Be Like The God You Worship: The Trinity Of Love!

 

 (Homily for the Holy Trinity Sunday Year B)

“Just… as the three angles of a triangle do not make three triangles but one, … so too in some much more mysterious way, there are three Persons in God and yet only one God” (Fulton J. Sheen, The Divine Romance)

     After we have celebrated in Advent and Christmas the merciful love of the Father who sent his Son to, in and for the world; in lent and Easter we celebrated the infinite goodness of the Son, who gave his life for us, and also after celebrating the feast of the Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, in order to bring to fulfilment the wonderful works of our salvation, in today’s liturgy we celebrate the three divine Persons together (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Indeed, the reality of the three divine persons is not a fairy tale, rather a manifestation of what has been revealed to us. Even though it has been revealed, it still remains a mystery. The revelation of our God who in essence is one, and manifests Himself in three Persons is beyond human logic and calculations. The Holy Trinity is the mystery that distinguishes our religion from others (the Jews adored only one God: Yahweh, the pagans adore many divinities, without unity), but in ours there is unity in distinction. The Holy Trinity is not just the perception in three aspects (Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier) that we sometimes have of God, more than that, the Trinity does not only refer to human viewing, but to God himself, to His ways of being God. The Holy Scriptures actually made us to understand that the Father is God (Phil.1:2), the Son is God (Titus 2:13) and that the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). The God revealed by Jesus Christ is not a distant and inaccessible divinity, that has nothing to do with the contingent humanity. He does not sit impassible on His eternal throne, rather He condescends to mankind. Even though we may not understand God fully as Trinity, we do experience Him as Trinity daily (in the sign of the cross etc). God is not only believable, He can be experienced (Taste and See). In the words of Pope St. John Paul II, “God, in his deepest mystery, is not a solitude, but a family, since he has in himself fatherhood, sonship, and the essence of the family, which is love (the Holy Spirit).”

     In that bid, I would like to introduce the Holy Trinity in this reflection in two broad terms: economic and immanent Trinity, taking inspiration from some of the modern theologians. Economic Trinity is how God has revealed himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (through His actions in the world) in the history of salvation. And many a times when we talk about the Holy Trinity, we tend to do so, limiting ourselves to the economic Trinity, as revealed to us. But more than that, the Holy Trinity is also to be considered from the point of view of how God is in himself, God in his essence is One but manifests himself in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that is immanent Trinity. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a mystery beyond and above us, for it has to do with the ontological aspects of the Trinity (Immanent) and at the same time it is a mystery that has been revealed to us and it is our way of knowing that God is present in Human history (Economic). However, we cannot understand and explain fully how God is in himself, as St. Augustine opined "si comprehendis non est Deus". In another writing of his, St. Augustine exclaimed "if you see love, you have seen the Trinity". “God is love” (1Jn. 4:16) as revealed in the New Testament, and love cannot remain closed up in itself, and the God revealed by Jesus Christ is Trinity because is love. Jesus said to Philip, “I and the Father are one” (Jn.10:30) and no doubt the Holy Spirit is part of this oneness. Whether considered from the dimension of economy or immanency, the central word that dovetails into God’s essence and manifestation is LOVE. The central message of today's doctrine is that of Love (Father-Lover, Son-Loved and Holy Spirit-Love).

     The word Trinity (tri-unity) was coined by Tertullian around the third century in the bid to establish the distinct Persons in one God.  The Scriptures in no small way, buttress the reality of the Trinity, however in the Old Testament we see only an anticipation of this mystery for instance: in Genesis 18:1-2: God appeared to Abraham at the sacred tree of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance during the hottest part of the day, he looked up and saw three men. It could be interpreted that God came to Abraham in a Trinitarian form. In Isaiah 6:8: “Whom shall I send and who will go for US?” Here we can discover God the Father making a representational request on behalf of the Son and the Holy Spirit. But in the New Testament we see explicit references to this sublime mystery: Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”  Drawing the issue further, Jesus Christ, the Son undoubtedly is God: John 1:1: “In the beginning was the WORD, the WORD was with God and the WORD was God. The Holy Spirit is equally God: Genesis 1:2: “The Spirit of God was brought over the waters” This was before God began active creation. The Holy Spirit has been with the Godhead from eternity. Hence the Holy Spirit is God. The Greek word perichoresis (derived from the Greek traditional wedding dance) will help us to have a clue of how God is Trinity. It is the reciprocal com-penetration of being among the three divine Persons, it is like the bond that unites the three Persons in a mutual indwelling. For instance, in Jesus’ priestly prayer: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” (Jn. 17:1); and again Jesus says referring to the Holy Spirit, “he will glorify me” (Jn.16:14). Thus, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, the Son glorifies the Father and the Father glorifies the Son.

     Similarly, no matter how hard we try, we remain limited in the endeavor to understand this mystery in toto, what is important for us is not even to understand Him, rather to recognize how he manifests Himself, what are the signs of his presence and actions? God is experienced as going out of himself in revelation and redemption. And it is against this backdrop, that the three readings of today proffer us some indications: The first reading from the book of Deuteronomy presents God in his Sovereignty, mighty deeds and revelation to His people. In the Gospel passage Jesus entrusts the mission to his disciples, as a mission that begins and to be exercised in the sign and in the power of the Trinity. In the second reading St. Paul offers us the Trinitarian mark of our sonship: God the Father has made us His children in Christ (sons in the SON) through the Holy Spirit.

