WELCOMING THE CHRIST IN OTHERS

HOMILY FOR THE 13^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A.

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

2Kings 4:8-11, 14-16        Romans 6:3-4, 8-11        Matthew 10:37-42

It is clear from the readings that the central message of this Sunday is about hospitality, about being charitable towards other people and going the extra mile for them. Today’s Gospel is taken from Christ’s missionary discourse (Mt ch. 10) which concludes with statements of Jesus concerning welcoming others and ministering to them as if we were welcoming Christ Himself. In His reassuring message to His apostles, Christ stated: Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me… (Mt 10:40). It is Christ’s command that we welcome and assist those who devote themselves to preaching and living out the gospel. We will be rewarded for doing so. We shall not only be ministering to the divine spark of the Christ Himself within them, but shall also be rewarded for the kindness and care we show to them as people made in His image (Gen 1:27). What a lesson for churches as to how they welcome and assist their ‘holy men of God’ (2K 4:9)! Bearers of the Gospel are assured that somebody will be called by God to welcome them and to minister to their needs. Christ calls His messengers (meaning His Gospel-bearers) ‘little ones’ (Mt 10:42) because they are targets of the Prince of Lies, and are so vulnerable. The Gospel message of hospitality works both ways: if the faithful will look after God’s messengers, God’s messengers will repay the faithful by invoking God’s reward upon them.

It’s not only the clergy who are tasked with bearing the Gospel message to the world. We Christians are all of us messengers of God. Each one of us is a missionary for Christ. That being the case, the message of hospitality and generosity is for everyone rather than the few. Having been baptised into the death of Jesus (Rom 6:4), as St. Paul said in the Second Reading, we have a duty never to become weary of ministering to the Christ in other people. There are so many needy people out there, that we may feel overwhelmed about where to start. The Church’s priority is the worship of God, surely, rather than social welfare? Didn’t Jesus say that ‘the poor you will always have with you. You will not always have me’ (Mt 26:11)? Well then, how do we go about juggling worship and hospitality in order to fulfil Christ’s command of Mt 10:40? The answer is that hospitality to one is hospitality to all when it is done for the sake of Christ. You can’t hope to solve the world’s problems single-handedly, so start by looking to help each needy person God sends across your path. The lovely story in the First Reading, of the prophet Elisha and the wealthy couple at Shunem, puts flesh on the command in the Gospel. A married couple goes the extra mile to provide food and lodging to Elisha, and he in turn promises them God’s gift of a longed-for son.

Having identified Elisha as ‘a holy man of God’ (2K 4:9) whose mission caused him to journey to-and-fro, passing her house each time, the wife sought for a practical way to help him. In her willingness to put herself  out for him, she sacrificed her time and money to cater for his needs. She didn’t anticipate or ask for a reward, but one was given by God through the prophet. Her generous heart attracted a massive blessing. She gave what she could afford (2Cor 9ff) to Elisha - and how abundantly she was repaid! Give some thought to what kind of hospitality you yourself are able to offer to God in those needy people who cross your path, in terms of your finances, your time, your listening ear, your talents and your practical skills. Whatever you decide you are able to offer can yield abundant fruit, both for them and for you.

No doubt the married couple at Shunem were delighted at the prospect of welcoming a third person into their family. A lot of changes lay in store for them. We are well aware of how the arrival of a new baby changes everything at home. Of course, the nursery would have to be set up and items purchased for it, but there would also have to be major changes made to every aspect of their lives. Along with the joy of expecting their child, their lifestyle would need a makeover. Some personal pleasures would have to be sacrificed, because the home was no longer solely for the use of the couple. The decisions taken at home would henceforward be affected by the needs of that third person. Now, project this whole scenario in terms of Jesus as this third person, Jesus in the ministers and messengers of God, and Jesus in the people we meet who would welcome our help and support. How far are we prepared to welcome the Christ in other people, just as an expectant couple does? How far are we ready to let the presence of Christ makeover our lifestyle? How far are we willing to give of ourselves, our time and such wealth and goods as we can spare to put smiles on the faces of others? Has it occurred to us that the couple at Shunem became ready for that longed-for child on the very day that they agreed between themselves to offer hospitality to God’s prophet? That extra room they made available to Elisha wouldn’t remain empty for long after the prophet had moved on. Thereafter it was available for their baby. The measure of our readiness to engage in hospitable and charitable acts is the measure of the warmth of the reception of Christ in our hearts. As we welcome Christ today, just as the woman of Shunem welcomed the prophet Elisha, may I encourage us to renew our promise to Christ always to be willing to witness to Him by serving one another in Christ, even in the least of our brothers and sisters. Amen. God bless you.

