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)

 

 

His Word Gives Light and Joy!

(Homily for the 3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A)

                                                    Sunday of The Word Of God!

          The readings of this Sunday reveal the fulfillment and realization of the messianic prophecies in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. This is the overriding theme that will characterize the readings of the Sundays in ordinary time before the Lenten season. We are going to see Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry and preaching. Today we hear the great proclamation of light and joy made possible by Jesus. The Word of God is a source of joy and light. Little wonder, the two recurred in the first and Gospel readings. By coming into the world Jesus did not just come to forgive our sins, but he brought a great light and joy through his gracious words and mighty deeds. In that bid, today the first reading from the Old Testament contains the prophecy and the Gospel contains the realization of that prophecy, because God is faithful to his Word. Again, true conversion is the theme that amalgamates the readings of this Sunday. In the Gospel passage, Jesus started his preaching saying: “Repent”. The Good News (the Word) is at the basis of Jesus’ ministry. On the other hand, when conversion or repentance to the Gospel of Jesus Christ has not penetrated totally in a person, when it is superficial, there will be divisions and discord as it happened in the Corinthian community. And there cannot be an authentic and thorough conversion without the aid of God’s Word.

          Today is a special day in the life of the Church and in our experiences as Christians, for this Sunday is dedicated to the celebration, study and dissemination of the Word of God, for the purpose of reawakening our faith in God and our consciousness in the power of God’s Word. Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter, Motu Proprio: “Aperuit illis” published on the (feast of St. Jerome) 30th of September, 2019 established this. We really need to go back to our spiritual source as Christians that is returning to the origin: The Word of God. We need to rediscover the power and efficacy of God’s Word in the life and mission of the Church and in the life of every single Christian. In the words of St. Jerome, “Ignorance of the scripture is ignorance of Christ” and it is indeed true! We cannot boast of knowing Jesus without a profound knowledge and attachment to the Word of God. The Word of God is for us a spiritual eye-opener and mind-opener. We remember vividly the episode of Jesus and his disciples after His resurrection, on the way to Emmaus, where the Risen Lord opened the eyes and minds of his disciples through the Word of God (Lk. 24:27.31). Jesus in so many ways continues to open not only our eyes and minds but also our hearts through the Word.  

          The first reading (Is. 9:1-4) from the prophecy of Isaiah starts with reference to the land of Zebulun and Naphtali and Galilee of the nations, that is, the Gentiles. Isaiah prophesied to the Galileans deported from Tiglat-Pileser III in 732 a.C. They were heart broken and discomforted in exile. And to them the Prophet announced a sudden light coming to dissipate the darkness shrouding them, which is the end of slavery and the return to their own land in joy galore. In this episode is condensed the promise for all mankind, who decries for her existential conditions many a times dominated by evil and all kinds of slavery. This humanity overburdened by the weight of her own experiences of injustice, suppression and oppression will one day see a great light and an abundant joy. Indeed, to say it with Isaiah: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, on the inhabitants of a country in shadow dark as death light has blazed forth. You have enlarged the nation; you have increased its joy” (Is. 9:1-2). Indeed, just as it is suggestive of our general theme this Sunday, it is the Word of God proclaimed through the prophet that brought light and joy to the people of Israel. In the words of the Psalmist: “your word is a lamp for my step, a light on my path” (Ps. 119:105).

          The Gospel periscope (Mt. 4:12-23) presents the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. Jesus began his ministry by proclaiming Good News (God’s Word) of light and joy. At the heart of this ministry is Jesus’ call to repentance for the nearness of the kingdom of heaven, the calling of his disciples and the performance of healing miracles. The Word of God produces effects and transforms. In this passage Mathew underlines the universality of the Good News, for it did not begin from the Judean territory, but in the Galilee of the Gentiles, as such the Good News is for all men. We need to disseminate the Word to every corner of the earth and to every corner of the human heart. And the Church is called to continue this universal mission of Christ, which he began in Galilee. Jesus began his ministry with a proposal which in reality is his program of evangelization: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Christ came to preach and to inaugurate the Kingdom of God among men, but he was convinced that the Kingdom begins from the heart of men when they embark on a journey of conversion, made possible through God’s Word. Conversion means recognizing that you are walking on a wrong path, and surmounting courage to abandon the wrong path and take resolutely the right path. His Word is indeed a lamp! Conversion has to do with changing of direction, with a shifting of position. It is basically about a positive change. The Word of God faithfully welcomed leads to conversion.