     The first reading (Deut 4:32-34.39-40) speaks of God “in heaven above and on earth beneath”. Thus, of his transcendence (heaven above) and immanence (on earth beneath). It equally speaks of God, going forth out of himself in his acts of revelation and redemption. However, at that time, it seems to have been a general belief that if God appeared to men, it was for the purpose of destroying them; and indeed most of the extraordinary manifestations of God were in the way of judgment, but in this passage it was quite different. For God did appear in a sovereign and extraordinary manner to destroy, but it was for the deliverance of the people. They heard his voice speaking with them in a distinct manner. They saw the fire, the symbol of his presence. In this appearance no person was destroyed rather he came to save. God saved his people through seven means: temptations, signs, wonders, war, mighty hand, outreached arm, great terrors. The writer further opined that this “he showed you, so that you might know that Yahweh is the only TRUE God and that there is no other” (4:35). This affirmation was repeated twice in this passage “Yahweh is the true God, in heaven above as on earth beneath, he and no other” (4:39). And the pericope ends with a moral-existential invitation: “keep his laws and commandments…so that you may prosper and live”.

     In today’s Gospel (Mt 28:16-20) Jesus manifested himself to the apostles in the fullness of his divine powers, as he declares “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…and behold I am with you always, to close of the age”. With and in these words, Jesus condenses the Mission he is entrusting to the apostles and to the Church. It is a mission that begins and to be exercised in the sign and in the power of the Trinity: “in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. It is a mission that has as it’s ultimate end the encounter of man with the Blessed Trinity. The emphasis here lies on the baptismal command, the most glaring example of the New Testament triadic formula, which later formed the basis for the doctrine of the Trinity.

     In the second reading (Rm 8:14-17), St. Paul affirms that none can claim to be the child of God who are not led or guided by the Spirit. And the Spirit in question is not a spirit of bondage, but the Spirit of adoption, we are made members of God’s family by adoption, and the Holy Spirit is the agent that brought us into God’s family. Owing to the nature of this adoption we can cry “Abba Father”. To reveal the strongness of this divine family ties St. Paul says that “the Spirit joins with our Spirit in bearing witness that we are children of God” (v.16). If children, then we are also heirs of God, and heirs with Christ, and I would add in the Spirit. God the Father has made us His children in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, our sonship bears a Trinitarian mark, and as such the Christian existence is called to be a trinitarian existence. Above all, in this passage as in Galatians (4:6-7), St. Paul maintains that the divine sonship is an eschatological gift and not a natural gift of human existence.

    Be that as it may, we have a number of virtues to learn from the mystery and divine manifestation we celebrate today: ●Unity in diversity, a call, therefore, to recognize all as brothers, despite our differences, and to live in love and communion as children of the same Father.  The revelation of God as Trinity is a revelation of love. The Trinity is ocean of Peace and communion; the Father always works with the Son and the Holy Spirit “let us” (cf Gen 1 & 2). It is thus an invitation to us to cultivate the spirituality of inclusion. ●We can as well reconsider the Holy Trinity in three dimensions: the Trinity of faith (of the past, when He revealed himself), the Trinity of Love (of the present, that lives and works in us), there is also the Trinity of Hope (of the future, we are on our journey towards the return to the Father). It is of a Hope that is certain (cf. Rm 5:5). ●The mystery of the Holy Trinity is a reality hidden in the heart of God. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is neither the work or the fruit of theological thoughts nor of mysticism. The Trinity is not a fruit of human invention, is not an idea, rather it is a reality, the most sublime reality, not a static reality but a process-reality; that the Father revealed through the Son and the Holy Spirit. The mystery of the Trinity was immensely revealed to us through the action and manifestations of God in human history. God revealed himself as Father by sending the Son. And Jesus Christ revealed himself to us in his perfect obedience to the Father, through his redemptive death and resurrection. And the Holy Spirit revealed himself to us as the “cement” of the love of the Father and the Son, as a gift of communion to man, so that they will live in the trinitarian image.

     When Peter’s words pierced the hearts of his listeners, upon hearing his preaching that dovetailed into the workings of the three divine Persons, they asked: “Brothers, what should we do?” (Acts. 2:37). Similarly, what should be the attitude of man before this mystery? ►First, there is need for the attitude of adoration and submission to the Father that so much loves us, to our Brother Jesus who gave his life for us, and to the Holy Spirit who accompanies and sustains us in the course of our earthly existence. More important to reflecting and pondering on this mystery is to worship and render all adoration to the Triune God. ►Second, is the attitude of thanksgiving, thanking God for the fact that He is a mystery and continues to be a mystery even after the revelation. But not a mysterious and complicated mystery, for we are constantly involved in the life of the Blessed Trinity. Being a mystery, as such it cannot be manipulated or instrumentalized by man. ►Third, is the attitude of humble acceptance of the mystery, avoiding a rationalistic position and an irrationalistic position, that seeks to exclude it (because it does not comprehend it) or that seeks to succumb to its weight (because it is perceived to be cumbersome) respectively.

