TO KNOW HIM, THE "ONE-THREE" GOD

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BLESSED TRINITY, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Firmly I believe and truly that God is three and God is one. God is three in their persons. God is one in His nature. Today is a special day that prompts us to assert once more an indispensable article of our faith as Christians. This could produce in us a better understanding of our entire Christian life. Could it not be then true that the success of the Christian life starts with a proper knowledge of God? I believe that having a wrong image of God affects to a great extent our relationship with Him, and with our fellow humans. It then means that the proper way to start relating with God is by developing a proper understanding of Him, just as the best way to be a friend to another begins from a good understanding of his/her character and temperamental dispositions. Having an inappropriate image of God might hamper our interaction with God in prayer and might also lead to confusion and unnecessary arguments about the Christian lifestyle which could result in disunity.

There is this famous story of six blind people. They were meant to feel an elephant, an animal none of them never came in contact with. They were expected to touch the elephant since this discovery could only be made with their sense of touch. Then should they give a name to what they felt. The first person approached the elephant from the side and thereupon felt himself standing against a broad and very solid object; and thus said it was like a wall. He tried to climb it but failed. The second person also approached from the side but well forward and thereupon felt the elephant’s tusk, which appeared round, smooth and pointed; and thus concluded it was like a huge spear. Out of fear, he pulled back. The third person approached from the front and thereupon felt the elephant’s trunk, which moved and squirmed as he touched it; and thus concluded as he drew back in fear that it was like an enormous snake. The fourth person who was small in stature approached and came in contact with one of the elephant’s legs, which was so thick that he could barely get his hands around it; he thus concluded it was like a tree. He withdrew from it for fear of hurting himself. The fifth person came and accidentally touched one of the elephant’s ears, which began to move back and forth creating a draught, and thus concluded it was like a fan. Not happy with cold, he pulled back. The sixth person then came and approaching from the rear touched the swinging tail of the elephant; and then concluded it was like a big rope. He abandoned it since he had no use for ropes.

The six of them shared their discoveries with one another. A long and loud debate followed, but as each of them stuck rigidly to his own finding, they didn’t come to a clear understanding of the image. Each of them had a piece of the truth, as it were, but none of them wanted to merge those findings with the others’. If only they did that, being open to analyse within themselves their individual findings, they could have arrived at the true picture of the animal. Those findings conditioned also their individual reactions to the elephant. None of them also persisted to discover more parts of this elephant. At the very first finding, they all had some fears and drew back.

Now, we can be like these blind people. At the end of the day, we might be able to grasp little bits of the mystery of God, and what he is like. Over the years, various cultures and races have had their ways of understanding the divine revelation of God. Many religions and belief systems emerged as a result of their perception of God. But for us Christians, once upon a time, God saw the confusions that men have had as regards his image, and deemed it fit to reduce Himself and to become part of us, so that we can be lead to the perfect understanding of God. This was the special and ultimate revelation in Jesus Christ, who came in our own lowly form so that the blind might see (Luke 4:18) and that he might lead us to the indisputable discovery of the Three-in-one God (the Trinity). The revelation of the Blessed Trinity then was a very important goal of the creative power of God the Father in Creation, the redemptive power of God the Son in Incarnation, and the vivifying power of the God the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. As human beings who understand things better through perception, if we need to know and understand God, then we must embrace the Son who have lived like us, and among us. How do I know the Trinity? The answer is: embrace the Christ.

Christ is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15); and like the Second Reading (Rom. 5:1-5) says: by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are declared righteous and at peace with God. To know the Father, we need the Son. To know the Holy Spirit, we need the Son. In 1 Cor. 1:24, Christ is the power and the wisdom of God. And so, the First Reading (Prov. 8:22-31) personifies wisdom, and in a very close attention to it, one could hear Christ speak as that Wisdom of God who lives eternally with the Father and who was there before creation. In the Gospel (John 16: 12-15), the inseparability of these three persons is clearly shown. The Holy Spirit is the person gift of the Father and the Son who leads us to the complete truth and does not do say anything that is not taken from the Son. Christ is the way. Again, these readings reveal the activities of the triune God. The first informs us of the wisdom of God the Father who creates in an orderly manner with the divine purpose of salvation. The second tells about the work of God the Son, Jesus Christ who redeems us by leading us towards justification, and thereby glorifies the Father with it. The Gospel speaks on the work of the Holy Spirit who brings to completion the work of the Father and the Son by leading us to the complete truth. Hence, we believe in a God who lives as one and works as one.  

