Waiting And Walking In His Light!

(Homily for the 1^st Sunday of Advent Yr. A)

          Today marks the beginning of the liturgical period of Advent and the beginning of a new liturgical year (Year A). The word advent is from the Latin word “Adventus” which means “coming”, and it is a translation from the Greek word “parousia”. Therefore, it connotes expectancy and hope and at the same time points to the second coming of Christ. Hence, in our context, the time of advent is a time of great expectation of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ among men, unlike in the ancient Greece it meant the coming of their god, on a fixed day of the year they expose its statue. However, the coming of Jesus can be understood in three senses: First Advent, that is, his Incarnation, that which inaugurated the messianic time of Salvation. Last Advent, His final and glorious coming at the end of time, when he will come as a Judge (the Parousia), and thirdly, between His first coming and the final coming there is the Intermediary Advent, His immanent and continuous coming into our lives, the Christian life is an on-going advent, a constant personal encounter with Jesus who has come, who is to come and who is already in our midst.

          In the Advent spirituality Christ is always the One who is to come, the One who is always expected. Advent therefore, is not just a remembrance of a historical figure linked to a particular time and geographical location. It is not even an anticipated vision of the coming of the Just Judge. Rather the spirituality of Advent draws our attention to the urgency for the Lord to come into our lives with His grace and message of salvation. For Christ is the Living Lord, il Veniente, the One who comes. Be that as it may, we may begin our reflection with some fundamental questions: First, between the first and the final coming what sense has this our Advent? Second, if Christ is the One who always has to come, what then should be our attitude in view of His coming? In that bid, the readings of today are furnished with some insights and responses. In the readings of this first Sunday of Advent, the dominant themes are: the coming of the Lord and vigilance. More than just two themes, it has to do with two movements: the Lord comes and then let us go and meet Him. God comes towards man, and those that can find Him, are only those who are already journeying towards Him. Interestingly, we see this double movement in the parable of the ten virgins: “Look! The bridegroom! Go out and meet him” (Mt. 25:6). The first movement is always that of God, he is by definition the “One who comes”, not just in the context of Advent, but always. Behold, the history of salvation is the history of God’s initiative, a memorial of His many comings towards mankind, beginning from the great event of Creation to the Parousia.

          This idea of a movement is seen in the passage of the first reading (Is. 2: 1-5) from Isaiah’s prophecy, the second movement of humanity walking towards God. Isaiah invites thus: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths” (v.3), once again in verse 5: “House of Jacob, come, let us walk in Yahweh’s light”.  The Psalmist in the responsorial psalm takes up the theme of movement, going towards God: “I rejoiced when I heard them say, let us go to God’s house” (Ps. 122:1). Beyond that, Isaiah talks about the mountain of the Lord that shall be established as the highest of the mountains, an indication therefore, that there are other mountains. Isaiah was promising three things: first, the mountain of Jerusalem is going to be above other mountains; second, many people will come to Jerusalem to listen, to search for the word of the Lord and to listen to his teaching; third, he describes the realization of a universal peace, whereby, nations will no longer fight against nations. Therefore, at the heart of the spirituality of Advent is hope-realization and the promise of peace.

          Furthermore, Isaiah in his prophecy invites us to consider and to live the Advent in and with the attitude of hope and trust. In addressing the afflicted community of the Jews that were repatriated from slavery in Babylon to find comfort and encouragement in his words, for he assures them that God will intervene in favour of His people, such that later Jerusalem will become a center of spirituality, where people from all walks of life shall flow to. Isaiah invites us to walk in the light of the Lord. The Christian life is a journey/walk in the light of His presence, not in darkness. The Spirituality of Advent brings to the fore, the antithesis of Light and darkness. It entails a walk in the Light, who is Christ himself, in his words: “I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12). Christ is both the Terminus a quo and the Terminus ad quem of this journey.

          The Gospel passage (Mt. 24: 37-44) begins with reference to the time and the days of Noah. What is this time of Noah? It is a time that people were lost in the things of this world within the ordinary temporal process, without entering into the favourable time, the moment of grace, God’s own time. The days of Noah are the days of superficiality. The days of Noah become my days when I forget that the secret of my existence is beyond me. Instead Advent is a time to live with attention in and towards God’s own time and project. Again, Jesus makes a more appealing description with regards to being awake and being aware of his second coming. He spoke about a “setting aside” that will take place, which means a distinction between those who are aware and awake and those who are not. Jesus gave instances: Two men in the field one taken the other left, two women will be grinding meal together, one taken the other left. The ones taken are the ones both awake and aware. The gospel gives us therefore indications on the right attitude for the coming of the Lord:

• To watch (v.42), watch ordinarily signifies being awake, not to sleep. But symbolically, sleep represents all that distracts from focusing on the Lord’s coming. All that render our spirit insensible to His grace, it represents a refusal to be with Jesus and to give ourselves completely to Him.
• To be ready (v.44), comports promptness of heart and spirit, internal and external disposition, avoiding all that rubs man of his self-mastery, all that distracts his attention from the awareness and consciousness of the Lord’s coming.

          Being awake and aware will help us go to the mountain of the Lord without wasting time at other mountains, because the Lord’s mountain is a place of encounter and a place of transition. Lastly, as we prepare for His coming, let us pay particular attention to the last verse of the gospel, where Jesus admonishes us not to allow ourselves the joke of being taken unaware like the master of the house who did not know when the thief would break into the house. The message still revolves around being not just awake but also aware.

          In the second reading St. Paul (Rm. 13:11-14) starts with the phrase “you know ‘the time’ has come, ‘the moment’ is here for you to stop sleeping and wake up” (v.11). In Greek language two words are used to denote time: chronos (ordinary flow of time) and kairos (a special moment of grace). And in this passage St. Paul used kairos in the original text. Kairos is appointed time, the time when something important happens. Little wonder, St Paul invites us to sleep not, to be awake and aware, for something great is about to happen. St. Paul in more concrete terms suggests what vigilance and awareness entail, he gave us three guidelines: ●To cast off the works of darkness and put on the amour of light (once again we see the antithesis between light and darkness in our journey of advent). ●To live as in the day (in openness of mind and heart) not in revelling and drunkenness. ●To avoid debauchery and licentiousness (avoid promiscuity and lust, ndu nke anu ahu). ●To avoid rivalry and jealousy. ●And above all, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be your armour (v.14a), armour here is a divine protective coverage (yiri Kristi ka uwe).