    Above all, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, there is love amongst the three Divine Persons (ad intra), but in the same vein the trinitarian love is manifested externally (ad extra), love towards humanity, towards us. This trinitarian love extended to us should be a prerogative for the extension of that same love to our fellow human beings. The Trinity is therefore a sign of a harmonious unity existent in God, which should equally be existent among God's children. The central message of today's doctrine is that of Love. The Holy Trinity is a mystery of interpersonal communion of love. It is a sign of communion and of love. As those called to live a trinitarian life, is our life a sign of communion and of love, a reflex of the trinitarian life? Above all else, however, drawing the issue further, we see that the Holy Trinity is a mystery of Mission: the Father sends the Son, and both send the Holy Spirit, and in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the Church is sent by Christ to “go and make disciples of all nations”. You too, you are sent to be heralds of love, unity and communion. Be like the God you worship! May Jesus in whom “in bodily form dwells all the fullness of divinity” (Col. 2:9) continue to reveal to us the God who is communion. Oh our Trinitarian God, help us to love You and to love one another! Enable us to recognize you in each other and in our world, so that we may be capable of living the trinitarian existence of communion, love and a harmonious unity. Amen!

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

 

 

Come O Holy Spirit, O Fount of Life, Come!

(Homily for Pentecost Sunday Year B)

Without the Holy Spirit, God is distant, Christ is merely a historical figure, the Gospel is a dead letter, the Church is just an organization, authority is domination, mission is propaganda, liturgy is only nostalgia, and the work of Christians is a slave morality. But with the Holy Spirit, Christ is risen and present, the Gospel is a living force, the Church is a communion in the life of the Trinity, authority is a service that sets the people free, mission is Pentecost, the liturgy is commemoration and anticipation, and the work of Christians is divinized (Ignatius of Laodecea).

     The aforementioned assertion of Ignatius of Laodicea sets in motion the vitality and the profundity of today’s Solemnity. Today as we are celebrating the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the word of God gives account of this Event, in four different ways, to demonstrate that the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, cannot be locked up in human schemes. The first reading and the Gospel complement each other, as they both talk about the descent of the Holy Spirit; although while in the first the Holy Spirit is a Gift of the Risen Christ to the Church for her mission, He comes as energy, courage, life force. In the latter (Gospel), the Holy Spirit comes as a consoling presence, a counsellor, Spirit of truth and a witness to Christ. In the Pauline account in the second reading, He comes with different fruits as opposed to the works of the flesh. And the fourth account is in today’s responsorial Psalm: “Send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth” (Ps.104:30). All the earth, nothing and nobody is excluded. Indeed, what we are celebrating today is the fulfilment of the promise of the Risen Christ. Several times in his farewell speech, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the apostles: “I will not leave you orphans… I will send you the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth… and you will receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn. 14). And 50 days after His Resurrection, Jesus maintains his promise, as St. Luke recounts in the Acts of the Apostles. St. John instead, in his Gospel collocates the coming of the Holy Spirit in the evening of the same day of Resurrection (cf. Jn. 20:19-23), as such, he intends to make us understand that the Holy Spirit is the most important Gift of the Risen Christ, the most precious fruit of his gesture of love and obedience to the Father. He is the Gift of God and the Giver of God’s gift to us. The Holy Spirit is a Person, the third Person of the Most Holy Trinity. The Scripture does not provide us with a personality sketch of the Holy Spirit, rather the sacred authors tell us who and what the Holy Spirit is by what the Spirit does. In the Scripture he is presented with several symbols and images like: cloud (cf. Ex. 16:10); water (cf. Ez. 17:1-6; Jn. 7:37-39); wind or breath (cf. Gn.1:2; Acts. 2:2); fire (cf. Ex. 3:2; 13:21; Is. 4:4; Acts. 2:3); anointing oil (cf. Acts. 10:38); dove (cf. Mk. 1:10; Lk. 3:22); still small voice (cf. 1Kgs. 19:11-13) etc…

