SHE IS FULL OF GRACE

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception holds that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was free from original sin from the very moment of conception. There have been traces of this belief as a pious one until the 15^th Century in 1476 when Pope Sixtus IV (d. 1484) approved it. The Council of Trent of the 16^th Century also excluded Mary from its decree on the universality of original sin. The interest in the doctrine waned as it did not gain much adherence until early in the 19^th Century when on December 17, 1830, St. Catherine Laboure claimed to have had vision of the Immaculate Conception, standing on a globe and ray of light emanating from the hands and spreading to the earth.

The vision was surrounded by an oval frame on which appeared the words: O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. A voice then commanded Catherine to have a medal struck depicting the vision. Miracles were attributed to this medal and it ignited renewed interest in the doctrine; it was called miraculous. In 1854, Pope Pius IX defined the decree: the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by the singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin, that this is revealed by God, and therefore, firmly and constantly to be believed by all the faithful  (cf. Ineffabilis Deus, 1984).

The feast we celebrate is a feast that singles out the Virgin Mary from all of human race. We see this outstanding character in the protoevangelium of Gen. 3 which is the First Reading (Gen 3:9-15, 20) of today. The protoevangelium is the first good message of salvation immediately after the original fall of the first parents. The word of God to the serpent concerning the future relation between it and the woman presents a total defeat and subjugation of the serpent by the all-powerful fruit of the salvific woman. In this passage, Mary is intended implicitly to bring about the victory over the serpent. In Eve, one sees a figure of Mary. Eve is the mother of all the living according to nature, as Mary is the mother of all by Grace; the mother of all those who will be healed by her son. St. Paul tells the Romans that for as all die in Adam, so all be made alive in Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:15). Thus, from the protoevangelium to the final victory, Mary rose up to her identification as the new Eve, and totally associated to the new Adam, Jesus Christ, in the definitive victorious war against the serpent of perdition. Mary as the second Eve was conceived without the original sin caused by the First Eve so as to have the spotlessness to combat the dirtiness of the former Eve.

We confirm Mary as the mother of all by Grace in the Gospel Reading (Luke 1:26-38). The divine grace on Mary to accomplish the salvific mission is encapsulated in the salvific word that transmits the mission: full of grace. She is full of Grace because of her mission in the mystery of salvation. She was preserved right from conception. The Lord God impresses someone to his service in order to act and do what he designs to do with the person. Being full of grace implies that Mary was protected whole and entire from original and actual sin....let us briefly look out the import of grace. The first is that Grace saves; Grace saved her from original sin. The second is that grace is the antithesis of sin and gives us the power to be holy and sinless; Grace inhibited every bit of sin from encroaching into Mary. So, to be full of grace means to be fully without sin. And so, Mary was full. And so, Mary was full sinless.

The son to be borne by Mary ought to be sinless. So, the blood he should possess should be sinless. The blood that can wipe away our sins ought not to be the same tainted blood. It must be untainted. This is why Mary must be untainted. In fact, the words ‘full of grace’ in Greek lead us to a better understanding. Kecharitomene means “having already been graced.” It is permissible in Greek grammatical and linguistic grounds to paraphrase Kecharitomene as completely, perfectly, enduringly endowed with grace. This usage here suggests a perfect state; a perfection which was not got by the person who is perfect. This perfection is passive in the sense that it was given. Kecharitomene shows completeness with a permanent result. The grace is complete in Mary and must yield a permanent result which is the total defeat of the serpent. Hence, the usage of this term for the Greeks shows that Mary was immaculately conceived. May the Feast of Immaculate Conception create in us completeness, perfection and total restoration, Amen. God bless you.

BE WATCHFUL!!!

HOMILY FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR B

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

The Advent season is a period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The word ‘advent’ (‘ad venire’ in Latin which means to come to) means arrival or coming. It is a period we remind ourselves consistently about the second coming of Jesus Christ in glory at the end of time. There are ingredients that show preparedness on the part of anybody who is expecting to welcome a renowned visitor. One of those important ingredients is watchfulness. A driver once lost his job on account of the lack of this virtue of watchfulness. His boss had informed him about the arrival time of the flight he was about to board. The driver arrived the airport on time, but the flight did not land at the expected time, due to some weather conditions that made it hover around in the sky before it could land. When this was happening, the driver lost patience, and went back into the car, and off he slept.

