Homily (2) Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) ABC: Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Homily (2) Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) ABC: Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Acts 2:42-47; Ps 118:2-4,13-15,22-24; 1 Pet 1:3-9 (A); Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6 (B); Acts 5:12-16; Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13,17-19 (C) and John 20:19-31(ABC)

Christ-Conduits of Divine Mercy!

Today the Church celebrates “Divine Mercy Sunday” which commemorates Jesus’ revelations to Saint Faustina on the Divine Mercy.  Blessed Pope John Paul II whose canonization is today ( April 27, 2014) along –side Blessed John XXIII,  granted this Feast to the Universal Church on the occasion of his raising Sr. Faustina, a young Polish woman to Sainthood on April 30, 2000 and was decreed to be celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of Easter. 

(As you all know from May 12-20, 2014 I will be privileged to lead a spiritual pilgrimage to Poland. We hope to visit Lagiewniki- where the message of the Divine Mercy originated- particularly the Sanctuary where image of the Merciful Jesus and the relics of Saint Faustina are housed).

 Today is a special day and a unique Sunday for us in the Church to contemplate, celebrates the saintly virtues of Blessed John XXIII, the Pope who convoked the Vatican II, and those of John Paul II. Both of these men imitated Christ very closely in their ministries courageous evangelization and sufferings.

 Ultimately, today is a teaching Sunday when we are invited to embrace Christ’s enthronement on the Cross, his Resurrection and his multiple appearances to his seemingly disillusioned and doubting disciples  as nothing, but acts of love and divine mercy towards us. Christ went to the cross freely to save us! (Song- "all the way to Calvary... went for us..."). Peter in the Second reading, particularly of Year A recognizes this when he says,

“Blessed be the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead….in this your rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through trials….” (1 Pet 1:3-9).

 Christ’s disciples, particularly those who lived through the events and the trials of Palm Sunday to Easter needed the power of Christ’s Peace to calm their fears and be strengthened in the supernatural gifts of faith and fortitude through the Holy Spirit., wherever they were hiding for fear of the "Jews."

 I am sure we still recall the other day, in Luke Chapter 24: 13-35, at Emmaus, when Jesus walked besides Cleopas and his friend on their return from Jerusalem, clouded in sad conversation they did not recognized Jesus until the Risen Christ spent time breaking bread with them. Besides, walking with his disciples, or breaking bread with them in other appearances, he ate baked fish with them (Lk 24:35-48) and also gave them encouraging instruction by the beach at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1-14)

Today again in John 20:19-31 the Risen Lord appears to the restless and frightened disciples with blessings of Peace (Shalom)! He breathed on them and commissions them on preaching mission with the power to forgive sins, “whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:23).

On a day like this, Divine Mercy Sunday, I would think that Our Lord encourages us to be merciful to one another, in our homes, families and communities, and to continue to appreciate the gift of the sacrament of reconciliation in the Church. And when this celebration in done in a Seminary, a house of formation of future priest for our parishes and dioceses we cannot but continue to pray for our priests and would be priests to see themselves as ministers of Divine Mercy.  And this is confirm in the 2011’s document from the Congregation for the Clergy, The Priest, Minister of Divine Mercy….p. 3 which says, ‘the priest is a minister, that is to say that he is at the same time both a servant and a prudent dispenser of Divine Mercy…”

 The Holy Father, Pope Benedict the XVI in his 2010 Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, which is also applicable to every priests and anyone who have wrong others, “not to be “despair of God’s Mercy,” that “Christ’s redeeming sacrifice has the power to forgive even the gravest of sins, and to bring forth good from even the most terrible evil.”

Divine Mercy is sufficient unto each of us, all the disciples- mom, dad, children, clergy, priests, Seminarians, as it was for all men, and women we hear in Scriptures.