 

MEN OF GREAT FAITH!

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF SS. PETER AND PAUL

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Acts 12:1-11        2 Timothy 4:6-8        Matthew 16:13-19

Today we celebrate the foundational figures of the Church, both of whom were martyred in Rome. St. Peter was a fisherman who was called to ‘come and see’ Jesus by his brother, Andrew (Jn 1:41). After God revealed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, to Peter, Peter was identified by Christ Himself (Mt 16:17) as the ‘Rock’ on which the Church is firmly established. Peter, always listed first in accounts of the Apostles, was instructed by Jesus to “strengthen his brethren” (Lk 22:31ff) which he did from Jerusalem (Acts chs. 1-2, 10-11 & 15). Taken in chains to Rome around AD 64, he was martyred by inverted crucifixion because he didn’t consider himself worthy to die in the same manner as His Lord. Saul, later St. Paul, was a zealous Pharisee, an educated Jew and a Roman citizen, who persecuted the early Church with a passion. He was present at the martyrdom of St. Stephen and looked on approvingly (Acts 22:20). He was converted by Christ Himself on the road to Damascus when he literally ‘saw the light’ (Acts 22:6). Paul undertook multiple missionary journeys and was the “Apostle to the Gentiles” (Gal 1:15-16) and because he envisioned a New Covenant embracing both Jews and non-Jews (Rom 15:19ff). He was martyred by being beheaded in Rome around AD 67. Both Peter and Paul witnessed to Christ with their lives. They are the two great Apostles of mission, Peter to Jewish communities, and Paul to the Gentile world of the Near East and Rome. In their spiritual journeys with the Lord, both experienced His gratuitous compassion and forgiveness. Although Peter denied the Lord three times (Lk 22:57-61 he was forgiven when he asked for pardon, and was instructed three times to feed the Lord’s lambs and sheep (Jn 21:15ff). Although Paul persecuted the early Christian community, he was called, converted and forgiven. Both St. Peter and St. Paul are fathers in the Faith.

Both Apostles experienced divine deliverance in their ministries. In the Second Reading, St. Paul spoke of his having been fulfilled: he had fought the good fight of faith (2 Tim 4:7), preached to the nations, converted many and established churches across the Near East. He wrote that, ‘the Lord stood by me and gave me strength to proclaim the word fully...I was rescued from the lion’s mouth’. In the First Reading, St. Peter wrote of his deliverance from prison: ‘Now, I am sure that the Lord has rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting’. The situation was that Peter was going to be degraded and killed in order to massage Herod’s political popularity. However, Herod’s evil plans were thwarted. As Herod made plans to make an example of Peter to boost his popularity, the plan of God was to up-end the situation to give Peter an opportunity to give glory to God. While Peter was in prison, Christians were praying earnestly for his deliverance. And what was the result? The Lord intervened! Peter was divinely rescued. The prayers of Christian communities then and now are capable of invoking great wonders from God.  