          St. Paul concretely indicates the steps in the movement towards God who comes. First he says “wake up from sleep”, which invariably entails to be converted. Elsewhere Paul said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:14). Therefore, the keyword in the Gospel and the epistle reading is: “Wake up!” In the optics of being awake St. Paul exhorted the Romans: “Let your armour be the Lord Jesus Christ” (v.14a). The armour of light par excellence is the Spirit of the Risen Lord, he only can help us to conquer the works of darkness. For this St. Paul affirmed: “If by the Spirit you put to death the habits originating in the body, you will have life” (Rm. 8:13). The first advent and the future advent are interconnected little wonder St. Paul invites us not only to leave the darkness of sin, but to walk in the light and to put on Christ in other to be found worthy when he comes again. Truly, faith in the second coming of Christ is the heart of Christian ethics. Indeed, this passage is of special importance for the conversion of St. Augustine, while in Milan St. Augustine heard St. Ambrose preaching but he was not yet ready to give himself fully to the Lord. Finally, one day he was captured by a line in the bible, it struck him deeply that he decided to give his life totally to God, and that is the passage we read today (Rm. 13:13-14), as he recounts in his Confessions (8:12). Therefore, advent is a time to pause and think about our life in Christ (in his continuous coming, for He said in Mt. 28, 20: “I will be with you, yes, till the end of time”).

          In order to make this advent a journey of encounter with the Lord we have to pay attention to: ►Listening to the Word of God: for through his W(w)ord the Lord reveals himself. ►Prayer: finding a moment to be with the “Anticipated One”, more especially in the silence of our hearts. ►Charity/Love: to share what we have with those that have not. By so doing we will be in tone with the spirituality of Advent. For us in deed, the celebration of Advent is a memorial, a remembrance of the past (of all that Christ has done for us); of the present (of what He is doing for us) therefore, living today in syntony with the Living Lord, living presently in harmony with Him; is also geared towards the future (of what He is going to do for us), Advent therefore raises our gaze to the future, not just a future in the temporal process, but a future of grace.

          Above all, as we await the Savior who comes, it behoves us to reaffirm that our expectation is not like that of the people of Old Testament, because it is not only an expectation, but it is also memorial and presence. It is a memorial because the One we are awaiting has already come (this we remember at Christmas). It is presence because he is with us. His word we have heard is Himself with us, the Eucharist we celebrate is Himself with us. Interestingly, the most beautiful image of the Christian Advent is that of walking with joy to meet the One who is walking with us, who walks at our side. As suggestive of the theme of our reflection today, the time of Advent is not a time to wallow in idleness or to wait in inertia, rather the itinerary is waiting and walking. It comports a good dose of preparedness for the Coming and the Presence of the Lord. In Advent the search for God changes into the expectation of God, we live in anticipation of Him. And as we expect His coming into our lives, may we put our voices together with that of John in saying: “The one who attests these things says I am coming soon. Amen. Come Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20). May our Blessed Mother Mary the perfect Icon of Advent intercede for us in our journey to encounter JESUS, The SAVIOR who is to COME. Happy Advent Season Friends!!!

 (Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)

Behold The King who died for Love!

(Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King, Year C)

     Today is the last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year and it is dedicated to the celebration of the solemnity of the Kingship of Christ. The feast of Christ the King was introduced by Pope Pius XI in 1925, in order to confront the abuse of power by the nations and the surge of secularism among the nations and most importantly, to proclaim the primacy and supremacy of Christ over the kingdoms of the world. From the beginning of the liturgical year to its end we not only celebrate some religious feast, but God’s presence, indeed, we are deeply immersed in the ocean of God’s grace. In the course of the liturgical year, according to the Second Vatican Council, we celebrate all the mysteries of Christ, from Incarnation to Nativity, to his ascension, the Pentecost and the vigilant hope of the Coming in glory of the Lord. With the celebration of the liturgical year, the Church in a way, renders present in all times the mysteries of redemption, such that the faithful can approach to these mysteries and to be filled with the grace of redemption (cf. Sacrosanctum Conciliun, nn. 102 and 185).

     The Solemnity of Christ the King brings the Liturgical Year to a close. In the course of this passing liturgical year, we have celebrated the mysteries of the life of the Lord. Now, we contemplate Christ in his glorified state as King of all creation and of our souls. Today we celebrate a King whose kingdom is totally different from the kingdoms of the world. A king whose ruling staff is Love. Little wonder, the readings of today do not talk much about kingdoms, but about the King who dies for love. Ours therefore is a King of Love and a King for Love. Indeed, Kings come and go, likewise their kingdoms, but our King reigns forever, and for this St. Luke affirms that: “his kingdom will have no end” (Lk. 1:33). His is an everlasting kingdom.

     As God would have it in the first reading (2 Sam. 5:1-3) we are presented with the episode of the solemn coronation of David as the King of the people of Israel. He was consecrated King by Samuel for the southern tribe of the nation (cf. 2Sam. 2:4), and the elders of the north recognized that God has chosen him as the King of Israel, and they consecrated him with the unction (cf. 2Sam.5:1-3). David as a King was not only called to carry out political and economic responsibilities as a King, but he had to perform the mission of a spiritual and moral leader in favor of his people, to express and to make effective in concrete manner, the covenant God has made with his people, in some circumstances he was even wearing the priestly vest and was carrying out priestly functions, “David presented burnt offerings and communion sacrifices in Yahweh’s presence. And when David finished presenting burnt offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh Sabaoth” (2Sam.6:17-18). David is the prefiguration of Christ in the Old Testament, he is like a Christ-figure; his regality is a prophetic anticipation and prefiguration of the regality of Christ. Yahweh promised to secure this throne forever (cf. 2Sam. 7:12-16), even with the limits and infidelity of the man David. He carried out his mission as a King in an inadequate and imperfect manner, but that of Christ is perfect! However, the word of God was addressed to David thus: “You are to shepherd my people Israel and be leader of Israel” (v.2), similar words were referred to Christ: “And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the leaders of Judah, for from you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel” (Mt. 2:6).

