Our knowledge of Him Determines How We Serve Him

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twelfth Sunday in the Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church

Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Sunday, June 23, 2013

During one of the most crucial moments in his life and ministry, Jesus asked his disciples a crucial question that deserved a crucial answer: “Who do the crowds say that I am?” He asked this question not because he didn’t know himself who he was. He was certainly aware of who he was. His words and actions showed that awareness as he taught with authority, healed the sick, cast out demons, forgave sins, cleansed lepers, raised the dead, calmed a raging sea (storm), walked on waters, fed thousands of people with five barley loves and two fish, broke and disregarded racial and discriminatory laws that divide people. The Gospels picture him as a person who is convinced he can speak and act for God, with a power that went beyond ordinary human experience. Jesus certainly knew who he was, but when he asked: “Who do the crowds say that I am?” and “But who do you say that I am?” he wanted to find out if there was anyone, from the crowds to his disciples who was beginning to understand, through his teaching and deeds, who he was. He was not expecting a full comprehension of who he was. But he expected someone or some people to have a hint of who he was. From the testimony of Peter: “(Your are) The Christ of God” he had an idea of who Jesus was, but his knowledge of Jesus was still at the beginning stage. So, the Lord strongly urged them not to tell anyone yet. They had much to learn before they could start teaching others. As for the crowds, they thought that Jesus must be a reincarnation of one of their respected dead prophets like John the Baptist, or Elijah or one of the ancient prophets. 

Christ was not Jesus’ last name. The word Christ (Christos in Greek) means the “Anointed One.” In Hebrew, the word for “Anointed One” is Messiah. The Jewish view of the Christ was a powerful and gifted king or a cosmic judge of the earth or a great high priest who would teach the undiluted word of God. He would also liberate God’s people and save them from the Roman occupation. The disciples of Jesus, like all other Jews had grown up expecting from God an all conquering king who would conquer the world. But Jesus was the King, but not the type of king being expected. Peter and the other disciples were filled with excitement of being associated with the messiah who will conquer the world. But Jesus shocked and disappointed them when he told them that the God’s Anointed One had come to conquer nations but not with weapons of mass destruction but with the weapon of mass salvation- that is the Cross. He has come to die upon a Cross so that people of every nation, language, tribe and tongue might be saved.

After disappointing his disciples of the fate and the destiny of the Anointed One, Jesus shocked them more by declaring: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he (she) must deny himself (herself) and take up his (her) cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his (her) life will loose it, but whoever looses his (her) life for my sake will save it.” But what does it mean to deny oneself? To deny oneself means making one’s life less about him or her and more about God. It is about making a daily effort to primarily please God in everything that one does or says. As long as God and God’s matters do not come first in our lives, we are yet to deny ourselves. God and matters of God should come first, second and third in every aspect of our lives. A life deeply and primarily centered on God knows it is not all about him or her, but all about Jesus. Any believer who achieves this feat will always say with St. Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Jesus also enjoined his disciples to take up their cross daily and follow him. To take up our cross means to be prepared to face and confront the difficulty associated with being loyal and obedient to Jesus. To take up our cross means being ready to endure the worst that people can do to us for the sake of being true to him. It means being ready to refuse to be intimidated by those who persecute us because we belong to Jesus. It means saying no even when it is most difficult to say so to those who want us to betray him. Being true to Jesus will bring some rejection and castigation. Those who hate your simplicity, your honesty, your faithfulness and your tidy moral life will come to paint you bad. It is usually said “If you cannot beat them, join them.” But if you refuse to join the bandwagon, they will come after you. But refusing to join the bandwagon of immorality instead preferring the castigation and hatred is part of the cross.

“Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it…” God has given us life, not to horde it or to keep for ourselves. We are given life to spend for others. Therefore the question is no longer “How much can I get,” but “How much can I give?” It is no longer “What is the safe thing to do? but “What is the right thing to do?” Life is not only about me, but about others. But ultimately, it is all about Jesus the Lord of life. And there is a connection between giving our life to others and giving our life to Jesus. There will be a glorious reward for doing that. If we are true to him in time, he will be true to us in eternity. If we follow him in this world, in the next world, he will count us as one of his people. But if we disown him here on earth by the way we live, even when we confess him with our lips, he will disown us.