Now, to go back a bit, Herod had noticed that his popularity was boosted when he had St. James, the brother of St. John, killed (Acts 12:2). The murder pleased the Jews, whose political allegiance he needed. In his desire for yet more popular acclaim, he had Peter arrested and thrown in jail prior to execution. Do you see how Herod was using the life of another human being as bait for power and vainglory? In our personal ambitions in life, we have all made the mistake at one time or another of going for an end product, a reward, without necessarily thinking of the morality of the means by which we get it. Putting the cart before the horse, as it were, we become so entranced by the end product, the reward, that we don’t care whether we get it by fair means or foul. Indeed, it is a great temptation to look only at getting what we want without considering the morality of how we get it. Of course, Herod’s behaviour was over-the-top, and we wouldn’t go as far at that ourselves. But isn’t it true that sometimes we make the same sort of error, for instance when we place our own aims and ambitions above our duty to love others in society for the sake of Christ? When our desire to get what we want causes us to knock everybody else out of the way? When we are guilty of pride of vainglory because we believe ourselves to be better than anybody else and more worthy of getting what we want? Now do you see the danger of moral dislocation?

Saints Peter and Paul teach us by their lives that saints do not start out as saints. They are all flawed human being like ourselves. What saints do differently from the mainstream of humanity is that they completely embrace the divine calling to conversion. They really go for it. They tap into the immensity of God’s mercy while striving relentlessly to grow in grace. Saints are those who, recognizing with sorrow their weaknesses and frailties, draw great strength from the abundant mercy of God. They do all they can to maintain that strength throughout their lives. They never give up, they never become discouraged even when they fail and fall, because like St. Paul they trust that when they are weak, they are strong (2 Cor 12:11). It was Peter who was divinely inspired to be the first to announce to the world who the God-Man was: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Mt 16:16). In confessing Jesus as the Messiah, Peter’s name was changed from Simon to ‘Cephas’- the “Rock”, for ‘Peter’ or ‘Petros’ was to become the Rock upon which the foundation of the Church rests, the Rock symbolising the oneness, the unity and the power of God invested in Her.

Finally, the lives of Saints Peter and Paul evidenced the unshakeable belief and trust they both developed in the Christ they professed. They are worthy of emulation. Each of them, one with a stable, localised mission to the Jews, and the other with a mission that took him across multiple countries in his passion to spread the word to the Gentiles, fought the good fight. In them, we too can find ways to wrestle with problems arising in the Church today. The Church and the World both contain contrasting elements that bring extroverted people up against introverted people, sensory people up against intuitive people, people quick to judge against laid-back personalities, and logical thinkers up against those who prioritise human warmth. One part of the Church conservatively seeks to preserve what has been thrashed out over 2000 years, while the other excitedly reaches out across many boundaries. One part of the Church seeks a hermeneutic of continuity, while the other has little time for the old and seeks ‘fresh woods and pastures new’. One part of the Church is looking to take responsibility for previous actions, while the other is dreaming new dreams. My hope is that these two lines need not necessarily be an excuse for disunity and split the Church. Variety is the spice of life and can be modelled as sources of strength. Our differences should be harnessed to make us strong. May we be encouraged by the examples of Saints Peter and Paul, and may the Lord help us to recognize the good side in each and every one of us Amen. God bless you.

 

DO NOT BE AFRAID

HOMILY FOR THE 12^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

Rev. Fr. Peter Onyekachi Ezekoka

Jeremiah 20:10-13        Romans 5:12-15        Matthew 10:26-33

Let’s start with a story. ‘Once Upon A Time’ a man was convicted of a crime, a serious offence, and was hauled up in court before a judge to be sentenced. Instead of sentencing him in the usual way, the judge told him to choose between two possible punishments. He should choose either to be hanged or to take whatever lay behind a massively scary iron door. The criminal made a snap decision to go for the rope. As the noose was being slipped over his neck, he turned to the judge and asked: ‘By the way, out of curiosity, what IS behind that door?’ The judge looked down his nose at him: “Y’know, it’s odd, whenever convicts are offered the choice, nearly everyone picks the hangman’s noose”. “Tell me,” urged the man, “time is short for me. What’s behind that massively scary iron door? I mean, I won’t be able to tell anyone if you tell me!” he said, pointing to the noose. The judge fixed him with a steely gaze: “Freedom!” he exclaimed. “It is freedom. Most people who come before me are so afraid of the unknown that they choose the rope instead of freedom.” From this story, we may deduce that the deliberate conquering of our fears can liberate us, can bring us freedom.