 Besides  the call to be merciful, Christ blesses us with peace and invites us like Thomas to touch his wounds (John 20:19-31); wounds that  would heal Thomas’ wounds of disbelief and faithlessness; wounds that replaces lack of peace with Peace of Christ; wounds that replaces the spirit of darkness with God’s Spirit of Light. Christ’s wounds, a catalyst for testimony of the healing truth, courage, unlimited mercy and the spreading of the inexhaustible love and peace of Christ.  Thomas touches wounds of love, faith and unity; wounds that would empower peace, communion, the sharing (konoinia) and the preaching of the early Christian Community. Of course, shalom implies our neighbor’s well-being. Wishing our neighbor peace and is not only a sign of compassion and mercy, but also of the communion and togetherness of the early Christian Community.

This Spirit of Communion is exhibited in the first reading of today, Acts of the Apostle which says; “All who believed were together… (as we are today in this church) they devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life (Konoinia), breaking of bread and praying together….” (Acts 2:42-47).  Moreover, “They were of one heart and mind and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common…they bore witness to the Resurrection of Christ…” (Acts 4:32-35).

Like Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Peter, Cleopas, and the Eleven Disciples we all do have moments of doubt, uncertainties, confusions, disbelief, hopelessness, selfishness and frustrations.  Conscious also of those moments we might have acted uncharitably or mercilessly towards our neighbors, we are invited today to deep our hands into those wounds of Christ!  And be filled with faith and strengthen by Christ, our wounded healer! 

The Eucharist we daily celebrate provides us a fitting opportunity to deep our fingers into these wounds of Christ.  As we come up today to receive, May we be strengthen with mercy, peace, love (1 John 5:1-6), hope (1 Pet 1:3-9), faith and unity to say with Thomas “my Lord and My God.”   

And may our families, streets and neighborhoods, churches and workplaces continue to be true channels and conduits of Divine Mercy and a source of faith and love in the Risen Christ.

 

 

Homily (2) Alternate- Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy) ABC:  Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Acts 2:42-47; Ps 118:2-4,13-15,22-24; 1 Pet 1:3-9 (A); Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6 (B); Acts 5:12-16; Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13,17-19 (C) and John 20:19-31(ABC)

Deeping our Hands into the Wounds of Christ!

 From Easter Sunday to Pentecost the Church celebrates those fifty days that the Risen Jesus goes around by his appearances strengthening the faith of his “seemingly” disillusioned disciples over the events of the victory of the Cross; that supernatural event beyond the powers of Anna, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin and Pilate other opponents of Jesus. Even it took a while, for friends of Christ, his mother, Mary Magdalene, his disciples, the apostles, especially Thomas, being human like any of us to come to  terms with the mystery of the Resurrection (John 20:24-29). He needed to deep his hands in his wounds!

 They needed the power of Christ’s Peace to calm their fears and be strengthened in the supernatural gifts of faith and fortitude by the Holy Spirit, wherever they were hiding for fear of persecution. You will recall the other day, in Luke Chapter 24: 13-35, at Emmaus, when Jesus walked besides Cleopas and his friend on their return from Jerusalem, clouded in sad conversation they did not recognized Jesus until the Risen Christ spent time breaking bread with them. Besides, walking with his disciples, or breaking bread with them in other appearances, he ate baked fish with them ( Lk 24:35-48) and also gave them encouraging instruction by the beach at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1-14)

In today’s Gospel the Risen Lord appears to his disciples in their hiding place. He brings them peace (shalom). He wishes them well. He inquires about their well-being.  He encourages them not to be afraid. He  invites Thomas to touch his wounds (John 20:19-31); wounds that  would heal Thomas’ wounds of disbelief and faithlessness; wounds that replaces lack of peace with the Peace(shalom) of Christ; wounds that replaces the spirit of darkness with God’s Spirit of Light. Thomas touches wounds of testimony to the healing truth, courage, unlimited mercy and inexhaustible love of Christ.

It is this Divine Mercy that we celebrate today which Christ gave us through Sister Faustina. Blessed Pope John Paul II whose canonization is today (April 27, 2014), along –side with the Blessed John XXIII, granted this Feast to the Universal Church on the occasion of his raising Sr. Faustina, a young Polish woman to Sainthood on April 30, 2000 and was decreed to be celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of Easter. 