      The gospel passage (Lk. 23:35-43) rather presents in a somewhat dramatic manner the coronation of the King of the universe, because therein we see a scene that seems to relegate the royal dignity: Christ on the cross with two thieves. Indeed, on Calvary the regality of Christ was an object of derision, by the crowd, by the leaders, by the soldiers, even by one of the thieves. Even the inscription of Pilate on top of the cross sounds ironic. Even though before Pilate Jesus declared expressly that He is a King, but he equally made it clear that His Kingdom is not of this world (cf. Jn. 18:36). Behold, it is indeed on Calvary, on the Cross that Jesus received his solemn coronation as a King. For on the cross he acquired his kingly title in full, because with his sacrifice he expiated the sins of mankind and became the first-Son of the multitude of brothers (cf. Mk.3:35; Heb. 2:11). On the cross with the sacrifice of his life, Jesus expresses with all clarity the meaning and essence of his kingship: a service to mankind taken to the extreme: “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13) elsewhere St John says: “having loved those who were his in the world, he loved them to the end” (Jn. 13:1), his indeed is not merely too much or excess love, but extreme and endless love (love in extremis). His sovereignty is founded on his total self-giving for love, in the offering of himself as the victim for the expiation of the sins of the world. Our King received his crown on the cross. His is not a kingdom of domination and imposition, rather a kingdom that has love and mercy as its pillars. Interestingly, this gospel passage calls us today to mediate not only on the King, but also on the Cross that is, his Throne. His indeed, is a kingdom of Love and a sovereignty of Mercy! And it is love and mercy expressed in the parlance of the Cross, of suffering and dying for Love!

     Let us reflect deeper over the scene on Calvary, as St. Luke presents it to us: ●The leaders: “jeered at him with the words, He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One” (v.35). ●The soldiers “mocked him too, coming up to him, offering him vinegar, and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself” (vv.36-37). ●Even one of the thieves abused him: “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well” (v.39). ●There was also the inscription by Pilate that was pasted at the top of the cross: “This is the king of the Jews” (v.38). However, without knowing it Pilate expressed the truth. The work of salvation accomplished by Jesus during his earthly life reaches its climax and its culmination on Calvary. Indeed, here lies the scandal of the cross (cf. 1Cor.1:18; 22-25). The one who is hanged on the cross in agony and died in the midst of two thieves is the “image of the invisible God”, as St. Paul expressed in the passage of the second reading, he existed before all, he is the Creator of all and all subsists in him, in a nutshell a God in the midst of men (and women), a weak God, who could not save himself. He is an absurd and inconceivable God by the Jews. But instead, that is the supreme sign and gesture of his love and the love of the Father: “For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (Jn.3:16; 1Jn.4:9-10; Rm.8:32).

     At the heart of that event, we see the challenging interrogation of the hardened thief: “If you are the Christ, save yourself and save us as well.” This is a scandalous quest that put not only the authenticity of the divinity of Christ, but also of the Kingdom of God into question. But the King responds, demonstrating that there is something worth more than life, and that is Love, little wonder in the drama of the Cross we see “a King who dies loving”. Because dying is not the end of this love, and certainly the resurrection is a seal that such love cannot go in vain. But the good thief understood or rather had an intuition that “this man has done nothing wrong” (v.41), therefore he was condemned unjustly, just as Pilate recognized many times during the prosecution, “I find no case against this man” (Lk. 23:4.14-15.22), yet he handed him over to the Jews to be crucified. The good thief then humbly asked: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (v.42). Indeed Jesus started reigning on the cross, the heart of the thief was touched by grace and he entrusted himself to Jesus. Jesus exhorted him beyond expectation: “In truth I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (v.43). The famous good thief is a symbolic representation of the human person that God continues to show his love, for God every man or woman is lovable. One may curiously ask: what merit had the good thief? His merit comes absolutely from God’s love. His merit is Love. The response of Jesus to his supplication goes beyond mere answer to a request, but the fulfillment of every human desire.

     Extrapolating from the encounter with the good thief, we could see the last three salvific words of Jesus on the Cross: Today, with-me, and paradise. ● Today: this is common in the gospel of Luke (cf. Lk. 4:21; 19:9), which denotes the readiness of God to save us sinners, for the love of God is humanly speaking an instant that opens to eternity. ● With-me: entails that the Kingdom of God unlike the earthly kingdoms is inclusive. The symbolic image of the King who dies on the Cross with arms outstretched is a credible sign of a love without frontiers, a kingdom without walls, and an inclusive kingdom. And the arms of the crucified King will continue to be outstretched for all who recognize Jesus as a companion of Love and suffering, irrespective of what their past might be. ● Paradise: the hope of every man and woman. Behold, his kingdom is not a futuristic kingdom but today, his kingdom is not far-fetched is with us already, but yet it looks forward to the future, the “not yet”.

     In the second reading (Col. 1:12-20) we see the solemn Christological hymn of St. Paul where the regality of Christ, his sovereignty on souls and on the world is expressed with strong theological foundations. Christ is the King of the universe, because he is the Son of God, the God-Man, the visible image of the invisible God (v.15), “for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth” (v.16), “in him all things hold together” (v.17), it is through him that the Father desired “to reconcile all things to him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, by making peace through his death on the cross” (v.20). Indeed, St. Paul pictured him accurately well as “the Head of the body, that is, the Church” (v.18), therefore, he is King in a very special way for those who are members of his body, of those who have effectively been “rescued … from the ruling force of darkness” (v.13), those who have truly obtained “freedom and the forgiveness of sins” (v.14). Indeed, the Church is on earth, the Kingdom of Christ, and all the members recognize him as their Sovereign Lord, Guide and Shepherd. In verse 20 St. Paul says that Jesus made “peace through his death on the cross”. Similarly, the Gospel passage redirects our attention to the scene of Calvary. For it is precisely on Calvary that Jesus received his kingly investiture, and the cross became his kingly throne, the place of his coronation and his exaltation as St. John opined: “as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up” (Jn.3:14). Ironically, the moment of his maximum annihilation was transformed into the moment of his supreme glorification (cf. Phil. 2:7-11).

          In all my friends, this kingdom comports an existential implication for us, because we do not only celebrate the King of the Universe, but also our membership in this kingdom. For this St. Peter called us “kingly people” (1Pt. 2:9). In the words of St. Paul “It is he who has rescued us from the ruling force of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son that he loves” (Col. 1:13), ours is merely a gratuitous transfer to this Kingdom, but do we really belong to this Kingdom? Today, the hot button questions we have to ask ourselves are: Is Christ really our or my King?  What or who is ruling in my life? Christ is our King when his words and examples have become norms for our actions. Today’s feast should not only end with mere and empty proclamations and gyrations, we have to allow the Truth to lead us. We belong to his kingdom when we live according to his words. His is a kingdom of truth, a kingdom of love. Do we bear witness to his truth and to his love? That is bearing witness to his kingdom or do we bear witness to evil? We belong to his kingdom when we live in truth, grace, holiness, Justice, love and peace. Which kingdom do you belong? The one of Jesus or the one of the Devil? Today, we are marching out to tell the whole world that we have a King whose Kingdom is eternal. We are going out to proclaim and acclaim his Kingship. We are going out to confess and profess that there is no King like him. We are at the same time challenged to allow him to be the ultimate King in our lives. It is not untrue that most of us have various kings and kingdoms that are ruling our lives. We need to stop a while and ask ourselves: who is actually ruling in my life? Let us re-echo our voices together with that of the Psalmist in declaring the smooth entrance of this King into our lives, into our families, into the hooks and crannies of our society: “Lift high your heads, o ye gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! Let him enter the King of glory”. Who is the king of glory? The Lord of Host, He is the King of glory” (Ps. 24:9-10). Let us lift all those things in our life, in our families and in our societies that may be a hindrance to His entrance. Come our King forever and always!