Back to the allegory of the blind men. Some times, we may act like those blind people. Is it not true that our points of disunity as Christians might be as a result of our individual blindness and the obstinacy towards being open to the findings of others like those blind people where? Is it not also true that we could be our own problem, in the sense that the image of God stands very perfect before us, but due to our blindness, we choose always to relay it the way we feel like? It cannot also be true that we fail to grasp the revelation of God due to the fears we have. If this holds true, it then implies that God wishes us to approach Him not in fear but in love to discover who He truly is. It also means that when we find ourselves in the process of discovering God, and along the line experience any sign that could stir fear in us, the solution is not to leave Christ and run away, but to stay with Him for in Him is rest and serenity.

To get it right, we need to be frank about our individual inspirations and ecstatic findings about God with open hands and minds to accept and understand one another. To get it right then, we need to embrace God gently and with all sense of calmness without fear. To get it right, we need to come together like the Three persons in one God; living and working together in unity, listening to one another in joy, complementing one another in love and being open to the presence of God in all of us. May the Blessed Trinity break every chain of division among Christians today. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. God bless you.

THEY BEGAN TO SPEAK IN DIFFERENT TONGUES

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE PENTECOST, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

The feast of Pentecost which we celebrate today is an age-long feast which has a Jewish background. Its importance for Christians stems from the fact that it is the birthday of the Evangelizing Church. Many scholars and theologians agree to this fact. So we wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the missionary and Evangelizing Holy Mother Church. Pentecost is a Greek term which simply means “the fiftieth” day. It is an Isrealite-Jewish festival; one of the three listed in Ex 23: 14-17 (Passover, Pentecost and Feast of Tabernacle). It was called in there the feast of Harvest (Ex 23: 16), where the celebration of the first fruits of the crops sown takes place. In Ex 34:22, it is also called the feast of weeks. It is so called because it fell on the fiftieth day, a week of weeks, after the Passover. In Lev. 23: 15-21, the feast is reckoned by counting 7 weeks from the beginning of the grain harvest (cf. Also Deut 16: 9-12, Num 28:26-31, Chron. 8:13). It was simply a very important feast. In Judaism, the feast received two major significances: a) An agricultural feast with no historical motif during which two loaves were offered in gratitude to God for the ingathered harvest. b) The giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai, having a historical motif. The Pentecost became then the anniversary of the giving of the Torah, even though this motif did not appear until the Christian era.

This feast was a holiday for all and the crowds on the streets would be greater than ever. This would explain why God would choose this day for the manifestation and outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ. And this is the fiftieth day since the Easter Sunday.

According to the Acts of the Apostles, the Pentecost Day was very remarkable for the early Christian community. The Holy Spirit proved His presence and power both audibly and visibly. The visible sign was the tongue of fire that rested on each one of them. The audible sign was the noise heard as a result of the powerful wind from heaven. Added to these signs was the gift of speaking in other tongues. The disciples had an experience of the power of the Spirit flooding their beings such that they never had before.  Perhaps, on this day, the most remarkable event was the Gift of being understood by varied nationalities as the disciples only spoke their one language.

The Scripture was clear: And they began to speak in other tongues (cf. Acts 2: 4). The gift of Tongues is no doubt one of the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 12: 8- 11). It is technically regarded as glossolaly. But what happened in Acts 2, we must say is not glossolaly. What is it then? The root of the word had diverse meanings in the Greco-Roman society. What the English versions of the Bible calls tongue is the translation of the Greek γλώσσα. Γλώσσα in the Ancient Greek usage could have three different meanings.

l As an organ of speech

l As the language of a people

l As an unintelligible sound uttered in spiritual ecstasy

We see these meanings reflected in the New Testament writings. The use of this word by Luke in the Acts is not exactly the same usage by Paul in his Letters. Even its usage in Acts 2 has even a different context with that of Acts 10 and 19. 