Jesus knew that his followers would sometimes endure some discomfort and risk their lives in order to be his true followers. That is still the case today- fortunately though not in our country at this period in time. The greatest suffering or sacrifice most of us have to deal with as Jesus’ followers is to keep his law of love and to give up one hour a week to go to Mass. Still, many people find that too hard. They look for a reason not to go to Mass on Sunday. On two different occasions when the air conditioner in the church did not run, some people who came to Mass on Sunday could not endure the momentary discomfort and stay till the end of the Mass. Some walked out of the church with the Eucharist still in their mouth as soon as they received it. They did not even have the time to sit for a few seconds and to thank the Lord for the gift of himself. The heat was simply unbearable to them. Some did not even come to Mass at all. It’s possible they went to another parish church around. But what’s the reason? Probably  to avoid the little discomfort that was no fault of anyone. But what would such Catholics do if they were threatened with arrest or confiscation of their property, or even death because they were Catholics? None of us like to think of such things, but some Christian martyrs we honor and celebrate today endured all that. They understood that the way of the cross is the way of the crown. If there is no cross, there will be no crown. 

“If you never felt pain, then how would you know that Jesus is a Healer?If you never had a trial, how could you call yourself an overcomer?If you never felt sadness, how would you know that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter?If you never were in  trouble, how would you know that the Lord will come to your rescue? If you never had a problem, how would you know that Jesus is the Burden-Bearer? If you never had any suffering, then how would you know what the Lord went through? If you never went through the fire,  how would you become pure as gold? If God gave you all things, how would you appreciate them and depend on him? If your life was perfect, you may never need God! “

Think about these!

Great Remorse Obtains Great Forgiveness

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church

Baton Rouge, LA

Sunday, June 16, 2013

King David was a man of contrasts. He was devotedly committed to God. He was a great king who loved the Lord. Yet, like every human person, he was not perfect. He was a great military conqueror, but he could not conquer himself. He conquered nations but could not conquer his emotions. He allowed the beauty of Bathsheba to conquer him. Just one night of lust over Bathsheba, the great King David was conquered and brought to his kneels. Bathsheba became pregnant! By this time, Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba was away fighting and defending King David and his kingdom. King David recalled Uriah, and tried to set him up with his own wife Bathsheba. After all his tricks failed, he sent Uriah back to the war with a letter to the General asking him to send Uriah to the fiercest front of the war, and that he should retreat after doing that. This resulted in the death of Uriah. King David killed Uriah in order to cover his wrongdoing. But God was watching! Nathan, God’s prophet at the time, was given the mission of confronting David. On learning about his wrongdoing, David fell to his kneels and declared: “I have sinned against the Lord.” 

In today’s Gospel (Luke 7: 36-50) St. Luke tells us that Jesus was a guest at the house of Simon, a Pharisee, at the instance of Simon himself. It was a dinner party. In Israel, it was the custom that when a Rabbi was at a special meal, all kinds of people would come in to listen to his words of wisdom. In this case, the Rabbi was no other person but Jesus Christ, the Lord of life. As soon as Jesus settled down to eat, something noteworthy happened. A woman commonly known in town as a bad and notorious woman came in, and sat at the foot of the Jesus. She had a sense of sin. Realizing how greatly she had sinned against herself, against her parents and siblings, against her community, against humanity, against God, she broke down in tears. She cried with intensity that her tears were enough to wash the feet of Jesus: “Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment (An alabaster flask of ointment).” Her action stunned Simon who said: “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”

Simon’s unspoken opinion was not only a judgment of condemnation on the sinful woman, it was also a serious question mark and doubt on the character of Jesus. The unspoken thought of his mind highlights also his own self-righteousness. As far as he is concerned, he is sinless. The sinful one is the woman, and Jesus too must be a fake prophet. He wrote her off, concluded that she wasn’t the right kind of person to be seen around him or around Jesus. For him, she was a hopeless woman incapable of repentance, incapable of changing her ways, and changing her lifestyle. He judged her cruelly and concluded she is finished in every sense of the word. He also wondered why Jesus, the so called prophet would not dissociate himself from such a sinful woman: Why can’t he send her away? Why is he letting her touch him? Why is he not furious that a prostitute is interfering with his dinner meal? He must have said to himself.

