STAY AWAKE!

HOMILY FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Even though we can identify exactly when Christmas Day will be celebrated according to the liturgical calendar, The Son of Man will be coming at an hour that we do not expect (Matt 24:44).

You must have heard the story about the three demons who were coming to earth in order to deceive men and lure them to Satan. The three demons were seeking advice from their boss, Satan, regarding their plans to tempt and ruin mankind.

  The first demon said, “I will tell them that God doesn’t exist.” Satan laughed dismissively and said: “that won’t deceive people, for so many have experience of God in their lives.”

  The second demon said, “I will tell them that Hell does not exist, so they can just go ahead and do whatever they like with their lives.” Satan laughed out loud and said: “people know that there is always a punishment to fit the crime. They will never believe that there is no Hell.”

  The third demon said, “I will tell men that they have plenty of time; that they should relax, take life easy and be in no hurry to amend their lives, for there is always tomorrow.” Satan didn’t laugh this time. An evil grin crept across his face. “Off you go,” he said, “for you will manage to deceive billions upon billions of people.”

Advent is a time to remind ourselves that “time and tide wait for no man”. The clock is ticking … tick-tock! The Lord will come at an hour we do not expect. So, as we get ready for Christmas, the time of which we do know, we should remind ourselves of the need to be constantly vigilant and spiritually ready for the final coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the time of which we don’t know.

When He was here on earth, Jesus talked about himself as The Son of Man. Since we do not know the hour of the second coming of The Son of Man, we are encouraged in the Gospel Reading (Mt 24:37-44) to be ready at all times. Every one of us is aware that when we know the specific time of something that is going to happen (for example when we’ve scheduled something in our diary), there is this temptation to leave things until the last minute. When we don’t have to guess when something is going to happen, we lose that sense of anticipation and expectation. Conversely, then, the lack of information about the arrival of Our Lord at His second coming contributes to keeping us on our toes in fulfilling the demands of the Christian life. In so doing, we do not merely wait passively for the arrival of the Lord, but we are actively prepared and ready for Him. It is futile - and a waste of God’s good time - to expend our energies on trying to discern the hour of the return of The Son of Man. Be warned that speculation regarding the time of the second coming is actually nothing less than blasphemy, for anyone who does this is seeking to wrest from God a secret which belongs to God alone. We can say, then, that Advent is not a time for speculation about the timing of the coming of The Lord, but a time for examination of ourselves with regard to how attentive we are to His message of salvation.

In his admonition in today’s gospel reading, Jesus made reference to the story of Noah. Noah listened to God, prepared himself for the flood, and was saved; but those others, who were focused entirely on their earthly lives and were ignoring God, were lost. The others allowed the activities of this life (even the essentials) to rip them from the activity of heaven. We must never be so immersed in the things of this life that we neglect to prepare for eternity and the eternal life that awaits us. In immersing ourselves in things of this side of eternity, we tend to forgo God, to shove Him to one side; and so, at some point, time catches up with us with shattering suddenness. To live without watchfulness for the Day of the Lord can be disastrous for us. The primary weapon of the thief is surprise; the householder must be constantly on watchful guard against the burglar. We too must be watchful, not with fear (for God is no burglar) but with joy, with eager expectation for the Lord who will come in glory. The season of Advent is to remind us of the need to ready ourselves for His second coming, and to be filled with eager expectation of the time when there will be no more war or hatred, because the people of God will be walking in the light of the Lord (cf. First Reading; Isa 2:1-5). Advent is a time of preparation, peace and stillness so that each one of us shall be alert to detect those signals by which God wants to lead us out of our weaknesses, prejudices and fears.  

Let’s think a bit more about that story about the demons. We deceive ourselves whenever we allow ourselves to be convinced that there is still plenty of time for us to acknowledge God and to do good things. There is no greater deception by Satan than that which delays our invitation to God to come into our lives, the deception that convinces us to put off conversion to the will of God until tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. Let’s get it done. The sooner, the better. But isn’t it true that some people derive pleasure in turning away from God, in postponing their daily conversion, in refusing to participate in good works, in ridiculing the virtuous life and in deliberately declining to reconcile with God and the Church? For example, they tell themselves: Oh, I can come back to the Church any time I want!  But the second coming of the Lord brings with it great surprises. And indeed, life is full of surprises. It is therefore good practice to be ready for the surprises of each day, and for us to extract virtues from them. We ought to live each day knowing that our salvation is nearer than when we first began to believe (cf. the 2nd Reading: Rom. 13:11-14a). We must keep on mining virtues as the days run by!

