Just a touch of Him! Just a touch by Him!!

(Homily 13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. B)

     An in-depth and spiritual reading of the Word of God of this Sunday reveals that right from creation, God has desired the best for all he has created, especially for man, even to the extent of creating man that he might exist, and not to die. This original idea of God was so powerful that the infidelity of man didn’t thwart it, for God in and through the Person of His Son Jesus Christ, restored our life, and continues to give us life in abundance and to liberate us from all that do not allow us to enjoy that fullness of life. God is on the side of life, likewise His Son Jesus Christ. Our existential journey, so far, has brought to our consideration some of the actors and factors that tend to limit the action of God’s grace in us, ranging from sickness, diseases and death, but with a joyful hope we may well posit in Pauline words thus: “We come through all these things triumphantly victorious, by the power of him who loved us” (Rm. 8:37). Although, death is an evident reality, in Jesus parlance, the evidence of death is an illusion, for He is the author of life. In Christ what conquers death is not life, but love.

     The first reading (Wis. 1:13-15; 2:23-24) from the book of Wisdom provides the Old Testament belief for man’s immortality. The world created by God was good (Wis. 1:14; cf. Gen. 1). Therein, man was created to be immortal, (even though Genesis 3 seems to assume that man was created mortal). However, the book of Wisdom must have deduced the idea from the fact of man’s creation in God’s image in Gen. 1:26. St. Paul as well seem to share the same opinion as in Wisdom 1:14, for when he was speaking about death, he says: “Well then, it was through one man that sin came into the world, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned” (2 Cor.11:3). Drawing the issue further, the view of death presented in this passage, seem to conflict with the age long self-evident truth of death as a biological fact. However, it could be argued that from the connection of immortality with righteousness in Wis.1:15, it does appear the author is alluding to moral and spiritual death, just like St. Paul in (Rm. 5). In that bid, the mystery of death is beyond the mere physical meaning, it is a sign of man’s alienation from God. In any case, on the basis of the facts of the Gospel, we believe in what is said by the writer of the book of wisdom, that “God did not create death, and does not delight in the death of the living, for he created all things that they might exist...for God created man for in-corruption, and made him in the image of His eternity”.

     In today’s Gospel passage (Mk. 5:21-43), we see a common feature of Mark’s Gospel, that is, the insertion of one episode into another. Thus, here the story of the woman with hemorrhage is inserted into the narrative of the raising of Jairus’ daughter. Even though, opinions vary as regards the purpose of this insertion, but the more convincing explanation is St. Mark’s intent to let one miracle interlace into and interpret the other. As such, the healing of the woman with hemorrhage and the raising of Jairus’ daughter can be interpreted as an act of cleansing and salvation (vv.28.34). Therefore, the two miracles prefigure Christ’s salvation of man from death. The whole Gospel of St. Mark is centered on the question: who is Jesus? In the Gospel of last Sunday, Mark already tried to present Jesus as one who has the prerogatives of God, and as such God; He has power over nature (calming the storm). Today’s Gospel periscope presents two miracles, different in nature and similar in the ways that Jesus accomplished them, but they have a common element: the two miracles were rendered possible or rather provoked by FAITH. Mark also presents Jesus as the Lord of Life. He healed instantly a woman that was suffering from a sickness that no doctor was able to cure for twelve years. More interestingly, He raises the little girl of twelve years, Jairus’ daughter back to life. In some other biblical episodes Jesus demonstrated that he is the Lord of life with the resurrection of the son of the widow of Naim (Lk.7:11-17), of his friend Lazarus (Jn. 11:38-53), and finally with His own resurrection. As a matter of fact, Jesus told the woman with the issue of blood, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed of your disease” (v.34). And to Jairus, who received the news of his daughter’s death: “Do not fear, only believe” (v.36).

     The two figures of today’s gospel are very much distant from each other socially speaking (Jairus was a ruler of the Synagogue, while the woman was socially anonymous). And this teaches us the universality and the non-discriminatory nature of God’s salvation. Two of them teach us what it means to have faith. Faith as they have taught us is not a mere sentiment or emotion, it is a conviction, it entails going beyond the human horizon. To believe means to be certain that what is impossible in man’s parlance is possible in God’s. Mark confirms this in an emblematic manner when he says: “everything is possible for the person who has faith” (Mk 9:23).

     In that bid, our great teachers and spiritual facilitators today are Jairus and the socially anonymous woman with the issue of blood. Though their social status is far apart, but Faith in Jesus has brought them together. Let us have a glance at the two encounters:

● Jairus, a ruler of the Synagogue asked Jesus what is absolutely impossible humanly speaking: the return to life of his dead daughter. Let us observe the scene closely:  seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet, “my little daughter is at the point of death come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live” (a touch by Him). Immediately Jesus went with him, and on their way the popular unknown woman appeared. Later on, a message came that the little girl is dead. Some must have questioned the need of his coming. But on arriving to his house with the words “Talitha cumi”, Jesus brought her back to life.

● The woman with the issue of blood for twelve years manifested the magnitude of her faith, after so many years of suffering. She had reports about Jesus and was fully and deeply convinced “if I touch even His garments, I shall be made well” (a touch of Him). The story of this woman and her action of touching the garments of Jesus reveal that she saw Jesus as an ‘extraordinary man’, a ‘great prophet’, a ‘divine man’. In fact, the evangelist Luke (8:46) drew the issue further, by adding that Jesus knew that power (dynamis) had gone out of him, when the woman touched him. However, in Mark we see the effort to transform the woman’s courageous gesture into an expression of faith, and as such, a personal encounter with the Saviour. She wanted to do this in a hidden way, because there was a popular believe at that time, that a woman suffering from the issue of blood is impure and also renders whatever she touches so. (But in the episode Jesus purified her imperfect faith). And she did succeed in the midst of the crowd. But Jesus immediately noticed a different type of touch, and He asked who touched my garments? But she presented herself in fear and trembling, she prostrated before Jesus and told Him the whole truth (v.33), and Jesus assured her: “daughter, your faith has saved you” (v.34). And as a premium to their faith they received miracles.