In order to expose Simon to his own error, Jesus told him a parable: There was a banker who loaned money to two of his customers. To one, he loaned $50, 000 and the other $5, 000. When it was time to pay back, they were unable to do so. The banker, out of his magnanimity forgave both loans: “Don’t bother to pay me back again. I have written off the debt.” Then Jesus asked Simon “Which of them will love the banker more?” Simon answered “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” “You have answered rightly” responded Jesus. Then Jesus reminded Simon of his failure to provide him with water to wash his feet, a practice so common in Israel then. Because the roads were dusty and rough, when a guest visits, his feet were usually washed and soothed by a servant who stands on the doorpost. This was a sign of warm welcome. What Simon failed to do for Jesus is now done by the sinful woman. Jesus also reminded Simon that when he entered his house, he Simon did not give him a kiss of peace which was also a common practice in Israel that showed hospitality; again what he failed to do is done by the sinful woman. Simon also did not anoint the feet of Jesus, but the sinful woman has done that with a costly ointment. Because she has done all those, Jesus offered her total forgiveness “Your sins are forgiven.” 

 This gospel story reveals an amazing truth. The level of a person’s devotion to God usually corresponds to the level of forgiveness one has received. The more a person experiences forgiveness, the more his or her devotion. This gospel story shows why some people experience forgiveness and why others don’t. The woman in the Gospel story had a deep sense of sin. She was conscious of her many sins. She convicted herself a sinner. She went to the One who can forgive sins and her many sins were forgiven. The greatest sin is to be conscious of no sin. What opens the door of God’s forgiveness is having a sense of sin and a sense of need for mercy and forgiveness. One thing that is capable of shutting a person off from God is self-sufficiency, but a sense of need will open the door to the forgiveness of God, because God is love.

In the parable of the debtors that Jesus narrated to Simon, where are you? Are you the one that was forgiven a great deal of debt or the one that was forgiven little? Some people including Christians think they have been forgiven little. You hear them say: “I am not really such a sinner.” “I’ve never killed anyone.” “I’ve never stolen anything.” “I have never cheated on my tax or my spouse.” “I don’t take advantage of others.” “I don’t indulge in immoral behaviors.” “I am actually a good person and an obedient servant of the Church.” “I don’t drink too much or eat too much.” “I am not as bad as others.”

But no matter what you may think of yourself, we are all great debtors. When it comes to our relationship with God, there is no one who owes little. We all are great debtors in God’s books. We owe God more than we can ever pay. We can only be forgiven if we like the King David would say: “I have sinned against the Lord.” God will completely wipe out our sins if we like the sinful woman in the Gospel would go to the feet of Jesus and say: “Be merciful unto me O Lord for I have sinned.”

 God Has Indeed Visited His People

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Faced with the reality of death, we all are helpless. No human invention and scientific advancement has been able to prevent death. In one sense, death is a tragedy because it is the end of human life. In another sense, it is healing because it frees the dead from all pains, sufferings, frustrations and disappointments. But no matter what sense we view death, it is always a painful experience- but not to the dead but the living. The death of a beloved person creates a vacuum. And nothing hurts more than the death of a young person. When a family mourns the death of a young man or woman, all we can say to them is: “Take heart;” “Take courage;” “I am so sorry;” “Accept my sympathy.” That’s all we can do- to offer our support and encouragement to the bereaved family.

The Gospel of today’s Mass taken from Luke 7:11-17 is the story of the death of a young man. He was the only son of a widow. The woman’s tragedy was double. She had already lost her husband- the love of her life and the breadwinner of the family. And when she taught that her only son would be able to learn a trade or get a job, make a living and support her financially, he was snatched away from her by the cold hand of death. What a pity? The news of the death of the young man was told far and wide because he was the only son of the widow and because of the fact that she too had already buried her husband. As such, a large crowd from the city came to be with her and to sympathize with her. The young man’s death is one of those deaths that touches and pains the heart and its pain goes so deep to the bone marrow.  

But as the lifeless body of the young man was being carried out in a procession to the cemetery, Jesus, the true and the best friend in need and in deed showed up. With a voice laden with compassion and confidence, he approached the widow and said: “Do not weep.” Common Jesus! Do not weep? Did you say to a woman who had already buried her husband and is about to bury her only son not to weep? If she doesn’t weep, should she be laughing? What is there to laugh about? But the good and compassionate Lord has a back-up plan: “He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you, arise!” 

