God’s Law Above All!

 (Homily 22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B)

     The Word of God sets before us today the distinguishing factor(s) between a true Christian and a false Christian, an authentic Christian and a Christian-hypocrite. Drawing the issue further, it is not merely the external manifestations of goodness that matter, but the good disposition of the heart. Indeed, the recurrent words in today’s readings are “listen”, “put in practice”. “Observe” and “welcome”. Indeed, these exhortations revolve around the Word of God, his laws and commandments. To the God who speaks, there is need of a human agent who hears, listens, welcomes and puts the Word heard into practice. For in the verbs “to listen”, “to practice” we find the distinguishing mark between a doer of the Word and a deceptive hearer. Thus, the first reading invites the Israelites to an obedient listening of God’s commands, and the Gospel in turn fortifies this message by inviting us to rediscover the primacy of God’s Word and commands over human traditions. Then, the second reading takes the theme of listening to God’s Word to a radical conclusion with an ethical dimension: Be doers of the Word and to practice Pure Religion.

     In the first reading from the book of Deuteronomy (Dt. 4:1-2.6-8), therein Moses exhorted the chosen people with the following words: “And now Israel, listen to the laws and customs which I am teaching you today” (v.1); “keep the commandments of Yahweh your God just as I lay them down for you” (v. 2, 6). At this point, it will not be out of place to ask why Moses was exhorting the people in an insistent and persuading manner, to observe the commandments of God? The reasons are not far-fetched, for we find them in the verses thus: First, “So that, by observing them, you may survive to enter and take possession of the country which Yahweh, God of your ancestors, is giving you” (v.1b). Second, “keep them and put them into practice, and other peoples will admire your wisdom and prudence” (v.6a). Third, “What great nation has its gods as near as Yahweh our God is to us whenever we call him?” (v.7). The commandments of the Lord will be sign of the presence and closeness of God to his people. And above all, because God is a God, who loves and desires the good of his people, he accompanies and leads his people to liberation.

     Be that as it may, it is with this conviction that the Word of God can be welcomed with joy and also be put into practice, even when it requires sacrifice. This can be done when we welcome the Word of God as an initiative of love, as a proposition for our welfare, and not as an imposition or a mere obligation. In that bid, we can say that in the measure in which man does not listen to the word of God and doesn’t put it into practice, he distances himself not only from God, but also from salvation and true life that He offers. He ends up in paths that are not those of “wisdom and prudence”, thus deluding himself with ways contrary to his self-realization. Above all, in this passage, we see the prohibition to add or to subtract from the law (Deut. 4:2), and by that it becomes obvious that this passage was chosen to lay emphasis on the distinction between God’s commandment and the traditions of men, which is well orchestrated in the Gospel passage.

     The passage of the Gospel (Mk. 7:1-8.14-15.21-23) presents a part of Jesus’ dispute about the “ancient traditions”. Those hypocrites came all the way from Jerusalem to catch Jesus, unfortunately, not out of love for God, not out of love for God’s law, but they were driven by their hatred for him. They must have watched him closely, but they were not able to find in him any wrong. Certainly, because Jesus was an observer of the law in words and in deed, not like them. So, when they could not find anything against him, they shifted the attention to his followers, and as they looked on and watched, they caught some who did not wash their hands before eating, then, they seized that as a point to question them and to attack their master. They never appealed to the law out of love for God, rather they appealed to the law in order to litigate and win, to catch and to kill. This is what happens when we are carried away by hysterical tendencies, and this unfortunately deteriorates into hypocrisy, which is capable of making any excellent law, even God’s law to degenerate in the hands of the people to something that kills, as it was in the case of Jesus, when he was nailed on the Cross under the pretext of observing God’s law.

     The Pharisees and the Scribes criticized the disciples of Jesus, because they were not observing some of the legal traditions, like the ablution rite, and Jesus responded with a warning from the prophecy of Isaiah: “How rightly Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites in the passage of scripture: This people honors me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me” (v.6). And again, “You put aside the commandment of God to observe human traditions” (v.8). They relegated God’s commandment to the background and observed human traditions, especially with regards to love and justice. Afterwards Jesus explained to the crowd the meaning of his intervention thus: “Nothing that goes into someone from outside can make that person unclean” (v.15b), rather “it is from within, from the heart that evil intentions emerge” (v.21) and they are the things that contaminate man. From the intervention of Jesus we can infer three fundamental facts: ●first, we need to liberate the Word of God from the entanglement of human schemes and impositions, which tend to suffocate the Word of God that liberates and helps man in his journey of faith. ●second, care must be taken in order not to give much importance to certain traditions and practices, ensuring that they do not obscure the substance of the Word of God, which revolves around love and justice. ●third, there is need to purify the heart, that is the centre of our personality, from disordered affections, thoughts, desires and intentions, such that we will be always disposed to welcome the Word of God, always conscious of the fact that “every good gift comes from the Father” (Jm. 1:17).

