Rejoice! Rejoice!! Rejoice!!!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, December 13, 2020

The third Sunday of Advent is generally called in Latin Guadete Sunday, which means, Rejoice Sunday. Advent is the season of preparing for the coming of the Lord Jesus— both his first coming and his second coming), and by the third Sunday of Advent, we are almost there, so, it is appropriate to rejoice as we can see that “The Lord is near.” There is the theme of joy in all the readings. If the proclamation of Isaiah sounds familiar to you, it is because at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus read it in the synagogue when he visited Nazareth his hometown. Luke tells us that Jesus stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Upon unrolling the scroll, he found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Lk. 4:18-19). But Isaiah’s prophesy was made several centuries before Jesus was born. It was first directed to Israel upon their return from exile after the Persians defeated the Babylonians. After the return, Israel was oppressed again by the Greeks and the Romans. Having been freed from captivity in a foreign land, they returned to their land to find it destroyed and desecrated. Like their ancestors before them in Egypt, they cried and wondered why they had been led out of slavery only to experience hunger and desolation. So, from the heart of the nation comes the joyful and hopeful proclamation of the prophet Isaiah who called himself the “anointed,” and also assured them that this is a time of favor for them by God, that a great reversal will take place: “glad tidings” for the poor, “healing” for those who mourn, “liberty” for captives and prisoners, and a jubilee year for all. Because of what is to come, Isaiah encouraged his countrymen and women to embrace the attitude of joy. Even though they returned to a destroyed and desolated land, Isaiah saw hope, and saw their homecoming as renewal of the covenant in which God will treat the nation as his adopted one. 

In the second reading, St. Paul offers three basic Christian attitudes that should serve as the foundation for holiness. First, followers of the good Lord are to be people of joy: “Rejoice always.” Second, they must be a people that prays always; and finally, they are to be people of thanks. Regardless of what we face and experience, joy, prayer, and thanksgiving are to be the pattern of life for those who are waiting for the day of the Lord’s return. We rejoice not because we are completely free from suffering, pain, and trials, but because we are not alone. The Redeemer is with us just as he was with the nation of Israel during their captivity and exile. We rejoice because in the final analysis, all will be well. We pray because through it we touch and receive touch from the One who got the whole world in his hands. We give thanks because God is worthy. We thank him for all we have and are. We thank him for salvation made possible by his Son, Jesus Christ. The Gospel is about the emergence of John the Baptist who came to testify to the light. After all the doom, gloom and darkness, John emerges, and using the words of prophet Isaiah, he claims that he is that voice that Isaiah said 500 years ago that is crying in the desert. What is his message? “Make straight the way of the Lord.” 

Now, considering what we have been through and still going through, you may be doubting the possibility of joy in the face of so much tales of suffering, death and anguish. You know, in normal and journalistic term and usage, happiness and joy are interchangeably used. We see them as synonyms. But theologically speaking, they do not have the same meaning. For according to the Dutch Catholic priest, professor and theologian, Henri Nouwen, happiness is dependent on external conditions like wealth, good health, good job, thriving business, stable family, safe environment etc. but joy is "the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing – sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death - can take that love away." Joy can be present even in the midst of sickness, sadness and struggle. Joy is not contingent on what we have or where we are or what we are doing. It does not rest upon the material acquisition or achievements. It is rather the experience of knowing that God loves you with an everlasting love, that God's love for you cannot fade or wore out. It is about knowing that you are exceeding loved by the almighty God. So, I urge you to realize that you are a special person to God. May the awareness of God's depth of love for you trigger you now to be joyful and dance all the days of your life. If you are going through a difficult time in your life right now, stop looking at your trouble. Look at the immensity of God's love for you, and in gratitude speak to him about your situation. May the One who loves you exceedingly hear your prayer of mercy and help. Amen

My Mother, Happiness and Joy

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Thursday, December 10, 2020

My mother suffered diabetes and its bruising consequences for 18 years before she finally died. But throughout those years, she never experienced or expressed emotional or spiritual distress. Her faith in God was firm as a rock. In the midst of so many symptoms and reactions caused by diabetes, her joy never waned or faded. She did not complained or lamented. One early morning, I overheard her praying to God, and this is what she said: "Lord, I pray you heal me but if healing me would cause me to abandon you and lose heaven, please, keep the sickness." Other times I heard her utter those words, I cried privately. 