     The word Pentecost is from a Greek word “Pentēkostē”, which means fiftieth. The Pentecost was an old Jewish traditional feast that was celebrated 50 days after the Passover, namely the in-gathering of grains. Later on, Judaism transformed it into a feast of salvation history, for it commemorated the arrival of the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, and the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai (cf. Ex. 34:28). This was later introduced into the Christian feast that marked the conclusion of the great fifty days after Christ’s Resurrection. It also refers to the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and others who were present at the Upper room. The grain harvest and the law are now replaced by the gift of the Spirit, from the constitution of the old Israel to the constitution of the new Israel. A gaze into the Old Testament reveals the power and activity of God’s Spirit at work. For instance, God allowed His Spirit to rest on the seventy elders who were appointed to assist Moses (Num. 11:16-17; 25). After his anointing as King, Saul received the Spirit of God and prophesied (1 Sam. 10:10); and when he lost his connection with God the Spirit of God left him (1 Sam. 16:14). Therefore, obedience to God attracts the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life, for it can be seen that when Saul disobeyed God, the Spirit of God that was upon him departed from him (cf. 1Sam. 15:26; 16:14). The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a mark of God’s presence in us. David was a man filled with God’s Spirit and when he sinned he begged God not to take the Holy Spirit away from him (Psalm 51:11). In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is our great teacher and reminder (Jn. 14:26); He is the guarantor and witness of our divine filiation as sons and daughters (Rm. 8:16); he is the great intercessor (Rm. 8:26); He is the great explorer: “for the Spirit explores the depth of everything, even the depths of God” (1Cor. 2:10). He dwells in us, “Do you not realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you and whom you have received from God? (1Cor. 6:19). Particularly, in the book of Revelation the Holy Spirit is portrayed as capable of taking control of a person: “On the Lord’s day the Spirit took control of me” (Rev. 1:10) and again “At once the Spirit took control of me” (Rev. 4:2), The Holy Spirit can possess a person, and his is indeed is a dynamic presence, for whoever he possesses witnesses all round transformation. The Holy Spirit is a great teacher and proclaimer of the divine message. In the book of Revelation “who has ears listen, what the Spirit says to the Church” (Rev. 2:29; 3:6; 3:16; 3:22). His message to the Churches was a message of rediscovering their identity before God and the renewal of their rapport with God. Even for us today, his is a message of repentance, unity, liberation and a rediscovery of who we are before God.

     In the first reading (Acts 2:1-11) St. Luke narrates the event of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, unlike in the Gospel, but fifty days after Easter. Therein, we see that the Holy Spirit is the principle of expansion of the Church and the life force. This account of the Pentecost permits us to discover another great thing that the Holy Spirit represents for the Church, the life force that nourishes her in her Mission. There are some vital elements to ponder upon in the passage, ●first, “they were all together”, this entails that the Holy Spirit comes where there is unity. ●Second, “A sound came from heaven like a mighty wind”, this lays credence that it is truly Ruah Adonai, for the Holy Spirit manifests Himself so many times through the wind. In the book of Genesis (1:2) we are told that at the first moment of creation, “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” ●Third, “It rested on each one of them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages.” This is suggestive that the Holy Spirit came on them individually; likewise his gifts are individually given but for the common purpose. The Spirit empowered them to speak different languages, however, other languages here might be considered symbolic. They symbolize a language of love that all understand. ●Fourth, “at this sound the multitude came together”, this gesture of gathering together is the beginning of the Church’s mission to evangelize, because they are gathered in order to be sent. ●Fifth, “we hear them telling in our tongues the mighty works of God”, indeed, the Holy Spirit urges us to proclaim the wonderful works God has wrought for us, and as such, it was the major content of the preaching of the apostles that very day. On the other hand, in the book of Genesis (11:1-9), we see a direct opposite of what happened today in the Acts of the Apostles, the tower of Babel, where people because of pride, presumption and distance from God, were divided and thrown into confusion and incomprehension, language became a source of confusion instead of unity and understanding. That indicates simply the absence of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is the reversal of babel. Meanwhile, the responsorial psalm talks about the natural and cosmic dimensions of the Spirit’s work (Ps. 104:30). The presence and power of the Spirit creates, recreates and renews.

         The Gospel passage of St. John (Jn. 15:26-27;16:12-15) we read today helps us to understand the importance and need of the presence and the action of the Holy Spirit in the world, in the church and in the life of every single Christian. St. John therein, presents the Holy Spirit as the “witness” of Christ before the world, for “when the Paraclete comes whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning” (Jn. 15:26-27). In all, we ought to bear in mind that today, the Holy Spirit desires to continue to speak to the world through our collective (as a church) and individual witnesses, just like in the beginning, through the preaching and testimony of the apostles and disciples. St. John puts it succinctly thus: “And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning” (Jn. 15:27), even though that referred to the disciples, the same word re-echoes for us today.

        Jesus promised his followers formally that he will send them the Holy Spirit, and as such, he fulfilled his promise (first reading) on the Pentecost day. The Holy Spirit is promised and sent by Jesus so that He can accomplish two broad missions amongst the disciples and in the Church; and that is revealed in the two mission-titles given by Jesus: “Spirit of truth” and “Paraclete/Counsellor”. First, He will bring the disciples to the knowledge of the revealed truth and he will give them consolation and comfort. The apparent emptiness created by the absence of Jesus will be filled by the presence of the Holy Spirit, Second, Jesus says, “I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you for ever” (Jn. 14:16). Such that, after being consoled and confirmed by the Holy Spirit, the disciples can give courageous witness of their faith in Christ before the world.

        During his earthly ministry, we could say that Jesus entrusted the mission of a complete teaching of the truth to the Spirit. For this, he assured his followers: “However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth” (Jn. 16:13). Jesus promises fervently that through the action of the Holy Spirit they will be led to the comprehension of the entire truth (on his person, on his doctrine and on the salvific project of the Father). The Spirit will not add anything to the truth proclaimed by Jesus, for in Jesus’ words: “all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine” (Jn. 16:14). Therefore, the truth remains the same but it will be better understood with great profundity and richness by the disciples.

