Go! Do Not Be Afraid!

(Homily for the 2^nd Sunday of Lent Year A)

        It will not be out of place to underline the theme of Vocation as the most evocative theme in today’s readings. The theme of God’s call, vocation dovetails into the three readings in different degrees. And by inference, we can equally say that this theme is in connection with the theme of faith, which is manifested in the human response to the divine call. Therefore, our message today revolves around the theme of God’s call and man’s response orchestrated by faith. And the locus of this as manifested in the first reading and the Gospel is an unknown land where Abraham goes for the realization of his divine mission and to the Mountain of Transfiguration, where Jesus called his three apostles the second time and on that mountain his divine salvific mission was revealed.  In the first reading, we see the episode of the call of Abraham, where God invited him to leave his country and go to an unknown land. In the Gospel passage, Jesus took three of his apostles to Mount Tabor and revealed himself to them in a unique and divine experience, his Mission as New Moses, New Elijah and the Son of God. Lastly, in the second reading St. Paul reminded his disciple Timothy and all Christians the holy call we received from God, which has to be the source of trust in the power of God, to the point of suffering for the Gospel.

        The first reading (Gen. 12:1-4a) evocates the acts of God in the history of mankind, for often theologians speak of the mighty acts of God in history. But many a times one may ask: how can we conceive today a God who acts in human history? Indeed, our passage from the book of Genesis is suggestive of one of the ways God acts in history. God intervenes and acts in human history by calling some vital individuals and establishing a covenant with them, and it is through these human responses that a channel for the execution of God’s designs is manifested in the world. At first, God tried with Adam and Eve, but it ended on a sad note (cf. Gen.3). Afterwards, He entered into covenant with Noah and his descendants (cf. Gen.9:9-11). Again, after Noah, there was need of establishing a new covenant and constituting a new people of God, for this God called Abraham to enter into covenant with him. In order to realize his will, many a times God enters into a close rapport with man, in a rapport characterized by call and response. It is under this interpretative key that we can understand better, God’s gesture and the obedient gesture of Abraham. Abraham in obedience left his country and set out for an unknown country, and it is as a result of that, that God made him, a great nation and a blessing to all the nations of the world. When the Lord calls, he attaches a promise. In Abraham we see an expression of an authentic human response to God’s call, a call that was addressed to a series of key individuals, starting from Abraham and culminating in and with the person of Jesus Christ and his apostles. It is on the basis of the above, that St. Paul used Abraham as the paradigm of faith. Faith in this panorama is conceived as an obedient response to the call of God, which opens up channels and avenues for the redemptive actions of God in the history of mankind.

      For Abraham the voice of the Lord was expressed with the words we heard in the first reading: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house.” Abraham was at peace with his people, he was happily married with Sara and probably desiring to be surrounded by his own children and to enjoy his old age. But God wanted him out of that comfort zone! Behold, the mysterious voice of the Lord came to him: “Go from…” It is indeed humanly speaking a painful command, but on the part of God it is not for deception, because what God promised him is greater than what he asked of him (Abraham): “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”, And we were told that “Abraham went as the Lord told him.” This movement in the life of Abraham is a maximum expression of faith, little wonder, so many years after that event, he is still considered as “Our father in faith.” God called him and sent him to an unknown destination, and he responded trusting in the Lord, even though he was unaware of what awaits him. He made a qualitative leap of faith! The call of God necessitates an “es tasis”, that is an exodus from oneself, it is a radical self-emptying. It is the abandonment of all the human securities: country, house, affection and material means. And the only security and guarantee given is God’s word, his faithfulness and his promises. A great lesson from Abraham is that: faith is all about trusting God even when you don’t comprehend his plans and where he is leading you to.

        The Gospel passage (Mt. 17:1-9) presents the event of Jesus’ transfiguration. And as a matter of fact, it is not by chance that we are called to reflect on this event at this particular time in the liturgical season of the church, because the transfiguration looks forward in anticipation to the Passion and subsequent glorification of Jesus at the Resurrection event. St. Mathew situates the event of the Transfiguration in the part of his Gospel where he speaks about the revelation of the Messiah (13:53-17:27); the solemn proclamation by Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:13-20) and lastly after the proclamation of the Passion (16:21-28). The word transfiguration simply means change of figure, and symbolically, it is an anticipation of the resurrection. Put in another way, it means giving up the present figure and obtaining another one. Thus, he transfigured before them or he changed in appearance.  In the Transfiguration of Jesus we see rays of Jesus’ divinity, which was somewhat hidden by his humanity, he offered us an anticipation of his future glorification and demonstration that his death on Calvary will not be the end, there is the resurrection, death will not have the final word!

        In his narrative, Mathew provides a number of fascinating factors: ●Mathew and Luke unlike Mark mentioned about the change of Jesus’ face and countenance respectively, “his face shone like the sun” (v.2). ●Only Mathew compared the whiteness of Jesus’ garments to light (v.2). The splendour of his face and the whiteness of the garments indicate the glory of God manifested in Jesus. ●Moses and Elijah are the two of the most important figures in the Old Testament, Moses represents the law that Jesus has come to bring to fulfilment, while Elijah represents the prophecies that Jesus has come to realize. He is therefore the Promised Messiah. Jesus is the New legislator who will give men a unique commandment and the synthesis of all other commandments: love, and as the new prophet who will proclaim to men the secrets of the heart of his Father. Thus as the new Moses and new Elijah he will realize his vocation and manifest the love of the Father. ●What was the content of his discussion with Moses and Elijah? Only St. Luke opined that Moses and Elijah were speaking “of his exodus, which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem” (Lk. 9:31), that is, his Passion. ●Mathew like the other synoptic reported the voice that came from the cloud saying: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” The content of the message of the voice of the Father is a revelation that in terms of what Jesus does (his works) he can be compared to Moses and Elijah, but at the level of being he is more than them, because he is the Son of God! Secondly, we are all invited to listen to him, listening to him entails following his examples and threading the paths he has charted for us. And truly Abraham in the first reading shows us by an existential example what it means to listen to God, which is equivalent to trusting in his word and abandoning oneself in Him. The voice of the Father from the clouds reveals who Jesus is: “This is my Son.” God the Father reveals that Jesus is not only a man, He is also God. The context of the transfiguration event is a place where God declared the mission of the Son: “This is my beloved Son, listen to him”. After the Father’s voice, Jesus readily climbed down from the mountain of glory to the valley of human predicament and suffering. While he was coming down from the mountain Jesus ordered his disciples not to talk about the transfiguration until after his resurrection. ●In Mathew, there was a command of silence until after the resurrection. Mathew reported this command, Mark said: ‘he charged them”, but Luke omitted it. Why this command? It is because it will lack logicality, if the transfiguration is disclosed before the death and resurrection that would imply glory without the cross. At the heart of this narrative is the age-long assertion: “No cross, no crown”.