     Similarly, at the heart of the two miracles, one notices with ease that faith for them is not simply a probability or hypothesis, it is instead a certainty, certainty because it is founded on the Word of God that does not deceive at all. The words of Jesus to Jairus give credence to this, “do not fear, only believe”. The exercise of faith is not without difficulties. As someone would say, it is like a dark-light, dark because it requires adhesion to truths that surpass our human capacity (little wonder, is a supernatural gift); it is light, limpid and immune from error because it is founded on the Word of God.

     On the other hand, in our present age replete with all sorts of ideologies, especially of those who do not believe in God, and thus see that as a form of weakness and folly. In their conception, faith is an act of infantilism and weakness, little wonder, some tend to manifest their faith with fear and in shame. Contrarily, faith is an act of humility and recognition of one’s limits, just as Jairus and the woman did in the gospel. To be faithful in God presupposes courageousness. In the passage, the stories therein bring to light the incomprehension and oppositions that are encountered in the bid to believe in Jesus Christ and his Good News of salvation. A wonderful example to follow is that of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, who notwithstanding his social position and prestige, humbled himself, without minding what could be the negative reaction of the crowd (criticisms, derision etc.), walked up to Jesus for something that seemed humanly impossible.

     Once again, as it is typical of the Marcan account, at the end of the raising event, Mark introduces the messianic secret: “And he gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about it” (v.43). And this order is better understood from the theological standpoint, for the true significance of the act of raising is not yet apparent. Indeed, it is only at the death and resurrection event that the veil of the messianic secrecy will be revealed. The injunction of Mark 9:9 explains this better: “As they were coming down from the mountain he warned them to tell no one what they has seen, until after the son of man had risen from the dead”. In all, while the raising of Jarius’ daughter prefigures Christ’s victory over death, the healing of the hemorrhage woman prefigures Christ’s death as a cleansing from sin.

     In our own existential experiences and situation, the Good news for us today is that the same Jesus who instantly healed the woman with the issue of blood, who for twelve years was craving and searching for cure, is the same Jesus that can heal our own sickness, especially the spiritual sickness called sin. The same Jesus that gave back life to the daughter of Jairus can deliver us and give us life in abundance (Jn. 10:10). But from us, Jesus just requires a humble, courageous and persevering faith as exemplified in today’s Gospel passage. The faith that does not give up even when prayers seem not to be answered and when things are not working as desired. A wonderful example is the experience of Jairus when Jesus was on His way to His house, and later was ‘distracted’ by the woman that touched him. And again, while Jesus was still on the way a message came from Jairus house: “your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further”. As if the coming of Jesus is no longer useful. But Jesus ignored them and intervened with these words to Jairus: “do not fear, only believe”. What happened to “the some” who came with despondency to report the death of Jairus daughter and at the same time seeing Jesus visit to be useless can also happen to us, when we lose hope, and begin to doubt what God can do in our life. In moments like that the words of Jesus re-echoes again to us saying: “do not fear, only believe”. What are those things that are standing between us and our faith in Jesus? Is it sickness? It can become a bridge and not a wall for us to encounter Jesus. Is it the crowd? We should not be discouraged by them. Is it derision? Faith in Jesus conquers that. In the words of St. Paul, “In all these things we have complete victory through Him who loved us” (Rm. 8:37). In whatever situation we find ourselves a touch of Him or a touch by Him can raise us up! Let us put our voices together and invoke the power of the miracle Jesus to raise us up from our different situations of failure and limitations. Amen! And may the song of Josh Groban, “You raise me Up”, re-echo in our hearts and lips thus:

When I am down, and, oh, my soul, so weary

When troubles come, and my heart burdened be

Then, I am still and wait here in the silence

Until you come and sit awhile with me

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains

You raise me up to walk on stormy seas

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up… to more than I can be.

Dear beloved Jesus, you love each of us individually with a unique and personal love. Touch us with your saving power, heal and restore us to the fullness of life, Amen!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC) 

Storms Do Not Last, But His Liberating Presence Does!

(Homily 12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. B)

     The message emanating from the liturgical readings of this Sunday presents God in His sovereignty, Jesus in his human and divine natures and God’s power over the created order. God spoke from the tempest to respond to Job’s interrogations, and Jesus spoke to the storm and calmed the fears of the disciples. The question that lingers is this: “who can this be?” The first reading presents God as the Creator and Sustainer of all there is, man inclusive, while the Gospel passage serves as an attempt to unravel the question of and on Jesus’ identity, who is He (Jesus)? Then from the question of who Jesus is, to the question of who a Christian should be and what ought to be his or her comportment. To this, the Gospel says that a Christian is one who has Christ in his boat, who welcomes Him in his or her heart and makes Him a companion in his journey of life. In the same vein, St. Paul in the second reading reiterates that a Christian is a new creature, one who has been captured and possessed by Christ and continually moved by the love of Christ.

     In the first reading (Job 38:1.8-11) we see partly the ordeal of Job. The book of Job poses before us, the profound question on how to reconcile God’s existence and love and man’s suffering. In fact, each of the comforters of Job had spoken his mind, and Job too responded to their arguments and provocations. Job indeed spoke for all of us. Finally, Yahweh speaks to Job, He spoke to him “from the heart of the tempest” (v.1), which denotes a theophany, the manifestation of divine presence. In his response, Yahweh asserted His transcendence and the inapplicability of the human standards to judge His ways. No doubt, Job was inexistent at creation! So he cannot comprehend the power and workings of God. Indeed, in this passage, we are confronted with the question of why sometimes God does not intervene in some human ugly situations or He permits certain things that in human viewing are unjust. On this, the book of Job questions, how can you understand the designs of God, and His actions, as small as you are? This passage reveals God’s identity, when the Lord told Job “Who put limit to the sea… and I said here you will arrive and not beyond, thus far shall you come and not further.” Therefore, God presented His transcendence as the Creator. As such, the questions of and for meaning raised by Job can only find response in the workings of God and in God. Be that as it may, the first reading introduces us and prepares the ground for the Gospel passage on the stilling of the storm. In that bid, it reveals the symbolic meaning attached to the sea in the Jewish culture. It reminds us of God’s power over the created order.