Like most diabetic patients in Nigeria, my mother's choice of food was so limited. My sisters ensured that she ate only what the doctors had approved for her. During Christmas, when everyone is eating lavishly, my mother would only watch and wished she could eat what everyone was eating. But she never complained bitterly. With total resignation to the will of God, she accepted her fate and situation . In one occasion, I said to my siblings: "Mama is not a lucky woman. She spent all these years (after papa died) engaged in all manners of trade in order to raise her children, and when she is supposed to take a breather and enjoy the fruits of her labor, diabetes struck and denied her the opportunity." They all agreed with me but also said that Mama is contented. My mother's medical condition was enough to cause a fainthearted despair, but she did not. Some people even looked at her then and wondered what was the reason for happiness. She was not merely happy, but joyful. 

You know, in normal and journalistic term and usage, happiness and joy are interchangeably used. We see them as synonyms. But theologically speaking, they do not have the same meaning. For according to the Dutch Catholic priest, professor and theologian, Henri Nouwen, happiness is dependent on external conditions like wealth, good health, good job, thriving business, stable family, safe environment etc. but joy is "the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing – sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death - can take that love away." Joy can be present even in the midst of sickness, sadness and struggle. 

My mother was not born with a golden or silver spoon in her mouth; she did not marry a wealthy man. After her husband, my father passed away, her economic condition worsened. Her entire life was about labor and toil. In spite of all that, the need and lack, my mother was never bitter or angry. In summary, she was pleased with her life and pleasant to others. On the day she died, she woke up early in the morning, as usual said her prayer, sang praises to God, spoke and gave counsel to my elder sister about wide range of things concerning the family, thanked her for all the sacrifice she made while taking care of her. Before she breathe her last, she said, "I named my son, Uchechukwu (God's will). So, only God's will will be done. Nothing lasts for ever." Then she added, "Jesus, be merciful unto me, and receive my soul." Turning to my elder sister, she said, "My daughter, goodbye. Take care of yourself. God bless you." With that, she dropped her head in my elder sister's hand and transitioned to glory.

The point I am making is that joy and pain can coexistent. Joy is not contingent on what we have or where we are or what we are doing. It does not rest upon the material acquisition or achievements. It is rather the experience of knowing that God loves you with an everlasting love, that God's love for you cannot fade or wore out. It is about knowing that you are exceeding loved by the almighty God. So, I urge you to realize that you are a special person to God. May the awareness of God's depth of love for you trigger you now to be joyful and dance all the days of your life. If you are going through a difficult time in your life right now, stop looking at your trouble. Look at the immensity of God's love for you, and in gratitude speak to him about your situation. May the One who loves you exceedingly hear your prayer of mercy and help. Amen

Reflection on Matthew 11:28-30

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Beloved in Christ, in this Gospel, the good Lord says, Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light. 

Growing up in an economically challenging environment in Nigeria, I witness the frequent usage of this Gospel passage by preachers on pulpits, over the radio, on television, in public buses, on small and major streets, towns and villages as a sort of “cure-all” for every social, economic, political and industrial ill in the nation. The central claim of these preachers was that an acceptance of Jesus as one’s personal Lord and Savior would guarantee economic breakthrough, success, and flight from suffering and economic hardship. To their infinite credit, these Pentecostal preachers of economic prosperity cleverly used this Gospel passage in a way that got the attention of their audience. Catholics and members of other mainline churches were targeted, persuaded and in some ways brainwashed to abandon their denominations for these new churches with simplistic approaches to solving human problems. As a young person, I heard this brand of Christian message forcefully presented. If you are not strong in your faith, you are likely going to be persuaded. In addition to vivacious preaching, there are people who lined up to testify the “miraculous favors” they had received from God through the preacher. Jesus’ call, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” was simplistically presented as the Lord’s invitation to escape from material poverty. Consequently, people got attracted mostly to the preacher (and in many cases not to Jesus) purely for what the preacher can extract from Jesus’ hands for them—material prosperity, escape from hardship and difficulty. 

