MY YOKE IS EASY...

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS (23/6/2017)

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of the most widely practiced and well known devotions in the catholic faith. It is celebrated 19 days after the feast of Pentecost. The physical heart of Jesus is taken as the representation of his divine love for humanity. It was in 1856 that Pope Pius IX established this feast as obligatory for the whole Church, to be celebrated on the Friday after the octave of the Corpus Christi. In 1928, Pope Pius XI raised the feast to the highest rank, double of the first class, and added an octave. This octave is no longer observed because the 1955 reforms of the general Roman calendar suppressed it and many others. We must also say that this feast since 2002 has become a special day of prayer for the sanctification of priests. It was this feast that opened up the year of priests of 2009. 

This is a feast that unveils the absolute love of God for humanity. The First Reading (Deut. 7:6-11) talks about the love God has for the people of Israel by setting them apart and redeeming them, and thereupon situated them on a good soil. The love God has for us must provoke us to develop an undying love for God and his Church. The Second Reading (1 John 4:7-16) makes us to understand that he who does not love does not know God, for God is love. To prove our holiness and fellowship, we must practice love; that sort of love that is self-emptying without selfishness, inclusive without partiality, sincere without destruction, forgives without being vindictive, promotes without gratification, tolerates without calumny, etc. This sort of love can involve suffering but this suffering purifies and struggles to move the lover and the beloved to greater heights. Even though you experience discomfort, this type of love makes you to bear the situation in patience and hope.

Christ gives us a remedy of what to do when the love we show faces trial and tribulation. In our suffering, God does not abandon us. The Gospel (Matt. 11:25-30) clears us about the divine effort to ease human suffering. We are overburdened by so many things; we carry much load on us that makes us tired in our journey. Thus, it is Jesus who offers us rest. He insists that we who are overburdened are invited for rest. The yoke of Christ is easy. His burden is light. The yoke refers to oxen’s yoke. The yoke was a wooden collar-like instrument placed on the neck and shoulders of the oxen. It was used for tying the ropes of a plough to the oxen or for tying whatever load it had to pull. It was very important that the yoke be fitted for the shoulders of the oxen to prevent rubbing the flesh raw and causing sores. The yoke helps the oxen to ease the burden of the load.

The yoke thus can refer to a man’s life and task here on earth. The burdens and loads for being a Christian and the responsibility attached therein. The Greek word chrestos which is usually translated as ‘easy’ can also mean ‘well-fitting’. Christ is saying that his yoke, life and task are fitted to a person. The Christian life is fitted to us. The demand for love is bearable by us. it is not something we cannot bear. He does not lay on us burdens too heavy for us to bear. We should therefore cast all our anxieties on God because he cares for us (1 Pet 5:7). The condition for finding the rest Christ invites us to is to take up the yoke of Christ. This yoke of Christ is what is offered us in 1 John 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.

With love, we overcome. With love, suffering is eased. With love, progress is assured. May this divine love that emanates from the sacred Heart of Jesus constantly enkindle in our hearts more sincere love for our neighbours. Amen.

THE LIVING BREAD FOR ALL

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Every one of us can unanimously agree that bread is a common type of food. It is readily available. In fact, the scarcity of bread in any society is a sign of a general food scarcity. It is almost impossible to get someone who says he or she is allergic to bread. It is also almost inconceivable to think of any society that has no bakery for bread. This is how it is also unthinkable to me that we can find someone who has never eaten bread. It is this meal that is readily available that Jesus employs when talking about himself. As the bread is well-known and appreciated by everyone, Christ makes himself well-known and important for all. As the bread is available, Christ convinces us of his availability for us. As the consumption of bread is enjoyed by everyone, Christ reveals himself as a person who is for all, not for a few; and therefore disposed to feed all. Today, the Church calls our mind to the Body and Blood of Christ. It is a feast that reminds us of the importance of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic meal, which Christ makes available daily to us, and which we are called to partake of daily. Christ says in the Gospel (John 6:51-58): I AM THE LIVING (NOT DEAD) BREAD.

