THAT TALL ORDER: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

HOMILY FOR THE 7^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Was it not the 19^th century politician and a former US president, Abraham Lincoln who once said: do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends? There was a man who lived near a forest with his son. Beside the forest, they had a farm wherein they grew different crops. One morning, as they were working in their farmland, the father saw the footprint of a bear, and spoke loudly to his son how unsafe their farm was and how the bear would cause them some economic loss. He then bought a gun, and went into the forest in search of the bear, but he could not succeed in hunting him down. The son advised him to just build a fence round the farm and stop wasting his time hunting an animal who is merely trying to survive. He later on agreed with his son and built the fence, but would always release some gunshots every evening to signal to the bear that he was not wanted at all. As these were happening, the son was not content to leave things like that. He wanted to tame the bear. Unknown to his father, every evening, he stole out and deposited some very tempting scraps of food outside the fence. And how happy he was that every morning , he discovered that they had all been taken, most probably he thought, by the bear.

The father was not happy when he discovered what his son was doing, and he cautioned him to stop. ‘You cannot tame him,’ he said. Should you not actually help me to destroy him rather than helping him, he added? But the son retorted: but dad, will I not in a sense help in destroying him by taming him? But the father convinced that the bear cannot be tamed replied: he is but a wild brute. But the son insisted: I know he can be vicious, but it is because he feels unsafe wherever humans are and is convinced that they always want him dead; so he has to defend himself. By acting the way we do, we help in bringing out the worst in him. ‘So I believe,’ the boy concluded, ‘that if we act nicely to him, we will see that he can also be nice to us.’ So, the boy continued to feed the bear to the moment he started showing himself as the depositor of the scraps of food. The bear started liking him, and they became friends. The bear did not eat their crops again, even when the boy wasn’t around to feed him. The father stopped living under the pressure of loss in the farmland, as he realized that his son was right after all; his son had destroyed the bear by taming him. They lived as good neighbours afterwards.

1. And here comes the fulcrum of the readings of today which hinges on that that very tall order: love your enemies. Yes, Jesus expects us to love them even at the point of realizing how vicious they are and never to retaliate even at the point when they are vulnerable in our hands. The First Reading (1 Samuel 26:2. 7-9. 12-13. 22-23) tells the story of how David spared Saul’s life, a man who was ready to kill him at sight. David got the chance to kill him at a point when he was vulnerable, but used that opportunity to prove to him that love and forgiveness conquers all. In the Gospel (Luke 6:27-38), Jesus begins with a very tough sentence to his disciples: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. And we must admit that love can be conceptually easy, but practically hard, not to think of the love of enemies. Think about how you feel when you try loving someone, as the person relentlessly offers you ‘good’ reasons not to. How do you feel when you truly love and the person in turn hurts you? I tell you what; Jesus says: keep loving. 

2. If we can learn something from the action of that boy who fed the bear, and apply it in our own lives, we shall indeed be marvelled at the tremendous effect it will have in us. It was Mahatma Gandhi who once said: ‘It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.’ True religion lies in going beyond the normal. It lies in doing that extra thing that makes us outstanding as believers. In this case, that extra thing is: love your enemies.

3. We need not be like those who hate us. Remember that story of a snake who rolled up itself round a saw in a carpentry shop. It turned and bit the saw, and by biting the saw hurt itself badly in the mouth. The snake thinking that the saw was attacking him decided to roll around the saw with all his strength as if wanting to suffocate him with his whole body. Unfortunately, the snake ended up being killed by the saw. Sometimes, when we react in anger and desire to hurt those who hurt us, we end up hurting and killing ourselves. In life, it is simply better to not allow hurtful feelings and situations to rule us, because the consequences can really be self catastrophic.

4. Sometimes, the love of enemies can be frustrating; really exasperating. However, we need not change our nature and way of life because of how the other reacts to us. The best revenge is to love. And many times, nothing pains the one who hates than receiving love from the one he/she hates. We do not also forget the story of the old man who stretched his hands to save a sinking scorpion. But as he did, the scorpion  kept on stinging him, to the extent that the grand son ridiculed his old grandfather: why do you keep on intending to save it why it is not complying and even hurting you? The old man looked round and found a small spoon, and with it saved the drowning scorpion. He then spoke to his grandson and said: it is in the nature of the scorpion to sting, but not mine. My nature is to love, care and save lives. The nature of the scorpion cannot change mine. Always stay true to your nature. Our nature is modelled after Christ, the heavenly man as said in the Second Reading (1 Cor. 15:45-49). Through Him, we now have a life giving spirited nature. Our nature is to love.

