At The School Of The Holy Family!

(Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family Year A)

          Today the word of God offers us the opportunity to reflect on the Holy Family of Nazareth in particular and on the family in general. The entrance antiphon of this Sunday introduces us well into the context of today’s solemnity: “The shepherds went in haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the Infant lying in a manger”. The Gospel reading introduces us into the reality of this Family, when they fled to Egypt, their return and their establishment in Nazareth. In a broader sense, the first and the second readings demonstrate that the feast of the Holy Family is an occasion for us to reflect on the reality of the family in general in the light of God’s word. The Gospel insists on the commitment of the parents to their children, for two times Joseph listened to the voice of God, through the angel, who told him: “Rise, take the child and the mother and flee to Egypt”, and Joseph obeyed without delay. The first reading exhorts the commitment of children to their parents; it evidenced the fruits that emanate from that: “whoever honors his father atones for sins” and “whoever glorifies his mother is like one who lays up treasures”. St. Paul in the second reading summed up the teachings of Sirach in the first reading and that of Mathew in the Gospel, he emphasized on mutual and reciprocal commitment: wives to their husband, husbands to their wives, children to their parents, and parents to their children. Therefore, we are called to appropriate the values and virtues that characterized the Holy Family: honour, respect, obedience, harmony and mutual love.

          The Holy Family is at the center of our reflection today. And we cannot but affirm that it is a family sui generis! The Holy Family was not a smooth and problem free family, rather it was a family with her numerous problems and internal conflicts, yet they remained faithful to each other. That is why it could be suggested as a paradigm to our Christian families. The Holy Family was a family with special grace yet a family with trials. We can remember vividly well how sin affected family life in the first pages of the Book of Genesis. After eating the forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:16-17) great tension disrupted the spousal relationship between Adam and Eve. Not too long after that, the sons of Adam and Eve entered in a dispute that ended in the murder of Abel (Gen. 4:1-16). Sin wounded greatly the life of the family. Indeed, Jesus came to heal the wounds caused by sin, including that of the family. As such, God the Father sent his Son among us, and in doing that, He entrusted Him to a father and a mother. And that is the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The Holy Family teaches us how to remain calm in the midst of all kinds of existential storms. We remember the uncommon circumstances that surround Jesus’ conception, Mary’s and Joseph’s plan that was abruptly changed by the divine plan, and the challenges that surround his birth: no place in the inn, he was born in a manger and afterwards Joseph received another message to run away with his wife and son to Egypt. Not only that, Mary and Joseph even suffered the distress of not knowing the where-about of their twelve year old son (Cf. Lk. 2:48). Before Jesus began his public ministry nothing again was said about Joseph, we may well presume that he died, here the Holy Family must have suffered the pain of bereavement and separation through death. Jesus in his public ministry faced many oppositions and threats of death. No one could imagine what Mary passed through at the foot of her son’s cross.

          The Holy Family is the model for families because despite their many trials, the family remained faithful and united. Indeed, the Holy family was not an easy Family, not even a very normal family, but they excelled in one thing, and that is where we have to take them as model and paradigm for Christian families; and that is the fact that despite all these odds, they remained faithful to each other. The faithfulness of Joseph to Mary, even though not being the father of the child. The faithfulness of Mary to Jesus, when she heard about his arrest and condemnation, she went to Jerusalem to be with him, she stood by him till death. Mary indeed is faithful like a rock. And Jesus in turn remained faithful to the Mother even at the point of death, for some of his last words were for Mary: “Mother, behold your Son. Son, behold your mother” (Jn.19:26-27). We are called therefore, as families, little churches to appropriate the virtues of the Holy Family, especially that of faithfulness. We are called to be faithful like them!

          The first reading (Sir. 3:3-7.14-17a) calls our attention on the respect and honor that should characterize the rapport among the members of the same family, especially between parents and their children. It serves as a commentary on the fourth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother”, and again there is the emphasis on the respect to the elders, this indeed is to be re-emphasized in our present day society: “O son, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as he lives; even if he is lacking in understanding, show forbearance, and do not despise him all the days of his life”. This invitation of the sacred author requires urgent reflection and assimilation in our society today. The responsorial psalm begins with a beatitude: “Blessed is everyone…”. Thus, it presents the fear of the Lord as the basis of family, social and economic prosperity.

          The Gospel passage (Mt. 2:13-15.19-23) presents the discomforting experience and situation of the Holy Family and its consequences on the children of Bethlehem. The passage begins with the message of an angel to Joseph in a dream inviting him to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt because Herod wants to kill him. And when Herod could not figure out the Child-Jesus, and upon realization that he has been fooled by the wise men he gave orders that in Bethlehem and its surroundings all the male children from two years down should be massacred (cf. Mt. 2:16). In his narrative Mathew has to bring Jesus from Bethlehem to Nazareth, but for Luke the Holy Family was domiciled in Nazareth, but only visited Bethlehem for census. It is believed that Mathew might have taken inspiration from the text of prophet Isaiah (11:1) where the Davidic Messiah is described as a branch from Jesse. Also Mathew sees the movements of the Holy Family as the fulfilment of the Scriptures. However, an effort is made in this reflection to view this passage with the lens of the happenings today in our individual families and in the human family at large.