King of Glory (cf. Ps. 24:10)

Our Peculiar King, for no one is like you (cf. Ex. 15:11)

God made King, for royal dignity has been yours from birth (cf. Ps. 110:3; Jn. 18:37)

King with divine mandate (cf. Dn. 7:14a)

King of Kings (cf. Rev. 17:14; 19:16)

King of the whole world (cf. Zech. 14:9)

King of peace (cf. Is. 9:6)

The highest King (cf. Rev. 1:5)

Everlasting King (cf. Jer. 10:10; Lk. 1:33)

Come Lord Jesus, come and reign in my life! Amen!!!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)

Stand Firm, Goodness Overcomes Evil!

(Homily 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. C)

     As we draw near to the end of the liturgical year, the Church brings to our consideration the question of the end. The imagery used in the readings of today is that of the “end of the world” predicated upon the present and the future, but it is not to be understood as in the end of the world as such, even though the readings especially the first reading and the Gospel speak about the end of the world, but the imagery of the “end of the world” symbolically points to the end of the world of sin, injustice, suffering and hatred. The two categories prevalent in the liturgy of the Word of this Sunday are the present and the future. It is in the hope of these two temporal processes that the existence of the human person revolves and tends. For this in the first reading Prophet Malachi foresees the Day of Yahweh when the “arrogant and evildoers” will be uprooted and burned up. In the Gospel passage St. Luke maintained that the tribulations and trials of the present time ought not to perturb us, because through our perseverance in faith we will receive the future salvation. With the same consciousness of time and eternity St. Paul invites the Thessalonians to imitate him in his dedication to work here on earth in order to receive in the world to come the imperishable crown. However, both Paul and Luke lay emphasis on the working out of a Christian presence in the world.

    However, when we look at the happenings and events in our world today from the surface, apparently it does appear evil forces prevail over good, and the workers of iniquity dominate over the good and honest people. Thus, for the wicked they seem to have won for everything seem to work for their good. But the situation instead perturbs the believers, and they question: how come God permits that the just be always disadvantaged? Is there no time when justice will finally be done? Those were the questions that the believers in Israel were posing during the time after their liberation from Egypt. It was a period of crisis, of delusion, because even the promises of the prophets appeared to have failed. It was a time of discouragement and consequently of religious infidelity, manifested in moral disorder and apostasy. As such, they were asking: “Where is the God of fair judgment now?” (Mal.2:17). Behold, they made a fatal conclusion thus: “It is useless to serve God; what is the good of keeping his commands…? (Mal.3:14). That is equal to saying that believing in God is of no need. This is the background of the episode of the first reading.

     In the first reading (Mal.3:19-20) tries to respond and react to the many provocations and interrogations of the people. His was indeed an endeavor to restore their hope. He opines: “For look, the Day is coming, glowing like a furnace. All the proud and all the evil-doers will be the stubble, and the Day, when it comes, will set them ablaze, says Yahweh Sabaoth, leaving them neither root nor branch” (v.19). The Day that the prophet is referring to here is the Day of Yahweh, the day of divine judgment. The inevitable divine judgment will be like fire that purifies and discriminates; it reduces to ashes the waste and makes precious metals to shine. Be that as it may, the divine judgment while it will be an inevitable condemnation for the wicked, will be a thing of joy and hope for the true believers, for in the words of prophet Malachi, “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of justice will rise with healing in his rays, and you will come out leaping like calves from the stall” (v.20). Indeed, the Sun of justice is Jesus, the promised Messiah. Little wonder, St. Luke puts in the mouth of Zachariah the father of John the Baptist: “the rising Sun has come from on high to visit us” (Lk. 1:78). Jesus is already the Judge of the world, he draws a discriminating line between the good and bad, between the wicked and the lovers of God’s name: he who listens to his words and put it into practice is the wise man who builds his house on the rock; and who does not put it into practice is the foolish man that builds on sand (cf. Lk.7:46-49); who is not with Him is against Him, and he who does not gather with Him, scatters (cf. Mt.12:30). Jesus is already a sign of contradiction: of salvation for the true believers and condemnation for those who do not believe.

     Indeed, the passage of this first reading strikes two important points, one that will be dominant for the next two Sundays: the last judgment, and the other: the coming of Christ in his Nativity, which will dominate the latter Sundays of Advent. And the responsorial psalm stressed the eschatological dimension of his coming, for he comes to judge the earth, he will judge the world in righteousness.

     According to the Gospel passage (Lk.21:5-19) the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 d. C. was prophesized by Jesus himself. And it could be considered a prefiguration of the end of the world, of the final judgment and the glorious manifestation of Christ. Here we see the apocalyptic discourse of Jesus, even though it was pronounced more than 2,000 years ago, but it seems to give us in different dimensions a realistic picture of what is happening today in our world. Today there is a proliferation of false prophets, wars, revolutions, nations fighting against nations, earthquake, plagues, famines, persecutions, betrayals and even martyrdom. To those who were talking to him about the magnificence of the temple, of its beautiful stones and votive offerings, Jesus responded to them: “All these things you are staring at now – the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another; everything will be destroyed” (v.6). This prophecy will be realized few years later, exactly in 70 d. C. Afterwards, the interlocutors posed him two questions: “Master, when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that it is about to take place?” (v.7).