        Indeed, let us imagine the scenario at Tabor, before the apostles: Peter, James and John, and the vision of the transfigured Lord. It was indeed an atmosphere of glory and indescribable peace that made them to be bewildered and overwhelmed. Then out of bewilderment and fear, Peter spoke up: “It is wonderful for us to be here.” They wanted to remain there. Peter went as far as coming up with a concrete step on how to realize that dream or project: “I will make three booths.” At the heart of that event, Mathew tells us that the disciples were afraid, and Jesus intervened and calmed their fear with his reassuring touch and voice. As a matter fact, the Scriptures portray fear as man’s reaction to a theophany. “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead, but he laid his right hand on me and said, Do not be afraid…” (Rev. 1:17). And this fear was conquered only by the encouraging word of Jesus (cf. Mt. 14:27; 28:5, 10). Jesus came and touched them, saying; “Rise, and have no fear”, and they began to walk down to plain ground. There is a human tendency to remain in a place considered to be a comfort zone, just like the three apostles, even though they were afraid, but the mountain at that point became a comfort zone and they wanted to remain there to enjoy the tranquillity of the mountain and the “divine display”. They wanted to remain in the mere vision of glory, but Jesus led them down to the plain ground where he has to face his destiny on the Cross, where they will see the real glory, not a vision. Many a times, we are also like the apostles who desired to remain on mount Tabor, without realizing the necessity of passing through Calvary.

     What are those places and environments in your life that you have declared: “it is wonderful to be here”, of course, with the desire to remain there? Examine those moments and places very well and see if they lead you to your destiny, to your goal, to your dreams and aspirations in life, or they will only cause a spiritual abortion to the realization of your dreams. It is really true that sometimes the Lord leaves us in such places or environments for sometimes and he comes later very close to us to say: “Rise, do not be afraid.” In fact, in the destiny of every man or woman, especially of every Christian, there is a Tabor, a place, a situation from which he or she has to climb down in order to climb the Calvary, to arrive at a real glory not a mere vision. Therefore, we all make this experience, but what makes the difference is the attitude of each person. Here, the disciple of Jesus has to distinguish himself or herself from a non-believer. How? By and through the response he or she gives to that invitation of Jesus: “Rise”, not just rise, but rise and move down towards the realization of your goal. Drawing the issue further, the transfiguration of Jesus is a sign and a prophecy of what will become of us one day. Our Christian life is tailored in being and becoming, between reality and hope, between the already and the not yet. Our being, our reality or our already is in Christ. Little wonder, the apostle reminds us: “You are in Christ Jesus” (1Cor. 1:30).

     In the second reading (2Tm. 1:8b-10) St. Paul picks up the theme of the divine call and narrowed it down to the Christian calling. He emphasized that the call is by no means based on human merits, instead upon God’s purpose and design. Interestingly, this age long divine purpose has now been fulfilled and manifested in the person of Jesus Christ, who brought life and immortality to light. This wonderful presentation of Jesus as one who brought life and immortality into light introduces us to and situates us well into the context of the Gospel passage on the theme of Transfiguration.

     Above all friends, the message of the today’s readings reminds us that we are pilgrims, like Abraham, moving toward the land of promise. But our own pilgrimage is an inward pilgrimage. Just as God called Abraham, so he has called each of us. Though he may not call us exactly like Abraham to “your country and your father’s house” but he calls us to leave behind our old ways, greed, insincerity and selfish desires. Indeed, the direction of this existential pilgrimage is not geographical but moral: is a journey towards love, kindness and obedient to God’s word. Our own Promise Land is Heaven. Thus, in this season of Lent, the Church reminds us of this journey and calls us to conversion, the Church calls us in reality to repent and appropriate the experience of Abraham and that of the apostles on Tabor. In concrete terms we are called to accomplish three symbolic tasks or movements: to go from, to go down and to go. ●To go from: from the daily routines of life, from our Ur of the Chaldeans, where we are comfortable and relaxed: our comfort zone. ●To go: towards the land that the Lord will indicate, that is, towards the future of faith, opening oneself to the promises of God. In that episode, the land that God indicated to Abraham was the Promised Land, Palestine. But for us our own Promise Land is the kingdom of God, not just the kingdom of God after death, but already here in our midst. ●To go down: from Tabor entails going courageously towards God’s will, following the Lamb wherever he goes (cf. Rev.14:4). We need to embark on this existential and spiritual movement. The three apostles wouldn’t have arrived at the joy of the Resurrection, if they had remained on Tabor. Likewise us we cannot experience the glory of the Lord if we do not follow Him courageously, even when it means sacrificing our comfort zones, the things and persons that make us feel good.

        We cannot but remember the experience of Joseph, if someone who loved him wanted to show him favour, the person would have taken Joseph back to his Father, and not to Pharaoh, but the throne would have been aborted, he would have died, Jacob would have died, and that would have been the end of Israel. But Joseph needed to go to Pharaoh for the realization of his mission and no longer back to his father. “Pharaoh said to Joseph, I hereby make you governor of the whole of Egypt” (Gen. 41:41). And at the end, through the names given to his children he vehemently discovered God’s blessings and favour in disguise: “Joseph named the first-born Manasseh, Because, he said, ‘God has made me completely forget my hardships and my father’s house’” (Gen. 41:51); “He named the second Ephraim, Because he said, ‘God has made me fruitful in the country of my misfortune’” (Gen. 41:52). The path way to favour and blessing is not always positive and pleasing, many a times it comports pains and sacrifice. Abraham had to leave his father’s land and family, the three apostles had to follow Jesus and go down from Tabor, even though it was a wonderful place for them. Therefore, you too need to make a move. Go! Do not be afraid!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

Do Not Let The Devil Win!

 (Homily for the 1^st Sunday of Lent Year A)

          The readings of this first Sunday of Lent present the miserable condition of man caused by the fall of our first parents and on the other hand, our redemption in Christ. They present Adam’s weakness before the temptation of the serpent and Christ’s resistance and strength before the temptations of Satan, from the first, sin and death gained entrance into the world, while from the later, life and freedom. No doubt, the themes of our reflection today therefore revolve around fall and obedience, death and life, fallen humanity and redeemed humanity. The messages of the three readings are somewhat intertwined, for the Genesis story of Adam and Eve can be related to the Gospel narrative of the victory of Jesus over temptations, through the analogy that St. Paul made in the second reading between Adam and Christ. A profound perusal into the readings of this Sunday places the old Adam and the New Adam side by side. And the hymn of Newman reveals very well the aforementioned analogy and thus helps us to go in-depth:

O loving wisdom of our God!

When all was seen and shame,

A second Adam to the fight

And to the rescue came.

 

O wisest love! That flesh and blood,

Which did in Adam fail,

Should strive afresh against the foe

Should strive and should prevail.