           There is a message of joy and a liberating proclamation in the passage: “Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead” (v. 20). Indeed, this episode of the Gospel describes a well-known historical fact. But reflecting on it in the context of the Holy Family and the family in general, it propels us to think about Herod and other children being massacred. Today, the number of babies being massacred in and through abortion cannot be overemphasized. We are called like Joseph and Mary to defend the life and dignity of every human being, to defend every form of the human life against any form of violence. We cannot but remember the number of children who have lost their lives through war and hunger. And today before the evils of abortion and the human injustices that lead to war and hunger we cannot but frown at the liberalization and legalization of abortion, and the institutionalization of injustice. Therefore, the message of the Gospel revolves not only on the fourth commandment but also on the fifth. Mary and Joseph are therefore the models for those who protect and defend the human life. In the gospel we see the paternal function of Joseph towards the care of their son, his obedience to God, which made him to participate in the divine authority, his readiness to obey faithfully, the prudence in looking for a stable residence for the family, these are all functions of any father or mother. However, there is a new element, and that is the movement of Joseph’s action, in his actions he was moved by the will of God and his desire to accomplish God’s will.

          The passage second reading (Col. 3:12-21) is part of the ethical section or the “parenesis” of St. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians. It begins with a list of virtues that are introduced with the positive imperative “put on”. On the other hand, this imperative is preceded by the negative imperative “put off) followed by a list of vices. This putting on and putting off could be interpreted in the context of Baptism. The first imperative as the candidate comes out of the baptismal font and the second is likened to the stripping of the candidate prior to his /her baptism. In this passage, St. Paul equally introduced what could be termed household code, which has to do with the respective duties and responsibilities of the various members of the family. St. Paul dedicated the third chapter of his letter to the Colossians in explaining the fundamental effect of baptism, which is the new life in Christ. In Colossians 3:17 he says: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus”. This verse illumines the liturgical text of today, referred to family duties in their mutual relations. The respect of the wife towards the husband, the obedience of the children towards their parents and the kindness of the parents towards their children are naturally common values to every family, but Christians have to live out these values “in the name of Jesus”. With this new Spirit, this new exigency parents and children are called to form and build up the family. Indeed as St. Paul described in this epistle, we could say that the Holy Family was characterized by heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (v.12).

          In the light of today’s Feast, in our present day society there are some situations and human conditions that tend to disintegrate the nucleus of the family and as such require a good dose of reflection. Today we talk about separated parents or broken marriages, many a times their children suffer because of the conflicts of the parents, divorced and remarried parents with children, adoption of a child by a single, be it man or woman, adoption of children by homosexual or lesbian couples etc. These are complex and difficult situations that cannot but make us reflect over and over again. In the realization of the divine plan of God, He needed a father and a mother for His divine Son. Just like in the case of Joseph and Mary, in the education of children, the father and the mother have their roles. This tells us the importance and the necessity of the figure of a father and a mother in the human family. Let us not forget that it is the natural right of children to have parents: father and mother. This original initiative of God should propel us today to make some reconsiderations in our clamour for freedom.

          As we celebrate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we need to appropriate the virtues emanating not only from the Holy Family but also from the readings of this day into the reality of our different families. In our society today, where the institution of marriage and family is under serious attack, we need to swim against the currents of this contemporary world that are inimical to the wellbeing of the family. We need to identify these anti-values that are served at the supermarket of our present society and in the means of social communication, ranging from the rebellion of the children, quarrels and confrontations between husband and wife, little or no interest on the children by the parents and excessive interest on the children by some possessive parents to the abandonment of the children by the parents and that of the parents by the children. Conscious of all this, we need to endeavor to construct a family founded on the family values present in today’s liturgy of the word: respect and appreciation, obedience and mutual help, concern and care, prudence and the search for family stability, goodness and reciprocal love. We need to incarnate these values in our families and society today in order to ward of the anti-values that are fast destroying the concept and the commitment of the Christian family. Today we need to insist on the importance of responsible parenthood; else we end up raising drug addicts, delinquents, and violent children because of the absence or irresponsibility of the parents. Some of the challenges facing families today is that there is no enough time to be together and to pray together. In all we cannot but affirm that the true model of the Christian family is the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph: the Holy Family.

          As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, let us turn our marriages, families and homes from broken marriages, families and homes to united marriages, families and homes. As the Holy Family survived all their crises and storms through love of each other and faith in God, let us earnestly pray during this Mass that our families torn apart by the presages of hatred, separation and selfishness will conquer these storms through love for each other and faith in God.

 (Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

 

 

  

We Have Come To Adore Him!

(Homily for Christmas, Mass during the Day)

          Today, with great joy and solemnity we celebrate Christmas - the feast of God's magnanimous and unconditional love, the feast of God's Self-gift to mankind. Christmas is God's gift placed in human hands’. A real Gift wrapped in swaddling clothes (Lk. 2:12). One may ask why this yearly celebration for a Child that was born more than 2000 years ago, but it is only with and through the eyes of faith that one can understand why this Child is perennially adorable. Christmas is not an event of the past, but more importantly, it is also an event of today and each day. Only the Word of God, welcomed simply in our hearts can reveal to us the mystery surrounding this Child of Bethlehem, and indeed, the pre-existent Word of God throws more light to the mystery of the grotto of Bethlehem. Interestingly, the readings of Hebrew 1 and John 1 reveal that we are not merely celebrating the birth of a baby, rather the mystery of God’s self disclosure and communication in Jesus. His coming into the world is part of the dynamic process of God’s self-communication. The Christian God does not present Himself as a supreme entity that resides impassive on His throne of changeless eternity, but He descended and stooped so low to take the human flesh. The mystery of the Incarnation is so great and attracting that no matter how hard one tries, it cannot be jettisoned. The mystery is so great that the great thinkers of all times could not exhaust it. Indeed, I have allowed myself to be drawn by the irresistible attraction of this mystery. And together with the angels and shepherds i have come to contemplate the real gift of Christmas: The Child Jesus (a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes). Come let us adore Him the pre-existent and eternal Word!