Someone asked me: But why do we celebrate the Body and Blood of Christ today where as Jesus refers himself as the living bread which is one of the species transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ? I quickly answered: this is the same as the question a catechism boy asked me why the priest during communion gives him only the body without the blood of Christ. At this intervention, he quickly understood himself that according to the Tridentine Council begun in 1545, this problem was resolved that in the body is contained the blood and vice versa. What this means is that when you receive the body, you also receive the blood. Drawing from this analogy, the Christ calls himself the living bread, not in separation of the blood. Even as the Gospel progresses, we see Jesus saying it explicitly that we must eat the body and drink the blood for the assurance of eternal life.

 

As soon as Jesus said he is the living bread, the Jews were thrown into confusion and dispute arose among them. There are three interpretations that may arise from the dispute among these religious men. The first is that some may have thought to themselves that he was merely speaking in parables as he usually did. The second is that those who think in material terms thought to themselves that he was joking as no man can give a follow man his flesh to eat; otherwise it becomes cannibalistic. The third is that it is most probable that a few of his disciples understood Jesus. However, the central point is that the message of Jesus (who constantly made claims after claims that were really unusual) troubled the Jews that they began to argue among themselves what he meant. Jesus retorted with a more shocking message: Unless a man partakes of him, he/she has no life dwelling in him. This implies that unless a man receives Christ, he has no life dwelling in Him. He is dead. Partaking of this living bread which is Christ is most essential for eternal life, just as eating and drinking is essential for earthly life. There are two implications of not partaking: physically, the person is in the process of aging and dying, and of living in the realm of death and being doomed to die. Spiritually, he is already dead because he is doomed to eternal death and separation from God.

Whoever eats on my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, said Jesus. This is in contrast to the manna and water of the first reading (Deut. 8:2-3. 14b-16a) where the Israelites ate and drank as we were never told that they ceased to be hungry or thirsty again. That food was preparatory for the actual food (Christ) which assures eternal life. The body and blood of Christ is our food for the journey towards eternity. Partaking of it has many positive consequences.

1. In John 6:54, the result is eternal life. The word trogon translated as ‘eat’ in this verse is somewhat different. It implies to eat eagerly, to grasp at chunks and to eat with pleasure. If we conjure in our minds the picture of hungering after a meal and struggling to have the lion’s share, then it all means we should hunger for Christ and wait eagerly to feed and feast on him. The tense of the word (eat) is also different. It implies continuity. A person must continue to eat and grow into the habit of feasting upon Christ. Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned (John 5:24). Now, this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3).

2. In John 6:55, the result is true satisfaction. The flesh and the blood are real and provide true satisfaction. The word alethes translated as true implies real as opposed to falsehood. Material things do not provide true satisfaction. They do not last and do not ensure security nor confidence. It rather makes men more empty, void and unsatisfied. True satisfaction comes from receiving Christ into one’s life. One must receive Christ in the most intimate and nourishing sense in order to have true life. He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things (Ps. 107:9). Never will they hunger; never will they thirst; the sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat (Rev. 7:16).

3. In John 6:56, the result is supernatural companionship and fellowship, care and being looked after. The word menei means ‘remains’ or ‘abides’. It means to be fixed and set, remaining there forever. The person receives Christ as Christ enters the person’s life, remaining with him. The person is also placed into Christ enjoys with other believers the dwelling in the spiritual body of Christ.  The second Reading (1 Cor. 10:16-17) was explicit on it. It is because theloaf of bread is one that we are one body, since we all partake of the one loaf. If Christ is in us and we in Christ, our security is then assured. Remain in me, and I in you...apart from me, you can do nothing (John 15:4-5). Those who obey his commands live in him and he in them (1 John 3:24). Jesus stands at the door knocking; if anyone on hearing his voice opens the door, he will then come in and eat with him, and he with him (Rev. 3:20).

