THE DAWN OF THE NEW WORLD

HOMILY FOR THE 33^RD SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C.

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

 

It is not so surprising that the reading at Mass recently have worn a new tone. This is the tone of an expectation; an expectation of something better, Christ-like, and divine. That is the tone of Today’s Readings. It is a tone which reminds us of the season of Advent; when we expect the coming of Christ in Christmas. Hence, this Liturgical year C is about to be wrapped up, giving way for a new one (Year A). I therefore welcome you to our food soul for the week.

There were two boys who were close friends. They were about to finish their secondary schools, when one asked the other cleverly: Charly, what profession do you want to go for? Charly answered: Dan, I want to go for Medicine. Charles was very surprised and indeed pitied his friend that he was about to go for a profession that takes years of rigorous formation to attain. Daniel on the other hand desired greatly to continue with his father’s business after their graduation, and not to bother himself with tertiary education. He had thought that people aspire for profession so as to be rich and comfortable in the future, but himself had already a rich background, and so need not to go further, for all he needs is to get an average study that can help him interact with business associates. Many years passed. Daniel had become a very rich merchant, while Charles was working as a visiting medical doctor in a private hospital (which was actually bought over by Daniel, his secondary school friend). One day, the only son of the rich Mr. Daniel fell sick, and was rushed to the hospital. All the doctors tried their best but had not enough expertise for such a rare sickness. It was then that one of the nurses remembered the visiting doctor who has manifested great expertise in many tough cases. Doctor Charles was called who quickly rushed in where the boy was and laid his ‘magical hands’ on the sick boy. After some minutes, the nurse assistant came out smiling at everyone. She gave out the good news that the boy was saved. Where is the doctor, shouted Mr. Dan? He just left through the backdoor, replied the nurse. The doctor was about to enter his car when Mr. Dan rushed to thank him. It was then they recognized themselves. Oh, what a day!!! Mr. Dan realized that nothing life-gaining comes easy. He thanked his friend for accepting to become a medical doctor.

Christianity is a life gaining venture. However, for lives to be saved, lives also are lost. Old lives are lost. New lives are gained. To become one of the promoters of this gain, one must be ready to face threatening conditions and situations that can make him/her loose this biological life. Before the new comes, the old will suffocated. Yes, there will be a new world which will replace the old world. There are also signs that will accompany this replacement. And these signs will be terrific, but endurance leads us towards winning. The Gospel (Luke 21:5-19) gives us an exposition of these terrific happenings that can accompany the coming of a new world. Some of the things we have flares for in this life are not needed for the new world. People spoke of the adornment of the Temple of Jerusalem, without knowing that things seen will pass away, while things not yet seen will not pass away. It was a comment on the splendour of the temple that moved Jesus to prophesy. In the Temple, the pillars of the porches and of the cloisters were columns of white marble, forty feet high, each made of one single block of stone. Indeed, to the Jews, it was unthinkable that the glory of the Temple should be shattered to dust.

Yes, the present world will pass away, but the new world can never pass away. Jesus made them to understand this. Jesus reads the signs of history through the eyes of God. That is why he understood well the trouble that will go with the dawn of the new world. However, Jesus spoke of a safety that overshadows the threats of life. Not one hair of your head will be harmed. When we are in Christ, we are sure that our souls can never be lost, even though in the eyes of men, we may have lost our lives. This new world is a world solely with Christ. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (cf. 2 Cor 5:17)Christ is the initiator; he alone is the king. Only the will of Christ is done; and there is no double will in man. Man possesses then the singularity of doing that which pleases God.

The new world has no evil, for then, evil has been destroyed and annihilated. The First Reading (Malachi 4:1-2a) explicates on how the old world will be wiped away. The old world is a world of sin, of suffering, of injustice, of hatred. This is the world that will be wiped out, and its place will be taken by the completely new reality where only good exists. We must keep waiting for this new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells (cf. 2 Pet 3:13). This new world, we must say has been inaugurated with the death and resurrection of Christ, and it will be completed at God’s own time. But this new world requires a lot of patience, tolerance, and suffering; these must begin inside each one of us.

We must here on earth work hard to create a new world in our lives. We can create a new world in the life of our family members by making sure hatred, evil, calumny, aggression, gossip, envy are expunged, and replacing them with love, goodness, kind words, patience, and acceptance of all. We can create a new world in the life of your friends by stopping to give bad advice, seduction and scandal, and not making effort to pull him/her down; so can we introduce good advice and mutual upliftment. In your business area, you can create a new world by developing the spirit of contentment, sincerity, honesty, and truthfulness; and so have we removed greed, insincerity, dishonesty and lies. In your academic career, the old world can be destroyed by avoiding examination malpractices, distractions so as to replace them with hard work, and concentration. Generally speaking, in our spiritual lives, a new world can be created by detaching ourselves from evil and attaching ourselves to God.

Nothing good comes easy. The new world is good. Hence, the new world cannot come so easy. We must expect some hinges and obstacles as we walk towards this new world. In our normal life experiences, we need a dint of hard work and focus to aspire towards a goal and to make it. Just like our lead story, Charles aspired towards becoming a medical doctor and made it. And it was through him, that God saved the life of his friend’s son. When we create a new thing in our lives by our efforts, we may not know what God wants to achieve through that height reached, in such a way that if we fail to attain that height, we may be hurting someone whom our status needed to have saved. When God gives you a talent, time or treasure to save, work hard knowing fully well that His grace is sufficient for you. In the path towards this goal, we may encounter difficulties; but endurance, patience and more work will catapult us to our purpose. May your own new world shine forth. May your aspiration be made manifest. May all of us too be inhabitants of the ultimate new world. This I wish you as I am pretty sure that the new week comes with blessings for you.