(As you all know from May 12-20, 2014 I will be blessed with a privilege to lead a spiritual pilgrimage to Poland. We hope to visit Lagiewniki- where the message of the Divine Mercy originated- particularly the Sanctuary where image of the Merciful Jesus and the relics of Saint Faustina are housed).

 Ultimately, today is a teaching Sunday that invites us to embrace Christ’s enthronement on the Cross and his ultimate Resurrection. The wounds we experience in life for the sake of Christ are temporary. Peter in the Second reading, reminds us of this when he says;

“Blessed be the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead….in this your rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through trials….” (1 Pet 1:3-9).

Our identification with the wounds of Christ gives us a new birth of living hope, courage, peace, love and unity. It empowers our communion, forgiving spirit and inspire our sharing in the spirit of the early believing Christian community. We are told in the first reading about this community that, “All who believed were together… (as we are today in this church) they devoted themselves to teaching of the apostles and to the communal life (Konoinia), breaking of bread and praying together….” (Acts 2:42-47).

Moreover, “They were of one heart and mind and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the Apostles bore witness to the Resurrection of Christ…” (Acts 4:32-35).

 The two great saints, John XXIII and John Paul II canonized today in Rome, though humans, touched the wounds of the Risen Christ in their various ministries.

Thomas, in today’s Gospel also finally touched the wounds of Christ. But prior this like, Mary Magdalene, Peter, Cleopas, and other disciples, Thomas had his own long and protracted moments of doubt, uncertainties, confusions, disbelief, hopeless and frustrations.

 Today, in our own different situations we have our own moments to belief or not to belief, moments to be merciful to our neighbors or to be nasty to them, moments to love or not to love, moments to forgive or not to forgive, and moments to promote peace and unit or to sow division. Conscious of these moments we are invited today to deep our hands into those wounds of Christ!  And be faith- filled, healed and strengthen by Christ our wounded healer and source of Divine Mercy.

May the Eucharist we celebrate and receive today be a source of strength for us. May Saints Faustina, John XXIII and John Paul II intercede for us in our struggle to love, to forgive, to be merciful and love others as the Risen Christ as first loved us.

 

Homily (2) Easter Sunday ABC: Michael U. Udoekpo

 

Homily (2) Easter Sunday ABC: Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Ps 118:1-2, 16-17,22-23; Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8; Matt 28:1-9;Mark16:1-8;Luke24:13-35,andJohn20:1-9

  Alleluia, Christ is Risen!!

 My dear friends in Christ Psalm 118 sets the tone for today’s celebration. The psalmist invites us to ‘Give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love endures forever” (Ps 118:1). He invites us to sing and shout Alleluia, for Christ has risen. Christ’s resurrection wipes away our tears. It brings us joy and gladness.

 What we celebrate today is the highest point of our Christian faith.  Easter Day! It is a” Feast of Feasts” a “Solemnity of Solemnities.” It is a day that death has not only been annulled but defeated. By his Resurrection Christ guarantees us eternal life. He guarantees us that the Tomb will never be our final destination nor that of our loved ones.  Faith in what we celebrate today, Christ’s resurrection transforms us from darkness to light and from the feeling of despair to hope.

 Of course, that mixed events of Palm Sunday and of the Stations of the Cross of the Good Friday, humanly speaking, would have been thought of as a defeat, but divinely speaking the Resurrection is a victory which repairs this seeming defeat. The passion ironically seems humiliating, but the Resurrection glorifies. It is a victorious combat divinely directed, since the tomb was never going to be the final destiny of Jesus.
St. Leo the Great in his Sermon (71, 2) commenting on Christ’s resurrection said, “That Jesus hastened to rise as soon as possible because He was in a hurry to console His mother and the disciples.” The resurrection not of Christ consoles us of the temporary sadness of the Good Friday!