          A little while after his baptism Jesus comes to Capharnaum, in Galilee of the Gentiles, the very region that saw a multitude of the Jews taken in exile. As St. Mathew narrates in the Gospel, the presence of Jesus in that place serves as the ‘yes’ of God to the ancient prophecy, to fulfill what was written by prophet Isaiah. Jesus is the great light that sprouts for humanity. He confirmed this when he said: “I am the light of the world” (Jn. 8:12). What does light mean here? It means way, truth and life. He is the way, the truth and the life” (Jn. 14:6). He is the way and the truth for he guarantees success to our spiritual journey and he enlightens our path. For this the Psalmist says: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Ps.119:105). The knowledge and practice of the Word brings enlightenment. In Jesus the eternal Word, light and life often go together, Jesus says: “anyone who follows me will not be walking in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn.8:12). There is light in both the incarnate and written Word of God.

          He is also joy or better he brings joy. When Jesus was born, it was announced by the angel thus: “I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people” (Lk. 2:10). He is indeed, the joy to be shared by the whole people. In fact, his whole existence seems to be condensed in these words pronounced a night before his death: “I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete” (Jn. 15:11), “Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete” (Jn. 16:24). The word “Gospel” also means Good News, which is a message of happiness and joy. Jesus says “I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full” (Jn. 10:10), and of course, joy is in connection with life, the fullness of life, which Jesus has come to inaugurate on earth. St. Paul also entered the dynamics of joy when he invited the disciples: “Always be joyful, then in the Lord; I repeat, be joyful” (Phil. 4:4). For the sake of Jesus’ presence the Christian existence ought to be an existence of joy irrespective of the odds and challenges. Permit me to say that a sad Christian is a bad Christian. It is either that we are joyful or the Good News of Christ has not permeated into the inner recesses of our being! Instead we have to be like those coming back from harvest, full of joy, singing and carrying the sheaves (cf. Ps. 126:6). We have to be witnesses to the world of the light and joy that come from the incarnate and written Word of God. Even in the midst of the modern forms of slavery we are facing today, the word of God in the book of Nehemiah is our propelling force: “The joy of the Lord is our strength” (Neh. 8:10). The joy of the Lord emanates from His Word!

         The second part of the Gospel is quite thrilling. There we see Peter and his brother Andrew, fishermen already established in their career. They were making their daily catch and sales. They must have had regular customers who depended on them for the fish they consume. Lo and behold, one day Jesus appeared, he looked at them and said: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand, come follow me” And there and then, they dropped their fishing nets, their means of livelihood, and followed him. Again he met two others: James and John the sons of Zebedee, and upon Jesus invitation they left their boat and father and followed Jesus. The Word is so powerful; little wonder this first group of disciples could not resist the invitation of Jesus. God’s Word is invitatory! The two sets of disciples symbolically abandoned all the tools of their old business, thus ready for a ‘new career’ that Jesus was going to show them. God calls in different ways, for a particular task. But the response of these first four disciples was immediate and total. That is how our own responses too to God’s call have to be. Jesus said to Peter and his brother Andrew, “Come, I will make you fishers of men”. Jesus called them for something greater and better: “fishers of men”. Indeed, God’s call opens up new horizon. It introduces one into the dynamics of freedom, freedom from and freedom for, freedom from the work of a fisherman to freedom for the work of fisher of men. God still continues to call us in various ways and circumstances of our life, and when He calls us, He wants us to liberate ourselves from all that may hinder us from giving a total response to His call, in order to be free for the demands of his Word and call. What is our own reaction when we hear his Words addressed to us? The sacred author gave us words of encouragement thus: “Today if you hear His words harden not your hearts” (Heb. 3:15; Ps.95:7b-8a).

          Jesus knew that he will die and return to the Father. At the same time he knew that he was sent to all in order to proclaim the Word and invite everyone to conversion. Given that he cannot do it personally all alone, he chose some disciples, some followers who will help him in disseminating the Word of God and preaching conversion to the whole world, with the power of the Holy Spirit. Today he continues to call us through his Word to be partakers in this great task of catching men and women for God. The Word of God is ever alive and active, capable of really catching and attracting men and women for God. Our celebration of the Word of God today, is indeed in line with Jesus’ invitation for the dissemination of the Word.   