     Jesus used a very strong word or language on the Scribes and Pharisees by calling them Hypocrites. Hypocrisy is another word for false, of a person with double face, one who says one thing and does another, one who wants to appear differently from what he really is. Jesus did not hesitate to rebuke them for they did not come with a sincere heart to know the truth, rather to find a pretext for argumentation. They attached more importance to formality, to appearance than to the substance. Hypocrisy is an evil, a dangerous trap that can also find way into our comportment as Christians. It is the tendency of one who tends to appear and not to be, of one who is preoccupied about formalities and exteriorities and not about the substance of things. One who is satisfied with the observation of human traditions and religious practices, but neglects the commandment of God. The danger of a Christian-hypocrite is that his conduct scandalizes non-Christians, because there is disharmony in what he believes and what he lives out. He lacks orthopraxy: right believing and right living. It was I guess, on the basis of this that M. Gandhi opined that “He has great esteem and respect for Christ but not for Christians”. And in Jesus’ parlance, what matters is not outward purity, rather an inner purity that is manifested in outward behaviour.

     The second reading (Jm. 1:17-18.21-22.27) can be divided into two parts, while the first presents God as the giver of every good gift. And that serves as a response to the argument in the preceding verses, against the idea that temptation comes from God, while instead it comes from the concupiscence (vv.13-16). He affirms that from God, “the Father of light” comes “every good and perfect gift” (v.17). The second part presents the highest gift with an ethical injunction. The highest gift that he has offered us is indeed, the “Word of truth” (v.18), it is a living, efficacious Word, that generated us by the power of the Holy Spirit, as children of God. As such, the apostle recommends, “humbly welcome the Word which has been planted in you and can save your souls” (v.21b). The motive for this lies in the following words: “but you must do what the Word tells you and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves” (v.22).

     The Word of God therefore, as divinely revealed is not a chain that binds or an imposition that has to be jettisoned, but it a Word that saves and gives life, which like a fecund seed fructifies in good works. It enables one to help the weak and the needy, to engage in works of charity.  Yes! if we desire to live an authentic and genuine religiosity, that is not pharisaic, we have to be attentive to the needs of the poor and the weak, like the elderly, the sick, handicaps, orphans and widows, the list can go on and on. It is frankly against this backdrop, that we can verify if we have welcomed and are putting the Word of God into practice or we are just like deceptive hearers. Lastly, St. James insists on the need for an authentic religion. In Greek the word for religion is equivalent to cultus, and in that bid, in James’ parlance, the true cultus consists in ethical obedience of God’s commands. The epistle reading is suggestive of cultus as a possible avenue where distinction is drawn between the commandment of God and the traditions of men, especially where human traditions obscure God’s will and commands.

     In all, hearing those words of Jesus addressed to the Scribes and Pharisees, it behoves us to ask ourselves, what we ought to do, in order not to be qualified as Hypocrites? And on this the liturgy of the Word of today is of great help: Frist, we need to purify our hearts, rectify our intensions, and extirpate from us all that is disordered and contrary to the will of God. Second, we need to order our life according to the commandments of God, just as Moses teaches us in the first reading, to observe and keep the commandment of God, which will be a manifestation of our wisdom to other peoples (cf. vv.2,6). Again, St. James invites us in the second reading to “do what the Word tells us and not just listen to it and deceive ourselves” (v. 22). Yet, in the Gospel of Mathew Jesus puts it succinctly in a more touching manner, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock”, “But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand” (Mt. 7: 24.26). Therefore, may we earnestly pray and ask God for the grace to be obedient listeners of his Word. May our actions manifest our calling and who we are as God’s children, for “agere seguitur esse”! Amen!!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

Lord, To Whom Shall We Go?

 (Homily for the 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B)

     Upon consideration of the overriding themes emanating from the liturgy of this Sunday, this Sunday may be well described as a Sunday of Choice and Decision. The word of God confronts man with this fundamental alternative: God or idols, Christ or other masters. There is therefore need for decision and choice. And indeed, human experience brings it to our consideration and our Christian journey confirms that we do not make this choice once and for all; instead we are called to renew our choice for and of Christ daily, through our words and actions. In the first reading and in the Gospel we see a parallel between the choice made by the Israelites at Shechem and the choice confronting the disciples at the end of that long discourse in the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel. The invitation: “Choose this day whom you will serve” is parallel to Jesus’ challenging question: “Will you also go away?” Again, the responses are parallel: “We will serve Yahweh because he is our God” and “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life”. Thus, while the first reading and the Gospel focus our attention on the theme of decision in the face of divine revelation, the second reading instead offers the occasion to speak on the manifestation of the fundamental choice of Christ in the Christian marriage, exemplified by love.

     In the first reading (Jos. 24:1-2.15-17.18) we read from the 24^th chapter of the book of Joshua. This 24^th chapter is important in the history of the tradition of the Israelites, for it preserves the remnants of the ancient liturgy for the renewal of the covenant at Shechem. It presents a great leader Joshua, who at the moment of entrance to the promised land, gathered all the Israelites and invited them to decide and declare if they want to serve the Only True God or the pagan gods, “Today you must make up your minds whom you do mean to serve, whether the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now living. As regards my family and me, we shall serve Yahweh” (v. 15). Indeed, it could have been very easy for them to choose the pagan idols made of human hands, which will not ‘disturb’ their ways and dreams, than choosing the God of Abraham, who is exigent. But interestingly, the assembly of the tribes of Israel did not hesitate in declaring unanimously their choice for the God of Abraham: “far be it from us to desert Yahweh and to serve other gods” (v.16). And again vehemently they voiced out: “We too shall serve God, for he is our God” (v.18). They recognized the benefits they have received from God, and the wonders he wrought for them. This indeed, is a religious attitude we need to rediscover today, always keeping in mind the benefits and the favors we have received from God, the psalmist puts it in a more glaring manner thus: “Bless the Lord, my soul, never forget all his acts of kindness” (Ps. 103:2). Indeed, more than ever, today the solicitation of Joshua becomes urgent, for we have to make a decision and choose whom to serve too, to follow God, his commandments and his ordinances, or to follow other gods, idols and current of thoughts in contrast with Christian values.

