianity is not a sad and depressing journey. As human beings, we are definitely going to be interested in other things, but if the organizing principle of our life and activities is God alone, then we are spiritually alert and vigilant. If Jesus is at the center of everything we do, if he is the Governor and the commanding General of every sector of our life, then we are watchful disciples of Jesus.  

What else do we need to do to stay awake and be alert? The great St. Augustine said, “Keep awake with your heart, with faith, with charity, with good works.” What does that mean? Love others! Look upon others with affection and understanding, be aware of the needs of those around you, see Jesus in them and consider the help you render to them as part of preparing for the arrival of Jesus. Check this out! If you see Jesus in the needy, in those who live on the margins of the society, in the “unlovable,” we derogatorily call “losers” “bozos” “hobos” “bums” “tramps” etc. I tell you, you will never pass them by without doing something, or at least think of what you can do to help. We can give reasons why some people find themselves on the outer side of the society begging for charity. We can blame them. We can look the other way when we see them. We can conclude that they are irredeemable and can’t be helped. We can be overwhelmed by the fact that we can’t solve all their problems. And you may be right. But I don’t think we are called to solve all their problems. To think you can do so is actually problematic because you may have “messianic tendency.” Just be aware of the tears and needs of others, and if you are able to attend to it, move, act. Do something! Stop the blame game of “It is their fault” or “It is their problem.” In reality, it might actually be our fault. In fact, it is all of our problems. For the great civil rights icon, Dr. Matthew Luther King, Jr. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We are connected to one another the way organs in the body are connected. Although individualism has so affected us, the unyielding fact is that whatever society we have is by a social contract. As members of the Church, whether we like it or not, we are connected to all the saints, but not just the saints alone but the good, the bad, the ugly and the indifferent. The duty of an awakened Christian is not to apportion blame, but to do what he or she is able to do to make the life of another better. In John 3:17, Jesus says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” If God the Father did not send God the Son into the wicked world to judge and condemn the world, why are we judging and condemning people? The abject poverty in any society is an indication that all is not well with us and with the system we have in place. When you see someone on the margins of society, look at the person through a theological lens of “This is me, even if not in the material sense but in the spiritual and moral sense.” May the material poverty of others wake us up to reality— that I might be this poor spiritually.

What’s the enemy to being watchful and being alert? It is the bad sleep of negligence. It is the nightmare of indifference and clinging to one’s private egotistic needs. It is the horror of centering one’s life on one’s own ego, desires and concerns alone, while failing to pay any attention to others. Stoicism is not a Christian principle per se. Apathy or disinterestedness is not a Christian virtue. However, becoming an unproductive alarmist is also not the way to go. A watchful Christian is aware of the tears and the needs of our neighbors, and also realizes that it is in serving them that we serve the Lord. By doing this, the Christian counters the indifference and cruelty in the world and shines a spotlight in the goodness that still exists in people. The enemy to the Lord’s call to “Be watchful!” and to “Be alert” is discouragement, lack of hope, and disappointment. Keep this in mind: Jesus is coming into the world, not as a severe Judge who seeks to punish us, rather as a helpless and poor child who asks us to welcome him as he lays in the manger meant for animals. 

Homily on the Solemnity of Christ the King

Jesus Christ is King! But What Does It Mean?

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Solemnity of Christ the King, Year A

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church

Sunday, November 26, 2023

At the end of every liturgical year, we celebrate something centrally important to our faith, and that is the stubborn fact that Jesus Christ is the King of the universe and the Lord of our lives. But what does it mean to say that Jesus is King? It means we totally belong to him. It means it is “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:27). In the words of the great Apostle, St. Paul, it means “It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). If our professional life, business life, family life, religious life, entertainment life, social life etc. is not lived in him, if we don’t move and have our being in him, then we are messing around with Christianity. If we pay lip service to Jesus, and don’t submit completely to him, we are fooling around with Christianity and not taking him seriously. If we pay attention to Christ only a few minutes on Sunday, if Jesus matters more only on Sunday, if your religious life is the only place that Jesus matters, but when it comes to your professional, social, political and entertainment life, you keep him at bay, you are not making him your King. If we pretend that Jesus is just one religious figure among the many, that he is just another interesting philosopher, then we are playing around with Christianity. It means we are not treating Christ as King.

Concretely, what does it mean to say that Jesus Christ is King? If we are asked if Jesus is the King of our house where we live, everyone here will say yes. But what does it mean? It means that Jesus is welcome in every room of your house? If he is only welcome in one room and not in the rest, then He is not yet your King. When I was coming of age in Nigeria, I used to hear stories of wealthy men who belonged to secret cult. Stories had it that in their mansion, they would reserve a special room where an altar is erected and where they worshipped the prince of darkness, Satan. I also heard that that very room is never accessible by other members of the family. The wife, children, house-helps, etc were never allowed to enter that special room. Most of my African brothers and sisters have heard of this story too. Now, a Christian who indulges in such a practice is toying with Christianity; that person is not making Jesus his or her King. If we keep Jesus on the outer edge of our life, on the fringe of our society, and not declare him sovereign of every aspect of our society, we are sequestering him, and not treating him as King. That Jesus is King means he is the Lord of everything. He is Dominus— that is the Latin rendering of Kyrios, which means Lord. The word “Dominus” has the overtone of “domination.” Yes, Jesus is Dominus in every aspect of our life. He either dominates all sectors of our life or we are not treating him as King. 