      Jesus did not respond to their questions, rather he shifted the discourse to the end of the world and the glorious coming of his Kingdom. Even on this, he did not give precisions as regards neither time nor signs of the nearness of the end. Probably, because to know with precision the time and signs of the end will not be of help to man, rather it may be an obstacle, for man would have continued to live the way he likes until when the end approaches then he will begin to make amends. But man has to live essentially in uncertainty, which requires continuous readiness. However, drawing from the Gospel passage, the end of the world and the glorious coming of Jesus will surely take place, but they were not announced by Jesus with imminence, for Jesus said that things and events will take place first, “but the end will not come at once” (v.9). Rather Jesus made two important remarks:

●First, Jesus foretold his disciples of all that will happen, even within a short time, and then throughout the course of history. Jesus pre-announced “Take care not to be deceived, because many will come using my name” (v.8), they are false prophets and they will deceive you saying that “The time is near at hand” (v.8). He warned them to be careful because it is not true, they are false prophets and liars. Again, “And when you hear of wars and revolutions” (v.9), “Nations will fight against nations” (v.10), Jesus continued that they are not sign of the imminent end of the world, they do not pre-announce the end of time, instead they are inescapable facts of the corrupt nature of man. “There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famine” (v.11). Not even these are the signs of the end of the world, instead they are caducity and vanity of the precarious nature of this cosmos, indeed, in the words of St. Paul, “the whole creation, until this time, has been groaning in labour pains” (Rm.8:22), with the hope of being liberated from corruption (cf. Rm. 8:21). At last, Jesus foretold his disciples: “But before all this happens, you will be seized and persecuted…for the sake of my name; you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death; you will be hated universally on account of my name” (vv. 12.16-17). Equally, these persecutions and sufferings are not signs of the imminent end, they are normal and inevitable situations in every time, because the mentality and criterion of judgment of a Christian cannot but collide and be opposed to those of the world. Therefore, we could say that Jesus rapidly presented to his disciples the normal situation of every epoch, what his disciples in every epoch would have confronted, the trials that surround the intermediary time, that is the time between the coming of Christ on earth, the inauguration of the Kingdom of God and his glorious coming at the end of time, the definitive realization of his Kingdom.

●Second, He instructed and gave them indications on how to comport themselves. What is more important to Jesus is how the disciples have to comport themselves. His disciples and Christians of every epoch: –Should not allow themselves to be deceived by false prophets, those who say that they are the Messiah and that the end is near. He gave them strict order: “do not follow them” (v.8c), do not listen to them, else they will lead you astray. –Should “not be terrified” in the face of wars, revolutions, and cosmic catastrophes, they should not allow themselves to be taken by panic or anguish, be serene and face the situation with self-mastery. –Should give witness of their faith: the persecutions, threats and even sacrifice of live are occasions for the Christian to express his love for Christ and to put all his trust in Him. And Jesus promised: “I myself shall give you eloquence and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict” (v.15), and “not a hair of your head will be lost” (v.18). –Should persevere in their faith, and be constant in their fidelity to the Gospel and in the coherency of their life, for “your perseverance will win you your lives” (v.19).

     From the foregoing, Jesus wants us not to live in inertia, in idleness and in alienation from the concrete existential problems of life with the thoughts of the end of the world and the hereafter. Rather, he wants us to be inspired the more at the imitation of the values of the Gospel and insert them where ever we are. However, it is important to note that Jesus with his apocalyptic discourse was not intending to give a precise time for the end of the world or to indicate the prevalent signs as his listeners wanted him to do (v.7). He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem (v.6), and this will mark the end of an epoch in the salvation history, such that the old people of God (the people of Israel) will be succeeded by the new people of God (the Church). The discourse of Jesus was directed to Christians of every time, including us, with the objective of teaching us how we have to live and comport ourselves in the various situations in which invariable we will find ourselves. We therefore, need to appropriate the devotional advice to always live as though each day may be your last; for time and tide wait for no one. It is on this point that the message of the Gospel dovetails into that of the second reading.

      In the second reading (2 Th.3:7-12) St. Paul reproaches the Christian community of Thessalonica because of the problem of idleness, inertia and parasitism, as consequences of the thought and mentality that all will end soon and Christ will come gloriously. On the contrary, today we run the opposite risk, of not being committed in the Christian sense, because we do not even think about the end of the world and the judgment of God. Some are tempted to believe that everything ends in this world. Little wonder, they tend to amass wealth, without the vision of the hereafter. St. Paul uses himself and the other apostles as example, and thus invites them to imitate them in their hard work and dexterity, and not to wallow in idleness.

     The message that runs through the readings of this Sunday is somewhat a reminder to us that we should not be bothered much about the end of the world, rather we should always be ready for the end of our individual journey here on earth. It is a reminder that no matter how evil and evil-doers thrive, goodness will always triumph. Therefore, it is against the above backdrop that St. Paul warned the Thessalonians not to be carried away by the worries of the imminent end of the world, rather they should imitate the apostles and be filled with the sense of urgency in preparing for the end of our individual sojourn on earth and as we prepare let us not entertain any form of distraction or desperation! For Jesus will win and goodness will triumph over evil, let us therefore, take to heart the words of Jesus in today’s gospel: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Lk. 21:19).

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)

He Is The Living God!

(Homily 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. C)

     The Church directly or indirectly invites us often to meditate on the reality of the “last things” and the Church does it practically in the course of the liturgical year, but particularly towards the end of the liturgical year. It is important to meditate on the realty of the last things because our belief and hope in the hereafter ought to condition the meaning of our present life, the orientation we have to give to our life and the comportment we have to assume. It is against the above backdrop, that the Word of God in this 32^nd Sunday of ordinary time invites us to reflect on a truth of faith, about the future life, which we tend to wave aside many a times (because the thought of it discomforts us), that is the final resurrection of our body. The Liturgy of the Word today affirms not only the reality of life after death (the hereafter) but also the resurrection of the body to new life.

     We are therefore caught up with a pertinent and an existential question that touches the very essence of man: What is the final destiny of man? Therein, we have to grapple with the paradox of life and death, and of time and eternity. In the first reading, the martyrdom of the mother and her seven children in the time of the Maccabean war offers us the occasion to proclaim vigorously the faith in the resurrection for life. Again, in the Gospel Jesus teaches us that man’s destiny is life, but this life in the hereafter is not equal and cannot be compared with the earthly life. St. Paul on his part, asked the Thessalonians to pray, so that the word of the Lord may speed on and triumph, indeed at the heart of this invitation of St. Paul is the consciousness for the final destiny of man. Above all, the Christian message is a message of hope, for it announces triumph over evil, the triumph of God over all his enemies, and the last of the enemies is death. This message is not the Church’s invention, rather it comes from God “who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace” (2Th.2:16). Against this backdrop lies hidden the message of hope, hope for eternity. God is indeed a living God, and because He lives we shall also live!