Does Jesus care about our material wellbeing? Yes! He multiplied a few loaves of bread and fish to feed a multitude. Can Jesus ensure that his followers are successful in what they do? Yes! After Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John spent a fruitless night on the sea looking for fish, it was Jesus who brought success when he came to them in morning and said, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something” (Jn.21:6). The number of fish they caught was overwhelming. Can Jesus heal the sick? O yes. The entire Gospel is littered with stories of the Lord healing the sick, setting demoniacs free, and performing all manners of miracles and amazing deeds. Yes, coming to Jesus can give us a peaceful rest from the worries of this earthly life. However, what is often forgotten is this: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me… My yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Being yoked to Christ means we hand over the control of our lives over to him. Christians who use today’s Gospel passage to support the “all crown and no cross” view are mistaken. The good Lord has not promised us total and complete freedom from suffering. “Take my yoke and learn from me” is rather a freedom from the self. Undress and remove the ego, the selfishness, all egotistic tendencies and behaviors and put on Jesus’ yoke. The yoke of Jesus is repentance and faith followed by a singular commitment to follow him. What makes the Lord’s yoke easy and burden light is his grace and favor. His total obedience to the Father, his suffering, death and resurrection is what guarantees our salvation. Faith in him is a much lighter yoke and a much easier burden to carry than the burdensome yoke of self-righteousness. It is much easier to be saved by the merciful Jesus than to be saved by your self-righteousness. Remember, no one can save himself or herself (Ps. 49:8). 

Reflection on the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

The Immaculate Conception is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that the Virgin Mother of God, Mary, at the moment of her conception was exempted, preserved, freed of original sin. This dogma was promulgated by Pope Pius IX in his Apostolic Letter Ineffabilis Deus (Ineffable God) in 1854 after fasting were made, private and public prayers were unceasingly offered, after several considerations, studies of the Sacred Scripture, reflections, debates, petitions and controversies surrounding the teaching in the middle Ages. After all of that, the Holy Father finally declared:

… by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honor of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own: We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”

What this means is that the Blessed Mother through a special grace was preserved free from original stain from the first moment of conception. If this were not the case, the angel would not have referred to Mary at the Annunciation as "full of grace." If this were not the case, our Redeemer would have been contaminated by original sin and would have needed a savior himself. 

But why would God do such a thing? The answer is simple. God wanted to preserve a worthy vessel for the reception of his Son, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God wanted to preserve an incorruptible, unblemished, and spotless vessel for the spotless Lamb of God. The divine Word, God made flesh, the very incarnation of Yahweh, the second Person in the Blessed Trinity, God himself should and must be received by an unstained vessel. Just as the holy of holies in the temple was kept pure and inviolate, so the definitive Temple, the true Ark of the New Covenant, which is Mary herself, should all the more be unstained. This is why the Blessed Mother is called the Vessel of Honor, the House of gold, the Ark of the New Convent and Mother most pure.

But what is significance of Immaculate Conception? First, it reinforces what we already know: that with God all things are possible. God is able and abundantly able to do all things. Secondly, it communicates the length and breadth God is willing to go in his untiring project of saving us. Out of God’s lavished love for us, God was and is ready to do the unthinkable. Love and mercy for humanity “drove” God in the direction of doing the most incredible of all things. Third, the Immaculate Conception shows us God’s repulsion for sin. The ineffable and most Holy God does not dwell in sin and in filth. Do you want to be a fitting abiding place for God? Get rid of sin, invite God and God will come to you.