If we are asked if Jesus is the King of your family life, everyone here will say yes. But what does it mean that Jesus is the King of your family life? It means you must treat everyone in your family as the end and never as the means. It means you will never use anyone in your family. As a priest for 16 years, I have heard and seen situations where parents use their children and children use their parents. Think of parents manipulating their children and wanting them to realize their own dreams and aspirations through their children. Think of adult brothers and sisters manipulating each other and using each other as means to an end and to get ahead. You want to accomplish something  and you use a family member to accomplish it. I hear stories of family members in Africa telling tall stories to their relatives that live overseas just to get money from them. I know of someone who lives in Europe. Members of his family in Africa were always “sick” and always asking him to send money for their medical treatment. He suspected that his brothers and sisters were using him. When he traveled to his country, he struck a deal with a hospital. He said to his relatives, “Whenever you are sick, go to this hospital, they will treat you and then bill me.” Guess what happened? None of them was sick again. When I was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, my parish paid the supposedly co-pay of a young man to refill his medicine every month. Towards the end of the month, he will come to my office, and I will hand him a $20 bill so that he can get his life-saving medicine. After almost four years of doing this, I discovered he gets that medicine totally free. The government pays for it. To make Christ the King of your family means treating everyone in your family and in your life as an end, and not as means. 

If you are asked if Jesus is the King of your relationship, you are most likely going to say yes. But what does that mean? To make Jesus the King of your relationships means not looking at your friend or friends as means to an end. Let me use this example. You are a young woman, a young man approaches you, and you agree to go out with him. You are a young man and you notice a young woman with great potential, and you approached her and asked her out. With the passage of time, you realize he or she is not your  type. You realize the two of you are not compatible. Yet, a few months later, this utterly incompatible man proposes to marry you, and you accept. In the case of a man, even after realizing that this lady is not the one, you still went ahead and asked, “Will you marry me?” Why? Because there are some great material benefits to gain. You say to yourself, “I will marry him.” “I will marry her.” “I will tolerate until I get what I want.” You say to yourself, “Once I get what I want, I will leave.” Christians who do this are not making Jesus the King of their lives. They are treating the foremost sacrament, the sacrament of marriage as means and not as an end. If Jesus is the Lord of your life, if he is the King of all your activities, you will not engage in this kind of cruel venture. 

More to it, if you are asked if Jesus is the King of your professional life, a lot of people would say yes. But what does it mean to say such? If Jesus is the King of your professional life, you will not take up a job that is fundamentally immoral in its purpose and orientation no matter how much you are going to earn. If in your place of work, you are asked to indulge in an activity that is morally problematic, that will haunt your conscience for a very long time, you cannot get yourself involved if Christ is your King. Yes, you may make a lot of money, but then at what cost? If your company is pursuing policies and strategies that are immoral, you should at least raise your voice in protest and opposition. Don’t isolate religion as a private matter. Don’t convince yourself that your religious faith is in the heart alone and that this is your public and professional matter. If you do,  Jesus is not the King of your whole life. 

Finally, if you are asked whether Christ is the King of your body? You are mostly certainly going to answer in the affirmative. But what does it mean? It means you treat your body with respect. You won’t abuse it through alcohol, drugs, excessive eating and sex. It means you practice self-control. It means you are physically committed as much as you can to carry out the mission given to you by the Lord. It means you take the resurrection of the body seriously. Don’t forget this fact: Jesus Christ is the King of everything— soul, spirit, mind and body too. Put this in mind: spiritual life is not like democracy. In democracy, you can vote a politician in and can also vote him or her out. But not so in spiritual life. Don’t think you can vote Jesus in and out. We  don’t surround him with checks and balances. We don’t subject him according to our whims and moods. Jesus is not like the president or the prime minister or the secretary. He is King! He wants to reign even in the life of presidents, prime ministers, and secretaries.

To make Christ the King of your life is to bring Christ into everything you do— private and public. It is to bring your Christian faith into everything you are involved within the church and outside the church. Don’t play the public and private dichotomy thing. If your organization, your society, be it the Men’s Group, Women’s Group, the Choir, the Knights, or any group in the church is pursuing an agenda you know would harm someone or some people and you believe that Jesus Christ is your King, you will raise your voice in opposition. If Christ is your King, use every opportunity you get to evangelize. Do not be ashamed of witnessing for the Lord. Jesus says, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). The Responsorial Psalm on Monday, November 20, 2023 was “Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.” The implication is that the life that God has given to us is for us to propagate his name, his will and purposes in our office, at home, wherever we are. Do the people who know you know that you are Christian? Do they know you are a Catholic? Have you ever shared with anyone the joy you found in Christ? If you have, when was the last time you did that? If Jesus is your King, when was the last time you announced it? Are you ashamed of being his mouthpiece? If Jesus is your King, how often are you in contact with him through prayer? If you claim that God is your friend and the most important person in your life, how often do you talk to him? If you say that Jesus is your best friend, do you talk to him often? Everyday? Every hour? Every time? Or only when you come to Mass? In prayer, we talk to God. We lift up our minds and hearts to him. We commune with him. And we let him talk to us as well. But if you talk to Jesus once a week on Sunday, or once a month or occasionally, then he is not your best friend. For us Catholics, what’s the great prayer? The Mass! At every Mass, the Word of God is proclaimed to us. We hear it in the reading, and hopefully in the sermon. So, we are fed with the Word of God. But only that. We are also fed with the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of the Christian life. Sadly, 75% of Catholics stay away from the Mass. If Christ is your King, you won’t miss the Mass unless you are ill or looking after someone who is ill. If Christ is your King, you will participate regularly in the Sacraments of the Church especially Confession and the Eucharist.