IN LOSING IT, WE GAIN IT!

 HOMILY FOR THE 22^ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

 Jeremiah 20:7-9        Romans 12:1-2        Matthew 16:21-27

Fraser and Hamish were walking side by side with one another, bearing heavy crosses. As they walked along, the burden of Hamish’s cross weighed heavily upon him. Sore and sweating, eventually he cried out: Dear God, this cross is so heavy for me. Please will you cut a bit off the vertical beam? God obliged him and did what he asked. Going a little further, and still feeling the cross weighing heavily upon him, Hamish begged God a second time for help. Dear God, this cross is so heavy for me. Please will you cut a bit off the left-hand side of the horizontal beam? God obliged him and did what he asked. Hamish was still struggling, so he begged God a third time for help, and the right-hand side of the horizontal beam was reduced as well. Eventually, Fraser and Hamish reached a deep gorge where it was impossible for them to go on unless they slid their crosses across a narrow gap and used them as bridges. Fraser simply slipped his cross over the gorge and got to the other side. Hamish, however, was stuck. His cross has been so foreshortened that it was unable to bridge the gap. This time Hamish yelled to God: Dear God, Please help me. Give me back those parts of my cross that were chopped off, so that I can bridge the gap with my original cross and get to the other side with Fraser. Well, he wanted to have had his cake and eat it. In His kindness, God gave him another chance. The condition was that Hamish should go back to where the chopped-off pieces lay, pick them up and nail them on again, and come back to cross the gorge. Hamish wept with regret: Had I known that all those pieces were needed, I wouldn’t have complained. Hamish realized that he would have to expend more time and more energy fixing and bearing the cross, than he would have done had he borne the whole burden from the start. The cross each one of us has to bear for Christ’s sake is necessary, indeed essential, to enable us to cross over safely to eternal life with God. Yes, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.

In the Gospel, Our Lord revealed to His disciples the condition for discipleship. This happened after the confession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi when Jesus explained to His disciples how the Son of Man will suffer grievously, be killed, and be raised on the third day. As the spokesman of the disciples and as the first Pope, Peter took Jesus aside and declared that the disciples would not allow suffering and dying to happen to Him. Peter was not aware that the Cross of Christ was the weapon to effect our crossover from sin to grace, from damnation to salvation, from hatred to love, from strife to peace, from slavery to freedom, from tears to joy, and from sorrow to gladness. But Peter hadn’t listened to the rest of Jesus’ words, had he? He’d missed the bit about Jesus being raised from the dead! Where the Holy Spirit had inspired Peter to confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God just moments previously, Satan immediately stepped in to delude Peter about the purpose of Jesus’ mission. It was Satan whom Jesus rebuked strongly: ύπαγε όπισω μον, σατανα. Jesus didn’t say “Get behind me, Peter”; He said, “Get behind me, Satan!” Our Lord then said to His disciples: whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me. Everybody has a cross, not just us. When we deny ourselves, we look to Christ and accept the realities of existence. It is in giving our all for Him, in expending our blood, sweat and tears, that we actually grow in the Christian life. Christ was perfected through suffering (Heb 2:10). Following the Lord, carrying our crosses and helping others to bear theirs, is the route that leads us to the glory of heaven.

In the First Reading, Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry foreshadows the burden of the cross. He felt wounded by the derision his message of repentance evoked, and he complained that he was ‘an object of laughter’. He also acknowledged, however, that: you have seduced me Lord and I have allowed myself to be seduced. God had overpowered him with His overwhelming love for him, and the message that Jeremiah proclaimed was a cross he was called by God to bear. As St. Paul declares in the Second Reading, the message of the cross enables us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Like us, St Peter and the Prophet Jeremiah without realizing at their various moments of encounter with the Lord how earthly pain would ultimately lead them to heavenly glory felt the common, human urge to argue with God. Don’t we occasionally feel like arguing with the Lord? Don’t we sometimes feel like upbraiding God about how He has permitted a particular situation to develop in our lives? Don’t we feel tempted to ask God where He is when bad stuff happens to us? Feelings can be unreliable, though, can’t they? The temptation to quiz God on His motives will come, but it can be overcome by reminding ourselves of these words of Our Lord: anyone who loses his life for My sake will find it. That cross you bear for the sake of Christ - the one that is causing you excruciating pain in your life - is actually the bridge to victory over death and glory in heaven. Remember that what we selfishly hold onto, we lose, but what we give away, we preserve. Nothing is safe until it is in the hands of God, and nothing lasts unless it is preserved by God. May God continue to help us to grow in grace and lead us ultimately to heaven. Amen. God bless you.

