Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Being Ready For The Lord’s Return

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, August 10, 2025

In today’s Gospel (Luke 12:32-48), we see Jesus using several parables to teach about getting ready for his Second Coming: “You must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” The attempt to predict the Parousia of Christ is not an entirely new phenomenon. Throughout the Christian centuries, some people have tried to foretell the exact day and time when Jesus Christ will return and bring the world and all earthly activities to a close. The first Christians expected the Lord’s arrival during their time. The great St. Paul anticipated the Second Coming of Christ during his lifetime, or at least within the lifetime of those he was writing to in the first century. But about his Second Coming, Jesus says, “Of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matthew 24:36).

Since no one knows the day and hour when the Triumphant Warrior, Jesus Christ, will come, since we don’t know when eternity will invade time, and accountability is required of us, we have to be ready at all times. How can we do that? Don’t look too far for the answer. Right now, we can do in our lives what we do in our homes, especially our garages. What exactly is that? Cleaning dirt, putting things in their proper places, removing items we no longer need, and discarding things that no longer work. Right now, we can decide to get rid of attitudes and behaviors like jealousy, malice, hatred, gossip, lies, and every enjoyment of sin that prevents us from participating fully in the divine life. How can we overcome these vices that slow our upward movement to God?

Let’s turn to the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola. As a young man, St. Ignatius wanted to be a courtier. He longed to work in the royal court, performing various duties, such as advising or acting as an intermediary. As such, he was obsessed with looking good, appearing impressive, and being attractive. He also struggled with lust. But when he committed his life to Jesus Christ, he decided to spend nine months in a cell and work on his obsessions. So, for nine months, he allowed his hair, beards, and fingernails to grow. He embraced a simple lifestyle. To overcome his lust, he practiced austere celibacy. Within these months, his appearance changed so much that people who met him wondered who that vagabond was. Ignatius was not fleeing from the world; instead, he took some time off to work on his obsessions and fixations, so that he could live better and more properly in the world. During that period, he learned something profound and lasting. This experience led to the creation of the famous Ignatian Spiritual Exercises.

At the core of what Ignatius learned in the cell is the concept of distacco, detachment, or unattachment. He was attached to many worldly goods: wealth, power, prestige, and cutting a dashing figure. But as soon as he took his relationship with God seriously, he realized that to do God's will, he had to detach from those addictions and obsessions. What came out of it is a principal key to Jesuit spirituality. He called it the “Agere Contra,” which is Latin for “To act against,” or “To do against.” The idea is simple: if you are addicted to any worldly good, the best approach is not to continue to yield to it, but to act against it—go the opposite way. The ancient philosopher, Aristotle, said that if a stick is bent one way, and you want to straighten it, you should bend it back the other way. In doing so, you realign it and bring it back on line. The implication here is that if your spiritual life is out of order, you are overly drawn to worldly goods, then you should run in the opposite direction. 

Ignatius says that if sensual pleasures such as over-eating and over-drinking are too important to you, “agere contra.” Act against it by fasting. Does it mean we hate this world and we hate sensual pleasures? Not at all! The philosopher, Aristotle, said that virtue lies in the golden mean, in the middle. Virtue lies between two vices or two excesses: surplus and deficiency. If you are surrounded by nice material things to the degree that you are preoccupied with them, St. Ignatius says, “agere contra.” Live in radical simplicity. Resist becoming the rich man in St. Luke’s Gospel who had a bumper harvest. Rather than share some of his goods, he said to himself, “As for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry” (Luke 12:19). If you are too attached to money? And there are many of us in our culture who are in this condition. We never have enough of it, so we strive and strive and strive. We have rich people who want to be richer. We have millionaires who want to be billionaires. Too much is never enough. If money has become your preoccupation, then agere contra. Give a lot of it away. Are you preoccupied with honor, with being noticed by everybody? And there are a lot of us who want to be noticed in our culture. If that is your fixation, agere contra. Strive not to be noticed by anyone but God alone. Go in the opposite direction.  Now, agere contra, going in the other direction is not just for the fun of it, but finally to do God’s will and be ready at all times. The purpose of attachment is not because we are puritans and hate worldly goods. I have said it multiple times that the Catholic Church rejects puritanism in all its forms. We believe in the goodness of the world and everything in it. However, we preach against allowing them to become our God. If any goods of this world are preventing you from doing God’s will, that’s a big problem. That is why St. Ignatius said at the beginning of the Exercises, “Lord, whether I have a long life or short life, I don’t care. Whether I am rich or poor, I don’t care. Whether they love me or hate me, I don’t care, as long as I am doing your will.” The whole purpose of agere contra is finding God’s will. I tell you, doing God’s will will make you holy, happy, peaceful, and ready.

God bless you! 