After many minutes of his restful sleep, he woke up. He discovered the flight later on landed after few minutes into his sleep. His boss had annoyingly taken an airport cab home. He then knew that the case was finished. To remain there was redundant. To go home was to go and face his punishment. He lost his job, because he was not watchful. While others were on the look-out for their loved ones, he was inside the car that was not even his, sleeping. Similarly, such experience can happen to anyone of us. While some others are on the look-out for our Lord Jesus Christ, others may be inclined to be inside their cars (i.e, the world, lifestyles, comfort zones, sinful life, and indifferentism) that is not theirs and ought not to be even theirs. Such persons will be taken unawares at the arrival of the master.

A spectacular look at the Gospel (Mark13:33-37) of today leads us to a very powerful discovery.  Each of the verses has something to do with the word ‘watch.’

• ·       To be on guard! Be alert (v.33)
• ·       To keep watch (v.34)
• ·       To therefore keep watch (v.35)
• ·       Not to be caught sleeping (v.36)
• ·       What I say to you, I say to all: Watch (v.37)

To watch is keep awake, to stay alert, to be sleepless and vigilant. It includes being focused and attentive upon a particular thing, endeavour or goal. Paul advised the Thessalonians never to be asleep but to be alert and self-controlled (1 Th 5:6). He also admonished the Corinthians to be on their guard, standing firm in the faith and to be men of courage (1 Cor 16:13).

The injunction to be watchful and alert is not a call for fearful and hysterical expectation. It only means that we should recognize that we live in the shadow of eternity. Our scheduled daily work of faith must be completed, and never to be left out. By so doing, we can claim to so live in vigilance that it no longer matters to us the hour our Lord comes, since we are always ready. It implies being ready at all times. With this in focus, our lives become lives lived in consciousness of the Lord.

There are two major and practical reasons the Christians must constantly be on his/her guard: 1) No one knows the time of the return of the Lord. Had it been any knows the hour, we can live the way we want and then prepare when the hour draws near. The driver in our lead story slept off because he became ignorant of the arrival time. Therefore, every one of us must keep watch because of our ignorance of the hour (cf. Mk 13:32). 2) We all have some work we are assigned to do. In our lead story, that man was assigned the work of a driver. Today, you have your own work. What is that work/duty? Just do it well. This duty must be completed for the arrival of the Lord; otherwise the race becomes out of track.

Similarly, there can be two tragic things that can happen to a person who is watchful for the day of the Lord. 1) The person may get weird and tired. Monotony kills interest. The Christian may find very boring the repetition of his/her duty and may get to the point of neglect of duty. The person will now start to sleep on duty, and growing drowsier. He/she has at this point grown tired of waiting and has failed to wait long enough. 2) The person may delay, postpone of suspend his duty for some time. He/she may try to convince himself/herself that there is still time. If ever since, the Lord has not come, he/she can imagine, then now-from, the Lord may still not come. The feeling that a little sidetrack or rest here and there will not affect much will set in. The thinking that there is time to correct or finish the work follows. And hence, sinful life gradually forms itself into a habit.

That was the case for the Israelites during the time of the prophet Isaiah. The First Reading (Is. 63:16d-17; 64:1.3b-8) was a lamentation over the reckless life lived by the people. The people were living as if here was no God. And so, the anger of God rose against them. The prophet as the mediator was bent on intervening for the people to calm their anger. The consequence of sin is that it blocks our vision of God. Actually, God did not hide his face from the people. It was sin that blocked their vision of the immensity of God’s love. When we fail to be conscious of alertness, we slack into the oblivion of sin. In that sin, we become blind to see God. For this reason, Paul admonished the Thessalonians (1 Thes. 3:12-4:2) in the Second Reading to walk and please God in all things. Walking in God and pleasing him is an antidote to combat any form of spiritual slot. It is now time again to fight against the lives we have lived that contradict this command of Jesus to us today –to be watchful. Be ready. Watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation (Matt. 26:41). I wish you all a prosperous new liturgical year of the Church. God bless you.