YOU ARE THE CHRIST!

 

                        HOMILY FOR THE 21^ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Isaiah 22:19-23        Romans 11:33-36        Matthew 16:13-20

Jesus and the disciples were in the region of Caesarea Philippi in the Golan Heights. Caesarea Philippi (also known as Tiberias) overlooks a large rock which the Greeks called “the Gate of Hell”. As Christ’s followers, the knowledge that we have been invited to become members of His Church built upon a solid foundation, upon “the rock of Peter”, gives us great strength.  

The Jews believed in the One-ness of God (Deut 6:4) and awaited the salvific Messiah, but what they didn’t know was that the Messiah would be simultaneously fully God and fully Man. There existed a far deeper mystery than they thought. Through the maieutic method of teaching that Plato and Socrates used, Jesus led His disciples to a proper understanding of His identity. Jesus questioned His disciples about who people were saying He was. Then He questioned His disciples about who they were saying He is. That led Simon Peter to make the key declaration of faith: you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Peter’s confession of faith was all the more remarkable because for Jews, it was-and-is impossible for the One-ness of God to include a second Person. Immediately following Peter’s confession of faith, Christ - the logos made flesh - empowered Peter – petros, the “rock” - as the primary leader of the Church. Looking out over the rock of “the Gate of Hell” at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus – the Gate of Heaven - established Peter as “the rock” on which the Church would be built and structured. In empowering him, Our Lord made four promises: that (1) on this rock my Church will be built, (2) the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, (3) the keys of heaven I give you, and (4) whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven. 

Now, along with St. Peter, we share in the grace of the Church’s empowerment through her being built on strong foundations, and in being empowered over evil. Through Peter’s answer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the disciples from the Twelve down to the present day are graced for mission. In the First Reading, Eliakim, as master of the palace with the keys of the house of David, has the authority to act in the name of the King, just as Peter has the authority to act in the Name of Christ on behalf of the whole Church. The Lord today empowers us, as He empowered Eliakim in Jerusalem, to fight against sin and corruption. He empowers us to act on behalf of the Kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy brought by the Holy Spirit. Strong in our loyalty to the Lord, to the Church and to the Successors of Peter, we are empowered to contribute effectively towards the coming of the Kingdom on earth. But the question arises: have we ourselves genuinely made a firm decision for Him, declaring Him to the world through our words and our example?

The region of Caesarea Philippi was as far North as Jesus and the disciples ever went. The city was in pagan territory and was replete with shrines to pagan gods. Its original name was Paneas, named after Pan, the god (small ‘g’) of nature. Herod the Great erected a white marble temple here. Later on, his son Philip enriched the temple and changed the name of the city from Paneas (‘Pan’s area’) to Caesarea Philippi (‘Philip’s city dedicated to Caesar’). Why was it, then, that Caesarea Philippi of all places - a place adorned with pagan altars, idols, temples to Syrian gods and to Caesar – was chosen by Christ as the place to ask His disciples those questions about Who He Is?

It could be argued that Christ, the Son of the Living God, deliberately set Himself against a background of many gods and their purported splendour, and questioned His followers in that context so as to lead them to identify Him correctly. It could also be argued that Christ, the King of the universe, deliberately set himself alongside Caesar’s image and his purported political power, and questioned His disciples in that context so as to lead them to identify the real King of all that is. If both those arguments are correct, then Our Lord implicitly challenges His disciples to decide for themselves whom they will love and serve….choose this day whom you will serve (Josh 24:15). St. Paul, in the Second Reading, pointed out that everything that exists comes from the Lord. That’s why it is both correct and essential to serve Him.

Christ leads us too, step by step, to encounter Him, because He understands that we live in a world where distractions abound, distractions that have the capacity to distance us from His love, if we let them. Jesus invites us today to make a firm resolution for Him… a resolution born out of His gift of free will, a resolution to recognize His power working in us, a resolution to remain with Him and to follow Him faithfully. We sincerely need to accept that invitation. Do it today. Amen. God bless you. 