          The first reading (2Mac. 7:1-2.9-14) presents a dramatic episode: the martyrdom of seven Jewish brothers with their mother (though our passage today only talked about the martyrdom of the first four). They suffered martyrdom under the pagan King of Syria, Antiochus IV (175-163) for not transgressing the laws of God and the religious traditions of their fathers. The courage of these young men in bearing torture and death is really overwhelming. It is a courage that can only spring up from their unwavering faith in God, who gives justice to those who obey his laws and decrees. And He rewards those who obey His laws not only with life in the hereafter, but also with the resurrection of their body. The second brother before his death exclaimed with his last breath thus: “Cruel brute, you may discharge us from this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up, since we die for his law, to live again forever” (v.9), later the fourth brother added: “Ours is the better choice, to meet death at men’s hands, yet relying on God’s promise that we shall be raised up by him; whereas for you there can be no resurrection to new life” (v.14). In the words of Daniel: “Of those who are sleeping in the Land of Dust, many will awaken, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting disgrace” (Dan. 12:2).

     In this passage, we see for the first time in the Old Testament an explicit affirmation of the faith in the resurrection of the body. This theme of the resurrection hope, for the Christian has been made a sure hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and it is made possible for us by our union with him in baptism and in the Eucharist. The hope in question is not merely for the resuscitation of the earthly body and a prolongation of the earthly existence, but it is an entirely new mode of existence, in St. Paul’s parlance, he talks about the “spiritual body”. However, the courage and audacity of faith of these brothers have to spur us on in our own journey of faith, especially in the face of suffering, disappointments, injustice, sickness and persecution. Let us continually ask the Lord to give us the grace of a faith that is more and more robust, matured and courageous. The episode of this passage serves well as a bridge to link us to the gospel passage. The Psalm is an individual lamentation for vindication; however, it ends with the expression of confidence in God. The first part serves as the martyrs’ prayer of vindication and the ending of the psalm expresses their confidence in the resurrection hope.

     In the passage of the Gospel (Lk. 20:27-38) we see some Sadducees in the scene, they belong to the sect of the aristocrats, of which many belong to the priestly sect, “those who argue that there is no resurrection” (v.27), while the Pharisees, another sect, believed in the resurrection, and they were followed by the majority of the people. In order to back up their belief, the Sadducees founded their doctrine on a certain law, the levirite. The levirate law stipulates that if a married man dies without having children, the brother (i.e the in-law of the widow, in Latin “levir”, this is where the name of the law is derived) will marry the widow with the aim of raising children, bringing forth descendants for his late brother, and as such to ascertain his survival through the children (cf. Dt. 25:5-10 and Gen. 38:8). Therefore, in order to demonstrate that the resurrection of the dead was incompatible with the Mosaic Law, they posed the question to Jesus, a purely hypothetical case, with the intent of ridiculing the proponents of the belief in the resurrection. They posed Jesus the question of a woman who married seven brothers without having any issue with or for any of them, “at resurrection, whose wife will she be, since she has been married to all seven?” (v.33). But this law is no longer relevant in the Christian community. Jesus did not allow himself to be thrown off balance with such a question; rather he offered his response in two moments:

●First of all, the Sadducees “are completely wrong” (cf. Mk. 12:27), because they think that life after death is equal to the present life, a continuation of the earthly existence, but it cannot be imagined or intuited with the human mind. Jesus affirmed that unlike it happens in this world where you take husband or wife, “those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry” (v.35), he continued “because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels” (v.36), they are immortal and as such, they do not need to procreate to secure their descendants, like the angels, they will live in the presence of God, praising God. Again, Jesus pointed out that “they are children of God” (v.36), they see God face to face, they participate in the divine life in such fullness that they do not need any other complement for their happiness. We can have an idea of what will be the condition of the resurrected body by making reference to the body of the risen Christ (it is no longer subject to suffering, to the conditions of space and time, and it is free from the law of matter). St. Paul will attempt to explain this concept thus: “this perishable nature of ours must put on imperishability, this mortal nature must put on immortality” (1Cor. 15:53). Yet in a clearer manner St. Paul explained: “we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transfigure the wretched body of ours into the mould of his glorious body, through the working of the power which he has, even to bring all things under his mastery” (Phil. 3:20b-21). As a matter of fact, such condition is not conceivable by human mind, therefore, the important thing is not to understand “how” it will be, but to be “judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead” (v.35), and in order to be judged worthy one needs to live already in the here and now “the already”, in the present time as a “child of God”, that is to be dead and risen in Christ through baptism, to die continually to sin in order to walk in the newness of life which Christ has gained for us. We need to carry the cross of our own suffering in union with Christ, in that way, we participate also in his resurrection: “If we have been joined to him by dying a death like his, so we shall be by a resurrection like his” (Rm.6:5).

●Secondly, Jesus' teaching is firm; neither berating nor condemning. Jesus was not satisfied with telling the Sadducees that their way of understanding is ridiculous, because they have an erroneous conception of the hereafter, rather he employed another evidence in favor of the resurrection of the dead, by making reference to the authority of Moses, which the Sadducees acknowledged. In the episode of the burning bush (Ex. 3:6) God revealed himself to Moses with the following words: “I am the God of your ancestors, he said, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”; and Jesus concluded thus: “Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him everyone is alive” (Lk. 20:38), therefore, they must be still alive. In other words he tends to say that the God who protected and saved the patriarchs, who established a covenant with them, the God who is faithful to his promises, the lover of life, whom they have adored, served and for whom they lived, cannot fall short in his commitment, and fail to save them from the greatest evil, that is death. He cannot be powerless before it like every other mortal, if not he is no longer God. He is stronger than death, thus death cannot destroy that bond and communion that God has established with his people. Thus, Jesus demonstrated that denying the resurrection of the dead entails denying God himself. To say it with E. Charpentier: “We do not believe in a life after death because the invention of a reassuring hereafter gives us the courage to bear an existence that ends with death. We believe in the resurrection because we are certain of being loved by a living God and we have seen his life force, his Spirit, actively present in his Son Jesus Christ, firstborn from the dead. And the evidence to give to men is to live daily for God”.