          In the second reading (Gal.5:16-25), St. Paul gives us an eloquent and concrete indications on how to be witnesses of Christ through the Holy Spirit. St. Paul affirms that deep within us, there is a struggle between “the flesh” and “the spirit”. In his words, “the Spirit has desires contrary to the flesh, and the flesh has desires contrary to the Spirit” (v.17). The consequence is that many a times, we do not do the good we desire, as Paul experienced: “the good thing I want to do, I never do; the evil thing which I do not want- that is what I do” (Rm. 7:19). St. Paul enlists the works of the flesh and afterwards the fruits of the Spirit. The works of the flesh are: “immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing”. The fruits of the Spirit includes: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”. In Paul’s parlance, with and through our baptism we belong to Christ, and as such, “All who to Christ Jesus have crucified self with all its passions and its desires” (Gal. 5:24), thus, we have become temple of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul further admonished that our Christian life has to be a “walk”, a movement according to the exigencies of the Spirit, a movement in which we align ourselves to the Kingdom’s desires. In that bid, our life in the Spirit abhors passivity, for we are called to allow “our behaviour be guided by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25), and indeed, “all who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Rm. 8:14).

       Dear beloved in Christ, the Pentecost experience still continues, like the first Christian community today we are gathered, but unlike the first Christian community we are not waiting for the absent Spirit to come, rather we have to reawaken ourselves to the Spirit who is already present and working in, for and through us since we received Him during our Baptism. We only need to wake up to His presence. We need the Holy Spirit in all that we do. The life of Jesus from conception, birth, public ministry, passion, death and resurrection was marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Little wonder, at the beginning of his mission Jesus declared: ‘The Spirit of God is upon me” (Lk. 4:18; cf. Is. 61:1). At the Incarnation, Mary conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit, and at the Eucharist, Bread and Wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, by the power of the same Spirit (epiclesis). The Holy Spirit guarantees and realizes his continuous Incarnation. The Holy Spirit realizes the consecration of Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. During consecration in Eucharistic Prayer II the Priest says: “Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” Above all, the Holy Spirit is at work in and through the Sacraments of the Church.    

     Above all, we too need Him in our existential sojourn and weaknesses, for this St. Paul said that “the Spirit comes to help in our weakness, for when we do not know how to pray properly, he intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words” (Rm. 8:26). It is the same Spirit that bears witness to our divine identity, as God’s children, “The Spirit himself joins our spirit to bear witness that we are children of God” (Rm. 8:16), He confirms our filial identity. Above all, St. Paul captured the essence of the Pentecost experience when he affirms that “our Hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out His Love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us” (Rm. 5:5). Today as we receive this outpouring, we join our voices together with that of the Psalmist in saying “Send forth your Spirit Lord and renew the face of the earth” (Ps. 104:30). May He renew us and renew our world battered and engulfed in so many ills and evils, may He renew and heal the world of the current pandemic. We hereby declare freedom and liberty for all God’s children, because “where there is the Spirit of God there is freedom” (2Cor. 3:17). Come o Holy Spirit and fill our hearts with Love and with a hope that does not disappoint! Be renewed as we receive the outpouring! And as we welcome Him today may the same Spirit liberate us from all that do not allow us to be free sons and daughters of God! May He chase away the powers of darkness in our hearts and in our world with His fire! Amen!!!

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

Loved, Called and Sent to be One!

 (Homily for 7^th Sunday of Easter Year B)

     Upon proper perusal and reflection on the readings of this Sunday, one discovers that they help us to look back to what has happened before us: the event of Christ, and as well, help us to look at and forward to what is and what is to come: the on-going mission of the Church. A slight pause, therefore reveals that the central pillar of this Sunday’s message is the call of the disciples to be united in the Mission. Indeed, this Sunday in-between Ascension and Pentecost is a special one, for it looks backward and forward into the Event of Christ and its implication for the disciples (the Church). Little wonder, the ascended Christ sends his apostles to go and bear witness of his redemptive event to the world. It was for this purpose that Mathias was chosen to complete the symbolic number 12 and to bear witness to the Christ event (first reading). And the offshoot of this witnessing is the confession of Jesus as the Son of God to the world and its implementation in the life of the Church orchestrated by the phrase “love one another” (second reading). And lastly, in the Gospel, Jesus offers his priestly prayer to cement that love, to foster our unity, thus indicating an important factor: unity in mission!

    The first reading (Acts 1: 15-17.20a. 20c-26) is basically the narrative of the election of Mathias, which in the Acts of the Apostles occupied the twelve days interval between the Ascension and the Pentecost day. It is therefore, well situated into the context of this Sunday, in-between Ascension and the day of Pentecost. In the narrative, the number of the Twelve has to be completed after the betrayal and defection of Judas. And the prerequisite was the choice of someone who was among those that received the resurrection appearances, possibly one of the five hundred (cf. 1Cor. 15:6).