Jesus’ compassion is life-giving. His love and kindness give life. His pity for us, especially for those who experience disappointment, frustration and suffering gives life and ushers in a breath of fresh air. The pity he felt for the widow was so deep that he was willing to thwart the course of nature. Since the Fall of our First Parents, death has become natural to humans. And once someone dies, we don’t sit around and wait for the dead person to rise; we bury the remains of the deceased. But the compassion of Jesus for a lonely widow was so profound as to move him to derail the course of nature. He felt  her pain and loss. He put himself in her shoes. He made her sorrow his own sorrow. He did not stand idly by and try to blame the young man for being the cause of his own death or to blame the widow for being responsible for the tragic deaths that had occurred in her family. He knew he could do something; he knew he has power to do something; he knew he can make a difference and he did it.  Compassion led him! Compassion made him to! 

When the dead man sat up and began to speak, fear, shock and awe seized the people, but it wasn’t a dispersing fear. It wasn’t the kind of fear that usually make people to take to their heels, rather, the kind that causes people to want to know more. The kind of fear expressed by the people does not cripple, it leads to praise, thanksgiving and glorification. It does not cause harm but joy. In summary, it is called “wonder!”

Having been seized by wonder-fear the people exclaim: “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.” Yes indeed God has visited his people! When they said “God has visited his people” I am sure they did not understand fully what they were talking about. They made those comments referring to a far distant God, not knowing that God has already migrated and is living like them and with them. God has come to visit his people. He is with his people. He is with us! Is the Lord’s name not Immanuel- God is with us? 

Sisters and brothers, God has indeed visited his people, but in what ways have we seen this happen? Has the power of the word of God in the Bible ever touched us? When we read the word of God or hear it proclaimed at Mass, do we take it as God visiting us and speaking to us? Are we even aware that God is constantly visiting us through his word in the Scripture? When we encounter those who mourn and grieve, those who suffer, those who need our attention, does their living condition and pain draw out of us the kind of compassion that Jesus showed the widow in today’s Gospel? Let’s be clear! When we give water to the thirsty, God has visited his people. When we feed the hungry, God has visited his people. When we clothe the naked, God has visited his people. When we assist the homeless find shelter, God has visited his people. When we visit the sick, the imprisoned, the bereaved, the poor, God has visited his people. When we offer financial assistance for the care of the poor, when we give to Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul Society, The Salvation Army etc., God has visited his people. When we give generously our time, talent and treasure in support of our church and its ministry, then God has visited his people through us.

God is with us to save us! He is with us to comfort us. He is with us to accompany us. He is with us as our Way. He is with us as the Truth; he is with us as our Life. The Lord is with us performing so many miracles, but more often than not, they are not dramatic ones like the one in today’s Gospel. But God still works miracles in our lives. So often they take place in the heart of a person, with no crowd to witness them. But when we look around us, there are always miracles of life, miracles of hope, miracles of peace, miracles of grace, miracles of comfort, miracles of care, miracles of restoration, miracles of thanksgiving, miracles of faithfulness, miracles of victories and successes, miracles of healing, miracles of life turned around, miracles of liberation from addiction, miracles of recovery from sickness, miracles of new thing emerging after a period of frustration, disappointment and failure. God is with us working miracles and wonder. Psalm 46:7 tells us: “The Lord of host is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.” 

Love and Loyalty Are Not Strange BedFellows

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Friends of the Lord, in today’s Gospel, Jesus makes a connection between love and loyalty or obedience. According to dictionary.reference.com, love is “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person; it is a feeling of warm personal attachment.” The same dictionary defines loyalty as “the state or quality of being loyal; faithfulness to commitments or obligations.” It is also a faithful adherence to a sovereign, government, leader, cause etc. According to the same online dictionary, obedience means “submission.” So, when Jesus says: “Whoever loves me will keep my word...” he means “loyalty and obedience.” If we truly love the Lord, then he expects us to be faithful to him, to keep his word, to submit to him and to be loyal to him. Love can be professed verbally, but it is better demonstrated in deeds. I once told a friend that in a traditional African society, people hardly say, “I love you.” Even those in marriage hardly say that to their spouses. Then my friend asked me, “Then, how do you know that someone loves you?” I replied, “You know by the way they treat you.”