Advent alerts us to prepare for surprises and sudden changes. How should we get ready for these in our daily lives?

   Sometimes, it can be really worrying to see a change in people’s attitude towards us, especially in those close to us. This is when we have to mine the virtue of patience.

   Sometimes, people’s words and actions can devastate us, especially when they clash with our own plans and desires. That’s when we have to mine the virtue of tolerance.

   At other times, we might be pleasantly surprised, even bewildered, by people’s good intentions and brave endeavours, especially by those from whom we wouldn’t necessarily expect them. Our reaction ought to be one of sincere affirmation, believing in the hidden treasures implanted by God in every person. That’s when we mine the virtue of acceptance.

The list of virtues we can mine through the daily experiences of sudden changes can be lengthy! By undertaking this task of mining virtues, we will have started the Advent season on solid ground.

May the new liturgical year bring forth favours from God and an increase of joy in our lives. May I wish you a lovely and spiritually profitable Advent season. Amen. God bless you.  

JESUS, REMEMBER ME IN YOUR KINGDOM!

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

What is the best way to explain the reasons why Our Lord Jesus Christ is The King of the universe? Of course, there is no doubt that in His divine nature, Christ is the King because He is God. Furthermore, as the God-Man, Christ enjoys kingship which is conferred (cf. Luke 22:29: and I confer upon you a Kingdom, just as my father conferred one on me) and economical. When we speak of the economy of Our Lord’s Kingship, we mean that Jesus is “God-as-He-is-for-us” human beings, that the immanent Jesus shows us the transcendent Father as far as the human mind is able to perceive Him. This conferred kingship entitles Christ to the official and absolute power to rule over everyone and everything in heaven and on earth, and to rule both for the sheer glory of God, and also for the carrying-out of God’s purpose of salvation. According to the Psalmist, the Lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all (Psalm 103:19). This kingship is mediatorial: in other words, Jesus mediates between us and the Father on our behalf. He pleads for us at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:34). Being then the King who mediates between humanity and divinity, Christ has a kingdom of grace (regnum gratiae) and a kingdom of dominion (regnum potentiae).

Within His all-encompassing kingdom of grace, Christ rules over the entire universe, over everything created. This is a salvific rule, established in the lives, hearts and minds of believers, which bears directly upon the eternal purpose of Creation – salvation! Referring to this kingdom of grace, the Psalmist prays: Your throne O God will last forever, a sceptre of justice will be the sceptre of your kingdom (Ps. 43:6; cf. Heb. 1:8, 9). This kingdom of grace, governed with the sceptre of God’s justice, is eternal, everlasting. The Lord will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, his kingdom will never end (Luke 1:33). The kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ rules over all things for eternity. We see a small-scale version of this mirrored in the First Reading (2 Samuel 5:1-3) which gives an account of how the anointing of David as king united all the tribes in Israel under one royal head. Christ’s kingship of grace, however, unites every tribe and tongue and people and nation (cf. Revelation 7:9).

In his capacity as the King of Grace, Christ is the head of the Church (cf. Col. 2:19). In the Second Reading (Col 1:12-20), Christ is called the head of the body - “His body” - the Church. The term ‘Head’ here indicates that Christ is vested with authority. He wields that authority specifically to reconcile all things to Himself, and to make peace by the blood of his Cross. We deduce, then, that the characteristics of this kingdom of grace are justice and mercy. In his justice he condemns us, but in His mercy he redeems us (cf. 2 Cor 5:21). Jesus the merciful King both reconciles and brings peace. We live in an age that emphasises dry academic expertise and practice of secular legal argument, leaving no place for mercy. In some places of the world, ‘jungle justice’ red in tooth and claw, is dispensed indiscriminately. In other places, offenders face the wrath of the civil law, sometimes for sins which were committed decades ago, while others suffer the heavy hand of the civil law for making a rightful stand for a just cause. None of this, however, is the case in Christ’s kingdom of Grace.