On the day of Pentecost, glossais simply denotes language of a people. Hence, when it was said that the disciples spoke in other tongues, it simply meant that they spoke in other languages. However, it does not even mean that they were speaking other languages, but that by the power of the Holy Spirit, they were understood in all languages by every nation (Parthians, Asians, Capadocians, Romans, etc). The Holy Spirit became their translators. That was the work of the Spirit; the gift He gave to the disciples so as to reach out to all nations. The glossais of Pentecost is described more precisely as a divinely prompted speech understood by every foreigner. It was intelligible to all those present, for they were heard declaring the wonders of the Lord (cf. Acts 2:11).

But, for what purpose did the Holy Spirit unite the whole human race by way of language on the day of Pentecost? This event reminds us of the story of the tower of Babel (Gen 11) in which all mankind was divided due to language/tongue diversities. This lost unity was restored on the day of Pentecost and is preserved in the Church. Through the outpouring of the Spirit, the Church is empowered to address herself to all nations and to be understood by them. Hence, the outpouring of the Spirit renders the Church articulate in preaching the gospel. Peter’s speech was the first proclamation. The Church now has as her prerogative the preaching of the Gospel, showing her commitment to Jesus Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit. By this, the Church becomes the sign of unity for all human race, breaking down all walls of separation between peoples and bringing them together in one body in Christ.

Furthermore, the glossais experienced by Peter in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:46) and that experienced by Paul in Ephesus (Acts 19:6) are prophetic in context. When these people spoke in tongues, the author added that they also prophesied. But, how is prophesy connected to speaking in tongues? To answer this question, we must go to the Old Testament antecedents of the gifts of tongues. In Numbers 11:25-29, the Spirit descended on the seventy elders selected by Moses and they prophesied, but it was for that moment. In 1 Sam 10:5-19, during the anointing of Saul as king by Samuel, he was shown the sign that the Spirit of the Lord rested on him through the character of prophesy; he became a changed person. Again, in 1 Sam 19:20, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men and they prophesied. These episodes might allude to the view of glossais as the uttering of unintelligible sounds which would develop into the technical term glossolaly as momentary experience prompted by God when one is in spiritual ecstasy. It is not manipulated and does not come all the time.

Under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, this same ecstatic experience appeared in the early Church but in a higher form as Charisma; the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is most certain that this would be the charisma experienced by Peter and Paul in the Acts. However, in that era, there was an experience of aberrations regarding this gift, probably as a result of people’s thought about it as the best of gifts. No wonder, Barclay William observed: There was in the early Church a phenomenon which has never completely passed away. It was called speaking with tongues...what happened was that someone in an ecstasy began to pour out a flood of unintelligible sounds in no known language (Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles). From this, any fake uttering of unintelligible sound cannot be regarded in the strict sense as speaking in tongues. The best we can call it in Barclay’s words is: speaking with tongues (babbling).

To prophesy denotes to speak in the name of God; glossolalia then is an inspired utterance. The practice of babbling became so rampart that Paul had to warn that if one speaks in tongues and there is no interpreter, he should better speak to him/herself (1 Cor. 14:28). And indeed speaking in tongues (in the context of spiritual ecstasy) is meant to communicate a divine message. The person who has the gift of glossolalia as the gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:8-11) is simply an instrument. In this sense, glossolalia is prophetic. Due to this confusion that arose in the Corinthian Church, and still does arise in ours today because of the aberration connected with glossolalia, Paul had to write to correct them. Every prophesy has a message which is given in an intelligible language. Since then, speaking in tongues can have a connection with prophesy. And Paul means to say then that it has to be intelligible. That was why he did not greatly approve of glossolalia without intelligibility because he preferred, which is rightly so that a message should be given in a language that could be understood.