Truly, it is through the prevailing of the New Adam that we can stand our ground in resisting the temptations of the evil one, but most importantly through that we can make a spiritual retrospection in recognition of our failings and the courage to ask God for pardon. It is on that note that the words of the responsorial Psalm introduce us not only to the spiritual climate of Lent but also to the reality of our fallen nature redeemed by Christ, “Have mercy on me, O God…for we have sinned. For I am well aware of my offences, my sin is constantly in mind. Against you, you alone I have sinned, I have done what you see to be wrong” (Ps. 51:1.4). Just like the first Adam we have fallen, we are sinners but redeemed in Christ. Thus, in today’s readings we see the synthesis of the whole history of salvation, all our history: creation- sin – redemption.

        The first reading from the book of Genesis (Gen. 2:7-9; 3:1-7) in a way points to the future of Christ’s event, for if we want to grasp the saving significance of Christ’s death and resurrection, we cannot but make a journey in retrospect, remembering that man is God’s creation, yet a fallen creature. Indeed, something went wrong somewhere, for man has become what God intended him not to be. These two great theological truths: creation and fall are expressed in the book of Genesis in chapters 2 and 3. In the passage of our first reading, we see the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and their eating of the forbidden fruit at the serpent’s deception. Not only that, there is another creation account in the first chapter of the book of Genesis that is more theological, for therein there is an assertion that God created man in his image and likeness. In this later account, man is the culmination of all God’s creation. The second chapter places man more at the centre of creation, therein, God made man and put him in the garden and surrounded him with all that he needed. However, in both cases, the theological import is the same: that is the fact that man occupies a unique place in God’s creation. The account of the fall of Adam and Eve and the temptation by the devil replicates the consequences of disobedience. They disobeyed God and obeyed Satan by eating the forbidden fruit. Maybe we may begin to imagine a garden with so many trees and at the centre, there is the tree it’s fruits are forbidden. Rather this stands as a symbol for a limit that should never be crossed. They sinned against God, and what is sin? Sin is a free act of man against God’s project. The result of sin is curse. When we do not listen to God’s word we go astray and the result is tragic (cf. Dt. 30: 15-20). The essence of the original sin consists in man’s pretence to realize himself without God. In disobeying God and taking independence from him, man discovered that he is naked, that he has lost his dignity. But God did not abandon man in his disobedience. Human experience confirms the fact that whenever we sin we forget who we are and what God has done for us.

          This ancient story of creation and fall in the book of Genesis reveals a profound theological insight. The overriding message is that man cannot blame God or any evil fate for his plight and condition; instead man is directly responsible for his actions, because man has made wrong choices that were not in accordance with his destiny as God created him. However, these choices and their consequences do not deprive man his responsibility. As we were taught in Catechism, the original sin, the sin of Adam and Eve was transmitted to us through our conception and together with it is concupiscence and disorder that pushes us to evil. We do not sin because someone has sinned before us, but we sin freely, imitating Adam on our own. And by extension, we can say that when one sins he or she is for those who come after him or her, what Adam was for that person, through my actions I can condition those who come after me, to be slaves or free. Sin in its profound intension is the attempt to eliminate God, to negate him, in other to put oneself in His place, as the absolute value. The serpent deceived them: “You will be like God”. The desire to be like God, to assume His place and to be the absolute master of one’s destiny and freedom, is the hidden intension in sin. This is hidden from our spirit, but not hidden from God, for God himself has said: “I shall climb high above the clouds, I shall rival the Most High. Now you have been flung down to Sheol, into the depths of the abyss” (Is. 14:14-15). In fact, St. Paul puts it in a more emblematic manner thus: “Who made you so important? What have you got that was not given to you? And if it is given to you, why are you boasting as though it were your own” (1Cor. 4:7). This is why God reacts to sin, because it is lie in essence.

          The second reading (Rm. 5: 12-19) could be seen as the continuation of Adam’s ordeal in the first reading, but also it complements it, for it balances the fall of Adam with the restoration of man in Christ. St. Paul speaks of the contrast between Adam and Jesus. He advances the argument that the sin of Adam and its consequent death is analogous to the sin of all men and thus the consequent spread of death to all. But more than that, St. Paul makes an analogy between Adam and Christ, for he posited that Adam began a history of fallen mankind that was characterized by sin and death, while Christ began a new history of mankind characterized rather by liberation, life and righteousness. However, in his analogy, Christ surpasses Adam, little wonder the apostle says: “If Adam…how much more Christ”. Be that as it may, Christ’s achievement is far greater than Adam’s, for we could say that while Adam introduced sin and death, Christ inaugurated freedom, life and righteousness. Death is negative, for its dominion enslaved man, but life is positive, for the dominion of Christ sets free. Christ is our saviour and through him we gained back what we lost in Adam: our dignity as children of God, he makes us sons and daughters of God. It is the “yes” of the second Adam that rectifies the “no” of the first Adam. Indeed, the analogy between Adam and Christ here serves as bridge between the first reading and the Gospel periscope.

        Furthermore, St. Paul meditated on these two events and he offers us an amazing synthesis, “One man’s offence brought condemnation on all humanity, and one man’s good act has brought justification and life to all humanity. Just as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience are many to be made upright” (vv. 18-19). St. Paul revealed something of a great importance, and that is the fact that Adam did not fall only for himself and Christ did not win only for himself. The disobedience of one implicated others in sin, while the obedience of the other introduced all to grace. And till today, man is caught up between these two poles of attraction: with Adam or with Christ, with sin or with salvation.  The first (sin) is consummated in a garden of delight, between euphoria and pleasure, but it exposes one immediately in the midst of thorns and thistles. The second (salvation) instead is realized in fatigue and suffering, but introduces one in the garden of joy, where angels come to serve winners.

          The passage of the Gospel (Mt. 4:1-4) is the presentation of the temptation of Jesus by the evil one. This account is found both in Mathew and in Luke (4:1-13), although there is a little difference in their manner of presentation of the temptations, while Mathew has bread-temple-mountain, Luke has bread-mountain-temple. It does appear that Mathew’s intention was to bring together the two questions pertaining to Jesus as Son of God. As such, for Mathew the temptations of Jesus are messianic in character. On the other hand, Luke’s ordering is suggestive of his desire to emphasize that Jesus is the new Adam, the antitype of the first Adam, who fell when tempted by the serpent. As a matter of fact, given that we are reading the Matthean version with the second and third chapters of the book of Genesis and the fifth chapter of the letter of St. Paul to the Romans, we are going to thread the line of St. Luke, therefore, seeing Jesus’ temptation as the temptation of the new Adam.

          The three temptations condense the three fundamental relations of man:

●Towards oneself (stone or bread) - Concupiscence of the body

●Towards God (God at my disposition) - Concupiscence of the eyes

●Towards others (power) - Concupiscence of power

         The first temptation was the demand of the Devil to Jesus to change stone to bread. Even though it is true that bread is good, but the word of God is best. It is also true that we need “bread” to survive, but what keeps us in being is the word of God. His “word are spirit and they are life” (Jn. 6:63), so also man “lives of every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord” (Mt. 4:4). This is the temptation to use his power to His material and personal advantage, to satisfy his hunger, after 40 days of fasting, but the real word that satisfies is the word of God. Till today we are still faced with the temptation of turning everything to “bread” just for personal satisfaction. Little wonder, greed, selfishness and insatiable desires for material things is erupting the foundation of our world.