     Similarly, in the passage of the Gospel reading (Jn. 6:60-69) the apostles were equally called to make their choice. In the long discourse of Jesus on the Bread of life, he encountered incredulity and scepticism, when he affirmed to be the bread descended from heaven, and that the Bread he will give is his flesh for the life of the world. Indeed Jesus’ promise of giving himself as bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist provoked a sort of indignation and doubt in his listeners, that some even walked away from him, even some of his disciples who have been following him, from that moment abandoned him, saying: “This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?” (v.60). Some of his disciples abandoned him, because they failed to accept his teaching as something practicable. At this point they understood that the teaching of Jesus is not merely symbolic or allegorical, when Jesus says he is going to give himself, he means it in the real sense of the word. However, their reaction did not make Jesus to modify the intensity of his teaching and self-giving, rather even in a more provocative manner he added “What if you should see the Son of man ascend to where he was before?” (v.62). Here Jesus makes a wonderful intelligible statement, he makes allusion to his divinity: “God from God”, he reminded them of where he came from. This statement equally revokes the power and efficacy in God’s word that does not fail. Afterwards, Jesus tested his 12 apostles: “What about you, do you want to go away too?” (v.67). Jesus somehow invited them to make a definitive and decisive choice. Then Peter, on behalf of all answered: “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life” (v. 68). Truly, the ‘question-response’ of Peter condenses the most beautiful and enthusiastic adhesion of faith in Christ. They affirmed and confirmed their faith in Him. In our society today torn apart by different idols and current of thoughts that deprecate and defame the Christian message, we cannot but follow the examples of Peter in proclaiming Jesus as the unique custodian of God’s word, let our voices and good works re-echo with that of Peter in affirming to the men and women of our time that only Christ has the message of eternal life. In fact, later on in his Gospel St. John will identify the knowledge of Christ with eternal life, thus: “And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn.17:3).

     Today, many have abandoned God and Christ to follow other gods, some have constructed for themselves idols that they adore. Some adore money, power and wealth; others adore materialism and pleasure; while some others adore wickedness and malefic acts, immodest dressing and dishonesty in business, the list can continue on and on! In their thought, they have become freer, to realize themselves, while in reality they have become slaves of the product of their own actions. Many a times, it happens that they do not have time neither for God nor for others, they have time only for their self-construed objects of adoration. They abandon the True God in search of idols of every kind. Just as St. John reported in the Gospel passage, that some of the disciples “defected from the party of Jesus” (v. 66), but not for good. They defected for lack of knowledge, understanding and because of their feelings of insecurity, but how can one feel insecure before the author and giver of life?

     On the other hand, for all of us gathered here today, I may well presume that we have made our fundamental choice to serve the Living God, by following Jesus, and by putting into practice his teachings and examples. But let us all ask ourselves, whether we have been faithful to our choices through and through? Or we have sometimes preferred idols of this world to God and His ordinances. Today, we see Christians who say they are Christians, but non-practicing. Then, I ask: How can one be a Christian without practicing it? Little wonder, you see those who profess themselves Christians but they stand against life and Christian human values, and stand for anti-Christian ideologies and practices, like disrespect to human life and dignity, abortion and the denigration of the disabled. At times the so called nominal Christians adopt anti Gospel lifestyles just in the quest to follow the opinions of others or in the quest to be in line with what is in vogue. But this means choosing against Christ, it is a betrayal of Christ and His Good News of Salvation.

     The second reading (Eph. 5:21-32) swings between the major theme (choice for Christ) and its manifestation in the marital life. St. Paul sees in the sacrament of matrimony, not only a symbol of the bond of love that unites Christ and his Church, but also participation and a manifestation of that bond of love. Through the sacrament of matrimony the couples are invited to adopt Christ style of love and his capacity to love, for this St. Paul posits: “Husbands should love their wives, just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy” (vv.25-26a). And inversely we can also say: ‘Wives should love their husbands, as the Church loves Christ’, the Church represented authentically by martyrs and saints, who spend their life for Christ. The consciousness of this Christian ideal will capacitate husbands and wives to live a type of conjugal love totally different from the one being proposed today by the ‘world’, where husbands and wives are in a constant struggle for gender equality and supremacy. With the particularity of the theme of the second reading on marital love, let us try to contextualize the message of today to our own state of life. And in truth does our life style conform to our choice and adhesion for Christ?