 This is the key to interpreting Christ ministry, his whole life and the foundation of our faith. Without the victory of Christ over death our gathering here today, our preaching would be useless and our faith in vain (I Cor 15:14-17). I am sure none of us here would doubt this truth, this core value of our Christian faith- that Christ was raised from the death.

Even if there is anybody here who is not easily persuaded like the doubting Thomas in John 20:24-29 the good news is that, Thomas did not persist forever in his disbelief. Thomas will come back to believe. At the end of the day Thomas says  in Gospel, “My Lord and My God” (John 20:28). If we dispose ourselves, faith can transform us and assist us even in moments of doubts and frustrations.

Resurrection is a fact, not a fiction. Remember, there are several witnesses and testimonies to this truth beyond the scope of this liturgy.  St. Paul in 1 Corinthian 15:3-8 reliably says,


  “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried …raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…appeared to Cephas, then the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive… Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all…he also appeared to me.”
Cephas (Peter himself) in today’s first reading, Acts of the Apostles (10:34, 37-43) presents his personal sermon on Christ’s ministry of healing though rewarded with death on a tree which turns out to be the wood of the tree of life.  By eating and drinking with Christ after his Resurrection, we like the earlier Apostles are reassured and commissioned to preach Christ as a constant refreshment and nourishment of us, especially at the table of the Eucharist.

Besides, Peter and Paul, the Four Evangelists Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24 and John 20-21 testify the Resurrection of Christ and his appearances. to his disciples. After the resurrection Christ walks with them, and in other occasion he eats fish with the disciples.  It is also important to remember that the truth recorded in these Gospels was not written before the Resurrection.  They were written after, by people who lived the “DARKNESS” of suffering and passion and had  the opportunity also to witness the ”LIGHT”, the “JOY” the “VICTORY” and the transforming truth and power of the Resurrection.

 In today’s gospel in particular (John 20:1-9) we share the story of the witnesses of those women who came to empty tomb of the risen Jesus on the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene filled with love for Christ went to the tomb very early when it was still dark. She found the stone rolled away. Note how she reacted. Like the Samaritan women in John 2, she reacted very quickly by running back to informed Peter and the other Disciple Christ, setting the tone for our personal reflection on how we react faithfully to the transforming power of Christ loving encounter with us.

She further said to Peter and others, “they have taken the Lord from the tomb and we don’t know where they have put him.”  She initially thought that the body was stolen, but ironically setting the stage for faith. Notice also the reaction of Peter. “Peter and the other disciple also ran to the tomb. Lots of running!  Quite unlike Peter who was initially running away from the “ugly” trial scene. The transformed Peter is now running to the triumphal scene of the Resurrection. Though the Beloved Disciple is the first to arrive Peter is the first to embrace the burial cloth in the empty tomb.  With this cloth they came to believe that Christ had actually risen to die no more. So much to learn from Christ’s disciples, beginning with Mary Magdalene!
 

I think Mary Magdalene could be seen as disciple who not only genuinely loved and search for Jesus, but was attached to Jesus, remember he is the truth, the light, the way, the bread of life and the source of  eternal salvation. Like Mary we are called not only to believe but to bear witnesses to our faith where ever we find ourselves each day. Peter had once stumbled but he made it to sainthood, Saint Peter!

That you are sick today does not mean that you cannot get well tomorrow. That you have been laid off from a particular job does not mean that all labor doors are closed against you. That you have once in your life doubted the Resurrection or any aspect of our faith or stumble like Peter does not mean you cannot turn things around.
 That there have been war and misunderstanding in the past does not mean that we cannot work for peace and reconciliation today and for the future! That there is war in Middle East and Ukraine today does not mean that the party cannot search for a common ground of peace! That many had no health insurance and job in the past does not mean that things cannot be turned around in the future. That a student got a poor grade last semester does not mean a better grade cannot be worked for, in the future. There is always room for home. There is always room for improvement  and for joy,which Christ’s resurrection remind us.