CHI NA-EME EZE; THE KING-MAKER KING

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

 

Chi bu eze (God is king). Chi na-eme eze (God is the king maker) because He has the power to elect and anoint. He gives what he has. He is unlike the king makers of the world who claim to be king makers without being kings themselves. And after the kings they make is enthroned, there powers become redundant in the kingdom of the new king. The kingship of God (before whom no one exists, and after whom, any that exists, exists through Him) is primordial. The kingship of men is only temporary. Even when some men assume the position of God and force allegiance, they have not always succeeded because kingship belongs not to them but to God. You can only remain eternally a king if you are God. It has been all the News how Mugabe Muammar was forced to resign as the king of Zimbabwe after 37 years. What a great number of years!!! Yet, he was forced to resign. No matter how man tries to make his kingdom eternal or as long as he lives, he does not succeed. He will someday die and will live the kingship for another.

Today, we talk about an eternal king who is king yesterday, now and forever. It was at the fullness of time that God sent his only begotten son, Christ to save man from peril. This christological mission inaugurated an explicit identity of Christ as king which was not comprehended fully by the first followers, but is seen scattered all over the pages of the New Testament. The reign of Christ inaugurated our own reign. He was made king that we too might become kings. He was loyal that we might become royals. He was crowned that we too might be crowned. He was anointed that we too might receive anointing. His crowning saved us from drowning. For I when am lifted up shall draw all men to myself (John 12:32).

Historically, the feast of Christ the King is a relatively recent addition in the history of the Church. It was instituted in 1925 by Pope Piux XI, and in 1970, it was moved to the final Sunday of the Ordinary Time. Its earliest date of occurrence is 20 November as the latest is 26 November. It a feast established as a remedy to secularism, a way of living which relegates God to the background. Today, we proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ’s royalty over individual, families, societies, and especially the secular leaders of the world. Today, we emphatically state that Christ is God, the creator of all who possesses a supreme power over all. Today, we boldly shout it out that Christ is our Redeemer who freed us from the shackles of sin and death, and made us his own. Today, we herald strongly that Christ is the head of the Church, as we are many parts of this body. Today, we remind ourselves that we and the entire universe have been handed over to Christ. Christ is our king.

The Readings of today open our eyes to the various characteristics of this king, and how his kingdom looks like. From these Readings, we extract three models of the kingship of Christ.

1) The model of the King as a Shepherd

Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, rams and he-goat (cf. First Reading; Ezekiel 34:17). This excerpt from the First Reading brings out the quality of Christ as a shepherd king. He is a king that can be likened to a shepherd. This parable of the shepherd in the prophet Ezekiel is as the result of the attitude of the former shepherds of Israel who were wicked. Instead of living up to their calling as shepherds to feed the sheep, they rather feed on the sheep. So, they are termed wicked for they neglected their calling. They would be neglected and relegated, for the Lord will take over his flock. God is coming to punish those wicked shepherds and to take over the shepherd’s responsibility. These wicked shepherds want power without responsibility. God then will be the good shepherd.

In the oracle of the Prophet Jeremiah 31:10, the word of the Lord speaks to all the nations that it is God’s onus to gather his scattered people, and will keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock. Remember, every good shepherd is always with the sheep to the point of having the smell of the sheep. He does not shepherd from afar. He is ever-present. This is how Christ our King is constantly present. He is not far from us. He sleeps with us, eats with us, walks with us, and scares the predators who want to devour us. He brings us to good pastures (cf. Ps. 23) in our own land. Those who are lost he seeks them out and those who stray he brings back to the fold. The injured are bound up, and the sick are healed. These are the very many functions of the good shepherd who is Christ our king.

2) The model of the King as a Victor/Conqueror

Christ as king can never be conquered. He can never be dethroned. He can never be victimized again. His victimhood on the cross has made him victorious forever; for He must reign until he has put his enemies under his feet (cf. Second Reading; 1 Cor. 15:25). A time will come when God will be all in all. That is the moment of total triumph over evil and the devil. The kingship of Christ is a victorious one. Paul reminds the Corinthian Church that Christ’s kingdom inaugurates the destruction of the kingdom of darkness, and introduces the final reign of God. This reign will no longer have any rivalry. Such a reign is what we implore in the lives of every Christian. A reign which saddles us on a throne of victor, puts on our head the crown of total liberation, hands over to us the staff of authority over forces that militate against our Christian life, and puts into our fingers the rings of belongingness to the highest of all the thrones –the throne of Jesus the Christ.