Commenting on these words of Christ, Martin Luther King Jr. has this to say: Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, ‘love your enemies.’ It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So, love your enemies. Let us help to destroy the bear by taming him. Let us destroy enmity by love. God bless you. Happy new week.

WHAT AN UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM!!!

HOMILY FOR THE 6^TH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C.

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

There was this story of the meeting of Archbishop Fulton Sheen who reported his encounter with Saint Theresa of Calcutta. He was visiting her for the first time in her place of apostolate in Calcutta. After observing the mass of dirt and depraved humanity that gathered in her centre: the lame, the blind, the dumb, and the rejected, the bishop asked her: how do you talk to this people about Christ in this their state? Of course, for the bishop, those people were so deplorable and under great discomfort that their desire would be to satisfy the problems of this life, and not to hear about Christ. And soothingly so, Mother Theresa answered him: I do not talk to them about Christ. I pick them up from the gutters and the streets; give them food and water, give them a home and a sense of belonging, the only thing that society denies them. Then I ask them if they would like to hear about Christ. To this, they have always replied: is Christ like you? And my answer has been: Christ is not like me, but I strive to be like him. “Then, tell us about him,” they all usually say; and from  there our discussion about Christ will start. The best preachers are the doers.

1. The big lesson here is that those materially poor people did not respond to Christ because of their poverty but because they experienced Christ in Mother Theresa. One thing must be spelt out: they did not desire to hear about Christ from Mother Theresa because they were poor, even though their poor status attracted Mother to them. Rather, they did because of Mother’s care and affection to them. And this is why they can be declared blessed. They are lucky enough that their status attracted them to the message of Christ. This is the first step in understanding the Gospel Reading (Luke 6:17.20-26) which is Luke’s own version of the Beatitudes. The similarity about the beatitudes of Luke to Matthew is that they were placed as the welcome speech of Jesus to his twelve apostles whom he had already selected out of the many others in Luke 6:12 -16 (cf. Mat.4:18-22). However, something spectacular about Luke is that his version of the beatitudes are four in number (8 in Matthew); together with the fact that he situated Jesus and the apostles on a level place (on a mount in Matthew). And again, there are these four woes that followed those beatitudes, most probably to act as a juxtaposition. Is it not true that the life of blessedness implies a choice against the life of agony and woes? The choice is ours to make.

2. Thus, there are two groups of people that stand out in the Gospel: the Blessed (Happy) Group and the Alas (the woeful) Group. Paradoxically and surprising indeed, the members of the happy group are those who ought to, in the world’s standard be sad and miserable: the poor, the hungry, the weepy, the hated, the rejected, the abused and the slandered; where as the members of the woeful group are those who ought to, in the world’s standard be fulfilled and happy: the rich, the wealthy, the exultant and the honourable. Is this not a miraculous and revolutionary reversal? It is indeed an upside down kingdom. And come to think of it, how can those who suffer now be the happy people? Does it entail that poverty, injustice, or hunger can be a blessing? And how can those who enjoy and are successful now become the woeful people? Does it entail that riches or wealth can be a curse? Now, let us try to get it. The poor are simply those who have discovered how empty they really are, and have learnt to hunger and hope on God. They have discovered that it takes darkness to see the distant stars. In whatever material/economical state they find themselves, they are able to profess Christ and are ready to let go of earthly acquisition to store up treasures for themselves in heaven. Thus, can we be poor?

3. Back to our lead story, those poor people in Calcutta desired to hear about Christ because they saw a good representative of Christ. Their economically poor state does not imply that they are miserable in their hearts. Similarly, it does not also imply that the economically rich are the happiest in their hearts. As against some popular notions, material poverty and lack are not the major enhancers of religion and spirituality. The true enhancer of true religion is the feeling of lack and poverty in our souls that are restlessly seeking for God. And indeed, if there is anything that can help to give a man the false impression of happiness, it is wealth. And the wealthy keeps on discovering that wealth does not entail happiness. And many times, the more the expansion of wealth, the more the feeling of emptiness widens. Riches and comfort in the end leave us in a spiritual desert. And sadly enough, people tend to believe that this feeling can be filled in with an extra pursuit for wealth, but it always turns out to be false. Now, what is it that can fill in this emptiness? How can we come out of this desert?