    Beloved in Christ, today we are therefore called to renew truly our choice of and for Christ, and to embark on a more convinced and coherent adhesion to the Gospel of Christ. Irrespective of our state of life, let us contextualize today’s message in our calling and manifest the love for our fundamental option for Christ. It is equally true, that poor mortals like us, even though we proclaim our faith in Christ Jesus, in some difficult situations, we too have found the words of Jesus very hard, but we pray for His enabling grace to maintain us always on the track of his love, for without the Custodian of the words of eternal life, we are lost and disoriented. The voices of Joshua and Christ are still re-echoing: “Today you must make up your minds whom you do mean to serve”, What about you, do you want to go away too?” Like Peter I pronounce my declaration of love and adhesion of faith: I choose you Jesus today and forever, for your words are eternal!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

Eat And Drink In Memory Of Jesus!

 (Homily for the 20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B)

     Once again we meditate and grapple with the theme of food, as orchestrated in the first reading and the Gospel with the images of bread, wine and table. And of all the images, Bread is the most recurrent. Bread indeed is very important in some cultures, but beyond that, Bread stands for what feeds us and what quenches our physiological need of hunger. But the Bread that Jesus identified with his flesh, does much more than the satisfaction of physiological need; it is a guarantee for eternal life. Jesus’ self-giving to mankind in the form of bread reaches its apex on the Cross, for on the Cross, he becomes real bread broken for the life of mankind. The dying man becomes the bread that gives eternal life. What a paradox! Jesus in the Eucharist satisfies our physical and spiritual longings, what we need, is just to present ourselves before him with faith and trust in his Eucharistic presence. With Jesus’ bread-flesh gift to us, we see and experience love outstretched in an unconditional manner. His is not an empty love; the Eucharist and the Cross stand as a proof. The second reading above all, spells out for us the right attitude of living as recipients of God’s love, especially in the Eucharist.

     The passage of today’s Gospel (Jn. 6:51-58) finally launches us into the Eucharistic part of Jesus’ discourse on bread. Therein, we move from bread as such, to the flesh and blood of the Son of man. Today we move from the consideration of Jesus as the bread of life to the contemplation of his real sacramental presence in the Eucharist. We are at the last stage of the long discourse of Jesus on the “Bread of life”, which we have been meditating on for few Sundays now.

     “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn.6:51). With these words Jesus concluded the Gospel passage of last Sunday, and the passage of this Sunday once again re-introduces this sentence in order to render the discourse of Jesus and the reactions of his listeners clearer. This affirmation threw his listeners of balance, and they began to question: “How can he give us his flesh to eat” (v.52). Jesus did not respond to this question at the moment. Rather he will respond to their question of how, later, precisely in the context of Holy Thursday, at the Last Supper: “Jesus took bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples. Take it and eat, he said, this is my body. Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he handed it to them saying, Drink from this all of you, for this is my blood” (Mt. 26:26-28a). This indeed, is the way that Jesus intended to give us his flesh to eat, under the sign and appearance of bread and wine. Thus, he transformed bread and wine into the Sacrament of his real presence. But interestingly, Jesus does not anticipate this concrete explanation in the discourse. Instead, for the mean time Jesus preferred to make them understand that he was not speaking in a symbolic language: “my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink”. Their negative attitude and reaction did not stop him; instead he came up with what could be termed a catechesis on the Eucharist. And here we want to make a number of considerations emanating from the passage:

●In his words: “My flesh is true food, my blood is true drink” (v.55). Interestingly, in Hebrew language ‘flesh and blood’ indicates man, person in his entirety, and thus the full humanity of Jesus. Therefore, in the Eucharist Jesus gives himself in toto, even though, in a mysterious way, but he gives himself in the fullness of his humanity and divinity. He gives himself so that “eating and drinking”; we will be nourished of Him.

●Furthermore, Jesus indicated the effects or implications that being nourished by him produce in a Soul. The Eucharist realizes a communion of life, a vital and profound union with the Lord already here on earth, for “anyone who eats this bread will live for ever” (v.58b), and again “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person” (v.56). Be that as it may, in, with and through the Eucharist, the faithful experience a reciprocal compenetration of being with Christ. Through the Eucharist, the faithful enters into the Trinitarian life and Christ in turn lives in him. Again, the Eucharistic communion gives the faithful the strength to overcome death, thus it procures eternal life: “who eats my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life” (v.54), here Jesus does not use the verb in future tense, rather in the present form, who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, not will have eternal life. Behold, eternal life here is not merely a life after death, but a life in which time and eternity coincide, heaven and earth embrace, God and man are united in a reconciled love.

●The Eucharistic communion is a guarantee for the resurrection of the body, for in the words of Jesus “Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day” (v.54). This is Jesus’ divine assurance to those who receive him. This is what the Eucharist does at the individual and personal level. It creates a union of love between Christ and the person that receives Him, here and here after.

     Besides, at the community level (that is as a Church and Christian community), here we cannot but remember the words of St. Paul to the Corinthians: “And as there is one loaf, so we, although there are many of us, are one single body, for we all share in the one loaf” (1Cor. 10:17). Truly the Eucharist realizes the communion of faith and of love amongst the disciples. The Eucharist makes the Church, the assembly of God’s people gathers around the Eucharistic table. On this, the Second Vatican Council maintains that “It is not possible to form the Christian community without having as root and foundation the celebration of the Eucharist” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, n.6).