          In the First reading (Is. 52: 7-10) Prophet Isaiah proclaims the reign of God, that is being realized now by God’s mighty act. In the context of this passage, the mighty act is the return from exile. Whereas for us it is the Birth of the Child of Bethlehem: Jesus, as announced by this angelic hymn. Therein, Yahweh returns to Zion (v. 8) to comfort his chosen people (v.9), and indeed, his mighty work of salvation is seen by all men (v.10). The prophet announced the universality of God’s salvation. Behold, “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God”. “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings. What is this good tiding? Jesus is the good tiding. And what is the good tiding all about? Is a tiding of peace, goodness, God’s tenderness and salvation. The prophet says to Zion and to us today “your God reigns”. The Lord has comforted his people, Isaiah says, because he sent his only Son, the Saviour. Even the psalmist joins in this universal exultation: “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God” (Ps. 98:3).

          In the Second reading (Heb. 1:1-6), the sacred author writes vehemently about the manifestation of God to men, not through Kings or prophets, but now through His Son. And that is the greatest novelty of the mystery of Incarnation. Jesus is the definitive Word of the Father, the supreme revelation of the Father. The writer of the letter to the Hebrew presents Jesus as the highest revelation and definitive Word of the Father (Okwu ekwuru ihe agbañwo). In the words of the writer, “In the olden days God spoke to our fathers in various ways through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us through his Son”. He says that the dignity of Jesus is more than the angels, because no angel was given a name that he was given, which name? “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father (A child and a Father) Jesus is called Father, in participation to the Father’s paternity, “from whom every fatherhood in heaven or on earth takes its name” (Eph. 3:15), Prince of peace” (Is. 9:5), Jesus, Emmanuel. Therefore, all the angels adore Him, and if the angels of God adore Him, what of we humans. Let us join our voices together and shout “we have come to adore Him”. Behold, this passage of the letter to the Hebrew reaffirms the Pauline expression: “He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties, powers- all things were created through him and for him. He exists before all things and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:15-17).

          The Gospel (Jn. 1:1-18) of today exhumes once again the pre-eminence and pre-existence of the Word of God, for, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God”. St. John starts with the beginning because Jesus is the eternal Word of the Father, the Word that was used in the creation (Gen. 1:1-3), all was made through him, “ihe nile di adi siri n’aya diri”. Be that as it may, the self-revelation (Word, Logos) did not begin with the Incarnation event, rather with creation (cf. Heb. 1:1-14). St. John in his gospel gives us a wonderful explanation of the Incarnation (Kai o Logos sarx ergheneto). The Word of God took flesh and became one of us and one with us. The word “flesh” denotes the whole of humanity, not just the humanity of Jesus. Not only that he took the human flesh, but he dwells within and with us. Little wonder, St. Paul affirmed “in him we move, in him we live in him we have our being” (Acts 17:28).

           However, though he dwells in and within us, He remains the Eternal Word of the Eternal Father. John affirms that He is eternal like the Father. He is the true Light that enlightens all men. He is the fullness of grace from whom all draw grace. He has power to make children of God all those that welcome Him. John tells us the type of reception the Word of God received: “He came to His own and his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God” (Jn. 1:11-12). Behold, wherever the Son is received, man is restored to divine sonship. But unfortunately till today, in so many ways, God continues to suffer rejection in the hands of men, in our societies and in our world. The event of Christmas interrogates each and every one of us. If Jesus were to come today, can we make a place for him in our home and heart? As a matter of fact, he is already there standing and knocking at the door (Rev 3:20). As Joseph and Mary did, we are invited to welcome Him. Christmas is an event of God knocking at our door. If you hear his voice and open he will also open for you when you knock.

         St. John says that “in him was life, the life was the light of all men”. He further expressed that, “Light shines in darkness, but darkness hasn’t overcome it” and I may add, and it will never overcome it. Irrespective of the fact that evil still persists in the world today, all kinds of atrocities and unimaginable crimes, yet the fact still remains: “Light shines in darkness, but darkness hasn’t overcome it”. JESUS is our light, allow him to enlighten your life. He will continue to shine, His light will continue to beam. With this consciousness we join our voices together to that of St. Augustine in saying “Oh man wake up, it was for you that God was made man”.

          In all, as emanating from the gospel passage of St. John’s prologue, the event of today brings three important factors to our consideration: ►Christmas is an event of light: The Readings resonate the theme of light, and the Baby in the manger is the Light of the world (Jn. 1:9). ►Christmas is an event of love: John in his Gospel says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him, will not perish, but will have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). ►Christmas is God's self-gift! The real message of Christmas is that Jesus is a gift to the world. “You will see a sign: a child wrapped in swaddling clothes” (Lk 2:12).   

          Behold, the peak of our excitement and celebration today revolves around the fact that we are not talking about a sign like in Isaiah and Mathew, but today we are celebrating his presence in our midst. The highest point of God’s revelation is this passage from sign to reality, a real presence! Truly, he is present with us in this celebration in a special way through the Eucharist. At this altar the sign of a Baby in the manger is made present in the sign of Bread, no longer wrapped in swaddling clothes, but broken for the life of the world. And with his presence in the Eucharistic Bread he becomes a Gift per excellence, not just a Gift, but equally the Food for our nourishment. Thank You Jesus! There is indeed a knit connection between the Incarnation and the Eucharist, even the place of his birth Bethlehem means “House of Bread” and with Jesus it is no longer ordinary bread, but the Eucharistic Bread. We are filled with joy in the presence of the God who comes to save us and in the salvation he has already won for us. Just as Adam rejoiced when he saw Eve “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23), so too we rejoice in the presence of “the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14), he took our human flesh.

          Brethren, let us assume the sensibility of the wise men, “we have come to adore Him” (Mt. 2:2). And really we too have come to adore Him. May we all join in this perennial adoration of the Child of Bethlehem, and as we solemnly adore and celebrate Him today, we joyfully acclaim “TODAY IS BORN OUR SAVIOR - CHRIST THE LORD”.