Message of Advent

As we go through the holy season of Advent, one temptation we should strive to avoid is the tendency to reduce Advent to a cozy and sentimental season. In reality, Advent is preparation for revolution. It is a revolution proclaimed by Isaiah, announced by John the Baptist, which reached its momentum in Christ Jesus. About 500 years after the Israelites returned from Babylonian exile, there appeared in Judean desert a strange figure who dressed in animal skins, and ate locust and honey— John the Baptist. When people who came to listen to him asked him, “Who are you? (Jn. 1:22) he replied in the words of prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord” (Jn. 1:23). Many centuries before him, Isaiah had said that a voice of one is calling in the wilderness and asking people to make straight in the desert a highway for our God (Is. 40:3). Upon his emergence on the public scene, John the Baptist asserts that he is that voice. Thereafter John said, “…there is one among you whom you do not recognize…” (Jn. 1:26b). He called him “the Lamb of God.” The “one among you” is a young Galilean rabbi whose message is very simple and unambiguous: Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand (Matt. 4:17). What does sin do to us? Sin distances us from God. We are meant to be close to the heart of God. According to St. Augustine, sin is a journey into the land of the unlikeness. We are made in the likeness of God, but when we sin, we wander far away from where we are meant to be. Repentance therefore is a return from a spiritual exile. To facilitate the return to our heavenly Father who is eagerly waiting for us like a good shepherd, we need to travel by God’s highway. Who is the highway? He is precisely the one that John the Baptist called “the Lamb of God,” Jesus Christ the Lord. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

On the first Sunday of Advent, our Lord urges us to “Be watchful! Be alert! Be alert to the signs of the passing of all things. Be alert to the fact that all human acquisitions, achievements, accomplishments, successes, pleasure, the joys and goods of this world will one day be taken away from us. Be alert to the futility of what St. Thomas Aquinas called the four false substitutes for God, which are wealth, pleasure, power and honor. Be consciously aware that all these vanities, all of culture, all of nature, and even the cosmos (universe) itself will come to a crashing end. Be watchful and alert to the fact that everything as we know it will definitely come to a halt. When it comes to the end of all things, even scientists, especially physicists agree that the entire universe will run out of fuel and energy to continue to exist. They tell us that one day, the universe will fade out in a great freeze or burn out like a great fry.

Now, with all these cataclysmic tale, you might be tempted to despair, and to say, “Then what the heck?” “What’s the point?” “Why bother?” You might even be tempted to fall into the existentialist philosophy of Albert Camus and his colleagues who say that “life is absurd.” That there is no meaning in life, and we can’t make a meaning out of it. Rather than submit to the meaninglessness of life, we can look to the steadfast love of God, which brought the entire universe into existence from nothing, which sustains it even now, and which will one day draw us to a life and joy that is beyond this world and that knows no bound. We can turn to the One whose love is eternal, whose patience does not run out, whose mercy is boundless, and whose power to save is mighty and persistent. This is why Advent is a preparation for a revolution. A revolution that urges us to be alert in the spirit. To wake up from our spiritual slumber. To change and repent for the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Yes, a kingdom is at hand and a new King has emerged. Change and live under his lordship.

-- Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Prepare And Make Straight!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Today’s Gospel is taken from Mark. Mark was a companion of Peter. He came most likely from Palestine to Rome with Peter. He was also a friend of Paul as the Acts of Apostles tell us. That means he knew both Peter and Paul, two great evangelists of the early Church. Both Peter and Paul were killed during Emperor Nero’s persecution around the year 65 AD. Mark wrote his Gospel around the year 70, that is a few years after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul. The opening line of his gospel is: “The beginning of the good news (gospel) of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” Now, when we read those words today, we brush it off and hardly pay attention to their significance. But every one of those words is a provocation and a paradigm shift with a huge historical consequences. The Greek term used is euaggelion (εὐαγγέλιον), which means, glad tidings or glad news. Back in the day, when Caesar the Roman Emperor is victorious in war, he would send evangelists out ahead of him to announce the good news that Caesar has won. At the beginning of his Gospel, Mark is distinctively and consciously being provocative when he said he too has the good news (euaggelion). But his good news is not about Caesar, but about someone who Caesar killed and who God raised from the dead. His name is Jesus Christ— Yeshua Hamashiach. Hamashiach means “the anointed one.” Before this time, the anointed one was King David. But now Mark is saying the true and real King is Yeshua (Jesus). And as if that was not enough, at the end of his opening statement, Mark calls him “the Son of God” (Yios Tou theou). Again, in those days, it was a deeply provocative declaration to make because Yios Tou theou (the Son of God) was a Roman imperial title. The emperor was the son of God, a sign of his supposedly divine status. But in a brazen manner, Mark is saying that the emperor is not Yios Tou theou; rather Jesus is the Yios Tou theou (the Son of God). What is Mark actually doing? He is supplanting and substituting the Roman Emperor with Jesus Christ the Son of God. But it does not mean that Jesus would relocate to Rome and rule from there, rather he is the One to whom final allegiance is due. He is properly the Lord. Those old kings and the kings of today no longer matter; the One who matters from now moving forward is Jesus Christ.