     In today’s Gospel (Mark 4:35-41) St. Mark featured the great event and spiritual adventure of Jesus demonstrating his power as God over the created order, He calmed the storm. The whole Gospel of Mark is centered on the question: who is Jesus? Above all else, let us situate ourselves very well into the context of this passage. It was already evening and Jesus invited His disciples let us go to the other side of the river, which means there is a mission there, something needed to be done at the other side. As we can read in Mark 5:2: “as soon as he came down from the boat, a man with unclean spirit met Him.” We see the same event equally in the Gospel of St. Matthew, when he asked them to go to the other side and he went to pray, and when they were faced with a great storm, He surfaced walking on the water (cf. Mt 14:22-32).

     As they were sailing to the other side, when they saw the great storm of wind, they disciples were filled with fear, and they turned and saw Jesus sleeping on the cushion (was He really sleeping?) as if He was not concerned with their well-being. They reproached Him this time around, do you not care if we perish? As Mark narrates it, He woke up immediately and calmed the sea: “Peace! Be still”. And upon Jesus’ command there was great calm. Here, Jesus is presented as one with authority even over nature. Even though Jesus was with them, they still ran into a storm. Thus, the presence of Jesus with us doesn't mean that we would never encounter difficulties. On the other hand, it does, however, mean that, when the difficulties do arise, all we have to do is to call on him with faith. No matter what you are passing through today, Jesus is aware of it, he is aware of your own storm too, but he leaves you to choose how to deal with it. No doubt, we will have problems; but we also have a solution: “Ask, and you will receive” (Mt. 7:7). This indeed is a reminder to us that the acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, is not a guarantee that we will be free from troubles or from the storms of life. Instead, faith requires and demands the risk or better the courage of a radical trust in and out of season, to remain assured that Jesus is always present even when he is silent and appears to be sleeping. Beyond that, Jesus wants us to discover that he is greater and bigger than our fears and our storms. Even when the forces of darkness threaten to ensnare or overwhelm us, let us be rest assured that Jesus can save us. His liberating presence is ever active and powerful. It is not only that he saves us from the storm but another important dimension to this miracle is that he brings us out and leads us through to the other side, strengthened for our mission in life, and opens up a new horizon.

     Beloved in Christ, like the disciples of Jesus we too need sometimes to cry out in our fear, panic and storm: "Do you not care?" and like the disciples be open to discover that he really cares about us even more than we can ever imagine. Prior to the passage of our first reading today, Job entreated the Lord: “I cry to you and you give me no answer; I stand before you, but you take no notice. You have grown cruel to me and your strong hand torments me unmercifully” (Job 30:20-21). Again, we could hear the supplication and words of bewilderment of the disciples to Jesus: “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” (Mark. 4:39). These two expressions of need might have taken place so many years ago, but they reveal our yearnings and cry of help today. They reveal and evoke our cry for help in a society like ours that has lost the respect for the sacredness and dignity of human life, our cry in a country where our leaders are insensitive and unconcerned to the plight of the masses, our cry in a country where political divide and tribalism have plunged us into an existential quagmire and uncertainty of the future even of our life. Ours still remains a cry for help! Just like the boat of the disciples, the boat of Nigeria is filling and sinking, Lord rescue us!

     When all was calm again, Jesus now turned and reproached His disciples, with a dint of surprise “why are you afraid? Have you no faith? With these words, it does appear Jesus was asking them: You still don’t have faith in me? You have not yet understood who I am? You don’t understand that I have the power to control nature? There is an implicit invitation in the interrogation of Jesus, and that is the invitation: “Do not be afraid” for I am with you. His presence drives away fear, with Him we can fight our fear with faith. As a matter of fact, through the boat of the disciples, St. Mark intends to reveal to us our own existential boat that at times because of great storm is already filling. And to us, in certain circumstances is as if Jesus is sleeping especially when we are encountering difficult and painful situations, as if He is absent from our life. Contrarily, St. Mark is intent rather to make us understand that it is not so, He will not allow us to get drown if he is with us. And Jesus can only be with us if we believe in Him, if we put our trust in Him, if we abandon ourselves to Him. Having Him in our boat means that we have nothing again to fear; if at the mention of His name every knee bows (Phil. 2:10), imagine what happens at His presence!

     The first reading and the Gospel raise the question of the identity of Jesus. This question captured the attention of the three Synoptic Gospels, in Mt 8:27: “what kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him.” Mk. 4:41: “who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.” Lk. 8:25: “who can this be? That gives orders to winds and waves and they obey.” But what does Jesus have to say about himself? He says: “It is I, the first and the last, I am the living one. I was dead but look I am alive forever and ever” (Rev. 1:17b-18). And of him others say: “Jesus is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). “Truly this man was Son of God” (Mk. 15:39). “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God” (Mk. 1:1).

     Drawing the issue further, from who then is this? we can pass to the question who then is like Him, for none is like him. There are numerous scriptural passages that explore this dimension: “Yahweh, who is like you, majestic in sanctity, who is like you among the holy ones, fearsome of deed, worker of wonders? (Ex. 15:11); “Who is like Yahweh our God? (Ps. 113:5); “Yahweh, who can compare with you?” (Ps. 35:10); “Who in the skies can compare with Yahweh? Who among the sons of god can rival him?” (Ps.89:6); “No one is like the God of Jeshurun: he rides the heavens to your rescue, rides the clouds in his majesty” (Deut. 33:26); “To whom can you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One” (Is. 40:25); “Yahweh, there is no one like you, so great you are, so great your mighty name” (Jer. 10:6).