Come let us adore Him!

Come let us adore the Child of Bethlehem!

Come let us adore the Savior!

Come let us adore this Child who is equally a Father!

Come let us adore the Emmanuel!

Come! Come!! Come!!!

Wishing you all a grace-filled celebration of Christmas!!!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

 

The Ever Present God: Emmanu-El!

(Homily for the 4^th Sunday of Advent Yr. A)

The Spirituality of Advent - IV

          As a matter of fact, the Advent season has a certain peculiar rhythm that goes like in a crescendo. It rises in a continuous crescendo toward the full light of Christmas. The rhythm in question is adequately symbolized by the Advent wreath. No doubt, the crescendo of Advent is reflected in the liturgical readings of the season, which begins with the prophecies of Isaiah and John the Baptist and culminates on the figures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Joseph and the annunciation of Jesus’ birth. In today’s liturgy the Church through the readings anticipates the narration of the birth of Jesus according to Mathew. The Angel told Joseph that he will be called Jesus for He will save his people from their sins; He shall be called Emmanuel for He is God-with-us. Here, we see not only the meaning of his names but also his inherent identity.

          The first reading (Is. 7:10-14) presents the story of Ahaz, who was known for his religious indifference. The historical situation of the episode in this passage is described in 2 Kings 16:5-9. It happened when Syria entered into alliance with the northern kingdom of Israel against the southern kingdom of Judah of which Ahaz was King. Together they laid siege to Jerusalem. Here, prophet Isaiah offers Ahaz a sign that everything will be a success at the long run, but Ahaz refused such a sign, because he wanted to have nothing to do with Isaiah’s advice. Notwithstanding, Isaiah proceeded and gave the sign: “A young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel”. Ahaz had trust in the political alliance with the Assyrians and their gods, but not in the help of God. But Isaiah reminded him that God has guaranteed the continuity of the dynasty of David, and as such it cannot be destroyed. As a matter of fact, there are two sides of this episode: first, in connection with 2 Kings 16, it is probable that the young woman in question is the wife of the king and the Son to be born is Hezekiah, future king, son of Ahaz, through whom God will bring liberation to his people.

           Second, is as it is taken up by Mathew. As such, we could say that, that of Hezekiah is a prefiguration of the real Liberator of His people, the Emmanuel, He who reveals and manifests to what extend God can be with His people. Indeed, the prophecy of the “Emmanuel” cuts across and goes beyond the person of Hezekiah. Jesus is the Emmanuel to the point of being one with and like us in everything except sin (cf. 1Pt.2:22; Heb.4:15; 2Chro.5:21). In Isaiah 7:14 there was the prophecy about a child, “behold, a virgin will be with a child and will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Immanuel” But do we really believe in Him? We may sometimes find ourselves in the same ditch with Ahaz who never believed fully in God’s fidelity in the Covenant with his people, rather in difficult moments he sort for security and protection in the covenant with the pagan people of Assyria. Indeed, the spirituality of Advent calls us to come back to God, our primordial love (cf. Rev.2:4), to have trust in His love, especially in difficult times. In our difficult moments there is always a sign, king Ahaz failed to see it, may we never fail to see that sign in hard times, that is the sign of God’s presence (Immanuel). This episode reveals that what God says He will do, He does it. God keeps His promises. He carries out His will and designs irrespective of human infidelity and lack of cooperation, the story of Ahaz is an eloquent example. Likewise, God continues to realize His designs and plans for us, irrespective of our human weaknesses. But in all, God needs the human cooperation.

          In the same vein, the Gospel reading (Mt. 1:18-24) presented Christ as the Son of God, his birth was prodigious, it was the work of the Holy Spirit, but He is also man, for He was born of the Virgin Mary, and Joseph was his foster father. As such, Jesus is a descendant of David. As we can see in the passage of St. Mathew’s Gospel, Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, while his mother remained a virgin. Mathew and Luke agree on this, even though their infancy stories have some discrepancies. It affirms the transcendental origin of Jesus’ history. He is by no means the product of human evolution, but the intervention of the transcendent God in the history of humanity. In this passage, the parents of Jesus enter into scene. Both Mary and Joseph had a vocation and a mission to realize in that divine project. Mary was called to be the mother of Jesus, being a virgin. Joseph was called to be the “father” of Jesus, being just. They were both perturbed at the beginning of this divine plan, however, in their torment they searched for God, and God introduced them into the truth of the mystery. Both of them received those encouraging words from God: Angel Gabriel told Mary: “do not be afraid” (Lk. 1:30) and the angel of the Lord also told Joseph: “do not be afraid” (Mt. 1:20). And confident in God both of them gave their “Yes” with a generous heart to the mission God entrusted to each one of them. While Mary responded to the Angel “May it be done unto me according to thy word” (Lk. 1:38), Joseph did not utter any word, the Gospel said when he woke up he did as the Angel commanded him (cf. Mt. 1:24).

          The message of this last Sunday of Advent partly revolves around the identity of the Messiah. Last Sunday we heard Jesus affirming indirectly that He is the Messiah (through his prodigious works), in that emblematic episode between Him and the disciples of John (cf. Mt. 11). Above all else, however, we may still ask: “who truly is Jesus? St. Mathew tries to proffer an answer or answers to this question through the literary genre of apparition and dreams: through the dream of Joseph, which has a meaning of a divine revelation that enlightens or shades light to a historical event of the conception of Mary and the Birth of Jesus. The Messiah is the Son of Joseph, and through him the link to the dynasty of David. But he is also Son of God. However, the extraordinary manner of his conception without human interventions evidences that God is the protagonist of His birth through the work of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the virginity of Mary affirms and manifests clearly the sovereign action of God, the absolute gratuitous nature of the Gift. Even though the birth of Christ is not by means of the work of man, Joseph, however is called to be close to his spouse and to be father to the child that will be born, also to give him a name: Jesus, which means “God saves” and to guarantee his royal and messianic dynasty from David. Mathew reveals the double overriding titles / names of the Messiah: Jesus: for he will save his people form their sins and Emmanuel: God with us. He comes to save us and to assure us of the nearness and presence of God. We see glaringly the primary mission of Jesus, that is, to save His people from their sins, to liberate man from the slavery of sin and thus lead him to the freedom of God’s children. As such, Christianity is above all, against every form of slavery and oppression, it is an encounter of liberation from the slavery of sin, of egoism, and of moral disorder. Indeed, a Christian is in turn a liberator in the measure he or she has been liberated from sin.