     The mistake of the Sadducees lies in the fact of imagining that life after death is a continuation of the earthly life, with the same conditionings and exigencies, they jettisoned the belief in the resurrection. Elsewhere the biblical revelation on the resurrection of the dead faced hostility as illustrated in the discourse of Paul at Areopagus: “We would like to hear you talk about this another time” (Acts 17:32). Instead resurrection signifies entrance into a new condition of life, the risen will be “the same as angels” and “children of God” (v.36), or better in perfect communion with God. On this, Jesus affirmed: “Do not be surprised at this, for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves at the sound of his voice: those who did good will come forth to life; and those who did evil will come forth to judgment” (Jn.5:28-29). Jesus declared: “I am the resurrection. Anyone who believes in me, even though that person dies, will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn.11:25-26) and again: “It is my Father’s will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and that I should raise that person up on the last day” (Jn. 6:40). The condition that Jesus gives for resurrection of life is to believe in Him, to live in Him and to be rooted in Him like the branches to the Vine. Elsewhere Jesus gives another condition, unless one is nourished by Him, present in the Eucharist: “Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day” (Jn. 6:54).

     The second reading (2Th. 2:16-3:5) reaffirms this hope thus: “Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such ceaseless encouragement and such sure hope, encourage you and strengthen you in every good word and deed” (vv.16-17). Indeed the sure hope St. Paul is talking about here is not just the hope of things to come but the hope in an eternal existence and inheritance. God is indeed, the giver of eternal comfort and good hope. A Christian lives in the dynamics of hope, sequel to this, G. Marcel made a distinction of two types of hope (Espérance and Espoir), in his parlance: “The only authentic hope is that directed at what does not depend on us”, that is, Espérance, a waiting for the fullness of being while Espoir is a waiting for the future means of life. The hope we are talking about here that is sure and good is Espérance.

     Truly, the reality of our death marks the limit of man and not the limit of God’s power, “Yahweh gives death and life, and brings down to Sheol and draws up” (1Sam. 2:6). And Jesus is the Guarantor and his resurrection the guarantee of the realization of our resurrection hope. It is a hope indeed that does not disappoint. Jesus himself gives us the most sublime and decisive evidence of a life after death and of the resurrection of the body, through his own resurrection from the dead. Jesus is “the First-born from the dead” (Rev. 1:5; Col.1:18). And St. Paul captured vividly well the primacy of Christ on the credibility of the resurrection thus: “and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is without substance, and so is your faith… In fact, however, Christ has been raised from the dead, as the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep” (1Cor. 15:14.20) and because He lives, we shall also live. “Do not be afraid; it is I, the First and the Last; I am the Living One, I was dead and look – I am alive for ever and ever” (Rev. 1:17b-18a). Jesus is our Hope of eternal Glory!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)

Today Salvation Has Come!

(Homily 31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. C)

     While meditating on the readings of this Sunday, what readily came to my mind was the famous dictum of the Swiss theologian, Von Balthasar, that “Only love is credible”. And it is indeed true God’s love towards all and especially towards mankind is credible. In the density and credibility of this love, we come to discover that no one is beyond redemption, for His love is without frontiers. Mercy and Love are always conjugated together in God, for his is a merciful love. Indeed, the whole bible is inundated by the theme and manifestation of God’s love. And in the readings of this Sunday God’s love is made manifest in a special way. The love of God is towards all his creatures, because all have in the love of God, their raison d’etre, as exemplified in the first reading. In the Gospel passage the love of God is for all men and women without distinction, because all are His children. Then, in the second reading, we see God’s love towards Christians, for this, the word of God says “so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him, by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ”.

         In the first reading (Wis. 11:22-12:2) we see the pre-Christian exposition of the universality of the divine mercy, it manifested the two categories of God’s actions: in creation and preservation and in the forgiveness of sins. The book of Wisdom presents God in his infinite greatness and power as Creator and Sustainer of all the earth: “The whole world, for you, can no more than tip a balance, like a drop of morning dew falling on the ground” (v.22). And again the sacred author reaffirms: “And how could a thing subsist, had you not willed it? Or how be preserved, if not called forth by you?” (v.25). He further described God as a lover of life (v.24) and a merciful Father (v.23). At the basis of this passage is the idea that man and the world are God’s creation. In verse two of the twelfth chapter the author sublimely speaks of God thus: “And thus, gradually, you correct those who offend; you admonish and remind them of how they have sinned, so that they may abstain from evil and trust in you, Lord”. These wonderful words of the sacred author fill the heart with emotion. The Psalmist captured it vividly well: “The Lord is good to all and his compassion is over all that he has made” (Ps.145:9).

     Indeed, particularly interesting is the annotation of the author in Wisdom 12:1: “For your imperishable spirit is in everything”, here the author could be referring to the Hebraic or Greek connotation when he affirms that God’s immortal spirit is in all things. Therefore, the spirit here could be like in Greek terms, Sophia, that is the agent of the divine immanence or even scripturally it could be Ruah, that is the creative power of God.  However, in New Testament terms the conception of the Spirit is not predominantly universal and immanent, but eschatological. The Spirit therein does not just dwell in all things and all men by creation, but it is a gift to believers in Christ Jesus.

     Indeed, the presentation of God in the first reading finds its concrete expression in the passage of the Gospel. Jesus is the revelation of the true face of God, in the episode of Zacchaeus he manifests the divine omnipotence expressed in mercy and pardon, in God’s will to save “what was lost”. In Jesus we discover in a transparent way, the characteristic traits of God’s face, as delineated in the book of Wisdom in the first reading: “You are merciful to all, because you are almighty, you overlook people’s sins, so that they can repent” (v.23) and again “Yes you love everything that exists, and nothing that you have made disgusts you, since, if you had hated something, you would not have made it” (v.24). He is indeed, a God that ‘can do all’, even changing and transforming the heart of man. It is indeed his desire for man to repent and live, “As I live declares the Lord Yahweh I do not take pleasure in the death of the wicked but in the conversion of the wicked who changes his ways and saves his life. Repent, turn back from your evil ways” (Ez. 33:11).

     The episode that St. Luke narrated in the passage of today’s Gospel (Lk.19:1-10) is one of the most interesting and fascinating episodes in the New Testament, or even in the whole Bible. The story revolves around the man, whose name is equally given in the passage: Zacchaeus. The name “Zacchaeus” in Hebrew means “the Pure One”, therefore before encountering Jesus, he was the Pure One only by name but not in deed. But after encountering Jesus he became the Pure One both by name and in deed. That encounter no doubt was a real independence for Zacchaeus. By profession Zacchaeus was a publican, worst still he is the head of publicans. They are considered as sinners for they increase the normal tax stipulated by the authorities. As such, he was rich and he enjoyed egoistically his money and this above all, attracted for him the antipathy of the people. Zacchaeus was small in stature to the extent that he was not able to see Jesus, when Jesus was passing the city of Jericho, because of the crowds. But deep in his heart, he desired to see Jesus. In other words, to see Jesus he had to run ahead to climb a sycamore tree, with the hope that Jesus will pass through that direction. And fortunately for him Jesus followed that direction, and when Jesus reached there, he looked up and saw Zacchaeus on the sycamore tree, and he called him by name: “Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I am to stay at your house today” (v.5). And immediately, “he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully” (v.6). No doubt, because of the type of person that Zacchaeus was, the people were astonished that Jesus went to his house, “He has gone to stay at a sinner’s house” (v.7), they said.