3) The model of the king as a just Judge

In the Gospel, we are presented with one of the most vivid parables of Jesus. The moral lesson of the parable is clear; that God will judge us in accordance with our reaction to human need. He sits on his throne as king while the nations assemble before him. He will separate them from one another as a Shepherd separates the sheep from the goat (cf. Gospel; Matthew 25:32). His judgment does not depend on the knowledge we have amassed, or the fame that we have acquired, or the fortune that we have gained, but on the help that we have offered. Let us look at the things which served as the basis for judgment. They are giving food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, welcoming a stranger, consoling the sick, and visiting the prisoner. These are simple things which every one of us can do. This is the case of the simple help we all can render to people that we meet every day. We must learn to carry each other’s burden and be good to people (cf. Gal. 6:2). No one can claim that he/she has not got what it takes to fulfil these demands. Be nice to people. The loving action must be from the heart, and not any one done for any ungodly intent.

An example of help rendered for ungodly intent is the one which is rendered and publicized to win the praise and admiration of people. Such help is selfishness in disguise. Any help, however done with the right intention is given to Christ himself. Christ is the judge, and the judge is the king. Therefore, Christ is the king. The king rewards the sheep by giving them the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. The goats are punished. They are cut off from God and thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is a state of anguish, torment, and punishment. The reason for this punishment was clear. They failed to minister to their suffering counterparts, lived a selfish life and did were spiritually blind. They failed to see Christ in the suffering. We must note that they were condemned for what they did not do, not for what they did. It was the sin of omission. The sin of omission affects the community.

Think about how many people are left to suffer because a goat refused to help them. By this, the king manifests himself a just judge who gives each his place. The judgment is for eternity. By this judgment too, the sheep are crowned eternally. They have now become kings forever, and that is eternity. The eternal king has allowed them to partake in his kingship as a reward for their royalty to his dictates. Loyalty breeds Royalty. Nevertheless, there are some loyalties which breed damnation. That is the one we pay to the devil, and anyone who works for him. That sort of loyalty can only lead us to damnation because the person to which we pay it has no right to it, and thus is not the king of justice. Our loyalty ought to be directed to God alone. Every one of us owes his/her loyalty to the king of kings, Jesus the Christ. He is the King. Therefore, as we celebrate this feast today, I pray that our loyalty to God brings about our royalty in Him. Amen. God bless you.

DO NOT BURY YOUR TALENT

HOMILY FOR THE 33^RD SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Today, Jesus tells another parable as a follow-up of the parable of the ten virgins. These parables tell us about the approaching advent of the kingdom of heaven. These form the last teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. And these teachings have just one goal which is a call to be prepared against the time of reckoning so as not to be caught unawares. Today, we are presented with the the parable of the Talents. The talent was a weight, not a coin. Its value depended on whether the coinage involved was copper, gold or silver. Christ most probably used money to describe what he was talking about because money is one of the most understood commodities anywhere in the world. Extensively today, when we talk about talent, our minds go to those gifts, ability, responsibility and blessing we are endowed with. Hence, Jesus by virtue of this parable teaches us to be diligent in whatever He gives us and to be productive wherever we find ourselves. By this, he condemns idleness, cunning thoughts, and the lazy attitudes of Christians towards their divine endowments.

In the parable of the talents are three individuals who the property of the master was entrusted to. He gave one five talents, the second two talents and the third one talent. This is the first awareness. It was the property of the master, and the master has right to his property. Therefore, whenever he desires the property, he ought to have them because they are his. Our talents are not our property, but the master’s property. Whenever the master demands them, we are to render an account of how we have used them. This is a strong message against those who see their talents as theirs, or use them for extortion and personal aggrandisement. The talents we have got have been freely given to us to use it as the master wants. He has given us the liberty to use them. But even at that, the liberty is subject to divine direction and scrutiny, because after we must have used them, we must be called to account for them.

These three received the talents and off they went. The first two worked and doubled their capital, but the third refused to work that his capital gained no profit. This is the second awareness. The little we have can be taken away from us if we fail to use them, especially out of a naive and uncultured reason as we see in the account of the third individual. One can allude that this third caretaker may have felt bad that as others were given talents in plurality, he was given his in singularity. Therefore, he may have thought that he is distrusted, hated and considered a no-body or a never-do-well person. But this was far from the reason of his master. His master knew that regardless of the quantity of whatever he has given them, when they work, they will be rewarded.  As the master looks to the reward, the servant looked at the quantity of the talents.