     Indeed, one of the literary preoccupations of Mark’s Gospel is about the identity of Jesus, who is He? This is the question that St. Mark intends to pose to all his readers. And the answer is implied in the question of today’s episode, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey Him?” He that commands the wind and the sea! He cannot be a simple man. In the Old Testament the dominion over wind and sea is a prerogative only of Yahweh. We remember the episode of the Red sea (cf. Exodus 14), and Psalms (Ps. 103-106) recount the greatness of the Lord over all. In fact, the Psalmist says you “appointed the winds your messengers, flames of fire your servants. You fixed the earth on its foundations, for ever and ever it shall not be shaken” (Ps. 104:4-5). Therefore, if Jesus has this prerogative ascribed only to Yahweh, He is God, for upon His command the wind and the sea were calmed. The Jesus of Mark is a “moving Jesus”, always on the move to meet men in their difficult moments, and as He moves, he calms the existential storms of those He meets. The Jesus of Mark is close to human reality, he enters into people’s houses (cf. Mk. 7:24) and goes into the Synagogue (cf. Mk 3:1). But sometimes when we are confronted with the storms of life, we like the disciples begin to question Jesus, we call on God to ask Him why? What is your own storm? What type of storm are you passing through now, I can hear the words of Jesus saying “Be still”. He will equally calm your own storm. Jesus is inviting us too, to the other side, for a transforming encounter, leave fear behind, fight fear with faith. And you will actually be a new creature.

     The second reading (2Cor 5:14-17) similarly continues with the question of Jesus’ identity and not only, also of the identity of Christians. Jesus according to the second reading is the One who died for all. Christians are those who live not for themselves but for Him who died and was raised for their sake. Secondly, a Christian is a new creature, a new creature because old things have passed away, and the new has come. The new identity occasioned by His death and resurrection. St Paul in his reflections on salvation in Christ completed the picture of Jesus presented in the Gospel. It is as if St. Paul tells us, Jesus saves, not because he calms a storm but because he accepted death out of love for the sinful humanity in obedience to His Father’s will.    

     Above all, our three readings today ferried us in a journey of discovery, from discovering who God is, to who Jesus is and finally who a Christian is called to be. A Christian is one who takes Christ in his boat, who welcomes him in his heart and makes him a life companion. Child of God have you allowed Jesus in, in the boat of your life? Is He your companion in the journey of life? More so, the storm foreshadows the future trial that the disciples and the Church were to experience. For in the broad sense, this story evokes the image of the Church, which many a times has been referred to as the boat of Peter, and like the disciples, the Church on her earthly pilgrim continues to invoke the assistance of Christ in the storms which beset her. But in this story also we have symbolized the life experience of each one of us, for the series of storms that beset us. However, we find an assurance of faith in the words of D. Bonhoeffer when he affirmed that God “does not save me from the tempest but in the tempest. He does not protect from pain, but in pain. He did not save the Son from the cross but in the cross.” In the midst of every kind of storm, we pray o Lord that you help us to learn to put our trust in You in order to overcome our fears. Amen!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

 

  

God The Untiring Sower!

 (Homily 11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. B)

      At the heart of today’s readings is the demonstration of the divine power and its force at work in the history of the chosen people and in the life of all believers in Christ Jesus. The image of God portrayed in the first reading and the Gospel is that of a caring and provident God. In the prophecy of Ezekiel he assured his people, “From the top of the tall cedar tree, from the highest branch I shall take a shoot and I myself will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain; on the mountain height of Israel will I plant it that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar” (Ez.17:22-23). He is presented as the one who gives life and growth to what is planted, He makes the seed scattered by a farmer in the Gospel to spring up and grow beyond the knowledge of the farmer (Mk. 4:26-27). This is symbolic of God’s graciousness in giving new life to those who believe in him, a new life that is the prerequisite for entrance into the kingdom of Heaven. The context for today’s overriding theme is agrarian, where new life springs, grows and matures. Similarly, Jesus has sown his seed in our hearts and off he went, like the farmer of the parable, and like every other farmer, and the divine power shows its force always in assuring the growth of his seed/word in us and the expansion of the Kingdom. As the Kingdom of God is growing, we are invited to grow as well; to grow with the rest and the best! The first reading and the Gospel remind us that like the plant, planted by God himself, and like the seed that God gives life and growth, we are in a state of becoming. Our state of becoming is two-dimensional: our becoming as in our growth and maturity in God and our becoming part of that great Kingdom, the second is predicated upon the first. Interestingly, the second reading, serves as a revelation of the climax of our becoming, for on the last day, we shall see the  type of person we have become, and that will give rise to a state of being, no longer becoming;  a state of being in and with God.

     The first reading (Ez. 17:22-24) is replete with meaningful symbolic images and equally in line with the teaching of the parables. Indeed, during the time of the fall of the Kingdom of Judah in 587 b.c., the dynasty of David, on which the divine promises hinged and the hope of the people of Israel were seemingly compromised. During this period the people of Israel were going through a very difficult period of their history. Jehoiakim, the last of the line of David, had been defeated and taken prisoner to Babylon. This national disaster weakened the faith of many in Yahweh. They questioned about God’s promise that David and his descendants would reign forever. Then, here begins our reading, the prophet makes assurance of what seemed humanly impossible, God will do it: from the top of the cedar (that symbolizes the dynasty of David) it will take a shoot (the Messiah), and he will plant it on Mount Zion (which represents Jerusalem and the people of Israel), and “it will put out branches and bear fruit and grow into a noble cedar tree. Every kind of bird will live beneath it, every kind of winged creature will rest in the shade of its branches” (v.23). That stands to indicate that the Kingdom of the Messiah will be open to all peoples. All this will be possible, only through the power of God, because the history of the chosen people is in his hands. He is the Lord of history: “I am the Lord, I have spoken and I will do it” (v.24).   

     Truly, Jesus is David’s descendant par excellence, and he is kingdom personified (Auto-Basilea). The birds and the winged creatures represent the people of the earth who will find shade and dwelling in the Him and in the Christian community. In all, this reading invites us to keep on believing in God, mainly when our expectations seem to come to nothing and our hopes dashed. No doubt, prophet Ezekiel desires to transmit a strong message of trust and hope to the people of Israel exiled in Babylon. And to us today, it reminds us of the need to remain focused in God and his promises, even when trials and difficulties seem to uproot our root in God, even when the foundation of our faith is shaky, let us not rely on human means and possibilities, but on the power of God, who realizes his words.