        The second temptation was the devil’s attempt to put Jesus to his disposition. He took Jesus up the pinnacle of the temple, and challenged Him: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge over you, to guard you…” And Jesus to the devil, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” Here, the devil asks Jesus for a miracle. The devil used the written word of God to tempt the Incarnate Word of God. Peter made a similar request to Jesus at the episode when he saw Jesus walking on water. “Lord, he said, if it is you tell me to come to you across the water” (Mt.14:28), and Jesus allowed him, but after three steps, he became afraid and started to sink. Indeed, miracles are not necessary for one to have faith. We remember Jesus performed so many miracles in Galilee and Samaria, yet his people wanted to throw Him down from the hill in Nazareth (cf. Lk. 4: 22-30). It is not miracle that gives faith, it is a supernatural gift. This is the temptation to make God succumb to the devil’s will, sometimes also we are like the devil, when we want to bend God’s will to our will, when we want and command God for miracles because we want them, not because He willed them. Some of us tempt God with: Give me, do that, resolve this problem etc.

          The third temptation was the Devil’s open challenge to Jesus. He took Jesus up to a very high mountain and showed Him all the Kingdoms of the world and their splendor, and then the Devil tells Jesus (God) to worship him. The devil invited Jesus to succumb to his logic, for him to have everything. What an irony! Here we see the logic of the devil: “I give you, you give me”. This is the temptation for power (to have power over others). This temptation for power has dealt with our present world. This indeed is the exact contrary of God. God in His logic loves us first and gratuitously too. He loves and gives without asking for anything in return. The devil’s logic is “nothing goes for nothing” and God’s logic is “something goes for nothing”.

          Jesus in the threefold temptations teaches us to always put God first in our life. The responses (Man shall not live by bread alone; you shall not put the Lord, your God to the test; you shall worship the Lord, your God, and Him alone shall you serve) of Jesus to the devil manifest that Jesus put God first in everything. Who is first in your life? These three temptations are the three ways through which man deserts the way of God: ●temptation of idolizing material things (selfishness), ●temptation to desire for success and personal prestige, ●temptation to grab power for the sake of domination. We too, are constantly tempted to deviate from God, but Jesus indicates to us through his experience a major road in order not to fall into temptation. We should avoid a type of an accommodating Christianity that tends to please man, rather than God.

          Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit, and he was tempted. He felt that there is an obscure power in the world he has to wage war against. And at the end of the temptation the devil left him, but St. Luke added: “the devil left him, until the opportune moment” (Lk. 4:13). And truly he did return, when instead of the pinnacle of the temple he took him (Jesus) to the pinnacle of the Cross and says to him: “if you are the son of God come down from the cross” (Mt. 27:40). In the episode of today’s passage Jesus started his fight against sin and against Satan the Instigator. Through his victory over Satan He created a new possibility for us: that is the possibility of overcoming temptation and sin. He is the antithesis of Adam. He (Adam), man wanted to be like God; but Jesus even though God became man to save man from his evil inclination and desire. St. Paul says of him: “Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God…But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). The temptation of Eden has not ended, for there are still many serpents who continue to lead man astray and make him deviate from the divine will, but Jesus has opened a new possibility for us, he won Satan and his temptations in the desert, we too can win him in the desert of our human existences.

          As we reflect on the episode where the Devil tempted Jesus for three good times, the tempter had a sort of a formula: “if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread” (v.3); “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down” (v.6); “I will give you all these, if you fall at my feet and do me homage” (v.9). The “if question” was something recurrent in the life and mission of Jesus, indeed, the part of the struggle he had to contend with was that of doubt and challenge, even upon the cross: “If you are the Son of God come down from the cross” (Mt. 27:40). Peter was caught up with the same question, upon seeing Jesus walk on water, “Lord, he said, if it is you tell me to come to you across the water” (Mt.14:28). The same question was addressed to him regarding his identity at the beginning of his public ministry. In our own experiences today, despite our human frailty and sins, we are invited to put the “if question” into the hands of God, and allow Him to fill us with the assurance of his presence and divine grace. In all, Christ and Adam show the two opposite reactions in face of temptation: Adam, archetype of sinful, evasive, self-seeking humanity and Christ, archetype of the new God-seeking man, resists temptation even repeatedly. We are indeed invited to follow the way of Christ in dealing with temptations and the tempter. Remember do not let the Devil win! We pray earnestly in this season of Lent that we may experience more deeply God’s mercy, goodness and love! Amen!!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

Unless Your Holiness Surpasses…!

(Homily for the 6^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A)

        From the readings of this day emerge the theme of the rapport between law and freedom. Freedom has become almost like a cry that we often hear especially from the youth: freedom for this or freedom for that. What does man intend by freedom? Often, it is wrongly conceived to be the possibility to follow one’s desires, to do and obtain what one wants, without censures or limitations of the law. God created man and He created him free. But God gave man a law on which to exercise his freedom. Not because he will not obey, but in order that he might obey freely. For this, the first reading affirmed that God “never commanded anyone to be godless, he has given no one permission to sin” (Sir. 15:20). The true freedom of a Christian is the freedom to do what one ought to do and not what one wants.

        The catechesis on freedom begins with the explanation of freedom as the capacity to choose. To be a man is to live choosing, opting between one thing or the other. The little choices of everyday are to be guided by the fundamental choice that is the choice that Sirach spoke about in the first reading: choosing between good and evil, grace and sin. This ethical principle is not optional, it is inscribed in the laws of the human spirit, and as such, one cannot renounce them without renouncing at the same time one’s humanity, because not to choose is already a choice! The three readings of today are centered on the theme of freedom that is authentically Christian. In the first reading the sacred author made recourse to images to demonstrate the responsibility of man in his actions: “He set fire and water before you; put out your hand to whichever you prefer. A human being has life and death before him, whichever he prefers will be given him” (vv.16-17), this depicts the free will that God gave to man. In the Gospel Jesus went straight to the root cause of sinning and made the extra demands of the morality of the New Law: “You have heard that it was said…But I say to you”. Lastly, in the second reading St. Paul talks about a wisdom that is imparted to the mature, a superior wisdom that is mysterious, divine, hidden, which God revealed through his Spirit.

       The first reading (Sir. 15:16-21) constitutes the necessary premises to welcome the message of the Gospel, that is so profound, radical and exigent. The passage states clearly that each person has a free will. God does not force his commandments on us, neither is he responsible for the evil which exists in the world. As the author says in such a thought-provoking and frightening way, “Man has life and death before him; whichever a man likes better, will be given him.” One has to admit his responsibility be it in good or in bad, this is the first step towards interior conversion. The Bible knows very well about the human conditions and fragility, little wonder, it speaks also of the presence of Satan that leads to evil, but it does not excuse man when he commits evil. For this, the word of God averts us: “Sin is crouching at the door hungry to get you. You can still master him” (Gn. 4:7). True obedience to God has to spring from a two-fold conviction: that God is not a tyrant interested on himself but a Father who is interested on our good, consequently, He does not impose any law on us. As the author posits: “For great is the wisdom of the Lord…The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him and he knows every deed of man”. His knowledge does not in any way infringe on the freedom of man!