To Jesus, loyalty is the best test of love. It was through loyalty and obedience that he demonstrated his love for his Father; and it is by our obedience that we must demonstrate our love for him. To Jesus, love is not just a sentiment or emotion. It is rather an expression that is always moral, demonstrated through obedience. Put differently, love is a moral expression revealed in obedience. We know there are people who profess their love in words but who, at the same time, bring pain, misfortune, and heartbreak to the same people they claim to love. There are young people who say they love their parents, yet, they cause them sorrow, anxiety and sleeplessness. There are husbands who say they love their wives and wives who say they love their husbands, and who, at the same time, through their inconsideration, irritability and thoughtless unkindness bring pain and grief to the very one they claim to love. Love is a reality demonstrated only in true obedience, faithfulness and good deeds.

The Lord asks no small thing from his disciples. Keeping the Lord’s word is keeping his commandments. And it is not going to be easy for anybody. Being a Christian and following Jesus’ teachings requires effort on our part. To be a disciple of Jesus means “to follow after him." It means following the way of Jesus who is the Way; it means keeping and living the truth of Jesus who is the Truth; it also means accepting the life of Jesus who is the Life. To love Jesus means to take seriously what he took seriously. Following Jesus entails striving to imitate him.

“Whoever loves me will keep my word...” But does this mean that each time we sin we do not love him? Any time we deliberately commit sin we love something or someone else more than we love Jesus. If we love Jesus more than anything or anybody else, we will strive daily to be loyal to him by giving ourselves totally to him. And when we love Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind and strength we will not want to put anything, no matter how small before him. Loving Jesus is not just an emotional feeling. It is something deeper and greater than that. Being loyal and obedient to Jesus entails changing our lives, our lifestyles, reforming our lives, working on our personalities and characters, stretching ourselves to please him. Loving Jesus is putting him first, second and third before anything or anybody. Loyalty to the Lord will require making daily efforts to overcome any form of sin no matter how small it is. If we love Jesus truly, we will be working everyday to eliminate all sins. Galatians 5:24 say, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”

St. Paul loved Jesus so much to the point of declaring, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” St. Peter loved Jesus that when Jesus asked him thrice, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He confidently replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”

The command to love and obey the Lord’s word is not an easy task. Anyone who tells you it is easy is probably not observing it. It is difficult! Jesus knows it is going to be a struggle, hence, he promised to send us the Holy Spirit: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you.” 

Now, loving Jesus and keeping his word comes with an amazing reward: “...my Father will love them (i.e. those who love Jesus and keep his word) and we will come to them and make our dwelling with them.” What an awesome reward!

What Defines Christians is Love

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church 

Sunday, April 28, 2013 

Christians have always had a problem of how to tell the world who they are. At some periods in history and still in some places in the world, uniforms have played a very important role in announcing our identity to the world. Think of the various uniforms of the various Christian societies of consecrated life, which distinguish consecrated people not only from other Christians but also from one another according to their institutes. The Redemptorist habit is different from that of the Dominicans and Franciscans etc. The quest for uniforms, habits, badges, banners and pinups designed to distinguish believers from non-believers does indeed have its place in the celebration of who we are. We are symbolic beings who need to express our faith in symbolic ways. Jesus himself wrestled with the question of how to distinguish his followers from the non-believers around them. But his prescription goes much farther than external habits and uniforms.

For Jesus the essential mark of distinction between Christians and non-Christians is not in the way we dress but in the way we live: I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-5).

Love is the Christian identity. Love is the Christian uniform. Love is the Christian habit. If you are wearing the habit of love, you are in. If you are not wearing love as a habit, you are out. Love is the essence of life. It is what keeps us together and keeps us going as children of God. Love is the summary of Christianity; it is the summary of life; it is the summary of our faith. Love is the reason for faith and hope. 

Love is the identity and the uniform of Christians. Jesus wants the world to recognize us as his followers not because we carry the Bible about, or because we wear the Rosary and other religious objects. Jesus does not want the world to recognize us as Christians simply by the stickers we have in our houses and in our cars. He wants the world to recognize us by the way we love each other. He wants the world to recognize us by the language of love we speak. Love should be the lens through which we see each other. Love should be the language we speak as sons and daughters of Jesus. And when the world sees how much we love each other with the love of Christ, they will know we are his disciples. Although Jesus wants us to “go to the whole world and preach the good news,” but the most effective evangelization and witnessing has less to do with how fluent we speak and how powerful we preach; it is more to do with how much we love each other.