      Be that as it may, the number 12 is symbolic, for the earthly Jesus appointed the Twelve as a sign of the eschatological community, a representation of the new Israel. In that bid, the choice of the twelfth man was geared towards the preservation of this eschatological significance. Not only that, more importantly, in Luke’s parlance the Twelve serve as a bridge between the earthly Jesus and the ongoing mission and life of the Church. The basic requirement for the replacement, is that the person has to be a witness to the manifestations of God’s love {witness to the earthly life of Jesus and witness of his resurrection}. Matthias took the position and made up the deficiency of a missing part. We can see that the position was important but the person of Judas was not indispensable. This, reminds us equally that none of us is indispensable.

     Beloved in Christ like Mattias we have called to be witnesses. The Lord has called each of us in the world not as spectators in the scene of life, rather he has called us majorly to be witnesses to the Resurrection. Thus, to proclaim the reality of Jesus’ resurrection in our lives by the newness of our lives. In a more active way, we witness to that event by sharing the Good news with others and by making the presence of God visible in the world.

     The second reading (1John 4:11-16) is the continuation of the second reading of the previous week, and as it is typical of John, it repeated practically the themes of the preceding passage with slight difference. As such, the themes of God’s love, the reciprocity of love among the faithful and the mutual indwelling of God in the faithful and the faithful in God resurfaced. God loves us so that we should love one another. Upon proper voyage into the Johannine corpus, one notices that when John makes his repetitions, usually he accompanies it with a new point, and in the context of our reading today, the new point revolves around the fact that this mutual indwelling is manifested glaringly in the confession of Jesus as the Son of God.

     St. John therefore, exemplifies the element that gives life to unity and that enlivens it.  The element in question is love. The apostle John advised that as God so loved us we should love one another. Here, Christ becomes the Reason and Model of our love. Our love should be an offshoot from God’s love. Love is like the cement that binds the people of God together, and as such, unity cannot be achieved without love. The unity that Christ asked for in His Sacerdotal prayer (Jn. 17) is a unity wrought out of love. We may therefore categorically say: “no love, no unity”. Above all else, however, love is a sign of divine presence, because according to St. John “by this we know that we abide in him and him in us” (v.13). By what? By Love! (cf. vv.11-12). “This is a proof that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us a share in his Spirit” (v. 13), our sharing and participation in the Spirit of God is indeed proof of our abidance in his love. Once again, we meet this wonderful definition of love. Love in Jesus’ parlance is an action word.

     The Gospel periscope of St. John (Jn. 17:11b-19) presents the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus, or as some exegetes have termed it: “the Prayer of Consecration”. In this passage, Jesus consecrated himself in that the disciples may equally be consecrated for their mission, in order to be preserved in unity and truth even in the midst of persecutions. Once again, this passage is situated well into the context of our liturgical season, for the departure (Ascension) of Jesus paved way for the inauguration of the mission of the Apostles. In the same vein therefore, the prayer looks forward to the event of the Pentecost, but also beyond it, to the mission of the Church. Jesus tells us in the Gospel what it means to be grounded in Him. Jesus presents God as a great Unifier, unlike the Devil who is a divider.

     Jesus considered his earthly mission to have been concluded, and he already situates himself outside the world, that he was about to leave. Conscious of his would-be absence he prayed for the disciples that are going to be left alone in an adverse and hostile world, in the midst of persecution and hatred. The term world in the fourth gospel has a negative connotation, it symbolizes the world of sin and evil dominance, with  ideas and mentalities contrary to the values of the Gospel and the Kingdom. For this Jesus says that his followers are not of the world. That is why the world hated them., indeed “friendship with the world is enmity with God” (Jm. 4:4). Jesus does not ask the Father to take them away from the world, rather to keep them from the evil one. Who is the evil one? The “dia-bállo”: the accuser of the brethren (cf. Rev. 12:10), the one who divides, the slanderer. The belonging of the disciples to Jesus by adhesion to his Word separates them from the world, as such, attracts hatred and persecution for them (v.14).

     Jesus addresses his prayer to the Father “Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us” (Jn. 17:11b). His invocation was addressed to the Father. He addressed the Father with the appellatives “Holy”, the transcendent God, and also “Father” as such not a distant God, He is in an intimate union with the Son. Jesus invokes the Father in a tender manner, in order to keep the disciples in their struggle against evil. He asked the Father to keep or to guard them in his name, with the power that springs from his omnipotence. He prays the Father to preserve the disciples in fidelity to his revelation. By the effects of the Father’s guardiancy, the disciples can experience that same profound union that united the Father and the Son. He says he kept all, except the Son of perdition, that is Judas (who lost his place among the twelve, and was replaced with Mathias). Jesus says “so that they will have fullness of joy” (13-16). Jesus invokes the assistance of the Father so that their joy will be full. This joy indeed is an eschatological gift (cf. 15:11; 16:24), a total joy that is identified with the communion with the Father and the Son in a reciprocal indwelling. How have you been an instrument of unification in the society or in your family? Jesus prays for our joy to be full, does your life as a Christian radiate joy to those around you?