4. On a good look at the First Reading (Jer. 17:5-8), one discovers that the two groups of the Gospel is reflected. The Lord declared both a curse and a blessing. For those who put their trust in man, there is curse, but for those who put their trust in God, there is blessing. Does this not then offer us more clue in understanding better the beatitudes and the woes in the Gospel? The blessed and happy people are those who put their trust in God, where as the woeful people are those who put their trust in man. Trust is the spiritual vision that can quench this emptiness. If we fail to trust, we cannot love God. Thus, trusting in God allows the soul to be filled by contentment and happiness, knowing fully well that God has got our backs. We do not desire to be members of the second group, the woeful people who put their trust in man (in riches, in worldly honour, in wealth and in plentifulness). We desire to be among the blessed group who put their trust in God, irrespective of the earthly discomfort that can come with it. I hope we do.

These earthly discomforts can include: giving even in lack, going hungry even in abundance of wine and milk, that other might eat, weeping for the course of right, being hated for our faith, being rejected for our love, being abused for trusting and being calumniated for our belief; all because of Jesus. But what is indeed frightening today is that the disciples of Jesus are so frequently in comfort. May the Lord make us blessed always. Amen. Happy new week. God bless you.

CASTING INTO THE DEEP WATERS

HOMILY FOR THE 5^TH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

There is this awesome similarity that the readings of this Sunday present to us. The First Reading (Isaiah 6:1-8) narrates the episode of how Isaiah was commissioned by God. Paul tells the story of his ministry and status in the Second Reading (1 Cor. 15:1-11), while the Gospel (Luke 5:1-11) tells the story of the call and change of profession of Peter and a few other disciples of Christ. In these three readings are three great personalities, Isaiah, Paul and Peter who passed through moments of inferiority complex in their answer towards the call. Indeed, they were not spontaneous volunteers. Their acceptance of the call was as a result of a somewhat persuasion, because they felt unworthy of it. Isaiah needed a push to accept that he was fit to become a prophet. Paul reminded himself of how he was caught on the way while persecuting the Church and thus should be regarded as the least of the apostles. Peter pleaded with Jesus to depart from Him for he was a sinful man who was not worthy of him. They all started by admitting their unworthiness, sinfulness, and shortcomings, but ended up doing great things by their acceptance of the call of God. They were obedient to “cast into the deep waters”, and for that reason they made a good catch. They abandoned themselves totally to the will of God in their mission. Faith is our response to God's invitation.

1. Relying on God and admitting our unworthiness is the first way to success in our spiritual and daily life. Isaiah, Paul and Peter relied not on their own resources but on God’s help. They each did an amazing job. Beginning with such conviction helped them not to seek their own glories but the glory of the one who called them. Their sense of unworthiness grew out of their sense of God. The discovery of one’s own spiritual poverty opens the soul up to receive what God is offering. Human pride, the feeling of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness are sure ways to become failures. When we recognize our weakness and sinfulness, the power of God becomes our strength and courage, for his grace is ever sufficient for us. When we make ourselves empty, God can fill us in. When we don’t shy away from our weakness, God strengthens us. When we are poor, God enriches us. When we are humble, God exalts us. Encountering Jesus brings us face to face with our unworthiness. And the awareness of our unworthiness challenges us to be humble.

2. In the Gospel, Jesus encountered Peter and the other apostles at the sea of Galilee. They had worked all through the night but caught no fish. As they were disembarking from the boats, Jesus met them and embarked on one of the boats to preach and teach from there. It was Simon Peter’s boat. Jesus was aware of their business and how they had failed all through the night. He was there to give them hope again. These apostles were doing their business and the Lord encountered them there. The Lord encounters us in the seriousness and the weariness of our daily business. Once upon a time, St. Francis of Assisi was working in his garden, some of his young disciples stopped by to engage him in some theological speculation. One of them asked him what he would do with the rest of the day if he were to receive a message that it was his last day to live. Francis immediately answered: first, I would finish this work in my garden.” Having faith does not entail laziness in our jobs. God wants us to work that he may encounter us in the seriousness and the weariness of that job.