          In the second reading (1Cor. 1:10-13.17) St. Paul brings to light the most nagging issue in the Corinthian Church, and that is dissension. Little wonder, the apostle began with an appeal to them thus: “I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissension among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (v.10). The issue here bothers on a split into cliques, each group claiming the patronage of and belongingness to one of the great leaders of the Church: “every one of you is declaring, ‘I belong to Paul’ or ‘I belong to Apollos’ or ‘I belong to Cephas’ or ‘I belong to Christ” (v. 12). Paul responded to their dissension and division into groups by reminding them the foundation of their Baptism in the name of Christ. As such, dissension among Christians is a sort of denial of the baptismal reality that makes us one. He reminded them that they are baptized in the name of Christ and not in the name of any human leader whatsoever. We too need to break down barriers. And the Word of God faithfully and convincingly accepted does that great work. The Word of God has a formidable force of uniting believers.

          Today more than ever, we need to rediscover the centrality of the Word of God in our life as Christians. There is indeed power in the Word of God. Jesus says: “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life” (Jn. 6:63). Indeed, the Word of God gives life and enlightenment, a great tool for discernment. The Word of God is eternal; “Sky and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Lk.21:33; Mt. 24:35). And Isaiah in his prophecy says putting words in the mouth of God thus “So it is with the word that goes from my mouth: it will not return to me unfilled or before having carried out my good pleasure and having achieved what it was sent to do” (Is. 55:11). The Word of God is powerful. Jeremiah says: “is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces” (Jer. 23:29). The Word of God penetrates every situation and every heart even the hardest ones! When you pray through the Word, and stand on the word something happens. When we pray God’s Word over a situation, we cannot fail, because his Word cannot fail. His Words bring healing: “he sent forth his word and cured them, and rescued their life from the abyss” (Ps.107:20), we obtain healing through his Word. Take the power of his Word now…

          We need to establish a constant contact with the Word of God, we are called to create a space for It in our lives. For this Jesus says: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for whatever you please and you will get it” (Jn. 15:7). To accurately discern and pray the Word, we must abide in Him; this indeed is basic and the first step. There is power praying through God’s Word, power to obtain whatever that we may ask. We need to abide in the Word. Elsewhere the Scripture says: “Let these words of mine remain in your heart and in your soul; fasten them in your heart and in your soul; fasten them  on your hand as a sign and on your forehead as a headband” (Deut. 11:18). Here, we can talk about positive possession by the Word of God. The Psalmist says: “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Ps. 119:11), when we form the habit of praying through God’s Word, His Word inhabits in us, and empowers us to overcome sin.

          Above all, in the words of Mons. R. Fisichella: “This Sunday, he (Pope Francis) wants to stimulate all Christians not just to place the bible on the shelf as one of many books perhaps filled with dust, but as an instrument that awakens our faith”. On this day and beyond we are invited to enthrone the Word of God at the center of our hearts and life and not just on the shelves and maybe very close to our pillows on the bed. As the Word of God today calls our attention to conversion, we need to bear in mind that conversion has a beginning, but it ends with life. Conversion is a long and continuous process, which one continues to interiorize with the passage of time, the help of the action of divine grace and a constant contact with the Word of God. No doubt, the Word of God is a veritable tool of and for conversion. A Christian must live daily in and with the attitude of conversion, and this consciousness can only be created by the Word of God. Today, as we celebrate the Word of God, Jesus invites all, children, youth, adults, everyone according to his or her possibility and condition to reflect over our lives, and to change direction whereby we are not on the right track and path. He is inviting us to let the Word of God in, to allow the Word of God to permeate into our lives. Jesus is inviting us to take the path and the direction that leads to Life, where there is everlasting Light and Joy, for the Word of God brings light and joy. God, who is faithful to his Word, is ever ready to grant us the grace of conversion, in an active experience of his gratuitous mercy and infinite love. May we prayerfully join our voices to that of the psalmist in imploring God: “God, create in me a clean heart, renew within me a resolute spirit” (Ps. 51:10).

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

 

Behold the Lamb of God!