4. In John 6: 57, the result is a purposeful life. The man who receives Christ lives because of Christ. He has a purpose. He now sees the meaning and significance of life amidst its vicissitudes. He sees that life tends to be meaningless without fellow Christians. Paul said, for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil.1:21). And therefore, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal 2:2).

5. In John 6:58, the result is incorruptible food in our hearts; agility forever. It is the living bread. It is Christ himself who energizes and quickens a man to live forever. Christ has the quality, the power, the substance to energize a man and give him eternal life. He alone has such power. In him was life and that life was the light of men (John 1:4); as the father has life, so he has granted the son to have life in himself (John 5:26).

One last advice; have a continuous hunger for the Holy Communion never lose the consciousness of appropriate preparedness for its reception. There are two things the devil is afraid of: fervent communion and frequent visit to the blessed Sacrament (St. Johnbosco)  May Corpus et Sanguis Christi  be our strength and hope. Amen. God bless you.

THE TRI THAT INSPIRED EVERYTHING

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

God is three consubstantial persons –Father, Son, and Holy Spirit– as one God in three divine persons. They are distinct, yet are of one essence. 

Today, we encounter a three-sentence and a three-verse episode which are read as one Gospel (John 3:16-18). It is not out of place to think that this is possible because of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity that we celebrate today. Today, we are faced with the greatest of all mysteries which cannot be explained in its plenitude or even understood in its fullness. This reminds me of the experience of Okonkwo in the Things Fall Apart. The villagers had gathered to listen to the missionaries explain the Trinity to them. After the effort of the missionary to explain to the people of Amantain Umuofia that the one true God they were being introduced to had a son, Jesus Christ, Okonkwo immediately intercepted: then this God must have a wife. No, replied the missionary. At this point, according to the author, Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo knew that the missionary was really mad. Okonkwo failed to comprehend such a being due to the limitations of his human mind. He had not conceived how a Father can exist with a Son without a mother. Today, we must know that the reality of the Trinity is not a human thing, but a divine reality, even though we see very many human and natural realities that are inspired by the Trinity, the reality of three-in-one.

The Gospel spells out God’s reason for allowing his son to be killed for the salvation of the world; this reason is love. He so loved the world that he gave his son. The mainspring of God’s being is love, and this God is trinitarian. As classical theology says, the Father is the Lover, the Son is the Beloved and the Spirit is the love, and the overflowing of this love is creation, which gained its highest expression in mankind. And so human beings are called to love which is the life of God, their creator. The Second Reading (2 Cor. 13:11-13) gives us the way to practice this love on earth: rejoice, mend your ways, obey God, agree with one another, and live in peace. If we do this, then the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Spirit would remain with us. You don’t love God if you don’t love your neighbour. And in the First Reading (Exodus 34:4b. 6. 8-9), God revealed himself to Moses as a God who abounds in steadfast love and mercy. It is the love that saved the Israelites from the hands of Pharoah. God is simply love. His love is both saving and merciful. Love binds the three persons of the Trinity together. And the inspiration felt from this reality of these three are all over nature and created reality. Let’s go.

In all of material creation, we see the reality of three individual manifestations that possess one reality. Matter exists in three forms: solid, liquid and Gas. Matter is anything that has weight and occupies spaces. The material reality is created by God and reflects the structure of the Godhead in its three forms of solid, liquid and Gas. Water as a material reality can also exist in three forms. As water it exists in liquid form. When cooled, it is ice, and hence solid form. When heated, it is vapour and hence gaseous form. But it is the same reality. In combustion, the fire also produces the effect of heat as well as smoke. If we move to the world of vegetation, especially of fruits, we come to realize that many fruits have three major parts: the outer layer, the middle layer and the inner layer. In the mango or the pear, the outer layer covers the edible part of the fruit which covers the seed; all making up the fruit.