 As we rejoice today may our faith be strengthened by the transforming power of Christ's Resurrection and be reassured that suffering, illness, violence, wars, failures and even death are never our destinations nor desires. Rather, our destinations and desires are good health, success, peace, reconciliation, joy of Easter and eternal life in Christ Jesus.

 

 

Homily 2 (Mass -alternate) of the Last Super Year ABC: Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Homily 2 (Mass -alternate) of the Last Super Year ABC: Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

 Readings: Exod 12:1-8, 11-14; Ps 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18; 1 Cor 11:23-26 and John 13:1-15

 Christ, Eucharist, Love and Service (CELS)

 On Tuesday evening here in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, the Bishops, clergy, religious and the entire faithful gathered around the Archbishop at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to celebrate the Chrism Mass. That evening liturgy was an expression of our faith in Christ, the High Priest, the unity of the Sacred Priesthood and appreciation of Christ’s one redeeming Sacrifice of Love. Oils of Catechumens, the Sick and of the Chrism were blessed. Oils that the Holy Pope Francis during his Chrism Mass in Rome has encouraged every priests to go out and anoint the faithful with, especially the sick, the poor and the needy!

Tonight we begin the Sacred Triduum, three solemn days which encompass the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ and draw each and every one of us into remembering the passion, death and resurrection. You and I know the power of memory, remembrance! Remembering is so powerful. It revitalizes, reactivates and keeps past reality alive in us.  Holy Thursday brings to our minds three gifts:  the gifts of the Lord’s Super/the Holy Eucharist, the gift of the Sacred Priesthood and the gift of Christ redeeming love, love that is stronger than death, stronger than the fear of the fleeing disciples, stronger than the untruthfulness of the power mongering Pilate and of the few “Jewish elites”; a love stronger than the betrayal of Judas, the denials of Peter, the mockeries of the Roman soldiers and the human selfishness.  Christ, the High priest loves his own to the end- all of us, our pastor, our priests, deacons, s sisters, mom, dad, our children, friends, grandpa and grandma (Jn 13:1). Where ever you are located here in this Church tonight or standing out there in the narthex, know that Christ loves you!

 The Eucharist of which institution we reenact today is a banquet of love, gratitude and service. It provides us a particular opportunity to remember not only how much God loves and would want to “wash our feet” but His ever living presence in our lives, in our homes and families. It teaches us to cultivate a sense of gratitude.

 I remember growing up in a family of six children surrounded with many nieces and nephews. We ate together and served one another from the same plates and drink from the same cup. In sharing and serving I would feel the deep love, the friendship, the nourishment, the strength and the support of my family and a sense of gratitude to my parents. We would laugh, joke and talk with trust about events in life, and some of them very important.

  I want to believe that when Christ gathered his disciple in that upper room for that Last Super, a night before his passion he knew the importance of a shared meal, a meal of love and sacrifice; a meal that nourishes and strengthen us in our weaknesses. He wanted this sacred meal, this new Passover to be remembered. He says “Do this in memory of me” (MK14:22ff; Matt 26:26ff, Lk 22:19ff and John 13:1-15), instituting also the Ministerial Priesthood.

  In the Second Reading Paul of today Paul says,

“ I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took break, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “this is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” With the cup Christ said, “this is cup is the new Covenant in my blood, do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me (1 Cor 11:23-26).”

 Jesus will always remain really and substantially present with us in the Holy Eucharist. After this meal tonight Jesus would walk across to that garden of Gethsemane (in the daily chapel) from there he would be arrested, harshly interrogated by Annas, Caiaphas and brought to Pilates’ Praetorium for trial. Jesus as John will testify will be killed  on the cross sacrificially at the same hour the paschal lamb of the Jewish Passover is slaughtered in today’s first reading, (Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14), making Christ, in this new dispensation, the new Passover Lamb, the cup of the new Covenant of love and Service. On the Cross his bones will not be broken and his priestly inner - seamless tunic will not be torn nor shared among soldiers. In this Jesus is protective of each and every one of us, our marriage and religious vows, family values, Christian unity (“May they be one” Jn 17), our priesthood, friendship and faith. He also knew the journey to that cross would be rough but his priestly dignity would remain intact, a tunic of love – challenging even the modern priesthood, in need of your prayers always.