About this Jesus Christ, two iconic biblical figures— Isaiah and John the Baptist have a similar prophetic message for us: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”  When John the Baptist appeared in the desert and began to preach, multitude of people from Judean countryside and Jerusalem went up to him. They acknowledged their sins, repented and were baptized by him in the Jordan River. They were ready for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Are we willing to do as they did? The problem with many modern Christians is not that they sin. Of course we are all sinners. “All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The problem with so many modern Christians is that they sin and call it a mistake. But sin is not a mistake, rather a transgression. There is a difference between a mistake and a sin. A mistake is something done unintentionally like turning unto a one way street unknowingly or pouring salt into a cup of coffee thinking it was sugar or mistyping a word when using a computer. Any of these could happen because we are distracted. However, sin is more than a mistake. It is a deliberate choice to do something that one knows is wrong. As such it is a transgression. The problem with some modern Christians is that we sin and call it how God made us. We sin and then turn around to blame someone else. We sin and blame the devil: the devil made me do it. Like Adam and Eve, we don’t take responsibility for our actions. We sin and still claim to be good people. We sin and give reasons to justify our deeds. We sin and hardly and never feel remorseful or guilty. We sin and still claim we are not hurting anybody. Some even call sin fun, and any message that condemns sin is condemned and the preacher is called names like outdated, old-school, out of fashion and out of touch with the real life.

The voice of one crying out in the desert is asking us to make straight the way of the Lord and to rebuild old bridges. When he first preached, people acknowledged their sins, repented and were forgiven as well. Let’s act in like manner. This is not the time to make excuses. The one mightier than John, greater than Isaiah, exceedingly more important than life itself is coming. Prepare his way and make straight his paths.  

 

Reflection on Luke 10:21-24

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

To understand today’s Gospel, we must go to the beginning of chapter 10 of Luke’s Gospel. It tells us that Jesus appointed seventy disciples and sent them in pairs to the towns he himself intended to visit and to say to the people, “The Kingdom of God has come near to you” (10:9b). After the seventy had done their work and returned from the mission, they reported to Jesus what transpired in the course of their preaching: “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us” (10:17). Upon hearing their testimony, today’s Gospel tells us that Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and began to say:

 I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants…All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Lk. 10:21-22).

Sister and brothers, in those words Jesus addresses his Father and in the process reveals his own deepest identity in the Holy Trinity. Now, it is important to bear in mind that this is not just a good and holy man addressing God, but rather the very Son of God addressing his Father. And what we learn from his prayer, his address to his Father is that we too have been given a share in the inner life of God. He thanks his Father for concealing these things from the wise and the learned. So, the question then is, what “things?” What are the “things” that have been concealed from the learned and revealed to the little ones? They are nothing other than the mystery of Jesus’ relationship to the Father, the power that is hidden in the name of Jesus, the fact that a new Kingdom is being established, a Kingdom of love, hope, peace, justice, compassion, and joy, a Kingdom where darkness and evil can no long hold sway. 

We are not powerless people. A Christian is a power packed individual. In the name of Jesus we can do exploits. There is no other name that can guarantee us salvation, healing, peace, true freedom and protection but the name of Jesus. There is healing in that name. So, what are your fears, concerns, worries, anxieties? Whatever it is, have you prayed in the name of Jesus over all that trouble you? When the 70 disciples invoked the name of Jesus, demons submitted to them. Jesus himself saw Satan, Lucifer, the leader of the kingdom of darkness fall down from heaven like a flash of lightning. We have the same power to unseat and dethrone all the problems that the enemy throws at us. The name of Jesus is a strong tower, those who run into that name will be saved and protected. The name of Jesus is as powerful and efficacious as it was in the old. Call upon the name of Jesus and watch as demons submit to him. The power in the name of Jesus is unconquerable.