In biological realities, we notice this same inspiration from the three-in-one reality. The egg has the shell, the albumen and the yoke. Man is composed of body, mind and spirit. The body of man makes for his physical nature, the mind of man makes for his mental nature as the spirit of man makes for his spiritual nature. In the world of technology, scientists were inspired to produce machines that have three relational parts but working as a whole to achieve wholeness. The fan is an example; even the tricycle too. Also, in production, we see the mathematical application of three. Three lines are necessary to form a plan figure. Three dimensions of length, breadth and width are necessary to form a solid.

In temporal (timeliness) reality, time exists in three forms –past, present, and future. All are necessary for a worthy living. I have not also seen any clock that has more than three hands. There are the seconds hand, the minute hand and the hour hand. God is spoken about in Rev. 1:4 as a God who was, who is and who is to come. During our liturgical celebration, we notice the triad repetition of some words. In the Confiteor, the penitent clearly beats his/her chest three times with the words, mea culpa. Have you asked yourself why the expression is said thrice and not less or more than? During the praise sand after the preface, we meet the words, Holy Holy Holy... this connects us to Isaiah 6:3 and Rev. 4:8). Why are there not more than three holies, and not less? Another point here is, why are the words not in progression –Holy, Holier Holiest? Our God is holy; yes. None is greater than the other and none is less than the other. They are equal. In fact, three as the first of the numbers of perfection in the scriptures denotes divine perfection. There are three divine attributes of God: omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotent.

We wrap it up with the presence of the trinity in the Bible. The Trinity was evident in the words of God in Genesis 1:26 and in Gen 11:7; let us. They are not one, but three. When the Lord visited Abraham in the appearance of three persons in Gen. 18, the Bible recorded in the very first verse that the Lord (singular) appeared to Abraham. Abraham addressed them as one (v.3). The three spoke as many (vv.5.9) and as one (vv. 13.15). The question comes: why did the Lord choose to appear as three men? The Lord gives Moses a three-format blessing of how to bless the Israelites in Numbers 6:23-24. Why are the blessings not more than three and not less? I have also continued to imagine why God identified himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is no fourth name. The Psalmist in 62:12 says that the Lord has said only one thing (as One God), but he understand two (as a human being), and ended up saying three (as a community of three).  

Jesus came to be born into the family of Mary and Joseph, making them three. He prolongs the community of three he has ever lived in before the creation of the world. At his birth, he inspired three wise men to visit him and present to him the three gifts of gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. The gifts show that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all a part of the mission. The gifts have no permission not to be up to three. In 1 Corinthians 13:13, there are three things that last, Paul says: Faith, Hope and Charity. These three virtues are eternal because the three persons of the Blessed Trinity are eternal. Three things will always last. The three are eternal.

And so, dear friends, the three persons of the Most Holy Trinity must inspire also our human society. The Father, the Mother and the Children must live together in unity and peace. The inseparable unity and love of the Trinity has to reflect in our domestic Church. Following this identity of the three, the Church has three hierarchical structures among the clergy: the deacon, the Priest and the Bishop. We must also work hard to reflect the love and unity of the Trinity in this hierarchy by being in one heart and mind with ourselves and with the Church. We must not allow ourselves the joke of not participating to work for an indivisible unity in the Church. It is true that no two persons are the same; but it is even truer that we can live as same. The three persons in the Trinity are distinct persons and this is shown in their function in the economy of salvation (the Father creates, the Son saves and the Spirit sanctifies); yet they are inseparable in their substance and essence. We may be different, but we can understand and tolerate one another.

Providentially, our system of Governing has chosen a three dimensional pattern of the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature. The question should be constantly asked: how do they work in an incorruptible harmony to achieve oneness and progress in the country? The success of the Trinity cannot ever be over-emphasized. Unity brings forth progress. The onlookers will be overtaken by events that they will ask themselves: when did they achieve all these? If you want progress, seek for unity. The trinity had resounding success in their work of salvation for mankind because of their inseparable unity and love. We can achieve too resounding success if we develop and work for unity in our various areas of human endeavour. May the trinity inspire me; inspire you and inspire all of us. I wish you a blessed week ahead. God bless you.