3. These men were not successful in their business as fishermen that night until they encountered Jesus. Without Jesus, there was no fish. With Jesus, there was abundance. What does this tell us? If only we can introduce Jesus into our daily businesses and life, then can we experience this grace of abundance that Peter and the rest did experience. Recognizing their frustration, Jesus invited Simon to cast into the deep waters. And those nets that had been washed were again used. Those nets that caught nothing were filled to tearing point. Those nets knew the voice of the master and obeyed. Those fishes recognized the presence of their creator and rushed into those nets that were let down from the boat wherein He, Jesus stayed. They wanted to experience and obey their creator. The fishes were so numerous that the apostles signalled for help. Is it not true that we tend to forget Jesus during the darkness of our careers, during the feeling of emptiness and during crisis moments thinking we can solve the problems by our own efforts and reasoning? Invite Jesus, cast into the deep waters and be ready to share the abundance testimony.

4. We must not forget that one of the reasons they had this experience of abundance was because Peter obeyed Jesus and tried again. Tired as Peter was, he was ready to try again; he made another effort: but at your command, I will lower the nets. Reluctant as Isaiah was, he was ready to become a prophet because he was called by God: here I am, Lord, send me. Stubborn as Paul was, he was ready to allow the Lord use him: for by the grace of God, I am what I am. The disposition to obey and try again is needed. Most people are ready to give up so soon. We must live with the conviction that even when we feel the end of something has come, it does not mean we stop the effort. We may find ourselves working hard and hard, and yet nothing tangible to show for it. At that moment, we need not give up, for even the word ‘END’ can mean Effort Never Dies. Sometimes, it may seem hopeless to continue, but remember what Peter did: I will do so because you have said so. And the miracle happened. If we really need our own miracle, we must take Jesus at his words when he invites us even to attempt the impossible.

5. They left everything, even the numerous fishes they caught and followed Jesus. This is surprising!!! One would have expected them to sell the fishes for more income so as to make the profit they needed having worked all night in frustration, but suddenly succeeded in the morning. The night was over, the night that was the prime time for a good catch. Yet, they never succeeded. Their success came in the morning, a time when they were preparing to go home in frustration. After succeeding, they still left everything. This is because they encountered a higher value. They now needed to move from casting their nets into the deep waters to casting their nets into the deep world. This is the higher value, and they were ready for this. Peter, James and John had sacrificed everything they have got for the sake of Jesus. Their business empire got increased, but that did not distract them. Instead, they shared the resources to others. They brought out the boat to the shore, left everything, most probably for the other fishermen that helped them, and went with the Lord to evangelize. It is left for us to answer the question: how often are we ready to share our resources to others for the sake of our encounter with Jesus?

These are the ways we can cast into the deep waters. May Christ’s presence never depart from our daily jobs and lives. Amen. Happy new week. God bless you.

THE PROPHET’S PLIGHT

HOMILY FOR THE 4^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

A particular family was forced to live in a deep cave because of the hostility and unrest of her town’s people. At first, they found it difficult to live in there because it was dark. But because they found the new place safe enough, they learnt to see in the dark. The only time they left the cave was at night in search of food and other necessities of life. Their day-to-day activity and life were all in the cave. They kept on reminding one another how unsafe, wicked and hostile the outside world was and how the people were all evil. They looked on themselves as the saved ones and even pitied the people who lived outside. They were happy with their new home and vowed never to return to the world of hostility again. Years passed and the first generation had turned very old. However, their oral tradition of tagging the outside world evil and their mode of survival in the dark did not stop. They were so interested in the evil of others that they could not see the limitations of their existence, the smallness of their world and the fact that they were living in fear.