        The Gospel (Mt. 5:17-37) passage presents one of the most difficult questions in the Jewish world. The question is: is it still necessary to observe the law of Moses, after the coming of Christ? And is this observance in conformity with the teachings of the Scribes and Pharisees? Summoning all the sayings of Jesus, St. Mathew took a position about this fundamental problem: Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to complete it: “Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them” (v.17). With this affirmation, Jesus recognized the law of Moses and all the Old Testament as authentic revelation of the will of God, but at the same time, he evidenced its limitations and imperfections. With that programmatic sentence, that was part of his sermon on the mount, Jesus presented his identity card and summarizes his mission. Jesus established a line of continuity with the past (O.T.), this continuity is not mere repetition, but completion and deepening. The will of God interpreted and realized by Christ is superior to that of the Old Testament (represented by the law of Moses and the Prophets), especially as it was being interpreted by some Scribes and Pharisees. For six good times Jesus repeated the necessity of embracing the profundity of the New Law. He repeated it like a refrain: “You have heard that it was said…But I say to you”. Jesus speaks on his own name (I say to you) and with divine authority, manifesting therefore, his awareness of being the Messiah. Jesus presented himself to his disciples in the position and with authority as the “Supreme Legislator” of the New Law. The perfection and completion that Jesus brought is to be understood in the sense of a major radicality, of a more profound moral rigor and interiority. Jesus did not limit himself to the prohibition of some attitudes and extreme actions like homicide, adultery and swearing, he goes deeper and demands the fundamental dispositions of the heart and the change of heart, which is the root of every sentiment, intention and action. He helps us to understand that the exigencies of the will of God go beyond the teachings of the Scribes and the Pharisees, and what is indicated by the same Law of Moses. We need to go in-depth!

       As a matter of fact, the concrete examples that Jesus presented evidenced the major perfection of the New Law (the Gospel) with respect to the old Law: ►It is no longer enough to say do not kill your neighbor physically, there is need of respecting him or her. It is not enough to condemn the visible act of homicide, there is need of going deeper, to verify the internal or interior attitude or disposition. For one can kill through words, with judgment, with criticism, with calumny. You can morally and spiritually mortify, humiliate and kill with one’s attitude of superiority, arrogance and insolence. It is not enough, to say do not kill, it is necessary to comprehend how to show compassion, to pardon, in a word: to love. “If you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your offering there…” (vv.23-24). Here, we see the urgency of reconciliation. You cannot honor God if your brother or sister is dishonored, you cannot claim to love God and not loving a brother, because God is first encountered in the neighbor. ►It is no longer enough the commandment: do not commit adultery. This is too little. Whoever looks at a person with a disordered desire, therefore considering the person a thing, an object to be used for oneself, as an object of pleasure, has already committed adultery in his or her heart. This is because adultery is first consummated interiorly, in the heart and in the mind, before it metamorphoses into an exterior material act. We need to differentiate between a lustful look and a gaze or an eye to beauty. It is true that we all take a second look at a beautiful person, but the lustful look goes further to wallow in sensual imaginations. We can remember vividly well the case of David and Bathsheba (2Sam. 11:1-5). Jesus insisted not only on the fact that sinful acts must be eliminated, but decisively to remove every occasion of sin, for this Jesus says: “if your eyes is an occasion for scandal for you… if your hand…”. ►It is not enough not to divorce your wife with a writ of dismissal. But Jesus says everyone who his wife makes her an adulteress, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Thus, as we have adultery of the heart, we can also talk about divorce of the heart, when the husband or the wife lives with the other without love, or the heart is linked to another person. Many Christians (husbands and wives) for years are living in this kind of practical divorce, when between the husband and the wife there is not even the desire to forgive each other or to reconcile. When indifference and hostility are established that is practical divorce of the heart. ►Finally, in the new Law Jesus abolished swearing for vain and meaningless motives. The Jews had the attitude of swearing, and while swearing they invoke heaven or the temple in order to give authority and credibility to their words. But Jesus says: do not swear at all. We dare not say yes when we mean no, and no when we mean yes. The authority and the credibility of your words, of your promises, of your testimonies, must be founded in yourselves, in your rectitude and honesty.

        However, man’s quest for freedom has plunged him into moral quagmire, to the extent of using his freedom to reject the law. Thus, law and freedom became for man two stumbling blocks, instead of two wings that will help man to fly to God, as it was in God’s design. They (law and freedom) became two forces that push towards the opposite direction, which has made man sometimes to groan: “who will rescue me?” (Rm. 7:24). But Jesus comes to redeem humanity, by reconciling these two opposites. He raised the standard, just as we heard in the Gospel passage: “You have heard how it was said…But I say this to you…” Naturally, it has to do with introducing a new dimension to the law, no longer externally imposed and translated in thousands of different prescriptions, but they are interior to man, written on his heart (cf. Jer. 31:31-34), and condensed into one precept: “You must love the Lord your God… and your neighbor as yourself” (Mt.22:37-39; Mk.12:30-31; Lk.10:27). The greatest novelty brought by Jesus is linking the law with eternal life. For this St. Paul says that “Love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rm. 13:10). Be that as it may, Jesus wants us to do away with every form of ambiguity and double joke. He wants us to be sincere and transparent in our rapport with God and with our neighbors. Through the passage of this Gospel Jesus has helped us to understand the most profound exigencies of the new Law. It is now left for us to embark on a journey of conversion and a change of conduct in the sense and direction indicated by Jesus.

        What more novelty did Jesus bring entering into the world? Indeed, another new thing Jesus brought to the world is Himself! He made himself the sacrament of reconciliation between the will of God and the freedom of man. In him truly “justice and peace embraced” (Ps. 84:11). The two forces that were drawing man opposite directions, in Christ reacquired the possibility of being united, thus directed towards God. In fact, Jesus was the supreme realization of the will of God and the supreme actualization of the human freedom. In his obedience “until death” the will of God and the free response of man are affirmed. And there point of convergence is called Love. He offered himself spontaneously to his Passion: “I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, I lay it down of my own free will, and as I have power to lay it down, so I have power to take it up again” (Jn. 10:17-18). Christ indeed is seen as the free man, who at his Passion freed and empowered others with his freedom (cf. Jn.8:36). By so doing, he traced for us a path through which we can follow him by imitation: “Brothers, you were called to be free; do not use your freedom as an opening for self-indulgence, but be servants to one another in love, since the whole of the law is summarized in the one commandment: You must love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:13-14). In the words of St. Peter: “You are slaves of no one except God, so behave like free people, and never use your freedom as a cover for wickedness” (1Pt. 2:16). Therefore, we are free, but like Jesus, free in order to serve God and our brothers and sisters. Though, the Masters of suspect like J. P. Sartre tried to negate the fact of human freedom, they say that man is condemned to freedom. Our freedom is not a condemnation but a call. Not only that we are called to imitate Jesus, he also gives us strength to follow him. Indeed, here consists his novelty, he did not abolish or substitute the law with grace, as it is said sometimes rather he gave the grace to observe the law, the Spirit to overcome the flesh. The most common conflict is caused by the flesh that refuses to obey the Spirit and tends to make freedom, as St. Peter said: “a veil to cover wickedness”.