HAVE YOUR WAY, O HOLY SPIRIT

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE PENTECOST SUNDAY

 

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

It is Pentecost. The word ‘pentecost’ simply means the 50^th day. It is an agricultural feast celebrated 7 weeks (50 days) after the Passover. The feast was more frequently mentioned in the New Testament than in the Old Testament. It received its importance in Christian belief and liturgy from the event that happened Acts 2, which are the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, the gift of tongues, the discourse of Peter and the formation of the first Christian Church. The author of the Acts of the Apostles (Luke) makes the Pentecost the birthday of the Church. And so, we must start by wishing the Christian Religion a Happy Birthday. We wish very many prosperous and spirit-filled years ahead. May she continue to be relevant for mankind. May she continue to be the voice of the voiceless, the hope of the hopeless, and the strength of the weak. Amen.

Today, we must join our intents, voices, and actions together to beckon on the Holy Spirit to have His way in our lives, in the life of the Church and in the life of our society. In the Gospel (John 20:19-23), Jesus gave this same Spirit to his apostles. They were in fear, but Jesus came to dispel those fears and the apostles where invigorated and joyful again. Jesus did not stop at that. He breathed into them, to remind us of the initial breath with which man was created (Gen 2.7) and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit. So, as the breath of Genesis 2 is creating, the breath of John 20 becomes recreating. It is that spirit that would give them the power to forgive sins or to retain them. It is this same Spirit that is a principle of Christian unity. The Second reading (1 Cor. 12:3b-7.12-13) says that the Holy Spirit is the reason for our status as the children of God. We all received the same spirit by virtue of our baptism, and so ought to live according to this singular source of our life. The First Reading (Acts 2:1-11) insisted on this same spirit of unity which spurred the apostles to speak to everyone and be understood by everyone in his/her own language. There came many languages, one understanding which served as a correction of the episode of the tower of Babel (Gen. 11. 1-9) which was one language, many understandings.

Today, we remind ourselves of the presence of this same Holy Spirit in our world, Church and individual lives. The understanding of the person of the Holy Spirit followed a progression in the Biblical history. And from this understanding, we discover the principles of the Holy Spirit. However, even in the progressive nature of this understanding, both progressions are necessary and indispensable for the perfect awareness of the person and works of the Holy Spirit. One hand of this progression is the understanding of the Holy Spirit as a thing, as the other hand is the understanding of the Holy as a living being and as a person.

The spirit of Yahweh as a dynamic entity...

The Old Testament discourse on the Holy Spirit favoured the understanding of the spirit as the action of God the father; that is, as a thing. Here, the Spirit is conceived as a dynamic entity by which Yahweh accomplishes His ends; it saves, it is a creative and charismatic power, but remains impersonal. The revelation of the Holy Spirit as a person to them had not come to their cognition. Nevertheless, irrespective of this understanding of the Holy Spirit as the spirit of Yahweh, the person of the Spirit cannot be said to have never existed. The problem lay in man’s interpretation of the divine revelation. We extract a five-finger principle from the manifestations of the spirit in the Old Testament.

1. It is the spirit of life. Spirit as a principle of life is almost always considered as a foreign element to man, given by God and taken back by him. Spirit is sometimes synonymous with breath. The creation waters had the presence of the spirit in it (Gen 1:2). Breathe can be seen either as the sign and principle of life or as something unsubstantial; windy words uttered from the mouth. The spirit of life is the breath. The breath is the breath of God, the wind communicated to man by divine inspiration. In Gen. 2:7, God breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living being. In Ezekiel 37:5, the dry bones could only be restored to life by the breath of God which shall cause them to live.

2. It is the spirit of activity. When the spirit is in man, it is also the source of agility. This agility can be considered as disposition, as action and as courage. When the Lord calls, he infuses his spirit into the person. In Exodus 31:1-3, the Lord said to Moses that he has called Bezalel, and have filled him with the spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship. The spirit is the source of strength for work, the source of the disposition even to work and the source of the courage to work more. When you are strong, achieve or have the strength to work more than any others, then trace the gift to the spirit of vitality and activity.