Hence, whereas Luke in the Acts (except Acts 2) favoured the character of glossolalia in the context of prophesy, Paul in his Letter to the Corinthians added that glossolalia has to be intelligible. It is then conceivable that Luke’s outlook had been influenced by Paul’s critic of the glossolalia in 1 Cor. 14:2-19, comparing their incomprehensible sounds unfavourably with the edifying words of prophesy. This points greatly to an effort to inaugurate a mission that would cross all language barriers, which is the emphasis of Pentecost event. Acts 2:11 brings it out better: they were declaring the wonders of the Lord. What is then prophesying if it fails to declare the Lord’s wonders? Hence, prophesy and speaking in tongues has an inseparable connection; intelligibility, prompted by God, and must accompany with it certain message.

Do we still experience today the aberrations of the gift of tongues that Paul witnessed in the Corinthian Church? Could it not be true that whenever one corrupts the gift of God, the implication is that he/she takes the place of God and arrogates to him/herself of being able to practice that which comes only from God? We must continue to allow the Spirit to dispense his gifts to us and not imposing ourselves on Him. Remember, Paul made the Corinthians to understand that love is the greatest virtue (cf. 1 Cor. 13). Love disposes us to keep the commandments of Jesus; for Jesus has said in today’s Gospel reading: if you love me, keep my commandments. It is His wish that we love Him and to allow the Paraclete to dwell in us (as the Second reading exhorts: Rom 8:8-17), to use us as He pleases, and to enkindle in us the fire of His love. We continue thus to pray him to make us cooperative with the Holy Spirit who comes to renew the face of the earth. ♫Send forth your spirit O lord, that the face of the earth be renewed♫ (Psalm 104:30). May He renew His gifts in us, renew our Church, and renew the beauty of our world which we desire to preserve and enhance. Amen. HAPPY FEAST DAY AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU.

HE RAISED HIS EYES TO HEAVEN: A GESTURE OF PRAYER

HOMILY FOR THE 7TH SUNDAY OF EASTER (C)

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

In the traditional Igbo culture and many other cultures of the world, it is a common practice to look up to heaven whenever one wants to communicate with the Divine. When one is aggrieved, he/she looks up for vindication. When one is joyful, he/she looks up to glorify the Lord. When one is in pains, he/she looks up for healing. Salvation comes from above. And indeed, no one can deny this fact that looking up is a universal gesture seen in our communication with God. This communication is Prayer.

Prayer has been popularly known to be the raising up of our minds and heart to God. The visible manifestation of this ‘raising’ is seen in our eyes which is the visible instrument for sight. Hence, we can state that prayer can be expressed through the lifting up of our eyes to heaven/God. In it, we communicate with a being higher than humans; the highest of all there is. We lift up our eyes to God because God is king, most high above all the earth (cf. Psalm 97: 1 Responsorial Psalm). He is supreme and stands at the zenith. So, the visible gesture of showing this highness and supremacy is that of lifting up our eyes. The lifting up of our eyes apart from being a gesture can also be metaphorical, in the sense of our knowledge that God is above and he/she who seeks Him must be submissive to this supremacy. He that is supreme in our human calculation cannot be placed below. He must be above.

THE PRAYER OF JESUS

In the Gospel reading (John 17:20-26), we encounter the priestly prayer of Jesus. This was the last encounter Jesus had with his disciples before his arrest. Does this not have a great lesson to teach us? And lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed (John 17:20). We must also recall that in the preceding pericope (John 17: 6-19), Jesus had already prayed for his immediate disciples; and now, he turns to all who would become believers in his name. There are two basic points we need to highlight in this Jesus’ prayer:

The content and The admonitory tone of the prayer

The content of Jesus’ prayer has two dimensions:

a) Unity: Jesus prayed ‘that they may be one’ (vv. 21.22). He said this twice to show how important it was for him. He looks beyond the immediate circle of disciples to those who will believe as a result of their testimony. It is a prayer for unity. There are two dimensions to the expression of this unity: one vertical (Jesus and the Father), and the other horizontal (among members of the Church). The unity between Jesus and His Father poses great challenges to the world. Its object is to show the world the source of the unity. Jesus is the one who brings the disciples into the community of God. Our Christian prayer must be one that gears towards the restoration and revival of this unity. Prayer provides an enabling environment for unity. The Church is a worshipping community united under one head. However, sometimes we are inclined to doubt that Jesus Christ can unite us.