          Jesus is Emmanu: with us; he is one of us, “from the descendant of David according to the flesh” as St. Paul puts it. But Jesus is also El: God. He is the Son of man and also the Son of God. From ancient times, God has been the One with his people, He told Abraham, “I am with you” (Gen. 17:1-19), he revealed himself to Abraham as a God with his people; God sent Moses to go and demand freedom from Pharaoh for the Hebrew slaves, Moses objected but God assured him “I will be with you” (Ex. 3:12); in his vision Paul heard God saying to him: “I am with you” (Acts 18:10). This indeed, is the very mystery at the heart of Christmas. He is the God-with-us. But is he truly the God-with-us even till today? Yes, even till today, for in his words: “I am with you always; yes, to the end of time” (Mt. 28:20). He is still the God-with-us. Through his resurrection he inaugurated a new way of being in the world, spiritual and invisible, but real. Little wonder, St. Paul emerged with his joyous cry thus: “If God is for us, who can be against us? Who can separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rm. 8:31.35). No one, except we ourselves, we can turn our back to Christ, and live for ourselves and not for him who died and was raised to life (2Cor. 5:15). In that bid, the period of Advent and Christmas is a time to remind a Christian of his / her moral responsibility. “Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile”: This is the favourable time. Jesus is always the Emmanuel, the God-with-us. But there is a moment in which he is with us in a different way: sacramentally and really. And it is now, in our Eucharistic celebration. He is present here with us.

          The spirituality of Advent demonstrates that in giving his Son, God needed human cooperation. Notwithstanding, that he could do everything on His power alone, and may be one day we discover Jesus all of a sudden in the scene and street of the world, in a more mysterious way. Instead He offered Him to us, through Mary and through the cooperation of Joseph, his foster father. We can see this even in the history of our salvation in both the Old and the New testaments, God takes the initiative both to create and to redeem man. It is his divine design but He requires the collaboration of man. Once again, God still needs our cooperation to announce the presence of His Son in the world. He needs our cooperation to take Jesus to the heart of humanity, and the heart of everyman. He wants us to become bearers of Christ (Christophers). But we cannot bear Him in our hearts or give Him to others, if we do not have Him in our heart and in our lives, “nemo dat quod non habet”.

           The second reading (Rm. 1:1-7) is the opening greeting of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. As a matter of fact, all the letters of Paul were addressed to the churches he founded, in exception to this letter. And unlike in his letters he made a sketch of the Gospel in a traditional form, with the expressions: “descended from David according to the flesh”, “designated as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness”. Therein, St. Paul stresses the Davidic descent of Jesus, but at the same time his divine origin with the second expression. He used the first expression to reaffirm the humanity of Jesus. Indeed, the Davidic descent of Jesus stresses his lowliness and not his exalted majesty. Above all, in our second reading today, St. Paul reaffirmed vigorously his divine and human origins (Davidic lineage); he is man and also God.

          As the good tidings of Advent, and the pillar around which revolves the message of Advent spirituality is that “God really entered into human history, in order to introduce us to His divine life”. This Good News is still actual today waiting for us to welcome it. However, it is true that some have not accepted or received the grace of his birth, maybe because of their negligence, scepticism and indifference. Even some of us that are Christians, what have we done with this Good news? Are we really convinced that God is in our midst? Do we live in accordance to such conviction? The spirituality of Advent calls us for a proper and sincere examination of conscience with regards to our faith in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.

          Above all, the liturgy of the word this Sunday opens with the famous prophecy of Isaiah: “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”. The passage of the Gospel describes the fulfilment of this prophecy. With these two passages of the Scripture we are indeed introduced into the heart of the imminent event: Christmas. Before the celebration of the historical birth or the memorial of the birth of Jesus in few days’ time, today we are contemplating and celebrating his theological birth, that is the profound significance of his Birth. The mystery of Christmas is this: God in Jesus Christ became the Emmanuel, the God-with-us. From the “Most High God” he became the “near-by God” or better the “God with”, a God for humanity. Truly, God has been with man from the moment of creation, but it was a dialogue from a distance, made through the prophets. But in and through Jesus he entered personally into human history, he became one of us, in order to save us from within, from our situation. The covenant became “new and eternal”, eternal because the two parts God and man, as a matter of fact have become ‘one person’, a unique being, that is not divisible: Jesus Christ. The peak of our excitement and celebration in few days’ time revolves around the fact that we are not talking about a sign like in Isaiah and Mathew, but today we are celebrating his presence in our midst. The highest point of God’s revelation is this passage from sign to reality, a real presence! May we therefore echo our voices together with that of the Psalmist saying: “Let the Lord enter, He is the King of glory” (Ps. 24:7.10). Maranatha!!! Come Lord Jesus!!!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

 

 

 

 

 

Rejoice, Even If He Tarries, He Comes!