3. It is the spirit of conversion. The spirit is the cause for our penitence. In Psalm 51:12, the penitent asks God to renew a firm spirit in him. In Ezekiel 11:19, the Lord promises to put a new spirit within the penitents and to replace their hearts of stone with a heart of flesh; and so they observe his commandments (cf. Also Ezekiel 36:26-27). In the same Ezekiel 18:31, the Lord enjoins the people to cast away every sin to give way for a new heart and a new spirit.

4. It is a spirit of prophesy. The spirit is an inspiring one. The spirit of Yahweh is the one which inspires prophesy. In Isaiah 61:1, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed men to bring good news to the poor, to mend the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to those in prison. Here, the spirit becomes a source of prophesy. In Ezekiel 2:2, it was when the spirit entered into the prophet that he started hearing what Yahweh was speaking to him. The spirit spurs us to prophesy (cf. Joel 2:28)

5. It is a spirit of charisma. The spirit confers upon those who receive it the qualities necessary to fulfil their mission. The Lord promises in Isaiah 42:1 that he will give to his chosen servant his spirit to bring forth justice to the nations. The Lord also inspires them to deeds above and beyond the expected; and this is the true sign of the spirit –that a man rises above his habits and attainments. It was this same spirit that reposed permanently on David and the messianic king.

The spirit of Yahweh as a person...

The conception of the spirit as the power of God is still felt in the New Testament. The exclusive difference lies in the definitive revelation of the Spirit as a person, and no longer simply as a dynamic force of God.

1. As the power and companion of Jesus. The development of the hypostatization of the Holy Spirit has its root in the incarnation. The Holy Spirit was the power behind the virginal conception. This is in line with the OT principle of the Holy Spirit as a spirit of life. In Luke 1:35, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. Can he who is not a person cause another person to come into existence? The Holy Spirit was also the power behind the ministry of Jesus. It is the power which drives Jesus into the desert (Mk 1:12) and the power by which Jesus expels demons (Mt 12:28). The spirit is given to Jesus in baptism (Mt 3:13-17). In fact, the baptismal formula of Mt 28:19 is obviously the eye-opener of the person of the Holy Spirit. This same spirit continues as our power and companion today.

2. As the paraclete of the Father and the Son. The last days of Jesus were filled with the promise of the Holy Spirit. I will ask the father and He will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him (John 14:16-17). Jesus confirms that the world was yet to know the person of the Holy Spirit, as he uses the pronoun ‘whom’ to identity Him. This shows him to be a person. Here, too the Holy Spirit becomes our empowerment and sustenance.

3. As the foundation and unity of the Christian Church. The spirit that came down on the apostles on the Pentecost day not only became the source of power to them, but became known as the foundation and unity of the Christian Church. To begin anything in life, seek to have the Holy Spirit as the foundation. To talk about peace and unity in any family, beckon on the Holy Spirit.

4. As the source of all gifts. The Holy Spirit is the source of every divine gift. In 1 Cor. 12 and 14, Paul discusses elaborately on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the principle of love, of prophecy, of hope and of faith. Paul also corrects the aberration noticed in these gifts, as regards the speaking in tongues. (cf. My Reflection on 2016 Pentecost Sunday). I dwelt on this gift of the tongues last year.

5. As the inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures. The spirit inspires the sacred writers of the OT having David as the point of contact (Mt 22:43; Mk 12:36). In 2 Tim 3:16, All scriptures is breathed out by God. The Holy Spirit is the principle behind the inspiration and the writing of the Scriptures; and so, the principle behind our own inspiration. He is still active in the Church and our world today. We pray that we may allow the Holy Spirit to have his way in us.

May this same Holy Spirit be felt in us now and always. Amen. Happy Pentecost Sunday. God bless you.