b) Glory: Jesus also prayed that ‘they may see my glory’ (v.24). Unity breeds glory. The culmination of that unity is sharing in the glory that Jesus has with the Father from the beginning. The unity among Christians ought to mirror the reality of Jesus’ union with the Father. This same glory was shown to Stephen as a reward for his witness to Christ (in the first reading). Glory becomes the reward of our service towards unity. Every Christian prayer yearns deeply for a sharing in the divine glory. The divine glory consist in eternal life with God.

The Admonitory tone

The prayer of Jesus was a vocal prayer; that was why his disciples could hear him. Vocal prayer could serve as an avenue of admonition to the people being prayed for. It was as if Jesus was telling the disciples: make sure you see that you live out the content of this prayer; to remain united and to teach it. United we stand but divided we fall. A broom cannot be broken but a stick can be broken into many parts. It is disheartening how we introduce disunity (due to our individual interest) to the body of Christ, the Church. Promoters of disunity either can do this by word of mouth or by action; inciting hatred in the heart of a faithful against another faithful. Jesus through this prayer advises us and warns us to remain united.

THE PRAYER OF STEPHEN

Stephen ‘gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God.’ The direct sight of Stephen’s vision was the glory of God which he had wished in the gospel that we share in. He had made Stephen even while on earth to share in this glory of unity (seeing Jesus seated at the right hand of God). Stephen had already been an apostle of unity and peace; he was then able to be shown the sight of glory. There are again two basic dimensions to Stephen’s act of prayer: glorification/ adoration and petition.

Glorification and Adoration

Stephen’s act of gazing into heaven was itself an act of prayer which was followed up by glorification and adoration. Our prayer to God begins with adoration of His glory. Christian prayer starts with adoration. Adoration is a sign of our submissiveness to God. Hence, the importance of Christian prayer is to lead us to come to the knowledge of our lowliness, our creatureliness, our submissiveness and our allegiance to the divine majesty.

Petition

Stephen prayed again when the people were stoning him to death. His prayer of petition has a dual face: for self (Lord, receive my spirit) and for others (Lord, do not hold this sin against them). As Christians, we must ask God for favours for ourselves and for others. Whenever our prayer becomes selfish, it simply ceases to be Christian. We have many things to ask from the Lord. We have needs (our lives, our businesses, for protection, for healing for guidance, for success, for knowledge). Others too have these needs. We must remember them in our prayers. Hence, the importance of Christian prayer is sacrificial, selfless and considerate, and makes us aware of our dependency on God.

We must pray always and never lose heart. ♫♫ Prayer is the key, prayer is the master key. Jesus started with prayers and ended with prayers. Prayer is the master key ♫♫. It is in prayer that we see God’s glory and hear His voice. We must lift up our eyes/minds in prayer. Salvation comes from above, and that is why we must look up; yes, we must pray. A prayer-less Christian is a powerless Christian. Pray always. Putting a pause to prayer implies putting a pause to our source of livelihood -God. God’s interest in our prayers is overwhelming. He gives us the assurance of sustenance. This is seen in his promise: I will not leave you orphans, I will come back to you and your hearts will rejoice (cf. The Gospel acclamation).  Let us remind ourselves of those lovely lyrics from Don Moen. ♫♫When you've prayed every prayer that you know how to pray; Just remember the Lord will hear and the answer is on it's way. Our God is able; He is mighty; He is faithful. And He never sleeps, He never slumbers; He never tires of hearing our prayer. When we are weak He becomes stronger. So rest in His love and cast all of your cares on Him.♫♫ God never leaves us. He never forsakes. He searches for us. Why then should we give up on God or ourselves when God does not give up on us? God Bless you.