     Having explored the sublime and extraordinary reality of the Eucharist, it behoves us to re-affirm that participation in the Eucharist suppose not to be an optional or a sporadic act. For it is the essential condition of life (fullness of life and eternal life). And this seems to unite this passage with the words of the book of Proverbs in the first reading, thus: “Come, eat the bread, and drink the wine that I have prepared. Leave foolishness behind and you will live” (Pro. 9:5-6). And again in the passage of the Gospel, “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man, and you do not drink his blood, you will not have life in you”. We are therefore, invited to participate often at the Eucharistic banquet. However, we have to do so, with faith and trepidation, and in the state of grace too. Have you ever imagined how contradictory it is to participate in the Mass, without participating in the Eucharistic communion? Even though we have to avoid receiving communion for pure superficiality and holier than thou attitude, however, we need to rediscover its life changing and transforming effects. Truly, come to think of it, none of us without the aid of grace is worthy to receive the Eucharistic Jesus, but to deny oneself of participating in this earthly-eternal banquet systematically entails losing all the benefits (spiritual and physical) that emanate from it. However, we have to ensure that we are in the state of grace through the sacrament of Reconciliation. It really requires the wisdom that comes from God to honour the invitation to the Eucharistic banquet.

     The first reading from the book of Proverbs (Pro. 9:1-6) is one of the Old Testament passages that speak of wisdom’s heavenly banquet. Be that as it may, this forms the background of the bread discourse in St. John’s Gospel (6:35-51b). Thus, the banquet becomes a sapiential theme. Upon proper meditation, this passage from the Wisdom literature is best situated into the context of the verses preceding the verses of today’s gospel passage. However, that notwithstanding, the present passage with the invitation of wisdom (as opposed to folly) to her prospective participants to a banquet with the images of bread, wine and table dovetails into the theme of today’s Gospel, especially with her invitation “Come and eat my bread, drink the wine which I have drawn” (v.5) and this invitation resembles Jesus’ imperative call “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (v.53) in his Eucharistic discourse. For the fruit of Wisdom is life, in its deepest sense (cf. Pro. 3:18).

      In the second reading (Eph. 5:15-20), St. Paul indicated in concrete terms the best disposition of heart towards the Eucharist: First, “Be very careful about the sort of lives you lead” (v.15a). This is a call to vigilance in order not to fall into sin, and thus to avoid the occasions of sin. Second, “like intelligent and not like senseless people” (v.15b), the intelligence that St. Paul is talking about, is the wisdom that comes from God. As in the Book of Wisdom “Grant me wisdom, consort of your throne” (9:4). Third, “you must recognize what is the will of Lord” (v.17), this entails the effort to understand the will of God in every circumstance and the readiness to do it. Fourth, “sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs among yourselves, singing and chanting to the Lord in your hearts” (v.19). Truly, St. Paul captured vividly well what should be the right attitude and the natural atmosphere of the Eucharistic celebration, an atmosphere of joy, of feast, of praises and of thanksgiving.

     Drawing the issue further, this passage is the second part of the parenesis (advice or instruction) in the letter to the Ephesians. Upon proper perusal, we could say that the passage of this epistle reading can aptly fit in, into the context of the first reading. Here, we lay emphasis on the contrast between wisdom and folly. Wisdom consists in being careful of the type of live one leads (v.15a), while Folly consists of not making the most of the time, (v.16) and of drunkenness (v.18a). Verse 17 further expressed this disparity between wisdom and folly with the invitation: “do not be thoughtless but must recognize what is the will of the Lord”. But the border line between wisdom and folly is drawn in verse 15 thus “So be very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like senseless people”. Above all, give or take, all the roads of the first and the second readings lead to the Gospel, in the celebration and contemplation of the Eucharistic Jesus and the proclamation of Him as the incarnate wisdom. For as we opined last Sunday: “Jesus’ self-giving in the Eucharist is the continuation of his primordial self-giving at the Incarnation”.

     Above all else, brethren, when we receive the Eucharist, we do not receive only an aspect of Jesus, rather we receive Him in entirety (body, soul and divinity), as such we may well boast that the Blood of Jesus is running in our veins. We become live and true Christophers, carriers of Christ, but how often are we conscious of this commingling existence? How often do we revere His presence in us? He lives in me! Christ lives in me!! He lives in you too!!! Lord Jesus, help us to more conscious of your presence in our lives, Amen!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

Jesus, Bread Broken For The Life Of The World!

(Homily for the 19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. B)

     Man by nature is always craving for the preservation of life, and as such, he is always in search of food to nourish himself and to keep him going in the existential journey. And of all the ‘foods’, there is one par excellence, the one that nourishes him both physically and spiritually: The Eucharist. In the Old Testament God provided manna for the people of Israel in the desert, but the manna cannot give eternal life. In the Gospel narrative of today, Jesus tells us that his flesh is the true Food and nourishment that will strengthen us in this life but also give us life in the world to come. Little wonder, the message of the first reading and the Gospel can be articulated around the verb: to eat. The Old Testament reading is suggestive of the Eucharist as viaticum, the food of pilgrims on their way to the mountain of God. The Gospel instead stresses on the mystery of the Eucharistic presence under the signs of bread and wine. Above all, the epistle reading points to the existential and ethical implications of being nourished by the Bread of life.