This kingdom has its origin in the redeeming grace of God. The repentant thief on the Cross, St. Dismas, experienced this kingdom of grace (cf. The Gospel: Luke 23:35-43) - But this man has done nothing... Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom (Luke 23:41.42). Having recognized the innocence of the crucified Saviour, the thief was rewarded by being given the grace of apprising the existence of the redeeming kingdom of grace in Christ. As a result, he was saved and accepted into that kingdom. The merciful divine nature overshadows us, covers us, wraps us around when we too recognize Jesus as King. When we accept the reign of God in our hearts (by personal contrition) and in the Church (in her sacraments), we step up like the Good Thief. At the glorious Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the establishment of His Kingship on earth will be perfected, while His spiritual rule will find its consummation in His visible and majestic reign in heaven.

Christ rules over the universe in His kingdom of dominion. This kingdom is sovereign over every created reality without exception. Christ providentially and judicially administers all things in the interest of his chosen people. He guides the actions of individuals, He guides the actions of groups and He guides the actions of nations, in order to promote the growth, the gradual purification, and the final perfection of the people whom He has redeemed by His blood. As a reflection of the defeat of evil by the anointed King David, the Kingship of Christ (Who shed His blood for us in apparent defeat) has dominion over sin, death and every other evil that afflicts human society. Christ protects His own against danger (not a hair of your head will be harmed Lk 21:18) and affirms His righteousness in the ongoing subjection and ultimate defeat of Satan. It follows that Our Lord’s divine Kingship serves as a model for each and every earthly kingship.   

The responsibility to establish the Kingdom of God, to govern it, and to protect and safeguard it against all hostile forces, rests squarely on the shoulders of Christ as the Anointed One. He accomplishes this in the context of the world riddled with sin, sin which aims to thwart all divine endeavour. God the Father therefore invested Christ as King with authority over the whole world. Christ the King has control over all thrones, dominions, principalities and powers (Cf. Colossians 1:16); He guarantees safe passage into eternal life for His people, and protects His own against the powers of darkness. Yet, even in His kingdom of dominion, Christ is not domineering: He has given every human being the gift of free will. He has given every person the freedom to opt in or to opt out, to accept His Kingship or to decline it. While gifting us with the promptings of the Holy Spirit, He encourages us to make use of our well-formed consciences to bring about His kingdom of grace, unity and mercy for the benefit of all humanity. The appropriate honouring of Jesus Christ as King of the Universe must go way beyond a flag-waving exercise, and way beyond simply signing up as a member of The Jesus Fan Club. It belittles Him when we are tempted to use His name as a slogan or an ‘Open Sesame’ trigger. What is required of us as loyal subjects of Christ The King is to commit ourselves to work for merciful justice for all, to labour to bring about a world where might and violence are eliminated, to strive for a world where natural resources are shared fairly, and to toil for a world where peace and unity flourish - peace between people and nations, peace within our own lives and peace with God. May Christ the Universal King reign in our hearts and in our world. Amen. God bless you.

YOUR ENDURANCE WILL WIN YOU YOUR LIVES

HOMILY FOR THE 33^rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C.

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

As we approach the end of the Church’s liturgical year, it will not have escaped your notice that the recent readings at Mass have sounded a sombre warning note. These readings help to prepare within us the right attitude – comprising  honesty, realism and practicality – regarding the best way to live in the face of daily difficulties and challenges, cataclysmic personal events, and impending large-scale disasters including war, famine and disease. The thread running throughout history is that the world is afflicted. There is never a time when somewhere in the world there are no people enduring religious or social sorrows, or suffering from economical or environmental affliction. The effect of suffering on people can be traumatic. As Christians, we do not get to live in a bubble, insulated from pains and trials. We live out our lives in the real world, which is a place of confusion and turmoil. It is no Garden of Eden. It is in the midst of chaos and disorder that Our Beloved Lord expects us to be His witnesses. This is the message of this Sunday’s readings. What an onerous task we are presented with!  How, then, shall we bear it?