Love has been defined, explained and discussed in various ways. but for me love is “I accept you the way you are; you accept me the way I am. And together we can enrich each other, shape each other and recreate each other better in the image and likeness of God.” By accepting each other the way we are, we teach the world the virtue of tolerance and compassion. By enriching, shaping and recreating each other, we teach the world the virtue of charity, character formation and human development. A gospel preached is useless without a gospel lived. And the gospel is better lived in love. No member of a church stops coming to church because the people love each other genuinely. No one hates a church because the members practice the love of Christ. The world will probably not hate us because we love each other. No one leaves the church because the priest is kind and compassionate. No one becomes an atheist because we, Jesus’ followers love him or her. Atheism is rather created because we do not act as Jesus directs us. Atheism is created because Christians do not practice what they preach; they do not practice the virtue of love. Genuine love is infectious.

Scripture says that God created us in his image. And this image is an image of love because God is love. At the very core of the human person is love. Our feelings and emotions incline us to act and not to act in relation to what is good or evil. The most fundamental of all these feelings and emotions is love. Love brings new things in our life and society. Love makes God live among us. Remember the song: “Where love and charity abide, there God is found.” Love enthrones the reign of God in our family and society. It wipes away tears from people’s eyes- tears of frustration, hunger and sickness, and hopelessness. Love makes the whole of creation new. Love removes mourning or sadness. Even in suffering, love from sisters and brothers lightens the burdens. It really feels good to love and be loved.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C

We cannot walk alone and cannot be alone

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church

Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Sunday, April 21, 2013

In today’s gospel taken from John 10:27:30, Jesus  says: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Jesus speaks of “My sheep” which means there are other sheep out there and that he is a shepherd. And the requirement for belonging to the sheepfold of Jesus is listening and hearing the voice of the shepherd: “My sheep hear my voice” Jesus says. And what distinguishes and marks Jesus out from other shepherds is this: “I know them” (that is, the sheep). The Lord knows his own. He knows his sheep. His sheep equally know him. In the midst of several and divergent voices and opinions  in today’s world, they are able to single out the voice of the shepherd and follow him.  

Shepherds were primarily called to care, to serve and to protect the sheep. They were absolutely responsible for the sheep. If anything bad happens to the sheep, the shepherd in-charge of the flock must produce some kind of proof showing it was not his fault. The Israel of Jesus’ time had two kinds of shepherds: shepherd-owner and hired one. The hired shepherd saw keeping the sheep as just a job. He moved from one flock to another depending on the condition of pay and service. Because he was a hired hand, he would not risk his life for the sheep. He cared less for the sheep. Seeing a wolf, a lion or a human intruder coming, he would abandon the sheep and flee leaving the sheep at the mercy of the invader. The hired shepherd’s knowledge of the sheep and the sheep’s knowledge of the hired shepherd is not intimate.  

On the other hand, there was the shepherd-owner. He is the good shepherd. It is a natural thing for him to risk his life in the defense of his flock. The sight of a wolf, a lion or a human intruder never scared him. He would fight to save his flock. The sheep had good care because the faithful shepherd had personal interest in their wellbeing. He saw that they find plenty to eat and drink because he was personally attached to them. As a  good and faithful shepherd, he fed the sheep, but a bad one fed on the sheep. 

The good shepherd-owner had a good knowledge of the sheep. He knew each of them. He can identify his own sheep no matter where they were. He can narrate personal story of each of them. He knew each of their strengths and weaknesses. He knew their mood. He knew the meaning of the sounds they made. The good shepherd knew what the sheep wanted and when they wanted it. During the day of grazing, his flock of sheep can mix and mingle with other sheep, but as the sun set, the good shepherd was able to identify one after another, all his sheep and led them home to safety. When he had led them to the sheep-pen, he would not go home. Instead, he made his bed across the entrance of the sheep-pen. So, no intruder will be able to enter the sheep-pen without passing through him. 

Jesus is the Shepherd-owner. He is the Good Shepherd. How do we know that Jesus is the Good Shepherd? In today’s Gospel, he says: “I give them (the sheep) eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.” This is amazing! Our Lord is the Good Shepherd and only he can offer us eternal life. Under his protective wings, no one can ever take us away from him. Hidden under his shelter, we are absolutely safe and secured. No intruder is powerful enough to snatch us from him.  