     Be that as it may, during this encounter with Jesus a miracle occurred, that is, the complete turn around and change in the life of Zacchaeus, and deep from his heart he told Jesus: “Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount” (v.8). And on hearing this Jesus proclaimed redemption not only for Zacchaeus but for his household: “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham” (v.9), he added: “for the Son of man has come to seek out and save what was lost” (v.10). Truly, no one is beyond redemption; this idea is very prominent in the gospel of Luke. The proximity and encounter with Jesus transformed his heart and mind. Zacchaeus is the most classical example of one sought for by Jesus, called and saved by Him. He was lost for the sake of money and illegal gains.

     In the episode of Zacchaeus, the converted sinner, we see God’s love for all his creatures in action as refrained by the passage from the book of Wisdom. The Pharisees certainly looked down upon Zacchaeus and disregarded him, because he as a tax collector has compromised with money and power, as such, he was reprimanded as a sinner. But the Son of God (Jesus) instead went to see him in his house, he left the crowd of admirers who welcomed him in Jericho and went only to Zacchaeus; like the Good Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine and goes in search of one sheep. This gesture can only be explained by the great tenderness of God. This parable can be further interpreted in parallel with the episode of the Pharisee and the tax collector. God justified the repented tax collector in the temple and left the Pharisee to go back with his burden of sins. Similarly, Jesus brings salvation to the house of Zacchaeus and left outside those proud self-righteous men of Jericho.

     Be that as it may, the episode of Zacchaeus is to be read and reflected against the backdrop of the two preceding passages in the Gospel of Luke: the parable of the rich fool and that of the rich young man. The difference between Zacchaeus and the rich fool is that the later denied the poor even the crumbs of food that fell from his table; but Zacchaeus gave half of all his possessions. One uses his riches for himself and his rich friends alone, while the other uses his riches also for others. And against the backdrop of the rich young man, in the course of his discussion with Jesus, Jesus asked him to sell all he has and gave the money to poor, before he could follow him (cf. Lk. 18:18-27). The difference between him and Zacchaeus is that one was asked to give all to the poor, while Zacchaeus was saved and welcomed by Jesus, even given only half of his possessions to the poor. He was given the privilege of retaining half of his riches, therefore of still remaining rich. What could be the reason for this? This is to rectify a false impression that could emanate from other passages in the Gospel on riches. Jesus does not condemn riches, but condemns unfair and iniquitous use of riches. Indeed, there is salvation also for the rich. Little wonder, in the episode of the rich young man that refused to follow Jesus, because he was very rich, Jesus commented with some dints of disappointment thus: “Yes, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eyes of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Lk.18:25), and the disciples were troubled and they asked “In that case, who then can be saved?” (Lk. 18:26).  And Jesus replied them “Things that are impossible by human resources, are possible for God” (Lk.18:27). Zacchaeus is the proof of this, that God can accomplish the miracle of the conversion and salvation of the rich, without necessarily reducing him to the state of poverty. However, Zacchaeus was prevenient in his actions, because he did not wait to hear “Today salvation has come to this house”, before he declared to give half of his possession to the poor. His courageous decision preceded the salvific declaration of Jesus. Indeed, in Zacchaeus we see an authentic evangelical conversion, for he was converted both to God and to the brothers.

     As such, the episode of Zacchaeus clearly demonstrates that: ●what is impossible to man (in this case, detachment from riches) is possible with the grace of God. ●riches in themselves are not evil, but the way they are used or the manner they are acquired could be evil. ●whoever encounters Christ and welcomes Him truly has to restitute the ill-gotten gains; he has to learn how to share his riches with those who do not have. ●there is possibility of salvation also for the rich, but on the condition that he does not become a slave to his riches and that he uses them to help the poor, then they will not be obstacles for entrance into the kingdom of God.

     Drawing the issue further, when we look at ourselves on the mirror of God’s word and weigh ourselves on God’s spiritual scale we may discover that we are like Zacchaeus or that we often behave like him. Yet in our nothingness Jesus comes to save us. He calls us by name as he did to Zacchaeus. Jesus went to the house of Zacchaeus and proclaimed salvation, but Jesus comes to dwell in our heart in order to effect a profound transformation, so that we can pass from a life of sin to a life of grace. May his redeeming words resound and continue to re-echo in our hearts: “Today salvation has come to you”. Zacchaeus teaches us the necessary spiritual itinerary that each one of us has to accomplish in order to encounter Christ and remain one with Him: ●Zacchaeus “kept trying to see Jesus” (v.3), he desired profoundly to encounter Jesus, for this he ran ahead, climbed a tree and waited for him. ●And when Jesus called him, he hurriedly came down from the tree and “welcomed him joyfully” (v.6). ●But the most important thing is that he opened his heart and allowed himself to be inundated by grace and thus he repented! Therefore, we have to look for Jesus, desire to encounter him and grab every occasion and opportunity to encounter him. We need to be ever ready and disposed to answer him with joy when he calls us by name. And finally, we have to be ready to change our life upon encountering him and enter into his project of salvation.

     As such, being conscious of the demands of our Christian calling, we cannot but pray continually as St. Paul suggested in the second reading (2Ts. 1:11-2:2), “In view of this we also pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call, and by his power fulfill all your desires for goodness, and complete all that you have been doing through faith; so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him” (vv.11-12).

     Behold, the readings of this Sunday serve as a reminder to us of the great tenderness of God towards all his creatures and the reality of the human fragility that is conquerable by divine grace. Of a truth, we all are like spiritual dwarfs. Our vision is confined to eyelevel. Like Zacchaeus, we cannot see over the heads of the crowd. We see the world around us and our own reflections like in shop windows. We must figuratively climb a tree to see Jesus. We must make a special effort. Unless we see Jesus we cannot discover God. God in his mercy and love is unpredictable, he works in different ways.  And this episode serves as a source of hope for the rich in our society, that they too can be saved. It is not said that the only way to be saved is to “sell all you have and give to the poor” like in the time of the apostles (cf. Acts 4:34), but today Jesus gives a new indication, that is: divide and share!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)