There will be terrifying signs and events accompanying the advent of the renewed world; but never fear, endurance will win us eternal life with beatific vision. Today’s Gospel (Luke 21:5-19) not only offers us a snapshot of these terrifying happenings but also tells us how to live through them. Some disciples with Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem (the heart of the Jewish religion and the place of sacrifice) were very taken with its stunningly beautiful physical adornment. In the Temple, the pillars of the porches and of the cloisters were columns of white marble, forty feet high, each crafted from a single block of stone. The disciples’ comments on the splendour of the Temple moved Jesus to speak out. Imagine, then, the impact that Jesus’ predictions of the destruction of the Temple would have had on His listeners. To the Jews, it was unthinkable that the glories of the Temple should ever be razed to the ground. But they were, just over three decades later.

And for us today, what impact does it have on us when we are faced with the potential destruction of something very precious to us; when it seems to us that our personal temples ‘adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings’ are about to crash down upon our heads? It is possible that our sacrosanct places, people and things - our careers, vocations, family and friends - in our personal lives might come to appear to us to be worthless. We may feel hopeless and practically devoid of God’s presence. “Where has God gone?” we think; “Is God merely a figment of our human imagination?” For reasons beyond mortal explanation, God may seem to hide, and prayer may be hard-going and dry. A lot of voices will be audible at such times, and these voices might well mislead us. The plain advice of Jesus is: take care not to be deceived. What then should our reaction be when the glories of life seem to fade and wither before our very eyes? Jesus tells us that such a time is our time of trial; we will not be abandoned. The trials will give us the opportunity to bear witness to God.

We live in such a dangerous time, don’t we? Times of trial come to every happy marriage, to every peaceful home, to every contented person living out the single life, to every priest and religious, however devoted to Our Lord they may be. Each individual trial we face may be associated with someone or something tempting us and trying to draw us away from our loyalty to God and our loved ones. Sometimes, in the face of disappointment or betrayal, we might be tempted to feel that the sky is falling in on us. We may feel as though our friends and families are subjecting us to public trial by their rumour-mongering and deliberate misunderstandings. But feelings can be misleading! This will be the moment for when the words of Jesus resonate in the mind: you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends and some of you will be put to death… However, Jesus goes on to speak very convincingly of His protection that puts these horrendous experiences of life in the shade: Not one hair of your head will be harmed. The 1^st Reading (Malachi 4:1-2a) offers us further consolation by speaking of the dawn of a new day which will be the day of the salvation of the just. On this day, righteousness will prevail (cf. 2 Pet 3:13).

Jesus counsels us further regarding how we are to react to personal trials: you are not to prepare your defence because I myself will give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict…your endurance will win you your lives. This implies that sometimes our response should not be verbal but non-verbal - a silence filled with strength, loyalty and dignity. But silence doesn’t release us from the commitment to do the work we are called to do. Trials and expectations are not intended to make us shy away from what we ought to do; rather, they should help us grow in character and backbone, in wisdom and in understanding, with an eagerness to take a full part in society. This sentiment is expressed in the 2^nd Reading (2Thessalonians 3:7-12). For those who were idle as they waited for the appearing of the Messiah, St. Paul called on them to go on working and earning their daily bread. Surely that should also be our disposition? We must not allow ourselves to be so wearied by the drudgery, disappointments and cares of this life that we give up battling  on, working and loving and encouraging each other. The punchline of today’s Gospel reading is that our endurance will win us our lives in heaven. May the Lord continue to stir up in us the grace of endurance. Amen. God bless you.

LIFE IS CHANGED, NOT ENDED; SUCH SURE HOPE!

HOMILY FOR THE 32^ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR, C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Let us begin by recognizing the similarity between the First Reading and the Gospel, in that they both speak about seven brothers and one woman. Whereas in the First Reading the seven brothers, along with their mother, suffered martyrdom for their faith (cf. 2 Macc. 7:40), in the Gospel Reading the seven brothers with their wife died of unknown causes. Both these stories point to the afterlife, while simultaneously pointing out the contingency of earthly life. And indeed, the liturgy of today is dominated by the idea of what happens after life here on earth comes to an end. Isn’t it true that, most of the time, we are so concerned with what is going on in this life that we tend not to consider or seek the eternal life of our immortal soul? So, these readings give us another opportunity to reflect on what we do and do not believe about the afterlife. It’s an ideal time then in these dark, dank and dreary November days in the Northern hemisphere to talk about what we may expect at the end of our personal life.

