Seventeen Sunday of Year A: Reflections - Fr .Michael U. Udoekpo

Seventeen Sunday of the Year A: Reflections – Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo
Readings: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12; Ps119:57, 72, 76-77,127-130; Rom 8:28-30 and Matt 13:44-52

Understanding the treasure of God’s Love

Throughout history the Lord is always loving, forgiving and ready to assist us with all our needs. In the first reading of today (1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12) the Lord at Gibeon appeared to the young and inexperienced king Solomon in a dream. Divinely encouraged, Solomon asked the Lord neither for riches, long life, fame, nor for power to dominate those he disagreed with, but for the gift of the spirit of understanding and discernment of God’s ways of dealing with us.

In his dealings with us, God forbids tyranny, pursuit of evils, rash and harsh judgments of our neighbors and dictatorship of all forms that we sometime find in our contemporary leaders. In dealing with us, God forbids apostasy and worship of false gods, and rushing into decisions without first discerning and committing them to God in prayers.  Even in the midst of our daily sufferings and persecutions we need discernment to realize that “all things work together for good for those who love God.” (Rom 8:28-30).

And those who truly love God will, but pursue the values of His Kingdom, which Jesus in parables, compares with a “treasure,” and a “pearl,” discovered unexpectedly. It is also compared with a net that hauls in fish “of every kind”, bad and good (Matt 13:44-52).

What is important in the first two parables of the discovered treasure and pearl is our joyful and total response to finding God after a long and successful search. It doesn’t matter how long it takes us to succeed, to discover the treasure of God’s love and forgiveness. God's time frame is not our time frame. When we succeed God wants us as his disciples, and like the Evangelist Matthew to share with joy and humility our experience and giftedness of Him. He wants us to carry along those who are yet to succeed!

These gifts and faith we received from God as Christians must be at the service of our families, ecclesial and civil communities.  In our times, we want to share the stories of our faith with our children and grandchildren today. We want to tell them where we came from in faith, the journeys thus far and how God has blessed us, and how things were done before now, the movies that were watched, the seniors and the aged that were cared for and even the parents and the teachers that were respected. We want to share with our fellow workers, colleagues and friends- those values and honesty that were taught and promoted – the Christ that you have discovered. These treasires are not meant for our selfish custody.

Truely, sometimes our times are filled with selfishness, materialism, subjectivism, and abuse of power in some quarters, neglect of faith and the role of God in our lives, lack of understanding of our neighbors, our subjects, bosses, fellow workers and family members. Our times are also being mixed up with inability to separate evil from good, right from wrong. Anything goes! Sometimes freedom without responsibility!

Like Solomon let us pray for God’s wisdom today in our daily choices, judgments, evaluations and discernments. Let us also pray for the grace to always understand the treasure of God’s love, His goodness for us and the values of His Kingdom!

Fourteenth Sunday of the Year A: Reflections - Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Fourteenth Sunday of the Year A: Reflections – Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo
Readings: Zech 9:9-10; Ps 145:1-2,8-11,13-14; Rom 8:9,11-13 and Matt 11:25-30

Christ, Prince of Peace and Giver of Life in the Spirit

With the beginning of this summer some of us, including business men and women, families, civil and ecclesiastical workers are on vacation or at least thinking of a little time off. They want to get away from the routine, from the stress, the daily classes, hard work and labor, from the arguments at meetings, conflicts of opinions and interest, war of words or sometimes from the boring family tragedies, threats of war, and perhaps frustrating professional settings. Other factors motivate these movements including our longing for peace and rest which can only be truly attained in Christ Jesus whom we are called to imitate or follow with our “burdens.”

In the time of Prophet Zechariah, after the exile, caused by disobedience and unfaithfulness to God it was important for God’s people to be reassured of hope, reversal of fortunes  from sadness to joy, destruction to a rebuilding of the temple, provided sins are abandoned for holiness of life.  The fullness of this joy and rest will be attained in the coming of Christ, our Messiah. Of course, he comes not as violent warrior but in lowliness, meekness and peace.

In other words, His presence in our lives will lessen our burdens. He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest…” (Matt 11:25-30).  There could be kinds of burden, material, physical and spiritual- sins and lack of love. Dropping the burdens of sins and lack of love, and embracing love and obedience in Christ implies life in the Spirit which St. Paul encourages us in the Second reading.

He says, “You are not in the flesh, on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rom 8:9-13).

In our daily challenges of handling the drums of wars,  of loving and forgiving even our enemies, of overcoming temptations and other  challenges, including burdens of life- in our homes, families, church and society let pray at this Mass for the grace to always long for the values of Christ- the giver of peace and life in the Spirit.