(Homily for the 2^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A)

          At the event of the Baptism of Jesus we saw what could be plausibly considered the best introduction of the Son by the Father, before the Son officially began his ministry. The Father served as the first Presenter of the Son to the world. An in-depth reflection on the liturgy of the word today reveals the universal destiny of Jesus in connection with the three readings. The servant of Yahweh, as Jesus was prefigured, was called to be light to the nations, that salvation may reach the end of the earth” (first reading). In the Gospel John the Baptist presented Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”. On his part St. Paul announces to the Corinthians that they are called to be God’s people together with all those who invoke the name of Jesus Christ in any place (second reading). From the beginning of the ordinary time the Church invites us to reflect on the Salvation of Christ, which is destined to all and it has to reach all the ends of the earth in order to render present his Kingdom among men. The Church thus presents herself as the community of salvation and she wants to communicate this truth in all the angles of the earth. The Word of God offers us a synthesis of our faith, where the past confirms the future. The promises and the ancient prophecies were realized in Jesus, the true Lamb of God, and this serves as a guarantee that the part of the promises that have not been fulfilled will certainly be fulfilled. God is faithful to His words.

          The first reading (Is. 49:3.5-6) by means of prefiguration continues the theme of servant hood and manifestation of Jesus at the event of the Baptism. This passage is the second of the servant songs in Second Isaiah. In this second song, the prophet affirms that God formed his servant even from the womb. This idea of predestination is common among Hebrew prophets. We see this equally in the prophecy of Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jer. 1:5) and in the New Testament it recurs in the Pauline corpus: “But when God, who had set me apart from the time I was in my mother’s womb, called me through his grace” (Gal. 1:15). As a matter of fact, this idea of predestination in the Bible is not to be understood from the point of view of an infringement of the human freedom or a limitation of it, rather it is a form of a doxological expression of faith in a given situation. It appeared also in the annunciation and the infancy narratives of the Gospels. Again, the passage expresses the universality of the servant’s mission. The first song talked about him as “a light to the nations”. The second song extended the horizon of the servant’s mission thus: “I will give you as a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth”. The universal dimension of the servant’s mission serves as a bridge connecting the first and the Gospel readings.

          In the responsorial psalm (Ps. 40) the Psalmist maintains that God desires obedience to His will, and not sacrifice and burnt offering for sins. Therefore, that self-oblation must accompany our sacrifices to God. This psalm has a Christological background, referring to Christ, the servant, who offered himself in his baptism to a life of total obedience to the Father, a life that will lead Him to the sacrifice of his very self on Calvary. He offered himself wholly for the realization of the Father’s will. The theme of this Psalm raises our gaze from the event of His Baptism to the reality of his immolation on the Cross., thus on the figure of the Lamb of God.

          The Gospel (Jn. 1:29-34) is a narrative of the event of the Lord’s Baptism by St. John but not in a very detailed and direct manner. In that episode he presents John the Baptist bearing witness to the theological implications of the Baptism as evidenced by the voice from heaven and in the descent of the dove. In his words: “I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptize with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit”” (v.33). Drawing the issue further, the voice from heaven declared Jesus the Son of God, thus in reference to the title given to him by John the Baptist at the beginning of the passage: “Lamb of God” who takes away the sins of the world. This could be seen in relation with the identification of Jesus as the servant of Yahweh in Second Isaiah. In his Gospel John affirms two important elements about the event: First, that Jesus “is the Chosen One of God” (v.34), as such, the theological meaning of his Baptism is incumbent upon the manifestation of Jesus as the servant of Yahweh. Second, that Jesus’ mission as the servant involves bearing the burden of our sins (cf. Is. 53:5). Be that as it may, the Baptism event points already to the Passion and his saving death. Jesus is indeed, the sacrificial Lamb that takes away the sins of the world.