The Gospel reading (Luke 20:27-38) clarifies the idea of the afterlife. The Sadducees were a small but wealthy group who did not believe in continuing existence or resurrection. ‘Once you’re dead, you’re dead!’ they said. So, their question to Jesus was intended to ridicule the notion of bodily resurrection from the dead by using marriage as vehicle to justify their stance. Jesus was fully aware of their intentions and refusing to be drawn in to their hypothetical, dead-end argument, he delivered an important lesson in faith: Those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection, they are sons of God. This teaching implies that life in the ‘other world’ involves a novum (newness), a transformed way of being. This transformation confirms our sure hope, the sort of hope given only by God, as expressed in the 2^nd Reading: “...may God our Father, who has given us His love, and through His grace such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you in everything good...” (2 Thess. 2:16-3:5). This sure and solid hope for the future is what every human being can really count on.

Without downplaying what the future holds concerning the events and outcomes of the daily life of each and every person physically here on earth, and in the dynamics of the present moment, the Resurrection Faith deals with the future that is not temporally foreseeable or predictable (who will be the wife?) and not materially evolutive (for they will not be known by their marriage status). This future is an absolute future beyond which no other future exists. It is to this future that we ourselves are bound. Constant prompts and reminders about this future give us the courage and the backbone to endure the uncertainties of this present life. It is our faith in the resurrection of the dead that animates and strengthens us as Christians in our struggle against evil, and gives us the strength to endure its effects of pain in our life experiences. It is our hope in the resurrection of the dead that helps us look beyond the misfortunes and misery of human existence and of physical death. Armed with faith and hope in the resurrection, pain and death cease to have the last word with us. Life triumphs over death, good triumphs over evil, and justice triumphs over injustice. Suffering and death do not have the last word with us: love cannot be quenched by hatred, and joy cannot be snuffed out by anguish. Death is indeed swallowed up in victory: When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (1 Cor. 15:54-55).

The idea of looking beyond death is presented in the 1^st Reading (2Macc 7:1-2.9-14). The context is that there was a revolt  - the Maccabean revolt. Between 167 and 151 BC, in a bid to unify their empire, the kings of Syria wanted to stamp out the Jewish faith and way of life. The Maccabean revolt involved a struggle against those secular rules, influences and lifestyles that the Jews saw as working against their faith in Yahweh. The deliberate spreading of paganism succeeded in other nations, but was met with strong opposition from the Jews. The opposition that became known as ‘the Maccabees’ (‘the hammers’) was led by a priestly family, Mattathias and his sons. They demonstrated both selfless courage and faith in the unfailing help of God. It became abundantly clear to the champions of the Law that a necessary condition for religious freedom was the gaining of political independence. This is the historical context behind the story of the seven brothers with their mother.

The king, Antiochus Epiphanes, compelled the seven brothers to eat pork, which was unlawful for the Jews to do (cf. Deut.14:8) as pig meat was considered unclean. (Cf. also the sending by Our Lord of unclean spirits into the Gadarene swine Mk. 5:13). Although the Jewish brothers knew that their refusal to eat pork would prompt their torture and execution, they looked beyond death on account of their faith towards the resurrection of the righteous. It was their faith that sustained them in resisting worldly pressures. It was their faith that enabled them to see death as part of a process and not as oblivion. To this day, the words of these brothers serve as words of encouragement and admonition to lovers of God as they undergo suffering of any kind. The words of these brothers provide us too with a proper frame of  reference as we grapple with the choices we make between good and evil.

In daily life, each one of us may come up against unpleasant experiences - hardship, illness, mistreatment, injustice, character assassination, neglect - and what makes these experiences harder for us to bear is when they arise because of our profession of the Christian Faith. When and where can we find an answer that sheds light on why these experiences happen to us? Where is God when bad things happen? There is no perfect answer to either of these questions, and none of us can claim to know the bigger picture. Only God is all-knowing. And it is our faith in God that will help to keep us calm in times of trouble. We believe that there is a time when God will be all in all (cf. 1 Cor. 15:28). The Christian faith in the Resurrection is rock-solid, and offers us great consolation amidst the puzzles that bewilder the human mind. The reassurance that physical death is not the end of life might well serve as the take-home message from this talk about the Resurrection Faith which we Christians cherish. The hope of resurrection is indeed an efficacious response to the mysteries of evil and of human suffering. May God enlighten the eyes of our minds more and more, as we strive to understand the hidden mysteries of creation and of life after death. Amen. God bless you.