      In the 17^th chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus is seen praying for different purposes, at the first part of the chapter Jesus prays for Himself (17:1-5), and in the second part he prays for his disciples (17:6-26). In the passage of today’s gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ was seen praying to God the Father in a very exceptional way. This is traditionally known as the priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ. The highlight of his prayer was the need for his disciples (which includes all of us) to be one as he is one with the Father. “Why was that supplication very important to our Lord Jesus Christ? Why was he wishing that they all be one?” Our Lord Jesus Christ thus prayed for Oneness so that his disciples can share in the unity existent between Him and the Father. For any apparent unity and oneness that are not founded on God, sooner or later collapses (cf. Gen. 11:1-7). No doubt, one of the easiest ways towards destruction and failure in life is through disunity. This can be seen in families, communities and nations. It is often said: “together we stand but divided we fall.” Jesus prayed for oneness in the “Name” of the Father, because in the Old Testament the name of God indicates his being, supremacy and manifestation, and this manifestation is that of love. The name of God is Love. Little wonder, Jesus asks the protection of the Father so that they will remain united in his name (in his love), in a reciprocal love. Jesus further prayed for their consecration in the Truth, and the sanctification of Jesus for his people culminates in his death, a death that is beaming with love. That is the truth they are to be consecrated in, which has to become the lung of their Mission.

     Jesus in his sacerdotal prayer intercedes for his disciples. He prays that his work may continue through the disciples, in a unity of charity, a participation in the unity of the Father and the Son (vv.20-23). It is a holy, apostolic and universal unity, which is to be consumed in eternal love. The spirit of this longest prayer of Jesus, resembles the one in his short prayer found in (cf. Jn. 11:41; 12:27; Mt.11:25; Lk. 22:42).

     In all, this Sunday is the last before the Pentecost, little wonder, the messages emanating from the readings are preparatory. Evidently, our Lord Jesus Christ prepares the ground for his disciples before the coming of the Holy Spirit. Extrapolating from this passage, he was actually communicating to them and to us, that before the Holy Spirit comes we should be united as one. We should be bound together in love. If we peep into the upper room before the coming of the Holy Spirit we could see that all the believers were together in ONE place and in ONE accord (Act 2:1). Similarly, as Jesus offered his prayer to the Father for love and unity among his disciples and among us today, we pray that the efficacy of His Priestly prayer may be felt the more in our world, in our nation and in our families torn apart by the presages of war, division, dissension and hatred. May the power of His Priestly prayer dissipate the darkness that discord and disunity have implanted in our hearts. May we all be united in His love! Amen!!!

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lord Ascends With Trumpet Blast!

 

(Homily for the Solemnity of Ascension Year B)

     By means of today’s event, Jesus finally bids farewell to his disciples and apostles, although his departure is not a definitive separation from his people, but the beginning of a new presence. The Ascension of Jesus to Heaven that we are celebrating today, concludes his earthly life, and yet opens a way for another type of presence. However, narrating this great event the Evangelists seem to do so with discretion. Mathew in his Gospel did not talk about it explicitly, he only said that “the eleven went to Galilee on the mountain that Jesus indicated to them.” In his own account as we read today Mark says: “And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven; there at the right hand of God he took his place” (Mk. 16:19). Analogously, Luke in his Gospel (Lk. 24:46-53) and in the Acts of the Apostles (first reading) expressed: “He was assumed into heaven, he was elevated on high, before their eyes and a cloud covered him before their gaze” (Acts 1:9). This entails that the visible presence of Jesus on earth has paved way for his presence in another modality. At the celebration of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus into heaven, it is very easy to allow oneself to be carried away by the imagination and fantasy of thinking that it has to do with some sort of levitation or a physical phenomenon. Instead, here we are before a mystery, a truth of faith that we are called to believe, and not a phenomenon to be explained away with the human sciences.

         The Gospel of Mark (Mk. 16:15-20) almost made a leap, thus instead of the Ascension, paid much attention to the mission of the Apostles. Before going to the Father he orders them: “Go to the whole world and preach the gospel to all creatures”. Therefore, believing in the Good News and accepting baptism in the name of Jesus will be indispensable for salvation. Indeed, here begins the mission of the Church, her universal mission by the will of Christ because the Good News is to the “whole world” and to “all creatures”, and the proclamation of the “Good News” will be accompanied and confirmed with “signs” and prodigies, which will be revelative of the presence of Christ (they will cast out demons, they will speak new languages).

           St. Mark concludes his narration with an interesting annotation: “while they (the apostles) going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it” (Mk. 16:20). They apostles conformed themselves to the trust accorded to them by Jesus, for they carried out their mission with courage and ardor. Jesus on the other hand, was never found wanting in manifesting his presence, thus rendering their words of preaching efficacious and certain of this divine assistance, the Church has to continue to perpetrate in time, the mission entrusted to the apostles, to ensure that the Good News resounds in every time and in every angle of the earth.

         In all, towards the end of today’s Gospel passage, St. Mark in brief reports the event of the Ascension thus: “And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven; there at the right hand of God he took his place” (Mk. 16:19). And upon reflection on the event of Christ’s Ascension into heaven, we deem it fit to make three considerations talking about the event in connection to us, thus:

1)      It confirms our faith in Jesus Christ. Christ is truly risen. He is alive. He is with us. In his words: “I will not leave you orphans” (Jn. 14:18), “I am with you always; yes, to the end of time” (Mt. 28:20).