THE INSIDER VERSUS THE OUTSIDER

HOMILY FOR THE 20^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Isaiah 56:1.6-7        Romans 11:13-15, 29-32        Matthew 15:21-28

Inclusiveness is the watchword of the culture of faith. Faith is neither constricted nor confined by boundaries. The availability of salvation, mercy and the justice of the Lord is not reserved to the few, but is open to all. It is not reserved to a particular people, culture or race. In Isaiah’s time, foreigners living within Judah were granted limited rights and protection (cf. Ex 22:20; Deut 10:19). In the First Reading, Isaiah clarifies that God accepts foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord. The message of Isaiah was ground-breaking, since it extended full privileges not only to “foreigners” – guests and immigrants resident in Judah - but also to nocrées  (those in distant lands) and to nekàr (those of different races). In other words,  Isaiah’s message was-and-is a message of salvation to all of us ‘foreigners on earth’ (Heb 11:13, cf. 1 Chron 29:14ff), and that means universally, to all the peoples on the earth, to every one of us.

In the Gospel, this message is reinforced in a lively exchange between Jesus and a Canaanite woman of great faith. She was in pain because her daughter was tormented: the poor girl was possessed by a devil. Convinced that Jesus would be able to exorcize her daughter, she went to Him, knelt down and cried out on behalf of her daughter: take pity on me, son of David. The disciples got fed up with her behaviour and, unable to cope with her loud cries of desperation any longer, advised Jesus to give in and give her what she wanted.

At first sight, it seems that Jesus purposely kept her at arm’s length. Why would He do that? Of course He knew what was going to happen, because He is God, in which case we can deduce that He wanted to use the situation to teach us an important point of faith. At the time, the disciples probably surmised that He wasn’t jumping in to help her because His mission was primarily to the Jews, and she was a Canaanite. Canaan had a long history of hostility to the Jews, which went as far back as the conquest of Canaan by the forces of Joshua (cf. Num 13:1-33; Josh 10:28-12; 11:10-15), which had ensued over the acquisition and possession of land.  

The Canaanite woman, however, persisted in her quest and refused to take ‘no’ for an answer. She realized that sometimes a ‘NO’ can mean ‘Next Opportunity’! Her humility was further manifested when – far from claiming a right to His help - she pointed out the truism that pet dogs get to enjoy the scraps that happen to fall from their master’s table. The underlying message we can glean from her retort is that the good things God grants us because He loves us so much come to us as generous favours rather than as rights. It follows that while we can claim no right to be members of God’s family, our membership of the family is afforded to us as a generous gift, as an open-handed favour bestowed on us by God. Of course, this overwhelming and unmerited gift to us must be received in humility. We are to live out our time here as foreigners in reverent awe (1Pet 1:17).

Imagine how many of us would have our needs met by God if we were to intercede for one another as this woman did for her daughter. Jesus did not perceive her nationality - her non-Jewish status - as an obstacle to His favour. He put her faith to the test, and went on to grant her request because she demonstrated such great trust and faith in Him. God has no favourites (Rom 2:11). The mission of Christ is to break down boundaries and to destroy every wall of division and prejudice between peoples, between insiders and outsiders. Everyone has equal access to the Kingdom of God available to them. No-one is excluded from the offer.

Now, let’s consider the ascent of faith of this woman. Her faith in God ratcheted up during her encounter with Jesus. The episode opened with her calling Jesus ‘Son of David’, a Jewish royal and political title which accorded Him respect in terms of earthly glory and power. The episode ended with her acknowledging Jesus as Lord, a spiritual title which accorded Him respect in terms of His supra-natural (“above-natural”) and divine nature. In her ascent of faith, she was resolute, persistent and patient even in her troubled state. Along with the Centurion (Mt 8:10), this woman was one of the two Gentiles whose faith Jesus commended as “great”. This woman shows us that great faith can manifest as a desperate cry of need (Mt 15:22), a persistence that will not quit (Mt 15:23-24), a spirit that worships Jesus as Lord (Mt 15:25), a spirit of humility and surrender to the Lord (Mt 15:26-27); and it also shows us that such faith prompts a favourable outcome to its request (Mt 15:28).

How many times have we, either in word or deed, erected barriers intended to insulate ourselves from others? How many times have we branded others in adverse terms, so as to exclude them or to emphasise their current exclusion? St. Paul, in the Second Reading, makes the point that God has no favourites: the gifts of mercy and grace dependent upon obedience are fully capable of being transferable to benefit communities other than our own if we reject these gifts. Ouch! This confirms that even those who have made themselves outsiders to the Christian community by rejecting the truth that Jesus is God (for Paul, this was his own people, the Jews; for us, it is the people around us) still have the opportunity to come into the Church through obedience. The door remains open, and is never closed against anyone until after the end of this life. Heaven has no seat reservations. In God, there is no Captain’s Table. God does not discriminate against unrepentant evil-doers until after death, in the hope that they might repent; we, however, can be thoroughly confident that He welcomes in the immediate moment each and every one of those who accept Him, who genuinely believe in Him, who worship Him, who place their trust in Him and who beg for His mercy. In human society, acceptance tends to be based on how physically attractive or unattractive someone is, rather than how attractive or unattractive they are on the inside. People tend to make time for those they like, while cutting short or avoiding those they don’t like. The good news is that God accepts you and He accepts me: He has time for everybody because He is Love. Our task, if we will accept it, is to bask in God’s love for us and to mirror it joyfully to others so that they have the opportunity to accept Him too. Amen. God bless you.