This story sets the scene for Christ’s message regarding the phenomenon of fear. Not once, not twice, but three times in the Gospel passage (vv. 26, 28 and 31), Jesus tells us not to be afraid, encouraging us not to give in to despair whenever we Christians face challenges or persecution.

The first time He says it, He explains that our projected fears are groundless because Truth will ultimately triumph: ‘Do not be afraid. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear.’ So, when we are frozen with fear at the very thought of being persecuted for righteousness, what we are engaging in is unholy fear. This unholy fear diminishes our willingness to witness to Christ. ‘What I say to you in the dark, say it in the light’, Christ said. Our primary Christian duty is to witness to the risen Lord; we are not to keep quiet out of fear of turning people against us or of persecution. If we listen to the gospel - “the Good News” of “the God-News” - with reverence, and are gifted thereby with the confidence to speak out about it, it is possible to subdue and overcome unholy fear.

The second time He says it, He gives us a teaching about dealing with the prospect of persecution and physical death: do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul... Presidents and tyrants wield earthly power, but none of them has the power to prevent God from loving us and protecting us: ‘Who can separate us from the love of God?’ (Rom 8:35). We might well be afraid of certain people because of what they can do to hurt us and those we love. Satan is very active in the world. Christ in His humanity endured terrible situations. His Agony in the Garden was so great that His sweat was like drops of blood (Lk 22:44), so He understands how we are tempted to lose our peace when we are pushed to the edge. Fear disorientates us, fear causes us to lose our sense of purpose, fear diminishes our sense of commitment to Him, and has the potential to put our faith at risk. The remedy for fear is to set it aside in favour of  the ‘fear of God’. Yes, God can be angry, and that certainly is to be feared! But when we say that only God is to be ‘feared’, what we mean is that He alone is to be held in awe, to be revered and worshipped, because He is so overwhelmingly beyond the appreciation of the human mind. We live out the gift of the Holy Spirit when we come to see God in everything around us and in everything that we do. Now this is holy fear: it is the constant desire to submit ourselves to the love of our benevolent God.

The third time He says it, He expounds on the love of God for Creation and for us as individuals down to the last detail: so, there is no need to be afraid. You are worth more than hundreds of sparrows. God cares for us more because we are made in His image: ‘cast all your anxieties before him, for he cares for you’  (1Pet 5:7). ‘Do not be afraid, you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace, you will not be humiliated’ (Isaiah 54:4). Seen from a medical  point of view, fear sets up a chain reaction in the brain, starting with a stressful stimulus and ending with the release of chemicals that causes a racing heart, fast breathing and energized muscles, sometimes resulting in an alteration of metabolic and organ functions or even a cardiac infarction (heart attack). Fear is bad for us. Who rejoices in it? Satan. That says it all, doesn’t it?

Now, let’s go back to our opening story where the convict has to make a choice. Out of fear of what lay beyond the massively scary iron door, the offender chose the rope. Out of fear, he denied himself the opportunity to open the door to freedom. He was too afraid to take the risk, for better, for worse. We know that the number of missed opportunities in our daily lives keeps on rising because we fail to take the bull by the horns, or rather, to take that leap of faith. It is also true that, out of fear, we tend to choose the broad, liberal, accommodating road through life, rather than the narrow, uncomfortable path of truth (Mt 7:13-14). It’s tough, dangerous and costly to go against the flow of traffic to perdition. The Christian Faith is (or used to be) known as ‘The Way’. The one and only way to true freedom is that ‘Way’ enshrouded in great mystery. When we man up, determine to follow that mysterious ‘Way’, and actually walk that narrow path, what we gain is true and authentic freedom in Christ to get to our destination of heaven. Fear strangles our motivation and our action, but once fear is conquered, victory is ours.