One day, a young man in their midst took the courage to leave the cave at daybreak. He saw how beautiful the daylight was, a world warmed up by sunshine, perfumed by the scent of flowers and filled with birdsong. His people on discovering that he left the cave tagged him as a traitor. Soon, the young man saw how different the world outside the cave was. It is true that ugly things happened, but he believed his tradition exaggerated them. He made friends and started living happily. But soon, he remembered his people in the cave, and feeling sorry for them decided to go bring them out. On arrival and on entering the cave with his torchlight, the old people shouted at him to ‘put out the light at once! You will give us all away.’ He told them the story of how lovely and safe the outside world now was and that he desired to liberate them from their self-made prison. Of course, they did not listen to him. They had not even forgiven him as a traitor who left the cave. They rushed at him, smashed his torchlight and bundled him out of the cave.

1. That young man was a prophet to his people who desired to liberate them from darkness, fear and timidity, but his own people rejected him. Sometimes, we are inclined to think of prophets as fortune-tellers or those who tell what is going to happen in the future. This is not who a prophet is according to the Scripture. A prophet is simply someone who is sent by God to speak on his behalf. Far from being a magician, he/she is someone who is able to speak the exact message from God and truthfully too. Even when people are afraid to say and confront the truth, the prophet is not. Filled with courage, he/she speaks truth to the face. Now, we can imagine why he/she faces rejection a lot. The prophet is not diplomatic with the message of God. He/she destroys our illusions and lays bare our pretences. He/she tells those truths about us that we are afraid to confront. He/she does not caress us with what we want to hear, but with what God wants us to hear. This is what Jesus was to his people when he spoke to them in the synagogue (cf. Gospel: Luke 4:21-30). This is also the mission to which God sends us as prophets to the nations (cf. First Reading: Jer. 1:4-5,17-19).

2. Jesus spoke in his home town, Nazareth in such an amazing way that instead of believing in him and growing in faith, his people trivialized his message by reminding themselves of his family root: surely, this is Joseph’s son? And citing episodes in the Scriptures about Elijah and Elisha, Jesus told them the most painful truth that any Jew would not want to hear: that salvation is also meant for Gentiles. On hearing this, they acted exactly like those elders in the cave according to our lead story. They even wanted to kill him. Jesus faced rejection in his own town. He was rejected and ejected by his own people, because he did not say what they want to hear. How many prophets have we as individuals, families, groups, societies and even as a Church rejected? We fight against any truth that we do not want to face. In the fear of changing our old ways, we force ourselves to despise the truth, reject the message and even eject the messenger. A prophet is not a noise maker at all, but he cannot help but speak. If he does not speak, that role of prophecy becomes superfluous. The prophet is ready to die for his message.

3. But the hard truth about it is that even when we succeed in killing the prophet, the truth does not die, for even after death, the voice of truth would endlessly echo in our minds. Our times need us to become the new prophets. It is now time to reclaim our identity as Christians who are ever ready like the apostles of old to speak the truth to power and even die for it; otherwise we may have to watch our faith heritage as it crumbles before our very eyes. It was almost inconceivable for a Jew to think, not to talk of speaking about the salvation of Gentiles and God’s option for them because of the hardness of the hearts of Jews. But as the prophet Jesus was, he broke that fear in an effort to liberate his people from such erroneous notion and belief. Sadly indeed, and as humans could be in their tenacious grip to selfish and exclusivistic notions, the people tried to kill their prophet. They preferred darkness to light. We are today extensions of Jesus, commissioned as prophets. Yes, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you and consecrated you as prophet to the nations. Thus, brace yourself for action, stand up and speak what I command you. It is the Lord who speaks through Jeremiah to you and I today.  

4. We must be ever ready to face rejections as prophets, because the people we minister to reflect also the people of Jesus and the people of the cave. It is our collective duty as Christians, for we have been commissioned by virtue of our baptism as prophets. We have received the empowerment as prophets and teachers of the message of faith, hope and love. We must therefore not shy away from this. Nothing should be able to make us afraid, for after all, there are three things that last: faith, hope, and love (cf. Second Reading: 1 Cor. 12:31 -13:13), and never are they wealth, security, and the law. Sadly indeed, we have replaced the last three things with these three earthly pursuit. It is our plight to face rejection. That the Lord knows us from the womb signifies that he is most interested in the child in the womb. Speaking truth to power attracts some attacks. However, it is our plight to be killed. Do not stir up a stagnant pond and expect a lot of mud not to rise to the surface. We must encourage one another and work towards building a kingdom of truth here on earth, for without truth and courage, we fail as prophets. Happy new week, and the new month of February. God bless you.