(Homily for the 3^rd Sunday of Advent Year A)

The Spirituality of Advent - III

          Today is the third Sunday of Advent and the Introit of this Sunday goes thus: Gaudete in Domino semper (Rejoice in God always). For this, we call this Gaudete or Rejoice Sunday. Today we are invited to rejoice, not just for the Savior who comes, but more than anything else, for the Savior who is already in our midst, performing wonders. That of Jesus is the wonderful mystery of presence and absence (the One who has come and who is to come). We rejoice because we can feel his presence and identify his wonderful works. Little wonder, Christ responded to the disciples of John thus: “Tell John what you saw. The blind see, the lame walk… and the Good News is announced to the poor” (this is evidenced in the first reading and in the Gospel). The disciples saw the Messiah and His mighty deeds. On his part, St. James in the second reading exhorts us to the patient waiting of the coming of the Lord with the imagery of a farmer. Notwithstanding the shocking question raised by John the Baptist, the liturgy of the word today redirects our attention to an important dimension of the Advent season, and  that is the dimension of joy. In fact, as we may have it in the Entrance Antiphon: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near” (Phil. 4:4-5). We rejoice in anticipation of the joy of Christmas. Therefore, our joy is caused by love and for the presence of the One who loves us. The joy of Christmas is derived from the presence of Jesus Christ who comes to save us, a gift wrapped in swaddling clothes (Lk.2:12).

          In the first reading (Is. 35: 1-6a.10) the invitation to rejoice is paramount, an invitation particularly to the people of Israel, after the age-long exilic experience. It is equally addressed to us today. For us, the Savior has already come to save us, He is in our midst, He is with us and He will not abandon us. Prophet Isaiah makes himself a messenger of this joy. “Let the wilderness and the dry land be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the lily it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing” (Is. 35:1-2). He reawakened in those that were despondent, the awareness of the redemption God promised to His people and its nearness. He further spurred them on: “Be strong, fear not! Here is our God…He comes to save you” (v.4). Even though, in their situation, the redemption and liberation that Isaiah was talking about (liberation from slavery) was a prefiguration of the redemption and liberation wrought by and through Christ, The Messiah. Be that as it may, the promised redemption has been realized in and through Christ. And He is the reason for our joy. Our joy therefore, should be in Him. We are filled with joy in the presence of the God who comes to save us and in the salvation he has already won for us. Just as Adam rejoiced when he saw Eve “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23), so too we rejoice in the presence of “the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14), he took our human flesh.

Once again, the prophet enjoined: “Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened. Be strong fear not! Here is your God” (vv.3-4). Indeed, it is only the presence of the Lord and his salvation that can bring joy to the weak, the fearful, and the suffering. No doubt, the reason for the Lord’s coming was to relieve the sufferings of his people. As Isaiah prophesized: “Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy, they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee” (v.10).

In today’s Gospel (Mt. 11: 2-11) we are confronted with a rather shocking question by John the Baptist, the Precursor of the Messiah, who we could say knew about the Messiah more than anyone else. But doubts, existential inadequacies and may be the desire to help his disciples understand more about the Messiah propelled him to interrogating the identity of the Messiah, whom he talked about so passionately. Does it mean John the Baptist was not sure of what he was proclaiming? The preoccupying and thought-provoking question of John the Baptist: “Are you the one who is to come or are we to expect another” (Mt. 11:3), apparently, not only raises doubt in the minds of his listeners and followers, but also can lead to despair. Let us not forget the context in which John the Baptist found himself, the place from which he sent his disciples to go and ask Jesus. He was in prison in Herod’s fortress in Machaerus (the place is located very close to where the Jordan flows into the Dead sea, which is the lowest point on the surface of the earth, and the prison was fifteen miles south east of there and as such very hot). He was in the net of king Herod Antipas. Here, is John the Baptist, who Jesus said that he is “more than a prophet” (Lk.7:26). He that recognised Jesus before others as the Lamb of God, and as such indicated Him to his disciples: “Behold, the lamb of God. Behold he who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). He once said: “I have seen and I testify that he is the Chosen One of God” (Jn.1:34) and “He must increase and I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30). How come, that he of all persons, is raising this question. The reasons for this question can be many, but let us consider only three:

·       It does appear John the Baptist and his disciples had an already made idea and image of the Messiah different from the real image of the incarnated Son of God. They were expecting a Judge, a Vindicator. One who should start punishing sinners and rewarding the just, rather Jesus is meek and merciful, even though at the proper time he will assume his throne as the just Judge. So the apparent delay in the style of Jesus in showing the whole world that the Messiah has arrived must have triggered this quaestio in him.

·       May be, there is a sort of impatience in John, he has longed seeing this Messiah, and he can no longer wait for Him to start manifesting the power of His reign, at least before he dies in the prison. Probably he was disappointed.

·       The third consideration could be that after seeing his situation and condition in the prison (we remember the location of the prison and the insupportable heat), and maybe considering his own disciples who must have asked numerous questions, worried about their future and welfare he sent them to Jesus.

In all, the question of John the Baptist can raise other interrogations, and even doubts in our minds. Some scholars maintain that the question of John was out of doubt, while some church fathers rather, affirmed that his question was not for himself, rather for the benefit of his disciples (cf. St. Jerome Commentary on Mathew 2). However, even doubts do not diminish the faith of the prophet; in fact, we may say that there is no faith without doubt.

          Be that as it may, sometimes we may also run the risk of modelling an image of Christ in our own imagination and according to our mental schemes, our taste and ideology, according to what is in vogue or even according to our problems. Some would want a God who punishes there and then, a self-imposing God, a revolutionary God who comes like a volcano. But we have to accept Christ as He is: humble, simple, merciful, weak and defenceless (the Child in a manger). We cannot reduce God to our own categories and mental schemes, because He transcends us. He is not the one to adjust Himself to our measures and schemes, rather we have to adapt to the realities of His divinity and humanity. He took the part of the weak and the poor. At times, we want our expectations of peace and justice, our aspirations of good and breakthrough to be satisfied, there and then. However, the fact remains that God works in His own time and way. We have to adapt to the pace of God. Little wonder, in the spirituality of Advent are the values of a patient waiting and a trusting hope.