THE ‘ZACCHAEUS ENERGY’

HOMILY FOR THE 31^ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

God is merciful to everyone; He can accomplish all things, even overlooking men’s sins so that they can repent. With these words, the Wisdom writer of the 1^st Reading (Wisdom 11:22-12:2) summarises the nature, love and desire of God to redeem the world He created. Yes, He is always ready to redeem us and to pardon our sins. The Gospel story (Luke 19:1-10) of Zacchaeus is a perfect example of the idea expressed in the 1^st Reading. God rescues the sinner. From the dust he lifts up the lowly. From his misery he raises the poor. The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down (Psalm 145:14). 

The Lord Jesus entered Jericho. As someone whose fame had spread to many cities and regions, He was well-known and the people of Jericho were excited to see Him. Every person in the crowd wanted to catch a glimpse of Him. Jericho was a wealthy town in the Jordan valley, with the river to the East and Jerusalem to the West. Imagine, then, what a wealthy, corrupt and hated tax collector would have felt like in such a town where there were many sources of illicit taxation. Zacchaeus was a senior tax collector, and so he was materially very well-off. Despite all his wealth, he felt an inner emptiness. The dramatic way that Luke tells the story of Zacchaeus’ conversion expresses the firing-up of an energy within him by which he was emancipated from the inner poverty occasioned by his ill-gotten gains.

In his efforts to see Jesus, Zacchaeus faced a BIG challenge … his diminutive height! He was a man of small stature and he couldn’t see over anyone standing in front of him. Worse still, there was a great crowd standing in front of him. Perhaps this is more than just a statement about his physical limitations. He could well have been ‘short’ of self-esteem due to the deservedly terrible reputation of tax collectors, which  would have left him with little hope of God’s favour. Interestingly, he managed to surmount this challenge in an action that a lot of people would consider infradig for a man of his social standing. He ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way. We can interpret this description as an ascent of faith. Truly, Zacchaeus did his part; it was for Jesus to respond. And sure enough, Jesus did go to him. This was one of those amazing moments when Our Lord reached out to someone in response to an invitation which disarmed all opposition. ‘Zacchaeus, come down! Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.’ Jesus embarrassed people because of the low personal opinions they held about Zacchaeus, and so they murmured and muttered under their breath. Their murmuring couldn’t make Jesus not save a soul. Through His gentle and loving approach, Jesus totally disarmed Zacchaeus, getting him to open up and give back his ill-gotten wealth to the poor and those he had cheated. Isn’t it true, then, that people are essentially good, but that this good has to be awakened and called forth? 

Being a host to Jesus gave Zacchaeus the opportunity to be saved. It led him to make a proper examination of his lifestyle and it gave him a strong purpose of amendment: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. This would imply that he practically gave away all he had because he encountered the salvation of Christ. Oh, what energy! He ran and climbed the tree; and then he gave away everything he possessed. Indeed, we need that energy in our world today, the energy that can push each one of us in search of Christ (even in a manner that other people might consider infradig), the energy that can stir us up to make a proper examination of conscience, and make us empty ourselves for the sake of others. God needs that energy from us. He sees into the deepest depths of our hearts. He knows who those people are who genuinely seek Him in spirit and in truth, and He goes to them, for the Son of Man came to seek out and save what was lost (Luke 19:10). 

Today, salvation has come to this house. Long years of self-deception, of leading a corrupt lifestyle and of unnecessary hiding melted away in a single moment of grace. Salvation is a gift and could only be given by the grace of God. God gives his salvation to the broken-hearted. Zacchaeus truly broke himself in pieces, and  in doing so he gained conversion of heart and salvation, and he went on to reinstate himself as a son of Abraham. Zacchaeus was made ‘clean’, which is actually what his name means – ‘pure’. As members of God’s chosen people, we too desire this salvation. We know our constant need to be cleansed. Is it then possible for us to allow Christ to speak to each one of us today with those words He spoke to Zacchaeus: ‘today, salvation has come into this house’? May we be refreshed, both in the coming week and evermore, with the experience of Jesus that energised Zacchaeus. Amen. God bless you.