          In the episode of today’s Gospel the Father is now using a human agent to introduce the Son and that is, the Precursor, John the Baptist. John the Baptist was indeed a faithful witness and presenter of the Son. He bore authentic, humble and selfless testimony to the Son. John baptized Jesus as he saw Him coming towards him, and then presented Him to his disciples saying: “Look, there is the lamb of God” (Jn. 1:36). Indeed, the title “Lamb of God’ is one of the greatest titles and attributes of Jesus. What could be John’s reason in introducing Jesus as the Lamb of God? We can make three considerations here: ●First, maybe he got inspiration from the Passover lamb in the book of Exodus. Therein, it was the blood of the lamb that protected the Israelites on the memorable night they left Egypt (cf. Ex. 12:11-12). The blood of the lamb that delivered the Israelites from destruction and death is a prefiguration of the Real Lamb: Jesus, who will shed his own blood on the cross for the remission of sins and for the liberation of mankind. In the same vein, St. Paul in one of his epistles will equally identify Jesus as the “Passover Lamb” (1Cor. 5:7). With that expression we may well posit that John the Baptist was invariably telling his disciples that Jesus is the Real Lamb. ●Second, maybe John the Baptist as a son of a high priest, Zechariah, was trying to make reference to the temple sacrifices that are performed on daily basis in Jerusalem, where lambs were sacrificed in the temple for the sins of the people, “This is what you must offer on the altar: two yearling male lambs each day in perpetuity. A perpetual burnt offering for all your generations to come, at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, where I shall meet you and speak to you” (Ex. 29:38.42). Until the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D this daily offering was made in the temple. Indeed, this daily sacrifice could be seen as in connection with the self-offering of Jesus on the cross, which is the same as the sacrifice we offer every day at Mass. However, the difference is that the sacrifice on the cross was bloody, but the one at the Eucharistic sacrifice is not bloody, therein Jesus is the Priest, the Victim and the Altar on which the sacrifice takes place (He is the Offerer and the Offering). ●Third, he might be alluding to the prophecies of Jeremiah and Isaiah. In the words of Jeremiah: “I for my part was like a trustful lamb being led to the slaughterhouse” (Jer. 11:19). Prophet Isaiah said a similar thing thus: “like a lamb led to the slaughterhouse” (Is. 53:7). The two prophets envisaged the one who through his humble sufferings and sacrifice liberates and redeems his people; the humble Lamb.

          Drawing the issue further, one of those disciples of John the Baptist that heard the presentation of his master: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” and he followed Jesus, is indeed the one who documented this for the Church: John the Evangelist. After so many years he remembers his first encounter with Jesus at the bank of river Jordan. This first presentation of Jesus: “Behold the Lamb of God” was impressed in his heart, to the point that he continued to call the Master: “Lamb of God”. It became one of the delightful names of his Master, and this name penetrates deeply into the personality and mission of Jesus. As a matter of fact, what does this name say about Jesus? In the Old Testament there two figures of the lamb: one is a real lamb and the other is a metaphorical lamb. ►The real lamb was the one at the night of Exodus, through God’s order was sacrificed in Egypt and the blood liberated the people from slavery and enabled them to pass to freedom in the Promised Land. Beginning from that moment, every year during the Passover feast (Easter) the Jewish people, family by family sacrifice a lamb and in the night, they eat it all together, in remembrance of the liberation from slavery in Egypt. ►The metaphorical lamb was the “dumb lamb that was led to the slaughterhouse” of the prophecy of Isaiah and Jeremiah. As a matter of fact, something new was said about this lamb that was not said about the real lamb, a fact that will throw light on his mission: “He was wounded for our sins, crushed because of our guilt; the punishment reconciling us fell on him, and we have been healed by his bruises” (Is. 53:5). Therefore, it is no longer about a lamb that saves and liberates only a people from social and political slavery, but a lamb that liberates all peoples from perdition, by bearing on himself the burden of all their sins. That Lamb is in our midst even now! That Lamb is our Eucharistic Jesus!

          Indeed, when the people around heard that presentation by John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” they understood that finally the Liberator sent by God has appeared in the world, the Redeemer of all mankind. With this affirmation at the beginning of his Gospel, St. John preannounces the final destiny of Jesus; he already introduces the reality of the Cross. That Lamb according to the prophecy will be sacrificed for our sins. For this, on Calvary at the moment of his immolation, St. John will be intent on reminding us again that he is the Lamb of God. He does that by attaching to him the prescription of Exodus: “nor may you break any of its bones” (Ex. 12:46; Jn. 19:36), referring to the paschal lamb which evokes implicitly the mystical lamb of Isaiah 53 that was “wounded for our sins”.

          Indeed, the death of Jesus did not even stop the title of the Lamb. He was awaited in the New Testament as the spotless lamb (1Pt. 1:19), and after his Resurrection he awaits humanity as the “Lamb seated upon the throne” (Rev. 5.), he awaits and accompanies mankind until all on earth gather around his throne, that is, those who bear the seal of his blood. That is how St. John presented the Lord in the book of Revelation as “a Lamb standing that seemed to have been sacrificed” (Rev. 5:6), that is the symbol of the slain and risen Lamb (it depicts his Death and Resurrection). Salvation reaches all men through the Lamb of God, who was the victim for the expiation of our sins. But for those who are against the Lamb St. John says they will seek to hide away from “the retribution of the Lamb” (Rev. 6:16). Jesus is the Paschal Lamb that liberates every man from the slavery of Egypt (Ex. 12), that is from sin. He is the Gentle Lamb that was taken to the slaughter house for sacrifice, carrying upon himself all our pains and sufferings (Is. 53). He is the Glorious Lamb, who is capable of opening the book of the seven seals, that no one was able to open, and to decipher for humanity and for every man the enigma of human history and destiny, the lamb slain, yet standing (Rev. 5).