          To the question of John the Baptist, Jesus responded by making reference to his works: “the blind see, the lame work, lepers are made clean, and the poor received the Good tidings”. His doubt never diminished the esteem Jesus has for him. Jesus responded not with arguments, but with facts, and we can see the list. The disciples were to go back and tell John, not what Jesus was saying, but rather what he was doing. John, with his knowledge of the Old Testament, would then understand that in the healing of the sick, the lame, the blind, was clearly revealed the sign which the prophet Isaiah declared would denote the coming of the promised Messiah. God was at work in the actions of Jesus. Indeed, these were the works prophesized to be the features of the messianic time (cf. Is. 35). Jesus manifested in himself the fulfilment of messianic prophecies. Therefore, it is logical to conclude that: Christ is the one who is to come, the Promised Messiah. However, in responding to John’s disciples, literarily, Jesus commanded them: “Go and announce to John…” And it may interest us to know that in Greek this is parallel in structure to the command of Jesus to his disciples towards the end of the Gospel, “Go and teach all nations…” (Mt. 28:19). Again, Jesus’ command: “Go and tell him what you hear and see” (Mt. 11:4), can equally be said to be parallel to the invitation of Peter in his first letter “Simply proclaim the Lord Christ Holy in your hearts, and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you have” (1Pt.3:15). In the same vein, we may say that by that command John’s disciples have become the disciples of Jesus, for he has sent them through that command to go and teach what they hear and see. This is a passage of apostolic experience, from John to Jesus. And this transition in the apostolic experience can only come by if they are not scandalized by Jesus. He says that the “Good News is announced to the poor, blessed is the one that is not scandalized by me” (Mt. 11: 5-6). Interestingly, in Greek the word “scandalon” stands for a stone that one stumbles over. Then, invariably, Jesus is saying to John’s disciples that they are blessed if their faith in Him does not stumble because of the fact that John is in prison. And just like John’s disciples transitioned to Jesus’ disciples we are called to grow higher and closer to the Messiah.

          On the other hand, come to think about it, the question of John, could be considered a spiritual quest, as one of the spiritual masters has said, doubts, anxiousness to know, is better than an adhesion for Christ that is devoid of “anima”, passion and enthusiasm, a sterile and disinterested faith. The Word of God does not leave us indifferent, in the season of Advent, His word cannot but pierce our hearts and stimulate us. Today, many in difficulty, in crisis of faith and in existential indeterminism, still pose the question to Jesus: “Are you the Messiah, the Savior”? Humanly speaking, it is normal that we experience crisis, but it becomes tragic when we do not let it out, when we ignore or suffocate it. Little wonder, some of our brothers and sisters in difficult times have abandoned Christ, the Messiah, in search of other messiahs. But if we go to the root of the crisis, we shall come out of it with a mature and adult faith.

          The passage of the Gospel ended with an annotation thus: “Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (v.11). Jesus tells us invariably that we are lucky, for we live in the Kingdom of heaven. John only could say: “it’s coming” but we could say: “it’s here”. And again to say it with William Barclay in his commentary what was lacking in John the Baptist was that he could not see Jesus’ love for us as revealed on the Cross. We are luckier than John because he could not experience the full depth and density of God’s love on the Cross as we did.

          In the second reading instead, St. James (5:7-10) makes his voice heard and he advices: “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord” He invites us to cultivate the attitude of a farmer who works, plants seeds and patiently waits for the germination and growth of the seeds, in order to reap the fruits of his labour. Incumbent upon that, we may once again affirm that the image of a patient farmer is a veritable image in the spirituality of Advent, for more than ever we are called to assume the attitude of patience. In that passage of his letter, St. James used the word patient three times, and in Greek patience is translated “hypomone”. Hypomone delineates the disposition with which a Christian has to confront the difficulties of his faith-experience. Hypomone in its dynamic structure of persevering when one is heavy loaded comports the experience of being weighed down and the courage of remaining firm in view of what or who is to come.

          Brethren as it is suggestive of this Sunday, we rejoice for the New Child of Bethlehem that makes all things new, it was in view of Him, that God promised: “No need to remember past events, no need to think about what was done before. Look, I am doing something new, now it emerges; can you not see it?” (Is. 43:18-19a). Jesus is indeed, the New and Definitive Thing that God has done. No wonder, the last definition of God in the New Testament is the One who makes all things new (cf. Rev. 21:5). As we await in joyful hope to relive the experience of the Birth of our Savior may He give us the grace to continue to carry our lading of faith in view of our meeting with Him. Amen!!!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)

The Woman of Prevenient Grace!

(Homily for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary)

     The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is the feast of grace and its power. Today we celebrate God's victory over evil, the triumph of grace over sin, human nature is preserved in Mary from the contagion of guilt and sin. Although the Solemnity we are celebrating today was not in vigour until the middle ages, even that time, it was not universally accepted, some medieval scholars felt that it was contrary to the Pauline teachings on the universality of human sin (cf. Rm. 3:9, 23) and equally to the enunciation of article XV of the Belgic Confession, which holds that Christ alone did not sin. As a matter of fact, our celebration today offers us an opportunity to peruse into this Doctrine and equally to understand why the Catholic Church holds on to it. Going back to history lane, the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was formally defined as a doctrine of the Church by Pope Pius IX in1854. It is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original, that kind of twist in our nature that makes our will tend not to follow what it knows to be right, but the contrary. The doctrine is anchored in advance on God’s redemptive act through Christ. This is Prevenient Grace. “The Virgin Mary at the moment of conception was preserved in advance from all defilement of original sin by a unique privilege of grace in view of the merits of Jesus Christ.” This is a name or title chosen by Mary Herself, we remember the episode on 25th March 1858, the day of the sixteenth apparition of Lourdes, and Bernadette asked the “Lady” her name. The “Lady” replied in the local dialect: “Que soy era Immaculada Counceptiou”, which means “I am the Immaculate Conception”. Mary’s greatness and favor springs from her relation with God. She is a woman of prevenient and enabling grace. In the Gospel of Luke we see the relation of Mary with God the Father: “He who is Mighty has done great things for me” (Lk. 1:49). Indeed, her Immaculate Conception is one of those great things.