     The Gospel of today (Mark 4: 26-34) invites us to reflect on the two popular parables of Jesus, drawn as usual from the agrarian context. He used the scene of the reality of everyday life experience, to explain transcendent truths: the parable of the seed that germinates and grows on its own and that of the mustard seed. He used them to explain some paradoxical aspects of the Kingdom of God. In the first parable Jesus shows the miracle of growth, which describes the dynamics of sowing. The seed is sown in the earth, then without the farmers knowledge and effort, it springs up and grows by itself. The experience of life in the field reveals that man does nothing but sowing and waiting. We are in front of the mystery of creation, God's action in history which we must contemplate in amazement. He is the Lord of the Kingdom, man is a humble collaborator contemplating and rejoicing of God's creative act and waiting for the harvest eager to participate in it. In the second parable Jesus speaks of the mustard seed, which is the smallest of all the seed, but when it grows it becomes a very large tree, and he likened it to the development and expansion of God’s kingdom. Irrespective of the fact that the mustard seed is the smallest seed, it has an unthinkable dynamism and power of life. The mustard seed becomes a high and robust shrub, able to give shelter in its branches to the birds. Similarly, the Kingdom of God, from a human point of view, may appear small, but it contains within itself the mystery of a prodigious divine force that is unimaginable. Extrapolating from this passage, it behooves us to affirm that the Gospel is a school that educates us to the value of waiting. As such, in the Gospel we can gather images of the value of waiting by which we can learn how to live the "already and not yet", the paradoxical waiting of the Christian life.

     Be that as it may, one could ask the reason behind the two parables? And from all indications it does appear at that point in time, the ministry of Jesus was encountering difficulties and incomprehension (cf. Mk. 3:22-30), with the consequence of exposing the apostles and the disciples to pessimism and discouragement. Jesus intended to hearten them, and thus with the parable of the seed that grows on its own he teaches that the Kingdom of God grows irrespective of many in-comprehensions and difficulties. It is not man that gives success to the growth of God’s word and Kingdom. There is need to adopt the virtue of patience, for the word of God in its own time will produce good fruits (cf. Is. 55:11). The word of God is to be proclaimed with trust, courage and perseverance, then it follows its course, and in accordance to God’s time too. With the parable of the Mustard seed, Jesus intends to teach us that the Kingdom of God, the work of salvation begins in a modest way, and later grows into a magnificent reality, such that it has the capacity to contain people from all walks of life. This is not as a result of human capacity or organization, but through the power of God. Furthermore, the parable reawakens in us the consciousness to take serious the present time, the here and now. The parable thus, serves as an invitation to rediscover the value of trust in God, but also a reminder to remain committed to the Kingdom-cause. From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus announced that this is the aim of his mission (Mk.1:14). He inaugurates and established the Kingdom, teaching also that the kingdom of God will grow and mature, but that it will reach full manifestation, only at the end, with his glorious coming (1Cor. 15:24).

     The second reading (2Cor. 5:6-10) is in conformity with the Gospel and the first reading. The central message is an invitation to a greater trust, in the words of St. Paul: “we are always filled with trust”, notwithstanding all the difficulties of the apostolic ministry. St. Paul was getting old, and beginning to feel weary, in fact, the many sufferings and persecutions he passed through had left their marks on him. Little wonder, at the beginning of the reading we see Paul’s famous spiritual saying delineating the Christian life as a journey “we walk by faith and not by sight” (v.7). It is a journey towards God, for this he talks about leaving the body.

     Drawing the issue further, as evident in the first reading and the Gospel, it is God who takes a sprig from the cedar to plant it, it is he who makes the seed to germinate on its own and makes the mustard seed to grow, who gives growth and increase to his Kingdom. Be that as it may, this providential gesture of God, should serve as an invitation to a commitment for a coherent Christian life, in the continuous effort to do what is pleasing to Him (v.9). It equally serves as a reminder to rediscover the sense of responsibility, with the consciousness that “at the judgement seat of Christ we are all to be seen for what we are, so that each of us may receive what he has deserved in the body, matched to whatever he has done, good or bad” (v.10). Indeed, at his judgement seat, our spiritual developmental journey of ‘becoming’ assumes the reality of ‘being’, being in and with Christ, for we shall see him face to face (cf. 1Cor. 13:12)

     In all, that God sees to the growth and expansion of his Kingdom does not mean that we have to be passive spectators. We are called to cooperate with the grace of God. If we love and live in a way pleasing to God, we will make the world a “Little Heaven”. Predicated upon that, the question we have to ask ourselves today is: how am i contributing to the growth and expansion of God’s Kingdom, in our life and in the world around us? If you show love, respect others and desist from whatever is evil, in fact, in few words, if you live in a way pleasing to God, then God is near to you, and the nearness of God is the nearness of his kingdom. God our Father, as you continue to ensure the growth of your kingdom, we pray you to sow the divine seed in us, so that we may grow to the full stature of perfection, worthy of your kingdom! Give us the grace to work for the growth and expansion of your Kingdom around us, so that our families and our societies will become “little heavens” at the imitation of your Eternal Kingdom! Amen!!!

 (Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

“The Heart of Jesus is the heart of a father”!

 (Reflection on the Sacred Heart of Jesus)

     Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, for us we are celebrating it from two major dimensions: from the ecclesial dimension (as solemnity of and in the Church) and from the Congregational dimension (as an intrinsic part of the Guanellian spirituality). The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of the sources of Don Guanella’s inspiration of charity. Prof. Carlo Laudazi evidenced in his reflections on the ‘Pillars of the Guanellian Spirituality’ that the theological justification of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Christ, singled out in the context of the mystery of the Incarnate Word as a full manifestation of God’s love for man, helps us to comprehend why St. Luigi Guanella found in the Heart of Christ the concretization of his spiritual conception of the universal paternity of God[1].  In his work, “Caritas Christi Urget Nos”, C. Obiagba noted: “According Guanella we are called to the charity of the heart of Jesus…It is an inalienable conviction in Guanella that we cannot but unite ourselves to the Heart of Jesus in order to make the work prosper”[2].