        Indeed, all the discourse of Jesus reveal clearly the wisdom that comes from above, just as St. Paul expressed in the second reading (1Cor. 2:6-10), about a wisdom that is not of this world, “It is of the mysterious wisdom of God that we talk, the wisdom that was hidden, which God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began” (v.7). This truly reveals all the novelty and the perfection of the evangelical message, which requires the orientation of the whole person, especially one’s heart, towards God and not just one’s exterior comportment. We could decipher from the words of St. Paul that the Christian freedom is not a wisdom of this world, rather it is a wisdom that comes from God, which God revealed to us through his Spirit, because where is the Spirit, there is true freedom (cf. 2Cor. 3:17). The Christian freedom in a pluralistic society like ours requires great discernment. We live in a context of religious, political and cultural pluralism. A pluralism that even touches the way we consider good and bad, and as such that touches and tends to condition our everyday choices. But a true free Christian acts under the action of the Spirit.

      Therefore, we are free, but like Jesus, free in order to serve God and our brothers and sisters. Though, the Masters of suspect like J. P. Sartre tried to negate the fact of human freedom, they say that man is condemned to freedom. Our freedom is not a condemnation but a call. Not only that we are called to imitate Jesus, he also gives us strength to follow him. Indeed, here consists his novelty, he did not abolish or substitute the law with grace, as it is said sometimes rather he gave the grace to observe the law, the Spirit to overcome the flesh. The most common conflict is caused by the flesh that refuses to obey the Spirit and tends to make freedom, as St. Peter said: “a veil to cover wickedness”.

    Above all, the first and second readings speak about the wisdom of God and no doubt, we need that wisdom to choose well, a wisdom which comes through the Spirit. St. Paul affirms that “the Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God.” Therefore, it is the Spirit who enables us to choose “in-depth”, in line with the radicality and profundity demanded by Jesus. The Spirit enables us to make the kind of choices which are in line with what is deepest in us and, therefore more life-giving. In the Gospel reading, Jesus proposes a virtue which goes deeper than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, a virtue in-depth, from the heart. May the Spirit prompt us to choose always in accordance with our calling and dignity as God’s Children! Amen!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

Let Your Light Shine!

(Homily for the 5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A)

          At the heart of today’s invitation for us Christians to be salt and light, that preserve others from corruption, give flavor to the life of others and enlighten those around us, is the existential decision to do good. On this, Isaiah in the first reading invites us to share our bread with the poor, to help the miserable and the homeless. St. Mathew in the Gospel admonished us on the necessity for good works, which Isaiah has already concretized. And it is indeed on this passage of Isaiah’s prophecy that we have to examine ourselves to know if truly we are the salt and light of the world. St. Paul in the second reading gives us a wonderful input: humility in words and in action. Therefore, in any field a Christian finds himself or herself, be it economy, political or religious he or she has to work hard for the good of the poor, and then against oppression and injustice. This invitation for an authentic Christian is not optional, rather an imperative. The Lord has not lighted in us the flame of faith for us to hide it jealously in us, rather that we might communicate it to others. Christianity is about attraction through our good works and not proselytism and over-moralizing. We are therefore called to offer humanity the salt of faith excavated from the inexhaustible mine of divine grace and light beaming from His abiding presence. Let your light shine!

          In the first reading (Is. 58:7-10) the Israelites just returned from exile, they were trying to practice exteriorly the acts of devotion as prescribed by God: praying, seeking the Lord and fasting. But to them it does appear that God was not hearing their prayers, then they reproached God for His silence: “Why have we fasted, if you do not see, why mortify ourselves if you never notice?’ Look, you seek your own pleasure on your fast days and you exploit all your workmen” (Is. 58:3). Many a times we have demonstrated this type of attitude when it seems to us that God has not hearkened to our supplications. But prophet Isaiah in the name of God debunked their presumption, and he reminded them of a series of sins that provoke God’s anger (cf. Is. 58:4-5). Isaiah reproached them that it is not enough to pray and fast, because prayer and fasting are useless if they are not expression of an interior attitude of detachment from sin. Prayer and fasting are pleasing to God when they are accompanied with a pure heart and the works of charity and justice.

          Isaiah in his prophecy laid emphasis on concrete works of light. He says: “Is it not sharing your food with the hungry, and sheltering the homeless poor; if you see someone lacking clothes, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own kin? Then your light will blaze out like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over. Saving justice will go ahead of you and Yahweh’s glory come behind you” (vv.7-8). Indeed, it is when our good works shine that God will answer us, that he will assure us of his presence. “Then you will cry for help and Yahweh will answer; you will call and he will say, ‘I am here.’… if you deprive yourself for the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, your light will rise in the darkness” (vv.9-10). It is only when one has done the aforementioned good works that he can call God, and God answers. And indeed, who acts in such a manner will shine like light in the darkness. It is the power of good example and the rectitude of the heart that enable one to shine. Today in our society the hungry, the homeless and the helpless abound. Thus, we have to interrogate ourselves, especially the affluent ones among us, how do we make effort to help these categories of people in our midst? Isaiah speaks about doing away with the yoke, the clenched fist and malicious words, which is oppression, pointing of fingers and violent words, these pollute and obfuscate our co-existence and togetherness. We need to live as true sons and daughters and disciples of light.

         In the Gospel passage (Mt. 5:13-16) Jesus delineated for his disciples and followers the two major spiritual personality traits of a Christian: “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world”. Jesus addressed those words not only to his immediate apostles, but to all his disciples, for the context of this passage was immediately after the discourse on the Beatitudes, and there was a large group of people following him. Salt is used for purification and cleansing. Prophet Elisha used salt to purify the foul water and it became wholesome (cf. 2Kgs 2:19-22). Salt also has the quality of preserving from corruption, as salt a Christian has to preserve the environment in which he lives through the testimony of his works. Again, light is meant to illumine, a Christian is a light who with the word of God illumines the human minds and situations. A Christian is like a lighted lamp that cannot be hidden because his or her good works cannot be obfuscated by obscurity in the world. In which sense are the disciples salt and light? Certainly, they are not salt and light in themselves alone, rather they are in the measure they participate in the Eternal Light: Christ. Jesus says: “I am the light of the world, anyone who follows me will not be walking in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn.8:12). The Psalmist says: “your word is a lamp for my step, a light on my path” (Ps. 119:105). Again, St. John affirms: “The Word was the real light that gives light to everyone” (Jn. 1:9). He is the true Salt and Light, in whom we are flavored and enlightened humanly and spiritually.