Since he has refused to work with the one that was given him, not only that it will be withdrawn but also that he will be punished. The master had to show him that he owns both himself and the talents. He spoke to the master in a demeaning manner, calling him a hard man who reaps where he does not sow. His reason for not working with it was that he was afraid, probably of losing the one talent and entering into more trouble. But this is what I call a devilish fear, a cunning fear that gives the impression of fear where in reality, it is full-hardiness. This servant was wicked. We cannot even say that he was lazy. No, he was not. We must note that he was somehow active. He spent time and energy to go out and bury the talent. His activity was to see that he used that talent, but he simply hid and went about his own business. What was he doing? We were not told, but his efforts were not spent in the Lord’s cause. He served only himself. He was worldly, going after personal enrichments. He was out to serve himself and not God. And it is to this kind of people that the Prophet Hosea talks to: but you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception, because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors (Hosea 10:13).

He was not even appreciative that he was considered worthy of been given a talent of trust. He read evil in the master’s action. Of course, he was punished. Anyone who knows what is good and does not do it, sins (James 4:17). What you do not use, you lose. The man who has a talent and fails to exercise it will inevitably lose it and will be punished. If we have some proficiency at a game, exercise, skill or an art, the more we put it into use, the more we learn more and the more responsibility we may attract. This was why the first person was given that extra one that the wicked servant failed to use. If we fail to use it, we lose it. It is a proven lesson of life that the only way to keep a gift is to use it constantly, and in the service of God and humanity. What is that talent that you have, use it.

Nevertheless, many feel they are with no talent. They think themselves of being worthless. I want to assure you today that God has implanted talents into each and every one of us. No one is without talent. Just try and discover yours. These six steps will be of help towards the discovery of our God-given talent.

1. Do not wait for talents to appear automatically. You cannot know if you have got any talent if you do not try to exercise it. For instance, you cannot know if you are a good tennis ball player unless you start playing it and putting in more effort to be the best wherever you play it. You pray by praying, you sing by singing, you dance by dancing; you act by acting, etc. Remember that practice makes the perfect. Most probably, you are not going to find a talent without trying. Face the obstacles and seek out challenges to see the in-born talent you have been blessed with. The way to do this is that you must make it your purpose to try something new every week. Learn how to go out of yourself, go on adventures, and dare things you never tried before. Try different sports, arts, skills to tap the untapped natural ability in you.

2. Try those things that come easiest to you. What do you do without much stress? Start with those. Look to your obsession and interest to discover your talent. If you love to spend all day telling stories, you can probably turn into a good story writer. If you spend your day listening to music, you can probably turn into a musician. Discover your talents by focusing on that which comes easiest to you. If you are a student, what class homework worries you the least? It might be a clue. Another is to pay attention to what other people might have noted about you. Ask your family, friends and teachers to help you figure out what you make look easy.

3. Try those harder interests. What would you love to be naturally good at without trying? Face the challenges and find out what it takes to good at them. Start learning everything you can about it to demystify the process. Some people love orators but were fearful of speaking publicly. When they made effort to go beyond their fears, they discover that they too are better orators.

4. Discover and follow what others are tired of hearing you talk about. Use the things you are obsessed with to discover abilities that might be hiding in you. If you are obsessed with good looks and pictures, it may be that you will make a good photographer.

5. Track your little successes. If you are feeling you have got no talent, it may be that you neglect your little successes. Try to pay attention to your breakthroughs, no matter how little. Think creatively about how those little things can lead you to bigger ones.

6. Ignore the blown figures. What do I call the blown figures? They are those figures that make you tremble. Some figures simply leave us to wonder whether the same God created us all. Allowing yourself to be intimidated by those figures may make your own talent shrink. Yes, they may be talented, but you must also know that being talented does not imply being famous. Talent implies dedication and attentiveness to your God-given ability. Work on yourself. In life, the only competitor you have is yourself.

God expects us to work on our talents and produce. Little wonder he instructed that the unproductive servant be stripped of his talent: take the talent from him. This message concerns the man who rather than working for God desires to work for himself. Since the talents we have are not ours strictly speaking, then we must work on them to get reward, and not damnation. As St. Paul warns the Thessalonians, we must stay alert and sober so as not to be taken unawares when such temptations come our way to do without talents as we please and not as God pleases. May we continually tap from God's grace to use our talents judiciously for the glory of God and for humanity. amen. Happy New week. God bless you.