     When we have to reflect or meditate on the Sacred Heart of Jesus as spiritual sons and daughters of St. Luigi Guanella, the literary piece that easily comes to mind is Don L. Guanella’s book dedicated to the Sacred Heart: “In the month of fervor”. This book was written by Don Guanella for the purpose of spreading and nourishing the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He perceived June as a special month of grace, a month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the book, Don Guanella traced the effulgent grace of the Heart of Jesus from the mysteries of his Incarnation, his Birth, his Life, his Passion and Death, his Glorious Resurrection, his Ascension into heaven and lastly, to the Sacred Heart in the Most Holy Sacrament. In his daily sermon on the Sacred Heart which he was beginning always with a biblical quotation, he was bent on demonstrating the tenderness of the divine Heart towards us.

     For those of us who were graced to read in these days of the month of June, Don Guanella’s daily reflections and admonitions on the Sacred Heart, we cannot but confess the immensity of the inexhaustible spiritual patrimony our Founder left for us, his passionate love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and his creative charity that emerges from that conviction. In fact, Don Attilio Beria in “Pagine Spirituali e Preghiere”, reaffirmed succinctly that “Il cuore di Gesὺ è il cuore di padre” (The heart of Jesus is the heart of a father)[3]. To say it with St. Luigi Guanella, the Heart of Jesus is the heart of a father who cannot leave his children in want, but He desires to bless them[4]. In his book, In the month of fervor, the expression “the Heart of Jesus is the heart of a father” reoccurred several times. This affirmation attributes to the Heart of Christ a more profound significance; it expresses a strong realism not about a generic love of God, but a salvific aspect of his love. As a matter of fact, the Heart of Christ in the thought of St. Luigi Guanella is not a mere symbol above, that refers only to the mystery of God’s love in itself, but it is a symbol that represents a more concrete reality, that is, it demonstrates that the human heart has become the heart of God, heart with which God loves as Father, participates, rejoices and cries[5]. The Heart of Jesus is a heart of a loving father, full of tenderness and affection[6].

     As such, the characteristic of the divine Heart invites us to the commitment of fraternal charity to the point of becoming generous victims, because the only thing necessary is to sanctify oneself in order to be able to sanctify others. For St. Luigi Guanella as C. Obiagba asserts, the Sacred Heart is the instrument of motivation for the actions of mercy towards the little ones. We ought to draw strength and inspiration from the Heart of Jesus in order to offer love and mercy to the poor and the abandoned[7].

     Interestingly, many a times when Don Guanella speaks of the Sacred Heart, he links it to the Eucharist, or rather sees it present in the Eucharist, we see this connection in our Constitutions: “In the Heart of Christ pierced on the cross and present in the Eucharist we contemplate the supreme revelation of the love of God, and are able to comprehend how true it is that we are children loved and saved. Since its foundation, the Institute is consecrated to Christ, its Lord and teacher, receiving from Him continuous proofs of assistance and blessing”[8]. Drawing the issue further, for St. Luigi Guanella to talk the Sacred Heart is to talk about the love of God towards us, and the Sacred Heart is our source of unstoppable blessing.

      In the immense thought and spirituality of St. Luigi Guanella, we discovered a great affinity and correlation between the Heart of Jesus, the Priesthood and the Eucharist. He was able to make a synthesis of these three elements in his spirituality. In that bid, when we talk about the Sacred Heart two important moments in the life of Jesus come to mind: the Last Supper and the Good Friday. At the Last Supper Jesus makes a gift to the Church of the Eucharist and the Priesthood. Then Good Friday, is when that love is actually realized and brought to fulfillment. Here, we contemplate the pierced Heart of the Lord, as the most sublime manifestation of his love, as the source that gives new life to his disciples. St. Luigi Guanella like many other saints was inspired by these two moments in his spirituality, which takes two complementary strands: the mystical contemplation of these mysteries, which made him capable of intimate union with the Lord, and active charity that makes him a witness to the most needy, of the charity and merciful goodness of the Heart of Christ. The Heart of Jesus, like the heart of the priest, is the Father's Heart. The Heart of Christ, like that of the priest, is the Eucharistic Heart. The Heart of Christ, like that of the priest, is the Heart which pours out its spirit on the world.  

     Above all else, however, the celebration of this Solemnity for us, should not just be a matter of chronicle, as a periodical celebration, rather the tenderness of the love of the divine Heart as revealed by St. Luigi Guanella should propel us to ask ourselves various questions: does our heart resemble the Heart of Jesus? Do we imitate the merciful and loving heart of Jesus? Do we behave as recipients of graces from this Heart? Maybe like John the beloved, we need to lean on the Heart of Jesus- to discover the truth about ourselves, about others and the truth about the future (cf. Jn. 13:25). We need to lean on His Sacred Heart to listen, to contemplate and to be transformed by the Heart of Jesus. Probably, John the Beloved is trying to teach us that as sons and daughters of Sacred Heart, in order to be in the Heart of Jesus, we need to establish an intimate connection and link with the Heart of our Saviour that is beating every minute for love of us! At the beginning of his Gospel St. John tells us that Jesus is close to the Father’s heart (Jn. 1:18) and later John the Beloved leaned on the Heart of Jesus, a wonderful sign of intimacy (Father and Jesus, Jesus and John), and when we too lean on this Heart we enter into the economy of this intimacy, it becomes ‘Cor ad cor loquitur’. For this Don Guanella proposes and our Constitutions suggest to us thus: “Nothing therefore, can be preferred to the love of Christ. With ever greater resolve, each one of us should learn to draw inspiration from him, the meek and humble one, striving to have the Redeemer enter everyone’s heart to awaken in him the clear sense of his divine calling”[9]. As don F. Bordoni rightly puts in his book, Lo Specifico Guanelliano: “Don Guanella has received from the Holy spirit, from birth, a heart that is particularly filial and merciful, heart that resembles that of Christ. His devotion to the Heart of Jesus was pushing him to make his heart a “photocopy” of the Heart of Christ”[10]. We too are called to make our hearts a “photocopy” of the Heart of Christ, a loving and merciful Heart.