And finally… According to a popular motivational talk on fear, ‘fear’ can have two meanings: (1) ‘Forget Everything And Run’ and (2) ‘Face Everything And Rise’. The prophet Jeremiah faced down everything that was thrown at him by his persecutors, and he survived. According to the First Reading, Jeremiah proclaimed that ‘the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore, my persecutors will stumble, they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed’. He was correct! In the Second Reading, St. Paul assures us that the gifts of divine grace and of being God’s children are given to us through the one God-Man, Jesus Christ. We ourselves can have the confidence to face everything and anything and come through when we personally accept that Jesus is with us and has overcome death. ‘Even though we walk in the darkest valley, we will fear no evil’ (Ps 23: 4) ‘for the Lord is with us’. At the end of our physical existence, life is changed, not ended (Phil 3:21). Life is not annihilated. Evil does not overcome us. We do not need to be afraid. We should not be afraid. May the Lord continually help us to conquer every fear that assails us, for fear is a liar! Amen. God bless you.

 

FOR I AM GENTLE AND HUMBLE IN HEART

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Deuteronomy 7:6-11        1 John 4:7-16        Matthew 11:25-30

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a well-known and much-loved devotion of the Catholic Faith. Only 164 years ago, back in 1856, Pope Pius IX (‘Pio Nono’) established this feast as obligatory for the whole Church. It was to be celebrated nineteen days after the Feast of Pentecost, on the Friday after the close of the-then octave of Corpus Christi. In 1928, Pope Pius XI raised the feast to the highest possible rank, a Double of the First Class, and added an octave to it, putting its importance on a par with that of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost; but this octave was suppressed in the 1955 reforms of the General Roman Calendar. Since 2002 this feast has been identified as a special day of prayer for the sanctification of the clergy, which is why Pope Benedict XVI timetabled the ‘Year for Priests’ in 2009 to begin on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart.

In the physical heart of Jesus is the representation of His divine love for humanity. Our Lord’s heart unveils the absolute love of God for humanity. The First Reading talks about the love of God for the people of Israel by setting them apart and redeeming them, and situating them thereafter on good soil. The love of God for us ought to provoke us to respond eagerly with undying love for Him and for His Church. The Second Reading leads us to understand that a person who shows no love does not – cannot - know God. Why not? Because God is Love! Demonstrations of love are the proofs of our reciprocal love for God, because they mirror His love for us  … self-emptying instead of being selfish, being inclusive rather than partial or biased, being sincere rather than fake, forgiving rather than vengeful, fostering without expecting any reward, giving without counting the cost and tolerating without casting aspersions on people. Sacrificial love like this is Holy Charity, which purifies every person who exercises it because of their genuine love of God. When we exercise Holy Charity, we are striving to mould our hearts to be like the Sacrificial Heart of Jesus, which was pierced to restore our broken relationship with God and free us from the wages of sin and eternal death.

In today’s Gospel, Christ declares that He is gentle and humble in heart. To understand this properly, we need to know that the Hebrew notion of ‘heart’ differs from what is meant by ‘heart’ in English .  Physically, of course, ‘heart’ is the same (2Sam 18:14; Hos 13:8) in both languages, but in Hebrew ‘heart’ really refers to the “core” of a person’s being, including their personality, intelligence, decision-making capability, their memories, hopes and plans. In Hebrew, the heart is where man meets God – and of course, the ultimate encounter with God was (and is) in the human heart of the Son of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Sacred and sacrificial Heart of Jesus endured suffering far beyond the comprehension of the human mind as a direct result of His overwhelming love for us -  poor wounded, flawed, fallen humanity – and all because of the longing of the relational, triune God for a restored relationship with us.