Homily on the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus

Join The Army Of The Transfigured King

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Throughout the New Testament, we see that Jesus is truly human. His humanity is not in doubt. And throughout the New Testament, particularly his Transfiguration, we also see that He is much more. He is something greater. In His Transfiguration, Jesus undergoes a metamorphosis, transcending His usual form. He reveals His deepest identity, even before His crucifixion and resurrection. He reveals the glory of His divinity. Jesus is both divine and human. His humanity is not competing with his divinity, and his divinity is not overwhelming his humanity. But rather, his humanity becomes translucent, transfigured, and elevated by his divinity. 

In the past, I have emphasized the importance of Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration of the Lord. Moses symbolizes the Torah, the Law, while Elijah, the greatest prophet of Israel, represents the prophets. What is the connection between these iconic figures? When God chose Israel as His special people, He also gave them the Torah, the Law, so that by being faithful to the Law, they could become a priestly people, a holy nation, a people set apart, with the hope that they would serve as a magnet, a conduit, and a vehicle for the rest of the world. Was Israel faithful? Not at all! Like you and me, they repeatedly fell short. Instead of becoming a magnet for the nations to praise and worship Yahweh, God's people turned away from the Law and became just as corrupt as the surrounding nations. Because of their repeated fall, God began to send them prophets. What’s the primary function of these prophets? To call, to urge, and to remind Israel of who they are and whose they are. The prophets challenged them to be faithful to the Torah, to follow the ways of the Lord, and to remember the covenant Yahweh made with them. Did Israel listen? Not at all! Eventually, the prophets turned on Israel itself and frequently reminded her of her infidelity and disloyalty. 

Because the true God never abandons his people, he sent his Son, Jesus. He is God and man. In his life and ministry, he did what no one, no hero, no teacher, no rabbi, no Pharisee, no scribe, no priest, or king of Israel had ever done. He fulfilled the Law; he remained completely faithful and obedient to the demands of the Father, even to the point of laying down his life. St. Paul says that “Even though he was in the form of God, he did not claim equality with God, something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). In Jesus’ life and ministry, he utterly brought the Torah and the prophets to fulfillment. 

Now, we have explained why Moses and Elijah were present at the Transfiguration of the Lord. But what about Peter, John, and James? How did they come to be there? The impressive answer given by a great saint, a highly learned angelic scholar, Thomas Aquinas, comes to mind. Peter, says Thomas, is there because he was the one who loved Jesus the most. Peter is often described as impetuous, as someone who speaks before he thinks. Sometimes we emphasize the fact that he betrayed the Lord. But it is also clear in the Bible that Peter loved the Lord. At the passion when Jesus predicted his arrest, death, and resurrection, when he shockingly announced that everyone would betray him, it was Peter who declared, “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be” (Matthew 26:33). Even though Peter did not actually live up to the promised he made, he never completely abandoned his Master. His faith and trust in Jesus never totally evaporated. He truly loved Jesus, but in the moment of truth, he surrendered to his fear. No wonder, after his Resurrection, Jesus reached out to Peter and brought him to rehabilitation when he asked him thrice, “Peter, do you love me?”  (John 21:15-17). So, Peter was at the Transfiguration mountain because he was the one who loved Jesus the most. What about John? John was there because he was the one whom Jesus loved the most. He is called the beloved disciple. Why is James there? He is the first of the Apostles to experience the gruesome death of martyrdom. He was beheaded by Herod Agrippa. He gave his life for Jesus. 

What does this mean to us? How does it relate to us? We agree that Jesus is Lord. We accept that Jesus is the true King of the world. We believe that Jesus is our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer. What’s the implication of these beliefs? We have to join his army. Like Peter, we need to fall in love with him with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. We have to accept that he is the One Thing necessary. Like John, we need to allow him to love us. In the spiritual life, we are often told to love the Lord. But we must allow him to love us, too. From his lips we hear, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you” (John 15:9). Stop resisting his love. Stop resisting his grace. Stop running away from Jesus. Quit the resistance and surrender to his love and compassion. When St. Paul says, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20), he is saying that he has allowed the Lord to love him; he has allowed the redeeming and transforming Jesus to come into his life, his heart, his mind, and his private and public life. What about James? Why was he present at the Transfiguration of Jesus? If we love the Lord and allow him to love us, I tell you, we will be willing and ready to do anything for him. We will be ready to give our lives for him. Don’t forget that Jesus is the true King of the world and we are His soldiers, members of His army, ready to be led by him. James was the first of Jesus’ Apostles to give his life for the Lord’s cause. 

The Transfiguration of Jesus is not just an amazing one-off thing, where Jesus manifested his glory. Indeed, he did manifest his glory. He did reveal his deepest identity, that He is God and Man, but precisely as the King, anticipated by both the Law and the prophecy. As King, Jesus wants an army of those who love him and are willing to give their lives for him. Join this army. If you are already one, get someone else to join the army of people who are dedicated to doing what the great St. Paul calls “the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). 

God bless you!