 

SHE WAS GIVEN A SPECIAL PLACE!

 

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10        1 Cor 15:20-26        Luke 1:39-56

The Solemnity of the Assumption celebrates the taking-up into heaven of the body and soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the point of her death. In the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus dated 1^st November 1950, Pope Ven. Pius XII defined what had long been held by the people of God to be true. St John Damascene wrote that “It was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles … it was fitting that God’s Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honoured by every creature as the Mother and the Handmaid of God.” St Germanus of Constantinople composed the following hymn: “Your name is Our Lady. You alone are Mother of God and raised high over all the earth. O Spouse of God, we celebrate you with faith, we honour you with longing, we venerate you with awe; at every moment we exalt you and reverently proclaim you blessed.”

The first reading today, taken from Revelation, concerns two signs. The first sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. The woman is the Theotokos (the “God-bearer”) and the unborn child is God Incarnate, the Lord Jesus. Can you remember what story in the Scriptures is directly related to this one? It’s the story about Joseph – he of the coat of many colours – who dreamt that the sun, moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him (Gen 37:9-11). In the story, the sun represented his father Jacob (also called Israel), the moon represented his mother Rachel, and the eleven stars represented his 11 brothers. The dream foretold how Jacob’s family and the future nation of Israel would be saved from disaster through Joseph. The episode in Genesis mirrors today’s episode in Revelation. How come? Because, by Our Lady’s gracious ‘fiat’ – “let it be done to me according to thy word” - to become the Mother of the Saviour (Lk 1:38), the children of God begotten by faith were-and-are saved from sin and restored to fellowship with God.

In the Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55; cf. Jud ch.13), the canticle of praise that follows Our Lady’s ‘fiat’, she declares that “all generations shall call me blessed” (Lk 1:48). In the intervening verses, Our Lady has gone to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth who is six months pregnant with the precursor, the forerunner, of the Divine Child. As soon as Mary, the Ark of the Covenant bearing God within her, enters the house, Elizabeth announces the advent of the Incarnate Lord to the world by articulating, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Lk 1:41ff). As the Mother of God, Mary is nearer to the triune God than any of His creatures or angels. She occupies the highest place of honour amongst all creatures and is therefore the Queen of Heaven. As Queen of Heaven, she is at the right hand of her Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to intercede for us poor sinners. She, the Mediatrix of all graces, is a channel of grace for us.

There are no relics or mementoes of Mary. She was not divine, but she was singularly favoured. She perfectly manifested what God intended mankind to be. Mary provides us with the gold-standard example of faith, and she gives us the hope of ultimate triumph over sin and death. She did not see clearly all that was in store for her by God, but she put her trust in Him. She would, like her Son Jesus, be rebuffed and frustrated by a lot of things, but she trusted, obeyed and kept on going. She paid a heavy price for her perfection because she suffered  more than others. The last words of her Son from the cross were “Behold your Mother” - a sign, an indication, of what He wants us to do. He wants us to look to Mary for help, because she has the power of intercession to lead us into glory where our souls and bodies will be reunited.

Finally, the Solemnity of the Assumption reminds us of the dignity and destiny of the human body, and why we must take care of it because it is God-given. Death was not part of God’s plan. By sin, death came into the world. The world at the time Our Lady was born was (as it is today) a moral sore. Our culture is afraid to talk of death and dying, preferring to use the euphemism of “passing away”. The grace of the Assumption recalls us to the innate dignity of the human body because of Who created it and gifted us with it. Conceived without Original sin, our blessed Mother was not allowed to see corruption but was taken up body and soul into heaven. Like hers, our bodies are sacred. We bear Our Lord in our bodies after receiving Holy Communion. Mary, spouse of the Holy Spirit, bore Jesus in her womb for nine months. Conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus received His human body and blood from her, and she carried His DNA in her blood for the rest of her life on earth. Jesus raised Himself from the dead, and He raised Mary into heaven at the point of her death.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, continue to intercede for us throughout the struggles of this earthly life. Amen. God bless you.