     As we celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we remember also the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. It was Pope Benedict XVI who explained the meaning of this term: sanctification is "the giving over of a person to God" (Homily, April 9, 2009). This consecration also defines the essence of the priesthood: "it is a transfer of ownership, a being taken out of the world and given to God" (Homily, April 9, 2009). In the same vein, particularly for us guanellians, today a gracious opportunity is offered to us, to devotionally renew our vows as desired by our Founder. Remember, the first name given to us by our Founder was Sons of Sacred Heart, even though the name was later changed, we are still sons of the Sacred Heart because of the strong affinity and unwavering devotion of Fr. Luigi to the Sacred Heart. As we renew our consecration today, we ask Jesus to fill our hearts with joy, peace and love. May the Blood and Water gushing forth from His pierced side be for us an ocean of favour and continued renewal! May the affection, the love and the tenderness oozing out of the Sacred Heart of Jesus renew us and make us whole. Amen!

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus draw all men to your Heart!!

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus heal our continent Africa and transform hatred and violence to love and peace!!

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus renew in us our commitment to You and to the poor!!!

O Merciful Saviour, open to us the effulgent grace and treasures of your Sacred Heart!!!

Happy Feast to Us all!!!

 

Fr. Vitus Chigozie

From the Guanellian Study Centre

(House of Providence, Yemetu Ibadan)

 

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[1] Alejandro Dieguez, La spiritualità di Don Luigi Guanella, p. 98.

[2] Christopher I. Obiagba, Caritas Christi Urget Nos. L’esigenza di ispirazione Cristiana del servizio della carità. P. 35.

[3] Attilio Beria, Pagine Spirituali e Preghiere, p. 39.

[4] Don Luigi Guanella, In the month of fervor, p.44.

[5] Alejandro Dieguez, La spiritualità di Don Luigi Guanella, p. 98.

[6] Ibidem

[7] Christopher I. Obiagba, Caritas Christi Urget Nos. L’esigenza di ispirazione Cristiana del servizio della carità. P. 38.

[8] Constitutions, n. 11

[9] Constitutions, n. 11

[10] Don Felice Bordoni, Lo Specifico Guanelliano. Quardeni di formazione, p. 9.

Choosing Between God’s Will And Satan’s Snares!

 (Homily 10^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. B)

     The readings of this Sunday are replete with many themes for reflection, ranging from the disobedience of the first parents, its consequences on Satan and man, the hope of eternal glory in all tribulations, to the blasphemy against Jesus and his preferential option for the will of God, which surpasses the power of human blood ties. In all, the point that dovetails into the three readings is the latent call to choose and prefer the will of God to the promptings of Satan. For indeed, there is an eloquent presence of the evil one in the existential journey of believers in Christ. But the Good News of today is that in both the ordinary and extraordinary works of the Devil, Satan has been defeated and in the midst of many tribulations, an incomparable eternal weight of glory awaits us. Therefore, it is upon this moral-spiritual consciousness that we are called to choose God’s will against Satan’s snare.

     In the first reading (Gen. 3:9-15), we reckon with the emblematic reality of the Original sin, which marked the dramatic origin of humanity. The quest to be like God was the presumption of man at the beginning, the desire for an absolute autonomy from God, the dream to be without Him. But the whole drama turned against man, for he ended up as slave to Satan and thus, fell into the deceptive hands of the tempter, who entered into the world as the “prince of this world” (Jn. 14:30), in order to terrorize the children of God. Consequently, man came out of that dramatic situation divided and in struggle against each other. Adam accuses Eve, Eve accuses Adam and the snake, and later Cain accused and eliminated Abel. And unfortunately, this chain of accusation, hatred, division and envy has continued till today.

     In today’s gospel (Mk. 3:20-35) St. Mark presented the ugly encounter of Jesus with the scribes, who accused Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebul, and attributed his mighty works and miracles to demon. “He is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons” (Mk. 3:22). This biblically, is one of the heaviest blasphemy against Jesus.  The worst attack on Jesus is the consideration that he was possessed by the devil. For it is not only an attack on his works and the source of them, but regrettably on his person, as the Son of God. But to their illogical way of reasoning, Jesus sought to help to reason a bit: “How can Satan cast out Satan?” (Mk. 3:24). And consequently, he told them: “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilt of an eternal sin” (Mk. 3:28-29). This concept of ‘blasphemy against Holy Spirit’ is common in the synoptic gospel (cf. Mt. 12:22-32; Lk. 12:10). And one may ask, what are the sins against the Holy Spirit? There are basically six ways one can sin against the Holy Spirit: ●Despair: that is when one cease to hope for his/her personal salvation from God, and for help in attaining it or for forgiveness of one’s sins. ●Presumption of God’s mercy: the hope to save oneself without the help of God and the hope to obtain God’s forgiveness without conversion. ●Watering down the known truth: this has to do with attack on religious truths, by word or by argument, in order to resist and contradict it or even to oppose it. ●Envy the spiritual good of another: it has to do with envying the spiritual gifts of another, and it amounts to questioning the Divine judgment of the Holy Spirit in his distribution of spiritual gifts. ●Obstinacy in sin: this has to do with the resistance of the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, stubborn and persistent in sin. ●Final impenitence: entails remaining unrepentant, hardened without regret or remorse for one’s sins

     In the second moment, Jesus demonstrates that family for him is not just by blood, but by adherence to the will and obedience to the Word of God. Jesus broke the ties and circle of physical human relations, he broke the circle of blood and race. He launched a new family, the family of God, the family of those who are brothers, and sisters and friends not because they are born out of the will of women or men, but because they are born out of God (cf. Jn.1:13). Indeed, those that brought Jesus the news that his mother and his relatives were looking for him to take him back to the house, gave Him the opportunity to point out that family for him is beyond natural blood ties. For he reacted immediately, “who are my mother and my brothers?’” (Mk.3:33). At first glance, the response of Jesus gives the impression that he is unconcerned and somewhat disrespectful towards his mother and relatives. In another passage Jesus reacted apparently in a harsh way to the mother thus: “Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet” (Jn. 2:4). But in reality he was neither disrespectful nor rude to them. For with the affirmation: “He who does the will of God is my brother, my sister and my mother” (Mk. 3:35), Jesus intends here, to communicate that the ties of faith is stronger than the blood ties. For the ties of faith is sealed by the blood of Christ. It is the exercise of obedience to God’s will that makes us closer to Him.