The good news is that we have a Good Shepherd. We are not alone! We cannot walk alone! We have a lover that stands beside us daily. We are not like a flock of sheep without a shepherd. We have someone who has laid down his life for us and is ready to do it again and again. He cares for us so much. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your burdens on him because he cares for you.” He will not let devourers devour us. He’s with us in every step of the way. All we have to do is to listen to him and to follow him. 

EVEN AFTER RESURRECTION HE WAS IN THE FLESH 

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church 

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Two weeks ago, we started the celebration of the miracle of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead.  The visit of Mary Magdalene and others who went to the tomb and found the stone rolled away led to the breaking of the Good News: “He is risen; he is not here.” But after the resurrection of Jesus, what else happened? 

According to St. Luke, Jesus appeared to two men, one was named Cleopas, on the road to Emmaus the afternoon of the resurrection. He accompanied them to their homes, and it was when he broke bread with them, that their eyes opened and they now recognized him (Luke 24:31).

According to St. John, Jesus appeared to the disciples as they were gathered behind locked doors late Sunday evening with a greeting of peace: “Peace be with you!” During this appearance, Thomas was absent. John goes on to say that Jesus appeared again in the same place a week later (John 20:26-29). This time Thomas was there and he was able to see for himself that the Lord is indeed risen when Jesus showed him the nail prints in his hands and his side that was pierced. 

For St. Paul, Jesus appeared to Peter and then to all Twelve Apostles. Then he appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at once...Then he appeared to James, and afterward to all the Apostles. St. Paul also claims he appeared also to me (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). The Acts of Apostles also tells us that Jesus made several appearances to his disciples over the course of forty days: “For forty days after his death he appeared to them many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that he was alive. They saw him, and he talked with them about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

But it seems the last appearance of Jesus happened much later, not in and around Jerusalem like other appearances, but at the Sea of Tiberias. In this last appearance, Jesus came to his disciples who had spent the night on the Sea looking for fish but got nothing. Standing on the shore, he said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They replied him, “No.” Then he asked them to cast their net on the right side of their boat for a catch. They did what he asked them to do and caught plenty of fishes. This miracle made the beloved disciple to say: “It is the Lord!” With some of the fishes they caught, Jesus prepared breakfast for his disciples and ate with them. 

Now, there are people out there who say that the appearances of the Risen Lord were just visions which the disciples had. Some would even say that they were not visions but hallucinations. But Sacred Scripture go far out to insist that the Risen Lord was not a vision, not an hallucination, not even a ghost, but a real person. First, the tomb was empty; second, the Risen Lord had a real body that still had the marks of the nails in his hands and the spear thrust in his side. 

Today’s Gospel story testifies even further that the risen Jesus was not a ghost. His appearances were not visions or dreams or hallucinations. They were not a figment of the disciples’ imaginations. He is truly risen! He rose in his flesh. He was in the flesh even after resurrection. The tomb was empty. A vision or a ghost is likely not going kindle a charcoal fire on the seashore. A vision or a ghost wouldn’t cook a meal, share it and eat of it. But in today’s Gospel, John tells us that the Risen Lord did all these things. Jesus was in the flesh even after resurrection. When he came to Thomas, he said to him: “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side...” A ghost does not have a body that can be touched by others. A ghost cannot eat. A ghost is bodiless. But the Risen Jesus had flesh; he had body. He fed his disciples; he also ate and drank with them. What appeared to the disciples was Jesus who had conquered death through his death and had come back. And guess what he said on his first appearance: "Peace be with you," which means, "I got this! Worry no more! I have your back. I am with you. I will journey with you through thick and thin. I will help you in every step of the way. If you must carry that cross, I will help you carry it. I will lighten the weight so it doesn't crush you. You cannot walk alone. I am right beside you, behind you, and ahead of you. Be calm! Be hopeful! Be still! Stop the panic! This too shall pass away! Your storm today will pass away. Your tears today will pass away. Your sorrows today will pass away. Your failures today will pass away. Your present ugly condition is not going to be your destination. I will turn all the stumbling block into stepping stone to glory, abundance, and fulfillment. Shalom! I have come to turn things around. Just lean on me. Depend on me. Ride on my back! You will surely get to the finish line of your dreams and aspiration.