“I SHALL LOSE NONE”

HOMILY FOR THE COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

The Church is (as we well know) comprised of three groups: the Church Militant, the Church Triumphant, and the Church Penitent. The first group consists of Christians on earth who struggle on as soldiers of Christ against sin and the devil. The second group consists of those who enjoy beatific vision and who are now in Heaven. The third group (the group on which today’s Solemnity focuses, and which can be called both the ‘Church suffering’ and the ‘Church expectant’) consists of those who are in Purgatory and undergoing purification before their admission to Heaven. They are being purified in order to satisfy whatever portion of the temporal punishment due for their sins was not satisfied before their physical death. They are in the process of being purged of their imperfections before taking their place in the Church Triumphant in eternal beatific vision. It is the members of this specific group that we remember today.

All Souls’ Day commemorates the Holy Souls of Christians who have died in the peace of Christ. It is a day on which we remember the souls of all our brothers and sisters who were with us not so long ago and who are now no longer with us in the struggles of this world. We pray that they may rest in peace. Only in God can we really say that souls are resting in peace. The souls in Purgatory remain restless; yes, restless, due to their constant desire to see God face to face.

Hope does not disappoint. With these words, the 2^nd Reading (Rom. 5:5-11) simultaneously encourages and reminds us that Christ has paid the full price of our redemption through His Blood. Hence, inasmuch as these departed brethren died with Christ in Baptism, believed in Him and lived according to His precepts, we are confident that they are saved. The Christian hope can never be illusory because it is founded on God! When our hope is placed in God, that hope cannot turn to dust and ashes. That hope can never disappoint us because God has given us the final proof of His love. Through Jesus, our status with God has been changed. This status that has been changed is our justification. But not only has our status changed; our state has also changed. This state that changed is our sanctification. Justification ensures that we are no longer slaves to sin. Our faith in the Lord Jesus has liberated us from the chains of the evil one. But we need to work on this justification, and to do this, we need Jesus. The process of His intervention to ensure the maintenance of our justification is sanctification. 

Is it not Jesus Himself who tells us in today’s Gospel acclamation (John 6:39) that He will never turn away anyone who comes to him? The will of God is that none of us should be lost but, rather, be saved. If we believe in Jesus and do His will, we shall be granted eternal life. Sanctification is a process which starts on earth, but which does not stop until we attain to beatific vision. Hence it is Jesus Who continues to ensure that our brethren in Purgatory are being cleansed and sanctified until they are perfectly sanctified and admitted to Heaven. Indeed, the existence of Purgatory is a great manifestation of God’s love for humanity. He does not want any of us to be lost to Him for ever. He desires our salvation. 

The belief in the concept of Purgatory is traceable to the third century A.D., but the Church did not give it the status of official teaching until the Second Council of Lyons in 1274. The primary aim of the Council was to restore unity between the Western and Eastern Churches. Part of the discussions attempted to reconcile the beliefs of the two Churches concerning the status of the dead, and especially that of those who had died repentant sinners. The subject of a post-death process of purification for sinners came up for discussion again at the Council of Florence (1438-1439). Even though the efforts to reunify the Churches failed, this Council defined Purgatory as an official teaching of the Catholic Church. It was further defined at the Council of Trent in 1563.

To discover the Church’s teaching on Purgatory, it is clearly summarised in the Catechism of the Catholic Church §1030: all who die in God’s grace and friendship, but [are] still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joys of Heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. Simply put, the doctrine of Purgatory has three components: that purification after death exists, that it involves an experience of pain, and that the purification of the dead can be assisted by the prayers and the offerings of the living.

We can therefore say that it is noble to pray for the faithful departed. We are encouraged to pray for them, especially when we remember the practice of the people who prayed for their dead in 2 Mac 12:38-42. Here is the story of Judas who collected money and sent it to Jerusalem as an offering and expiatory sacrifice for the souls of the soldiers who died during the battle against Gorgias; and later, in 2 Mac. 12:43, we are told that this act of Judas was a noble and excellent one. Many of us today still offer money in expiatory sacrifice for the souls of our loved ones; this too is a noble act. In Sirach 7:33, we are advised to be generous with the living and cautioned not to withhold our kindness from the dead. Therefore, my dear friends, let us not forget to pray for our dear ones who have gone before us in answer to the call of faith. Jesus does not want to lose anyone. May the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. God bless you.