        Jesus is the salt of the earth, without him, the world is insipid, without the taste of eternity the world decomposes morally. St. Bernard said, whatever I listen to or read is insipid if I do not find the name of Jesus. Then, in what sense did Jesus attribute to his disciples the prerogative of being salt and light? It is in the measure they are illumined by his word, that they can become agents of light and make his light shine. As they have been made to participate in the divinity and Spirit of Christ they have to make others be enlightened by Christ. As a matter of fact, at the event of our Baptism we have received this responsibility. In the rite of Baptism the priest says: “Receive this salt, in order to be always fervent in the spirit” and again, “Receive this ardent light…”. Therefore, in Baptism we receive the Spirit of Christ, and as such, we become like him: salt of the earth and light of the world. We light our small candles from his great light. Little wonder, St. Paul says: “You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; behave as children of light” (Eph. 5:8), ‘In the Lord’, not in ourselves. He continued thus: “for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and uprightness and truth” (Eph. 5:9). We need to allow the light of Christ to dispel the darkness in our lives, to dispel the darkness of our corrupt nature, so that through us his light and love will be manifested to others. The responsibility invested upon us, is to let Jesus to continue to be light and salt of the earth through us. Thus, bearing witness for him before men, as he requested (cf. Acts. 1:8).

          The affirmation above helps us to grasp how concretely we are called to be light and salt to others. We are to realize that by living intensely our Christian experience, communicating to others light, joy, the capacity to love and to be loved which the presence of Jesus gives us, and striving to live in such a coherent manner that those who have not discovered Jesus will realize that only Jesus can give adequate meaning to our human existence.

          We need to ask ourselves: for whom are we expected to be salt and light? The Gospel says ‘of the world’ or ‘of the earth’. Here, the world stands to indicate our small daily world: our family, our environment of work or business places. An authentic Christian cannot afford to be: “Church angel and street devil, or street angel, house devil.” Jesus speaks of a real light, a lamp that is lighted so that it will give light to the whole house. We really need to be light to those in our own houses as Jesus expresses symbolically with the imagery of the light in the house. Literally we need to be light to our families, to those around us, and especially today that violence in the families is on the rise. We need to be witnesses of Jesus, the Light. Indeed, the invitation of Jesus to us, to be salt and light is not an easy one, little wonder, he talked about salt that loses its taste and the light that goes off. An insipid Christian is one whose life is no longer informed and formed by the Gospel, and he becomes “the most miserable of all men” because he is denigrated for his incoherence. Today, we have many insipid Christians and those their light has gone off, those living in darkness.

          Through these meaningful images, Jesus conveys to his disciples the sense and essence of their mission and testimony. Thus, with those words Jesus means that our action has to have the same characteristics of salt, that is, to preserve from corruption and to give taste and flavor to the world and to the society, preserving it from corruption through the proclamation of the truth of Christ and with the integrity of our lives inspired by his teachings. Again, our exemplary lives have to become light for all men, a light that cannot and must not be hidden. A Christian has to be like a city built on a mountain, which is visible to all. A Christian who acts in secret, ashamed of what he does and says, is an agent of darkness; he or she has lost his taste and value as salt and light. A Christian who has lost his taste and value as salt and light lives contrary to his mission, he has failed in his responsibility as compass that gives others orientation towards God. Jesus is very clear on this, for he says if salt loses its taste is worthless. So if you are not salt and light to those that encounter you, you have failed in your vocation as a Christian.

          In the passage of the second reading (1Cor. 2:1-5) St. Paul said he presented himself not with “lofty words or of wisdom”, but in extreme poverty of human means, in full awareness of his nothingness: “I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling”, this could be regarded as part of Paul’s autobiography, and it is quite captivating. Truly, St. Paul confirms that on our own alone we cannot be salt of the earth and light of the world, we can only be when Christ has encountered us with his grace and when we are united with Christ in faith and in love. Paul did not present himself with sublimity of words and wisdom and his speech and message were not based on plausible words of wisdom, but on the demonstration of the Spirit and power. This indeed is interesting for there are three salient and determining elements for Paul and by extension for us: ●To know Christ and Christ crucified: which entails having a living and a profound experience of Christ. ●The manifestation of the Spirit of God and his power: he never based his proclamation on human wisdom and standard. ●To demonstrate with facts that the Spirit and the power of God have changed our lives.

         As a matter fact, unaided, left on our strength alone we cannot be true salt and light. Thus, we cannot offer others the taste and the joy of living, the just vision of reality and the correct orientation for life without Jesus, we need the Eternal Light in order to shine. On our own unaided by divine grace we will remain insipid and in darkness. For this the Psalmist affirmed: “In you is the source of life, and in your light we see light” (Ps. 36:9). To say it with St. Paul: “caritas Christi urget nos” (2 Cor. 5:14), it is the love of Christ that inundates our hearts and propels us to become salt and light to those around us. Therefore, beloved in Christ, to safeguard the light we have received on the day of our Baptism is a daily conquest, it requires the effort to put on our little light each time it goes off, from the great Light who is Christ. No doubt, the Eucharist is a privileged occasion to revive our identity as salt and light, for the Eucharist enlivens, enlightens and revives us. May His light continue to radiate in and through us, for in your light Lord we see light! Let your light shine!!

 (Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

Divine Blessedness!

(Homily for the 4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A)

          The readings of today invite us to become beatitude people; therefore we need to be meek, poor and pure in heart. The overriding theme in the today’s readings is the theme of the poor. In the first reading the word of God says: “In your midst I will place a humble and lowly people.” Even the Psalmist in the responsorial psalm took it up: “Happy are the poor in spirit.” In the Gospel Jesus says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. On the other hand, in the second reading St. Paul puts it in a rather latent manner thus: “God chose what is foolish…weak…low and despised.” However, a closer look at the quotations above reveals not only the important place given to the poor in the Christian literature, but also it raises the question of the category of the poor being referred to; is it the economical and materially poor (as in the stanzas of the psalm) or a spiritualized notion (as in the first beatitude)? The poverty blessed by Jesus does not consist in an economic situation of misery, rather it refers to a religious or spiritual category, the poor who lack human security open themselves easily to the message of Jesus, those who recognize their dependency on God. The words of Jesus over the centuries have been understood from different perspectives: allegorical, eschatological, fundamentalist and sociological. However, our evangelist presents Jesus’ words with existential, internal and spiritual underpinnings.