     Behold, Jesus is the perfect model of submission and the fulfilment of the will of the Father. In Jesus words: “Here I am, I am coming, in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, God” (Heb. 10:7). His gaze was always fixed on the will of God, the fulfilment of the Father’s will is the pillar of his existential program. Little wonder, he affirmed: “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his work” (Jn.4:34). In fact, during the supreme moment of his trial, in the Garden of Olive, when his human nature reckoned with the pains of the Passion, he exclaimed: “Abba, Father! For you everything is possible. Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you, not I, would have it” (Mk. 14:36). Obedience to the Father, the fulfilment of the Father’s will synthesizes the life of Jesus. Indeed, St. Paul captured it vividly well, “He was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. And for this God raised him high, and gave him the name which is above all other names” (Phil. 2:8-9). This manner of adherence to the Father’s will is what Jesus demands from his disciples and from us too: “It is not anyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt. 7:21).

     The most eloquent and perfect disciple of Jesus is the Mother, Mary, who is united to and with Christ by means of family blood and at the same time with the most profound tie of fulfilment of God’s will. She is the one very close to Jesus in a spiritual resemblance, not by somatic traits but by total disposition to do the will of God. Indeed, from the Annunciation to the Calvary, the life of Mary can be condensed in her fiat: “Mary Said, You see before you Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said” (Lk. 1:38). ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord’, as such, Mary declared herself willing and ready to do the will of God.

     Be that as it may, by means of this perfect obedience to the Father, by Christ the Redeemer and Mary, we are redeemed from the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Evil entered into the world when they rebelled against God, when they sought for their complete autonomy and independence, as it is evident in the first reading. Truly, contrary to the disobedience of Adam and Eve that brought us death; rehabilitation and redemption came through the obedience of Christ and Mary.

     As such, the road of obedience becomes the principal road that man has to follow, as a child of God and a disciple of Christ. For when man distances himself from the will of God, to follow other roads, he ends up in ruin. The abandonment of the will of God in search of other egoistic, seductive and individualistic projects leads man to his ruin, it takes him back to the road of slavery and not of freedom. It is of course, obvious that sometimes it is difficult and demanding to do the will of God (we cannot but find inspiration with Christ who paid with his life). Indeed, it is a sacrifice that redeems us, it is a fecund sacrifice.

     A gaze back to the first reading reveals that right from the beginning, God gives humanity a great message of salvation, a good news, which anticipates the Gospel: “I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; it will bruise your head and you will strike its heel” (Gen.3:15). This promise was realized in and with the coming of Christ, in particular with the event of his Passion, Death and Victorious Resurrection. Christ indeed, is the ‘most powerful Man’ that the Gospel talks about. Satan, the deceiver is by no means the Lord of the world, he has been blocked and caged by “the Man” more powerful than him, namely Christ. Sequel to this, Jesus posited at the imminence of his Passion: “Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be driven out” (Jn. 12:31). And we have been made participants of the victory of Christ over Satan. Our liberation was gained the day of our baptism, to say it with St. Paul: “It is he who has rescued us from the ruling force of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col. 1:13). However, the struggle with and against the evil one is not yet over, rather the fight is more arduous, the devil continues his devastating work and plot against the children of light.

     No doubt, the bible and the Gospel in particular, affirm clearly the existence of Satan, the tempter. Contrarily, he who says that Satan does not exist, is rendering him a service, and doing a disservice to his life of grace and salvation. In fact, the tendency of negating the existence of the devil is itself, a wonderful tactics of the Devil, so as to act undisturbed. On this, St. John categorically declared: “This was the purpose of the appearing of the Son of God, to undo the work of the Devil” (1Jn. 3:8). John traced the reason of the coming of Jesus to the fight against Satan. No doubt, with this in view, Jesus sternly alerted his apostles thus: “Look, Satan has got his wish to sift you all like wheat” (Lk.22:31). Therefore, we have to be vigilant and strong to resist him. St. Peter admonished us thus: “keep sober and alert, because your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1Pt. 5:8-9).We can protect ourselves against the works of the Devil with the armour of prayer and the sacraments. The battle against the Devil remains always open, and of course, it will end with our death, but we are consoled by the word of God in Romans 8:37, as St. Paul tells us “we come through all these things triumphantly victorious, by the power of Him who loved us”. And interestingly, in the words of the second reading, united with Christ, “the temporary, light burden of our hardships is earning us forever an utterly incomparable, eternal weight of glory” (2Cor. 4:17).

     The second reading (2Cor. 4:13-5:1) is a wonderful consideration of the hope of eternal glory that awaits God’s children, and “that is why we do not waver” (2Cor. 4:16). And as such, we are encouraged not to be weighed down by the present affliction that may come in form of the ordinary and extraordinary works of the devil. St. Paul gives us the reason to remain firm in the following words: “we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2Cor. 4:18). Indeed, the phrase “we believe, and so we speak” (2Cor. 4:13) is predicated upon the hope of what God will do for us in and through the resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.

     In all, the readings of today bring to our consideration the fact that as far as we are in this world, we will encounter many afflictions and temptations by the temper. However, the word of God invites us to remain firm like Jesus to the Father’s will. For separated from Him we can do nothing (Jn.15:5). And this has to reflect in the choice we make, for or against God. To say it with the Vatican Exorcist of blessed memory, Fr. Gabriele Amorth: “We must choose between Satan’s snares and God’s promises. The first Adam chose Satan’s snare. The second Adam, Christ, chose obedience to God” (An Exorcist, More Stories, p.30). May God help us to choose his will and promises against the enticing snares of Satan. Amen!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)