     The first reading (1Kgs. 19:4-8) presents a great prophet Elijah, who was at the point of crisis in his prophetic ministry, for the opposition of King Ahab constrained him to flee, in an attempt to avoid the persecution by Queen Jezebel, who was dominating in Israel at that time. He went to the desert, and after a day walk, he rested under the broom tree and at a point he expressed discomfort and desolation, and out of despondency, he desired to die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life”. But it was not yet his time, for in God’s plan he has not finished his mission. At that point a mysterious figure sent by God “an angel” brought him food and drink (baked cake and a jar of water). He touched him and said: “Arise and eat”, and after eating he lay down. The angel came again the second time with food and drink, he touched him once again and said “Arise and eat”. Behold he ate and drank, and with the strength he got from the food, he walked for forty days and forty nights, up to the mountain of God, Horeb (v.8). Our God never abandons his people and those who put their trust in Him. He is indeed the Great Provider. In the context of the first reading, the Old Testament manna is linked to the Eucharistic Bread, and as such, the consideration of the later as Viaticum. Indeed, many a times in our existential experience and in our journey of faith, we face so many trials, to the extent that sometimes like him we tender our lamentations and sentiments of despair to God. However, this encounter and God’s intervention therein, is an assurance that God does not leave us alone; he doesn’t abandon us in time of trials and tribulations. As the Psalmist asked in Psalm 8: ‘what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of Adam that you care for him? He has us in mind!

     The Gospel (Jn. 6:41-51) is the continuation of the passage of last Sunday. We are still in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, at the centre of the long discourse of Jesus on the Bread of life, and indeed at the hit-track of the whole discourse, where Jesus declared “I am the living Bread from heaven”. In the evolution of this discourse, we see a progressive revelation of Jesus as the Bread from heaven: from the multiplication of Bread to the declaration of himself as the Bread of life, and finally at the heart of the discourse he says “I am the living Bread descended from heaven” and at the end of today’s passage he says that, that Bread is his flesh.

     The Jews reacted to the words of Jesus by murmuring as they were scandalized. The Jews in the fourth Gospel is a symbol of the unbelieving world, little wonder, their murmuring in the Gospel passage at the discourse on the Bread of life, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness. The purpose of their murmuring was that Jesus affirmed to be “the Bread from heaven” (v.41). As such, they were interrogating themselves: “How is this possible?” Probably deep within them they could have said, we know very well his origin, where he was born, his parents, etc. He is one of us and one like us. But they were unable to accept and recognize that He transcends them. Indeed, their fundamental challenge was how to reconcile his human origin with his acclaimed divine origin. They failed to recognize in the carpenter’s son, God and Redeemer. However, the miracle (signs) that he has performed (especially the multiplication of Bread and fish) ought to have helped them to open their eyes, at least to see in Jesus something beyond mere appearance. Certainly, he is one of them as they alleged, but he is different from them, he transcends them. And this indeed, is the bitter truth for them to grapple with.

     Interestingly, Jesus didn’t allow himself to be conditioned or influenced by the murmuring of the Jews, instead he profited from the occasion to make further revelations on himself. He not only affirmed “to be from heaven”, “to have come from God” and of “having seen the Father”, he equally affirmed to be “the Bread of life”, the Bread that gives eternal life, “I am the living Bread from heaven; if anyone eats of this Bread he will live forever” (v.51). He maintained that he descended from heaven, such that those who eat of the Bread (Him) will not die (v.50). In this passage the great “I am” found in the Old Testament (cf. Ex. 3:13-15) is repeated twice: “I am the bread of life” (v.35) and “I am the living bread which came down from heaven” (v.49). The phrase “I am” depicts a name. It is in line with this that the psalmist must have affirmed, “And those who know your name put their trust in you” (Ps. 9:10). And for seven good times (cf. 6:35,48,51; 8:12; 10:7,9; 10:11,14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1) in the Gospel of John Jesus used this self-revealing phrase.

     Behold, to this self-giving of Jesus in the form of Bread, what is required of man is to accomplish an act of faith, thereby welcoming and accepting Christ in His human and divine origins. And faith is a gift from God, and Jesus re-affirmed it thus: “Stop complaining to each other: No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me” (v.44). As such, man is expected to allow himself to be drawn by God. And without mincing words, it is as a result of this attraction, we have gathered today around the altar. Thus, we cannot but open up to his gift of grace, and not to close ourselves to our self-sufficiency, presumption, our mental schemes and prejudices. For us here, it is true that we believe that Jesus is the Bread of life, but we have to grow and mature in our consciousness of this and in our faith in him. May be like the apostles we have to ask Jesus daily: “Lord, increase our faith” (Lk. 17:5).