Within the Sacred Heart of Jesus lies the remedy as regards what we should do whenever the love we express rebounds and causes us pain. In such instances, the virtues of gentleness and humility help the human heart to bear suffering. Because of His gentle and humble Heart, Our Lord understands our pain only too well, and invites us to come to Him whenever we feel overburdened…come to me all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart. The yoke of Christ is easy; His burden is light (Mt 11:30). The yoke refers to a wooden collar or beam fitted over the neck and shoulders in order to carry a couple of equally heavy items effectively. It is very important that a yoke be fitted properly to prevent blisters or rubbing the flesh raw. A yoke can be attached to a couple of working animals, such as horses or oxen, to enable them to work together in unison to pull a plough or a load. The yoke helps to distribute the weight of the burden or the resistance of the earth between them, and to make the work easier and less stressful for them than it would be if they had to do it without the support and discipline of the yoke.

By extension, the yoke can be said to apply to our life as Christians and to the tasks, burdens and resistance we encounter in life. The Greek word χρεστς (chrestos), which is usually translated in the Bible as ‘easy’, can also mean ‘well-fitting’. Christ is saying that His yoke, life and task can be fitted to each individual person, if only they will agree to take it on. So, we can say that the Christian life is fitted personally to each one of us. Other translations of chrestos include ‘bearable’ and ‘manageable’. Christ’s demand that our love for others be sacrificial is never on the level of something we cannot manage to bear. He does not lay on our shoulders burdens that are too heavy for us to bear. To bear the burdens of life we should have the humility to be yoked to Christ and to cast all our anxieties on God because He cares for us (1Pet 5:6-7). Finding the rest to which Christ invites us is conditional upon our acceptance of being yoked to Christ. And what does that involve? The yoke involves our total investment in loving God, as outlined in 1Jn 5:3-5: This is the love of God; to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is He that overcomes the world? Only He who believes that Jesus is The Son of God.

The heart of love for God, in tandem with our response to His sacrificial love for us in our own sacrificial love for our fellow man, are the keys for living out the Christian life. There is victory over earthly trials in such love. Suffering is eased through such love. Progress and maturity in the spiritual  life are assured through the exercise of such love. Sacred Heart of Jesus, thy kingdom come…Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Your love for me. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You. Amen. God bless you.

 

“ANYONE WHO EATS THIS BREAD WILL LIVE FOR EVER”

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Deuteronomy 8:2-3. 14-16        1 Cor. 10:16-17        John 6:51-58

The Solemnity of Corpus Christi celebrates the Real Presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is the sacrament of nourishment, the food for the journey of life, nourishing us on our pilgrimage through the wilderness of the world where no one can survive on his/her own. The sacrament supports us as a community of faith and aids us in our support of each other. The elements of the Holy Eucharist that we receive are no longer ordinary bread and ordinary wine. They are, rather, transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ. The sacred Host is Jesus Himself and contains the wholeness of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord. The consecrated wine that we receive from the chalice is the Precious Blood of Jesus.   

In the Holy Eucharist, we have something infinitely greater than manna. The Manna was so called by the Israelites because the food that Yahweh provided for them was not known by them; this made them ask: what is it? (cf. Exodus 16:15.31). It was a type of food that they weren’t aware of. According to Moses in the First Reading, the reason behind the provision of manna by Yahweh for the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness was to humble them, to test them and to know their inmost heart towards keeping the commandment of the Lord. The Lord employed the strategy of making them experience great physical hunger in order to lead them to the reason for which manna was provided - to make them understand that man does not live on bread alone but by everything that comes from the mouth of God. This means to make them realize that in Yahweh alone is life.

The manna was a prefigurement of the Eucharist provided by Christ the Saviour. The manna and the Eucharist were provided by God as food for His people’s journeys. Manna served the temporal purpose of supporting the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness, while the Eucharist serves the enduring purpose of supporting us on our journey to eternity. Our Lord leads us to hunger for the Eucharistic meal in order to lead us to everlasting life with God, because in God alone is life. Our Lord offers us sacramental nourishment to satisfy our spiritual hunger. The Eucharist is the physical means offered to us by Christ to strengthen us in blessed hope of eternal life in heaven, and to remind us that life doesn’t end here on earth. We must acknowledge Jesus as Lord, praise Him, and receive the ‘living bread come down from heaven’ in faith and thanksgiving. This is what ‘eucharist’ is all about (1Cor 14:16 ff; Col 1:12.). Just like the manna of old, the reason behind which Christ gives us this heavenly food is to humble us and to enable us keep his commandments.