         The first reading (Zeph. 2:3; 3:12-13) is taken from the prophecy of Zephaniah, one of the least known and least used in the Old Testament prophets. It has been so from the beginning, for instance in the whole of the New Testament it was cited only once in the gospel of Mathew (13:41). Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of King Josiah, who embarked on reformation. Prophet Zephaniah was filled with a sense of impending doom, as such, he had much to say about the day of the Lord, and for him and Amos, the day of the Lord would be a day of darkness and not of light, a day of great judgment for the Israelites. Therefore, in view of this impending judgment, prophet Zephaniah in the passage of our first reading invited the Israelites to seek for righteousness and humility, because it is only righteous and humble people that will escape the judgment day. The passage of this reading is made up of two separated passages, or better chapters. However, the combination of the two texts could be justified, for both passages laid emphasis on humility as the veritable ground for standing secure on the day of the Lord. Drawing the issue further, Zephaniah’s major contribution to the Old Testament literature was his emphasis on God’s concern for the Anawim, that is, the poor. This theme of the poor resurfaced in the passage of the Gospel in the first beatitude.

     The Gospel passage (Mt. 5:1-12a) is taken from the famous discourse or sermon of Jesus on the Mount, where he proclaimed the Beatitudes. The literary genre of the Beatitudes is found in the Old Testament too: “How blessed is anyone who rejects the advice of the wicked…” (Ps.1:1); “Blessed anyone who cares for the poor and the weak…” (Ps. 41:1); “How blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways” (Ps. 128:1). The eight beatitudes of Mathew constitute the initial part of the so called Sermon on the Mount, and as such, they are to be considered in the light of the entire sermon, but in a way they may be considered as the synthesis of the whole discourse. At first we capture the image of Jesus that climbs the mountain, and this gesture presents Jesus as the new Moses, who has come to proclaim the new law and the statute of the new people of God, the people of the new covenant: the Church. The beatitudes are proclaimed by Jesus in a fascinating way. The choice of the Mount by Mathew for this sermon is in line with his conception of these sets of teachings as the new law, which corresponds with the old law given by Moses on Mount Sinai. For Mathew Jesus is the new law giver, the new Moses. Though for Luke the Sermon took place on the plain (Lk. 6:17-26). In Gospel of Luke Jesus spoke directly to his disciples: “Then fixing his eyes on his disciples he said: “How blessed are you, who are poor, the kingdom of God is yours” (Lk. 6:20). While Luke used the second person, Matthew used the third person, and the use of the third person by Matthew confers on the Beatitudes a sapiential and timeless character, as such, they transcend the historical situation in which Jesus pronounced them. Thus, Jesus is still proclaiming the same words for us today! The Beatitudes that are unique to Matthew are the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart and the peace makers, the other four are similar to that of Luke, although in Luke we have only four of them, which were immediately followed by the proclamation of four woes.

     Indeed, it has been often observed that the beatitudes describe the life of Christ himself. The beatitudes that were proclaimed by him were not abstract precepts or theoretical enunciations, rather they are portraits of Jesus himself, who first lived and experienced them integrally. He is the poor in spirit per excellence, the One who hungers and thirsts for justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, peace-maker and the persecuted. It is necessary to clarify the thoughts of Jesus, thus, by proclaiming blessed or happy some categories of people in certain life conditions, Jesus didn’t intend to exalt or to beatify the situations of suffering and pain.

     The disciple of Christ, therefore, a true Christian is one who follows the Master and incarnates the beatitudes in his or her life. But in order to live the beatitudes it is necessary to enter in the world of new values, that is, the Kingdom of God. The new values of the Kingdom render the values that were considered to be absolute (money, power and success) invalid. The first beatitude proclaimed by Jesus which summarizes all the discourse on the mount, is according to Mathew: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs”, that is, blessed, happy are those who choose to be poor. Poverty in spirit does not signify only interior detachment, of the heart from earthly things, but it also signifies poverty, a choice, not imposed by necessity or suffered out of a particular circumstance. The poor in spirit is one who renounces the accumulation of earthly things, who chooses to live without making money, power and carrier absolutes, who refuses the idolatry of money and of power. But this does not mean to wallow in idleness, rather it hinges on not counting on human means and security. The poor of the beatitudes are like the poor that prophet Zephaniah and St. Paul talked about in the first and second readings, it is all about those who even though they are well to do, yet they place their hope in God, those who are free from egoism, from the ambitions of power and from the avidity of riches. They are those who have placed their trust in the Lord, convinced that He does not disappoint, and that is why they are happy and blessed.

          However, we may ask a pertinent question thus: why are these categories of people proclaimed blessed by Jesus? Not because to them Jesus assured success and wealth, but they are blessed because the “Good News” of God’s kingdom has been announced to them, and they were disposed to welcome it, from here springs joy, happiness and blessedness. We too can be called blessed if we welcome the Good news and all that it comports, for by so doing we will be on the road to holiness. Be that as it may, the road to sanctity or holiness is the road of the beatitudes. Spiritual poverty or humility and detachment from the things of this world, meekness and the rejection of every form of violence, bearing pains, thirst for justice, comprehension and mercy towards ones neighbour, purity of heart, spirit of peace: are the roads to holiness.

           Furthermore, the spirit of the beatitudes is indispensable for the construction of a human society that is more healthy, just and serene. With the beatitudes Jesus launches a sort of revolution, but his revolution is not against someone, rather his revolution is for someone. The Gospel invites us to put the foundation of our joy on the love of God, a faithful love, its promises are sure and infallible. The joy of the beatitudes finds its foundation on the certainty of a blessed and happy future that will be God’s gift, but together in the joyous discovery that already here it is possible to have a foretaste of a new way of living, of possessing a world of values (the Kingdom of God).

          In the second reading (1Cor. 1:26-31) we see the presentation of the real problem of the Corinthian Church. The trouble with the Corinthians was that they were too sure of themselves and that made them to be boastful of their wisdom. They believed that through their initiation into Christ, they had been made partakers in the divine wisdom. St. Paul went to the theological root of the matter and thus, told them the truth about themselves: “not many wise according to worldly standards, not many powerful, not many noble of noble birth.” Truly, before God they have nothing to boast about. Therefore, they should be humbled because their salvation is not as a result of their own spiritual endowments, wisdom and achievements, but it is a manifestation of God’s saving act in Jesus Christ. If at all they should “glory”, they should glory in and about the Lord, that is, in the saving act of God in Christ.

          Above all else, however, we need to ask ourselves concretely if our moral profile corresponds to the one delineated in the beatitudes, that is, if truly we are persons who do not run after material wealth as a mirage of happiness, or we trust and confide in God, if we are simple and humble persons, if we are people who desire to work for justice and peace with the force of love, also ready to bear persecutions for the cause of good. Or we are like the Corinthians that puff up with the air of presumption that all is out of merit. Indeed, it is necessary that we assimilate the evangelical mentality of the beatitudes and believe that with it we can be happy already on this earth, and fully happy in the hereafter. Interestingly, at the end of his teaching on the Beatitudes, Jesus told his listeners and to us, “Rejoice and be glad”, for you are the blessed of God. As a matter of fact, in living the beatitudes, we come to a sense of wholeness, a sense that all is right within us. We gain the peace that comes from being close to God. Indeed Christ offers us joy, we become joy-filled. As a bonus, Christ promised: “Your reward will be great in heaven.” And may this promise be fulfilled in your life. Amen!

 (Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)