     In the first reading (Gen. 3:9-15, 20) we are presented with the story of the fall, which is seen as the origin of evil. Even though it is glaring that the famous Eden cannot be located on a map, and the event of the eating of the forbidden fruit cannot be dated, however, the story of Adam and Eve is no doubt, the expression of fundamental truths about man, and at the heart of that truth is the assertion that the ordeals and woes of human life are majorly caused by man’s rejection of God’s design and divine destiny.

     Furthermore, evil in this passage was symbolized by the serpent. In verse 15 we see the earliest promise of man’s final victory and conquest over evil, the Protevangelium. On the other hand the passage speaks of the perennial antagonism between man and evil, represented by the serpent. Indeed, this earliest promise of man’s victory over evil connects us well to the Solemnity of this day. For the victory came about because the seed that achieved the final victory over evil was born through the woman: Mary. Little wonder, some Church fathers established in their writings a sort of a contrast between Eve and Mary, in fact, Mary at times is considered by some as the New Eve. As a matter of fact, Eve by and through her disobedience brought evil into the world, and contrarily, Mary by and through her obedience let in the Victor over evil into the world.

     The second reading (Eph. 1:3-6,11-12) with the thanksgiving at the beginning situates well the salvation wrought by God in and through Christ into the context of the story of salvation, of course it started with God’s plan: “he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and faultless before him in love” (v.3). Without mincing words, it behooves us to affirm that Mary is part of the “us” chosen before the foundation of the world. But the Virgin Mary is the only creature in the world redeemed by Christ Jesus for prevention and not for liberation from sin. In the words of Pope Francis: “Above all, today's liturgical feast celebrates one of the marvels of the history of salvation: the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. She too was saved by Christ, but in an extraordinary way, because God wanted that from the moment of her conception the mother of her Son should not be touched by the misery of sin. And therefore Mary, throughout the course of her earthly life, was free from any stain of sin, she was the "full of grace" (Angelus, 8 December 2020).

     In the Gospel passage (Lk. 1:26-38) we are presented with the passage that affirms categorically the obedience of Mary which made the Incarnation possible. Although, there is no Gospel passage that affirms the Immaculate Conception but our present passage asserts God’s choice of Mary and Mary’s obedience that sets the realization of God’s plan in motion. The passage of the Annunciation remains like a masterpiece that you can't stop admiring. Even if you know every detail of the story, the beauty that shines through it never allows you to get used to it, it is perennially admirable. Indeed, in Mary the word of God does not find an obstacle but a mirror, an entirely original way of reflecting itself, of spreading, and expanding.

     The Greek word "kekaritomène", with which the angel greeted her, can be translated literally as “favoured” or “privileged”, but the Greek verbs therein denotes a kind of transformation of the subject: “charitòo”, which entails being transformed through this favour or grace. The word expresses election, the predestination to the maternity of the Messiah. Thus, "kekaritomène" is not just full of grace, it can be translated as "she to whom grace has been given", and this becomes the new name attributed to Mary by God. The Latin Vulgate translates it "Gratia plena", but in Greek it is much stronger and more precise. Indeed, that word describes the gift of grace given to Mary by the Lord even before her birth, and that is the power of the prevenient grace. Since her conception she had the privilege of being called to divine motherhood, and for this reason she was protected and kept so that she could offer the Word all the beauty of creation that shone in her. This is the power of divine grace in action!

     Mary was perturbed at the words of the angel and she wondered what he meant by such a greeting. Mary like every human being in a similar circumstance was caught up with fear, questioning and uncertainty. But the turning point of her story does not consist in not having fear or questions or having sentiments of uncertainty, but in knowing how to trust God despite one's fear, one's questions and the uncertainties. Then the angel told her: "Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found grace with God." Indeed, human experience confirms that being afraid and being told not to be afraid alone does not make one fearless, rather it just makes one feel not understood. Little wonder, Mary will express her full joy in front of Elizabeth and not in front of the angel, because with her cousin she will feel understood enough to be able to find right interpretations to what happened to her.

     In Mary’s response: «Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word”, we see Mary’s full availability and disposition to what God was about to accomplish with and through her. Indeed, the words of Mary are like the prefiguration of “the Lord’s Prayer, Our Father, for in her fiat is condensed the phrase: “thy will be done.” Every time we say yes to God, something changes in us, but always for the better, Sure it does!

     As a matter fact, the readings of today bring three important facts to our consideration:

►that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception does not compromise the truth that all men, including the Blessed Virgin Mary belong to the fallen humanity.

►that the salvation of humanity depends on Christ alone, once again including the Blessed Virgin Mary.

►that the affirmation of the Immaculate Conception is a way of affirming Mary’s total commitment and obedience to God as revealed in the Scriptures.

     Above all, in our Advent journey therefore, we are invited to contemplate one of the marvels accomplished by the grace of God: the Blessed Virgin Mary. May Mary the Woman of Prevenient grace and the Ark of the New Covenant intercede for us as we prepare more eagerly to welcome her Son: Jesus Christ, Amen!

(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)