     Furthermore, at the conclusion of Jesus’ discourse on the Bread of life, Jesus makes a breath-taking revelatory affirmation thus: “The Bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world” (v.51). As a matter of fact, here Jesus makes his audience and us today to understand that, it is not only His word that is Bread of life, he takes the discourse to a personal level, and as such makes allusion to the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, He will become our Bread in the Holy Eucharist. In the original text, the word used to designate “flesh” is “sarx” which indicates the whole person. And this stands to signify that in the Eucharist, Jesus gives us himself in totality (body, soul and divinity). This Eucharistic existence will reach its decisive point at the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Indeed, all his existence is “an existence-given-for”, given for the salvation of mankind. Truly, Jesus’ self-giving in the Eucharist is the continuation of his primordial self-giving at the Incarnation, where he assumed the human nature not in part but in its entirety, with the exception of sin. Thus, to say it with St. John the evangelist, ‘kai o logos sarx egheneto’ (Jn.1:12). And the self-giving that reached the climax at the Eucharistic table reached its decisive and definitive point on the Cross. In that bid, we may well affirm that these three events (Incarnation, the Eucharist and the Cross) point glaringly to the “pro nobis” (for us) of the life and existence of Jesus.

     The second reading (Eph. 4:30-5:2) situates us well into the context, when St. Paul exhorts us to “follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up for us as an offering and a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:2). Concretely, St. Paul invites us to do away with “any bitterness or bad temper or anger or shouting or abuse” (4:31), all the negative aspects of our comportment before our fellow human beings, and in positive he encourages us to “be generous to one another, sympathetic, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ” (4:32). If truly we comport ourselves in that manner, our life no doubt will be a living witness that indeed, Jesus is the Bread of our life, and that we are nourished by Him.

     In all, no doubt, our readings today, especially the first reading and the Gospel passage reminds us of something essential in our faith sojourn, and that maybe well evidenced with the interrogation: where do you go when you cannot go on? Where do you go or who do you go to when you feel that the existential waters of human trials and challenges have engulfed you? Beloved in Christ, reflecting on those questions, we cannot but ask God to give us the enabling grace to be able to know where to go to and whom to go to when we are confronted trials and brokenness. Today, as Jesus revealed, in Him we see and discover the One who satisfies the deepest existential longings of man, who mends the human brokenness with and through the gift of Himself. I pray that God may give us grace to resemble more and more What or Who we receive in the Eucharist. May the Eucharistic Jesus mend our brokenness and satisfy our deepest longings and desires. Amen!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

Jesus The Bread of Life!

(Homily 18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. B)

     We may very well say that in the previous Sunday, our reflection centered on man’s need for bread and the society’s need for a just distribution, this week rather we move on to man’s further need to be nourished by the Bread that comes from heaven, Jesus himself. At the heart of the theme of this Sunday is a consoling message that God is a provident God, and He provides for his people. In the Old Testament the Israelite received manna, a food that merely strengthened and nourished their perishable body, while in the New Testament, as evidenced in the Gospel passage, now God feeds his people not just with a manna or a mere bread, but with the Bread of life, His Son Jesus Christ. He alone can satisfy the deepest hunger of man, the God-hunger. The generosity of God reached a definitive point in the Gospel periscope, for God does not just give things, He gives Himself. Through and in His Son He is the Giver of life and the Bread for the life of the world. And by extension the epistle reading points to the practical and existential change that participation in the Bread of life brings – namely transformation of those who receive it into a new people and the emergence of the new self.

     The first reading (Ex. 16:2-4, 12-15) presents one of the accounts of the manna and quails in the Pentateuch, this is the first account, while the second is found in the book of Numbers 11. In the account of Numbers 11, manna was provided, and when the people murmured, then the quails were given. In the Exodus account instead, greater emphasis is laid on the manna. The final remarks of Moses gives evidence of the emphasis on manna at the expense of the quails, with the phrase “bread from heaven”, and indeed, this phrase was taken  up again by the psalmist in the responsorial psalm: “He rained down manna to feed them, he gave them bread from heaven” (Ps. 78:24). Indeed, our God is not just merciful, but He is generosity personified.

     The passage of today’s Gospel (Jn. 6:24-35) is part of the great discourse on the Bread of life that Jesus held at Capernaum (cf. Jn. 6:24-65), after that miraculously multiplication of Bread and fish. Therein, the evangelist presents in a glaring manner the salient points around which the discourse is structured. First, Jesus invited the crowd to the basic tenet of the authentic Christian living thus: “Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life. This is carrying out God’s work: you must believe in the one he has sent” (vv. 27.29). The evangelist presents the crowd in search of Jesus, the same crowd that wanted to crown him king after they must have seen him multiply bread and fish (v.15). The narrative stated that Jesus “fled back to the hills”. He sent the disciples to the shore of the sea, and now he set out to meet them. He walked on water to meet them (v.19). Afterwards, the question of the crowd emerged: “Rabbi, when did you come here?” (v.25). But Jesus ignored their question. Rather he was more concerned with the purpose why this Galilean crowd is in search of him. “In truth I tell you, you are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat” (v.26).They are in search of him because of the miracles he performs, as such, they were not capable to understand that the miracle of the multiplication of bread and fish is a sign. They failed to see beyond the multiplication, the profound meaning of that gesture. They remained at the superficial level, stocked as they were, with the satisfaction of their stomach. This tendency is still common amongst us Christians today, the temptation to seek Jesus for the satisfaction of one’s selfish interest, and not recognizing Him as the Savior of the world, and not a magic man.            