The Eucharist challenges us to kneel down as sinners and to rise as saints. Here is a story for you of a young man who was converted by the power of the Eucharist. The young man dreamed of becoming a distinguished musician, adored by the world and richly rewarded in financial terms. He thought his big break had come when he was given the opportunity to play the organ in one of the churches in Paris. In a sense it had! Why? Because it was there that he encountered the immanent God. As the melodious tones of his organ playing lifted the hearts of everyone present in recollection and prayer, every head was bowed and the Eucharistic Lord blessed His children in their humble adoration. When the musician failed to bow in reverence before the Eucharistic Jesus, he sensed a mysterious and invisible force exerting its pressure upon him, bowing his head and humbling him to his knees. At that very moment, a miracle of grace was effected; he was won over for God. He knelt down an unbeliever; he rose up a Catholic. Not long afterwards, the water of Baptism was poured upon him, and exchanging his fashionable attire for the coarse serge of a monk’s habit, he bade an eternal farewell to the fleeting pleasures of the world. This is the power of the Eucharist: it beats down the sin of pride in each one of us, and raises us up in grace, plus it has the capacity to cleanse us of all venial sin.

In the gospel, the Jews take Jesus’ teaching literally and argue among themselves about cannibalism and violating Jewish dietary laws. Just as the Israelites who asked the question of what it is, the Jews couldn’t just understand what Jesus meant. In their minds, Jesus was talking about something that was unimaginable. They missed the point, as do we if we go down that route. Even today we are plagued by misconceptions about the Eucharist. The quick answer is that the Eucharist is the unbloody re-presentation of the sacrifice (cf. Ex 24:5-8; 1Cor 5:7) of the Cross. Jesus unequivocally asserts that the Eucharist is essential for eternal life, just as eating and drinking are essential for sustaining earthly life: ‘anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life’ (Jn 6:54). Receiving the Eucharist with faith disposes us to receive its spiritual and physical benefits.

We are to ‘chew on’ the Word (Ps 1:2; Rev 3:20) both literally and figuratively in the Eucharist and the Scriptures. Picture in your mind being really hungry, starving, and struggling for the lion’s share when food is put down in front of you. You would wolf it down - you would devour it after your experience of profound physical hunger. The verb ‘to eat’ in the gospel passage is trogon. Trogon means more than eating politely; it means to eat eagerly, to grasp at chunks and to munch with pleasure. The tense used implies continuity: we are not only to hunger intensely for the Holy Eucharist, but we are also never to stop participating in it. Indeed, consuming the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord brings us true physical and spiritual satisfaction, and enhances our communion with God (Jn 6:55-56). St. Paul talks about this communion in the Second Reading: the blessing cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. Paul’s sense of communion is that we must look with faith not only upon the life-giving Bread/Host and Blessing Cup/Chalice but also with faith upon our brothers and sisters who with us form ‘one body’. 

Unless we recognize Christ in other people, we do not know Christ Whom we are receiving in the Holy Eucharist. May the Body and Blood of Christ lead us to everlasting life. Amen. God bless you.

“A GOD OF TENDERNESS AND COMPASSION”

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9        2Cor 13:11-13        John 3:16-18

The doctrine of the Trinity is the doctrine of God’s love, forgiveness and mercy. If someone denies the love, forgiveness and mercy of God, that person rejects not only the doctrine of the Trinity but also the mystery of God’s intimate, relational life as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The mystery of the Holy Trinity confronts us with the limitations of the human mind, and the doctrine shows us our littleness, our frailty, and our deep-rooted need for love, forgiveness and mercy. This is why, in our liturgy of the Holy Mass, we not only acclaim God as Holy Holy Holy... (cf. Isaiah 6:3; Rev. 4:8), but also acknowledge our own littleness, our frailty in His presence, in the Confiteor with the words mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa … through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. 