THE LORD COMES IN A GENTLE BREEZE!

 

HOMILY FOR THE 19^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

1 Kings 19:9-13        Romans 9:1-5        Matthew 14:22-33

Jesus had foreseen that, despite the miracle of the Feeding of the 5000, He - the Living Bread from heaven - would be rejected by those He fed (cf. Jn 6:60-66). In the Second Reading, the St. Paul grieved for his own people about their lukewarmness in accepting the Good News. In the First Reading, the prophet Elijah – ‘jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the people of Israel [had] forsaken the covenant’ - was fleeing for his life. Jezebel, furious with Elijah for the role he had played in the defeat of the prophets of Baal, had ordered his death. Upon reaching Horeb, the mountain of God (Ex 3:1; 4:27), Elijah experienced an encounter with the Lord. He might well have expected the voice of the Creator and Sustainer of the universe to be heard in the context of a dramatic show of His power, perhaps within a hurricane capable of shattering rocks, or in a massive earthquake, or in a ravaging fire … and although these terrifying natural forces were raging outside the cave where Elijah was huddled, the voice of the Lord was not heard. Finally, when the sequence of natural forces had passed, the still, small voice (I K 19:12) of the Lord was heard in the whispering of a gentle breeze.

The miracle of the Feeding of the 5000 had failed to open the eyes of the disciples to Who Jesus really is (Mk 6:52). The disciples were in danger of the crowd (Jn 6:14f) and from their own lack of faith (Mk Ibid.), so Jesus made them get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to Gennesaret while He dismissed the crowds (Mt 14:22). Having left Jesus on His own to spend time in prayer, the disciples set off, only to find themselves battling a heavy sea and a headwind. Their fear of the barque of Peter being overwhelmed by natural forces morphed into high-octane terror at the sight of a ghostly figure walking towards them on the water (cf. Jn 6:19). Why? Because although they were in dire need of help, and help was coming, it wasn’t forthcoming in the way they anticipated. Until Jesus identified Himself, they were shrieking in superstitious fear because they thought that a disembodied spirit was coming towards them.

We too can feel as disconsolate as Elijah and the disciples when the Lord does not come to us in circumstances we expect. Think for a moment about how we respond to stressful situations. An unexpected turn of events can upset us enough to send us down to the depths of despair. In such circumstances, our faith wobbles and we tend to forget that God is neither confined by our expectations nor by the laws of nature. He comes to us in His way, not ours. He is unwilling to force His help on us: Jesus “was wishing to pass them [the disciples] by” (Mk 6:48, cf. Lk 24.28). The Lord chooses to speak to us quietly and simply, especially when we are in the throes of fear. He says: ‘It is I’. ‘Be not afraid.’ All we need is reassurance from His parental voice, and that was what both Elijah and the disciples experienced. The Lord offers us the same peace, His peace, but we can obtain it only if we pay attention to seeing Him present and active in things, events and people around us.

Now, like many of us, Peter recognised the Lord. Peter went on to say, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water”. Was he being presumptuous in putting the Lord to the test? Probably. Yet he responded in faith when the Lord told him to do exactly that, and so another miracle occurred: he was able to do it! We know that Peter was a good swimmer (Jn 21:7), but when he felt the force of the wind and took fright, he began to sink rather than swim. Christ used that scenario to teach Peter - and us - the lesson that fear and doubt purpose together to make us lose our focus upon Him and to bring us down, to sink us. The stresses of life, that feel akin to the force of a headwind, abound, but they can only overcome us when we allow ourselves to be overcome by fear. Christ comes to us to free us from the prison of our doubts, fears and misconceptions. Are you ready to call on Him to take your hand? His hand steadies us enough to rise above our fears.    

Note that the disciples finally acknowledged Jesus as ‘The Son of God’ (cf. the confessions of Nathanael Jn 1:48 and the centurion Mt 27:54) after yet another miracle occurred: ‘as Jesus got into the boat, the wind dropped’.  His presence delivered His disciples from the physical and metaphysical stormy sea to safety, and He will do similarly for us if only we will ask Him. If, however, we do not respond to His whispering in our hearts by becoming instruments of His help and compassion for others, or if we do not ask Him to reach out to us whenever we find ourselves in circumstances beyond our control, then we too will begin to sink. Yes, we can be confident of His help if we ask for it. Yes, we can be confident that much can be achieved when we look to Him. Yes, ‘we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us’ (Phil 4:13). God bless you. Amen.