     Upon realization of their selfish interest, Jesus admonished them: “Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life” (v.27). Apparently, the crowd seemed to have understood the admonition of Jesus, little wonder they asked Jesus: What must we do if we are to carry out God’s work?” (v.28). In a succinct manner Jesus explained to them, that it is not all about many works to be accomplished, not an exterior practice, rather it is a fundamental attitude, a radical choice of life, and it consists in ‘believing in the one he has sent’ (v.29). For belief in Jesus Christ is basic in the understanding of who he is and what he does.

    And interestingly, to the question of what Jesus does, it seems the Galilean crowd has started to grasp that, and thus they curiously questioned: “What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will you do?” (v.30). This interrogation of the Galilean crowd seemingly depicts that they are gradually understanding the meaning of the last affirmation of Jesus, and it was as if they were about to make a step forward, from the desire to satisfy their stomach to the quest to understand and see the works of Jesus. Unfortunately, however, instead of questioning themselves, they questioned Jesus, instead of evaluating the sign that Jesus has already given, they request for another one, an official, decisive sign. Yet deep within their hearts the sign of the Messiah has to be in line with the one worked by God in the desert in Exodus, as we have seen in the first reading. Practically, they ask Jesus for another sign, in order to justify their faith in Him. For them the sign of the multiplication of bread and fish is not yet an eloquent sign. Indeed, they have failed to understand that what is important is not just the sign, but the spirit with which the sign is welcomed, little wonder, the sign does not always lead to faith. Jesus once again, puts it back to them in a glaring manner, by affirming that in the desert it was not Moses that gave the bread from heaven, but his Father, and he further expressed: “for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (v.33). How many times, have we questioned Jesus, demanding for signs to justify our faith in Him? So, for many of us still in search of signs today, Jesus repeats: “I am the Bread of life”.

     Behold, after that annotation by Jesus, now they have understood better that Jesus was talking about a different kind of bread, however, they still understood it in the material sense, with that conviction they made their request, “Sir, they said, give us that bread always” (v.34). At this point, Jesus declared without any iota of ambiguity that it is not about a bread that nourishes the body, rather it is a spiritual bread that nourishes the soul, and that bread is identified with the person of Jesus, in fact in his words, Jesus declared: “I am the bread of life” (v.35). Then, there is need of going to Him, or believing in Him in order to be nourished by Him.

     Be that as it may, we have to allow the words of Jesus to resound in our hearts.  Most importantly, we have to feel deep within us that the words of Jesus are addressed to us: “Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life” (v.27). Is not as if Jesus is inviting us to be disinterested with the material things and work, nor is He inviting us to inertia, inactivity and laziness, rather he invites us to put the Bread of eternal life at first place. Secondly, Jesus reminds us that the most important work or thing to do, is to “believe in the one he has sent” (v.29). We are therefore called to believe, not in an abstract manner, but in a concrete and existential way, which entails living in accordance with the Gospel, to follow the teachings and the examples of Jesus. Above all, as emanating from this passage, three basic questions have to occupy our minds: ●Who is Jesus for us? ●Is He truly the bread of life without whom we are disoriented? ●Do we adhere to Jesus for supernatural motives or for our own material gains and immediate advantage?

     In the second reading (Eph. 4:17.20-24) St. Paul delineated the style of life that is derived from the belief in Jesus and the acceptance of Him as the Bread of life. Indeed, the apostle presented in a concrete manner what faith in Jesus requires of us. And in the negative, he warns us not to comport ourselves “as the gentiles…, in the futility of their minds” (v.17), he invites us to rid ourselves of the “old self, which belongs to your old way of life and is corrupted by following illusory desires” (v.22). And in the positive, he exhorts us to the renewal in the Spirit and to “put on the New Man that has been created on God’s principles, in the uprightness and holiness of the truth” (v.24). This is a continuation of the parenesis or the ethical exhortation present in this epistle. Therein, we encounter a fascinating pattern of renunciation and renewal: ‘put off’ and ‘put on’, these two phrases are suggestive of the divesting and vesting of oneself with the optics of Baptism, which further points to the old pagan life and the new Christian life.

     Above all else, however, in the reflection on manna and bread we cannot but see a progressive revelation of what God does and who He is to His people. The psalmist captured it vividly well when he says: “The things we have heard and understood, the things our fathers have told us, we will tell them to the next generation: the glories of the Lord and his might” (78:3). In the Gospel passage the writer emerged with polemics against a faith that does not penetrate beyond the sign to the thing signified, little wonder, and the exhortation to labor for the bread from heaven and not for earthly bread. This Bread in question has to be received in faith that is the way to labor for it, a faith that is translated into concrete actions. Indeed, Jesus’ self-acclamation as the Bread of life introduced the discourse into the Eucharistic domain, which will be thoroughly developed in vv.51-58 of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John. In all, What we commemorate in the Eucharist is more than a mere remembrance or a consolation for an absence, it is He in us, His living presence in us, and being in us, he sends us forth to become in turn bread for the world, bread broken for the life of the world. He invites us thus, to become bread and life-giving to each other. Lord Jesus, Bread of life, help us to become more like You, more of You, and less of us. Amen!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)