Although the mystery of the Holy Trinity was not explicit in the Old Testament, there are intimations of it nonetheless. One of these intimations is presented in the First Reading, in Yahweh’s giving of the Law to Moses. Yahweh introduced Himself to Moses in an astonishingly comforting way: Lord, Lord, a God of tenderness and compassion, rich in kindness and faithfulness. The sacred Law that God was about to entrust to His people was to be interpreted in terms of His faithfulness and loving kindness. On the one hand, the presence of Yahweh as the Almighty Lawgiver was manifested verbally; on the other hand, the presence was manifested in the form in which He descended – in the cloud, the shekinah, the reverse of the phenomenon of the Ascension. This dual aspect of God foreshadowed the revelation of the separate Persons in one God. We can go on to say that in the Giver of the Law, in the Word and in the Cloud, the triune God – the Holy Trinity – revealed Himself.

The Ten Commandments are the basic rules, the ground rules, necessary for society to live in harmony. The Law of God extends way beyond the basics set in stone; the Law of God is the sign of God’s presence among His people, especially when they acknowledge their sins and plead for mercy. Moses was quick to confess himself and all Israel as sinners under the Law and to plead on their behalf for God’s mercy. Moses was not tempted to seek personal preferment; instead, he begged, receive us as your heritage. In a sense, genuine harmony in society can only be achieved when people are genuinely able to forgive each other and to mediate forgiveness throughout society to achieve that end.

In the economy of the salvation of mankind (the economy of revelation) in history (“HIS-story”) and eschatology, the faithful prayers and appeals to God the Saviour by the people of God in the Old Testament reached out to God in unity, peace and love. In our time, we too can place our hope in salvation if we work together in unity, peace and love. 

In the Second Reading St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, presents the mystery of the Trinity in the context of tripartite unity, peace and love: help one another…be united…greet one another with a holy kiss. This underlines that the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit abides in us and is reflected through us when we deliberately live in unity, peace and love in our own communities. When we engage purposefully in acts of forgiveness, peace and love in our personal lives and in the wider community, we are reflecting the mystery of the Trinity. In response to the redemptive work of the Son, sent by the Father, through the love of the Holy Spirit, we ought to adapt our behaviours and attitudes to God’s Creation, including our fellow man, accordingly.

It took a multitude of great minds and several centuries to thrash out the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in all its fullness – to squeeze the juice out of it in order to discover how One God comprises a relational group of three Persons in one substance. With regard to today’s Gospel reading, St. John shows us how far the process had got in his time. He highlights the generous love of God the Father: God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost. God’s love is so generous that He longs for us to come to Him, like the father scanning the horizon for his prodigal son. He forgives us straight away if only we will repent and ask for forgiveness. He forgives our repeated rejections of Him, He forgives our doubting His willingness to forgive, if only we will repent and ask. In our daily dealings with other people, we know only too well that we sometimes give up on loving and forgiving them when they reject us and doubt our motives. But God’s not like that. Despite our repeated rejections of Him, and our doubts that He will ever forgive us because what we have done is unforgiveable in our own eyes, the truth is that He loves us no matter what. No matter how often we try to let go of Him, He is ever ready to hold us.

Here’s a little story for you to show you what I mean. A man was absolutely terrified of crossing a particular bridge. He was standing there, frozen with fear. Suddenly God appeared to help him cross that bridge. The man looked up into the face of God and asked: Please may I hold your hand, Lord, so that I don’t fall? But God answered: No, my child; I will hold *your* hand. This is because if you hold my hand and something awful happens, you might let go; but if I hold your hand, no matter what happens, I will never let go. 

God’s reckless love was manifested when He sent His only-begotten Son to make sure that we are saved no matter what. Never forget that we are guilty of rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity whenever we refuse to live in love, love already most generously shown to us by God. In the spirit of this most generous love of God, we renew our commitment to live in love with others. May the Lord bless and keep us, may His face constantly shine on us and be gracious to us, and may He lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace (Numbers 6:23-24). Amen. God bless you.