2)      It revives our hope, for one day we shall be where the Risen Lord has preceded us to be at the Father’s right hand, “Anyone who proves victorious I will allow to share my throne, just as I have myself overcome and have taken my seat with my Father on his throne” (Rev. 3:21).

3)      It stimulates our Christian sense of duty and responsibility: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mk. 16:15), “you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8b), “why are you Galileans standing here looking up to heaven” (Acts 1:11a).

     The first reading (Acts 1:1-11) situates the event within the context of encounter (appearances) between the risen Lord and his apostles. Therein, He told them not to leave Jerusalem in view of the Father’s promise: the Holy Spirit. But they showed lack of understanding towards the admonition of Jesus. Then they asked: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). This question reveals their mistaken view of the person and mission of Jesus. In their minds Jesus would do something to drive out the Romans and restore power to Israel. In the same manner, many of us today, do not understand properly His teachings. The question of the apostles was off point, however, Jesus used the opportunity to educate them on what to do after the Ascension, thus in response to their question about restoring the kingdom to Israel, Jesus said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8). Thus, we are not to sit and fold our arms, instead we are to do something: “you will be my witnesses …” In all, Luke’s  version of the Ascension event in the Acts of the Apostles, looks forward to the future, that is, to the inauguration of the mission of the Church and the final return of the One who ascends: “he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight…This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him go to heaven” (vv. 9.11). And after the Ascension the disciples returned to Jerusalem and went to the Upper room, where they remained in prayer with the disciples and some women including Mary the mother of Jesus (cf. 1:12-14). They were in prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

       In the second reading (Eph. 4:1-13) St. Paul unlike the Synoptic does not record simply that “he was carried up…”, or that “he parted from them”, but that he was raised above all things: “The one who went down is none other than the one who went up above all the heavens to fill all things” (Eph. 4:10). It is the dominion of Christ over all things. Indeed, for St. Paul he ascends for our sake: “On each one of us God’s favour has been bestowed in whatever way Christ allotted it. That is why it says: He went up to the heights, took captives, he gave gifts to humanity” (vv.7-8).

      The Ascension into heaven is a full participation of Jesus to the life of God, as the God-man. Indeed, the Ascension Event does not inaugurate a period of distance or complete absence of Jesus from his people, rather, it inaugurates a new type of presence. For He says: “I will not leave you orphans, I will return to you” (Jn. 14:18). In fact, he has promised “It is for your own good that I am going, because unless I go, the Paraclete will not come to you” (Jn.16:7). And not by chance that Mathew ended his gospel with the great and reassuring promise of Jesus: “Look, I am with you, till the end of time” (Mt. 28:20). The new presence that Jesus begins with the Ascension Event entails an invisible but real presence, which he actualizes through the coming of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Ascension Event stimulates us equally to believe that Christ is really present in his Church, for the Holy Spirit continues to work in the Church and in every single Christian. From this moment begins the “time of the Church”, of her mission in the world, as orchestrated in the first reading: “Men of Galilea, why do you stand and look up to heaven?” (Acts 1:11a) This was the question that “the two men in white” asked the apostles, who were gazing at Jesus as he ascends, as if to call their attention on the need of not wasting time on nostalgic regrets. It is not a time to observe Him like a bystander, rather it is time for and of action, time of realization of the Kingdom of God that Jesus has inaugurated on earth, and as such, time of witnessing!

     Furthermore, the Ascension of Jesus encourages us to look up, towards that sure destination that awaits us, where Christ preceded us to go and prepare a place for us. It helps us to learn that we are with Him on the path to glory, even though we maybe imperfect and limited, but upon consideration that we are members of his Body, the Church, of which He is the Head, and inasmuch as He is enthroned in heaven, we belong there, for where the head is, there the body will be also. Therefore, we cannot but live in hope of going one day to occupy the place Christ has prepared for us with the help of divine grace, for this St. Paul prayed: “May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people” (Eph.1:18). May the Lord truly illumine our mind, revive our faith and reinforce our hope, so that we may be able to attain this glorious hope. And this gaze towards our glorious destination should not make us to become inactive in the present reality, it should not be a sort of analgesic that will relieve us from the present responsibilities and maybe pains, rather the consciousness of it has to propel us to live as disciples of Christ always and every where. For we will be able to reach our place in Paradise in the measure we engage ourselves in realizing here on earth, deep within us and in the world, the Kingdom of God, which is a Kingdom of peace, justice and love.

          In all, the first reading and the gospel bring clearly to light the main message of today that the ascension does not mean that Jesus has gone from us, even though he is no longer visibly present, but he is still with us. Above all, the experience of the Ascension is a confirmation of the promise of Jesus “I will go and prepare a place for you” (Jn. 14:2-3). It is the assurance of the coming of the Holy Spirit “If I do not go away, the advocate will not come to you” (Jn.16:7). The Newtonian law of Gravity seems to have relevance within the framework of the Ascension event “whatever goes up must surely come down”. Applied to the Ascension we believe that he will come down as he ascended as Luke told us (cf. Acts 1:11b). It was an end and a beginning at the same time for the disciples. May the Event of His Ascension into Heaven reawaken our faith, our hope and our Christian sense of duty! Amen!!!

Happy Ascension to You All!!!

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