          Again talking about Jesus as the lamb, the Lamb in the bible, like wise in other cultures alludes to innocence, vulnerability and weakness. It is a symbol of the innocent being that cannot hurt anyone. Aware of this symbolism, St. Peter called Christ “the Lamb without blemish” (1Pt. 1:19). The title Lamb of God evokes Jesus indeed as the innocent who suffers. Jesus as the innocent who suffers knows the taste of suffering, not externally like the friends of Job, He knows pain from within, little wonder, he cannot but be moved and weep in the face of the pain of the widow of Nain (cf. Lk. 7:11-17) and the sorrow of the sisters Lazarus (cf. Jn. 11:33). Indeed, the Christian’s answer to the problem of or interrogation on innocent suffering is enclosed in one name: Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come to give us doctrinal explanations about pain; rather he came to take it quietly upon himself. And this changed the perception of innocent suffering from curse to an instrument of redemption. In fact, the words of prophet Isaiah throw a shining light on this “The punishment reconciling us fell on him, and we have been healed by his bruises” (Is. 53:5). Regarding the innocent suffering, our faith therefore invites us not to worry so much on the causes, on the why we suffer, but on its effects, what arises from such suffering. You remember the episode where Jesus was presented a boy who was born blind, his disciples asked him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should have been born blind?” (Jn. 9:2), then Jesus answered: “Neither he nor his parents sinned, he was born blind so that the works of God might be revealed in him” (Jn. 9:3). Child of God, what you are passing now maybe manifestation of God’s work in you. Beloved in Christ, How many times have you asked yourself: what did I do wrong that God is punishing me like this? Or why did God allow me to suffer this way? As if pain is always a punishment and a curse. In fact, St. Paul called it a participation in the sufferings of Christ. Each time you suffer innocently and you are tempted to give up, think of what resulted from Christ’s suffering: the resurrection and hope for all mankind. In the first reading, God spoke prophetically about His Christ: “I will make you the light of the nations so that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” But to become the light He was nailed on the Cross. Think about this paradox of faith! On the other hand, Jesus in turn wanted his disciples to be in the world “lambs among wolves” but often times we see the contrary, sometimes we are wolves among other wolves or even worse wolves among lambs.

          The second reading (1Cor. 1:1-3) is the introductory greeting of the epistle. The epistle was addressed to the Church of God, those sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints. His greeting depicts the form of a Christian greeting: of grace and peace. In this epistle, St. Paul laid emphasis on the universality of the Church, for this he reminded the Corinthians that they are the Church of God in Corinth, and as such, part of the universal Church. He assured them that they are not alone, and again, that they are called to be saints together with all those who call on the name of the Lord Jesus, and he is the Lord of all. St. Paul insisted on this to correct the bad impression or rather understanding of the Corinthians, who thought that they were the only people of God. For this, the apostle made known to them their spiritual progress and problems as well, they attempted to segregate themselves from the whole body, that is the Church.

          Even the Eucharist that we are celebrating summarizes all that we have said. It renders present amongst us the liberating lamb of Exodus, the redeeming lamb of Isaiah “wounded for our transgressions” and the Lamb that John the Baptist presented to his listeners and followers, the Lamb of the Cross and the Lamb seated on the throne waiting for us. The Eucharist renders present and alive all that we have just said. Little wonder, during the time for the reception of the Holy Communion, we will greet Jesus with the same words that John the Baptist used to present Him to the world so many years ago: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”. The word of God therefore, invites each and every one of us today not only to admire but to imitate John in his ardent and passionate witness for Christ, through our words and deeds. Let us embark on the mandate of giving a convincing witness to the Lamb by touching the lives of the people through our words and action and not by proselytism. And in moments of Suffering may we find strength and inspiration from the ordeals of the innocent Lamb that suffered for our sake, Amen!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)