 In Exodus chapter 29:4 at the ordination ceremony of Priests, Aaron’s feet and those of his children were washed at the entrance of the tent as stipulated in the old laws (Lev 8:6), for a different reason, external purification.  But still in the context of this meal Christ gave us a sign of interior purification (John 13:1-15) by washing the feet of his disciples, something deeper than deeper than external ritual.

  By washing the feet of his disciple Jesus shows the depth of his love, a love leading to the cross. He teaches the hesitant Peter and all of us new way of sacrificial Love, a new way of service and friendship. Not a new way of “eye service.” He teaches us a new way of self-transcendence not a new way of self- aggrandizement. He teaches us a new way to serve not a new way to be served; a new way of humble friendship with all including the poor, the prisoners and the marginalized.  By washing his disciples feet Jesus overcome by love the inequality that existed by nature between himself and those whom he had chosen as friends. I always believe that how we treat one another publicly or in private is the true measure of the condition of our interior life, especially of our life of prayer.

 As we celebrate this Last Super sharing in the bread and wine of new covenant of love, gratitude and selfless service, Christ, and ready to adore him at that Altar of Repose in that garden, let us know that Christ sees us, he loves us and recognizes us. He sees the rich, the poor and the downtrodden.  Let us know that having been washed clean, we have been given the spiritual capacity and blessed with the divine strength of his examples (John 13:12-15) to joyfully love and gratefully serve one another as Christ has first loved and served us.

 

Homily (2) Palm SundayYears ABC: Michael U. Udoekpo

Homily (2) Palm Sunday ABC: Michael U. Udoekpo

 Processional Readings ABC: Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10 and Luke 19:28-40.

Christ’s Humble Entrance into Jerusalem,

Every year the Church celebrates Palm Sunday which ends the Lenten Season and marks the beginning of the most Holy week in our Christian Liturgy.  It is a week our savior will be exalted on the Cross. It is a week of that hour of glory come to fulfillment. This  is the week Christ, our Lord and Savior will be betrayed, falsely accused, plotted against (John 11:45-53), arrested (Matt 26:47-56), interrogated by Annas, Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin ( Matt 26:57-58), tried by Pilate ( Matt 27:1-14), denied by Peter (Matt 26:59-66), mocked and executed in a Roman way ( Matt 27:15-56).  It is a week Christ will draw all people to himself, Jews and the Gentiles, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea (John 12:32). It is a Holy and Salvific Week for us; a week of grace; a week of victory over death and injustice, lies and hatred; a week we see new life in the death of Christ. It is a teaching week for our religious communities, families and homes.

 It is a week we also learn to resist evil not with violence, not by chopping off “Malchus’ ear,” but with prayer, endurance and through peaceful process of dialogue and reconciliation. A week we learn not to act like Pilate, remaining indifferent to truth nor being in a hurry to condemn our neighbors, brothers and sisters, friends and children. It is a week each of us is invited to the foot of the Cross, a week Mary will be handed over to us the faithful disciples of Christ (John 19:25ff). Our nations in unnecessary political divides can also learn from this week.

Usually before the principal Mass our palms which will be turned into ashes for “renewal” next year are blessed. A moment from now we shall reenact the Gospel story we have just heard from Matthew 21:1-11. Like those ordinary people, those pilgrims in the street of Jerusalem (those men, women and children) who gave Christ a royal welcome to Jerusalem for his paschal mystery we are also prepared in our pilgrimage  to embrace Christ with enthusiasm, to welcome him into our lives in the Eucharist we are about to celebrate today. Through the  “Hosanna” (Psalm 118:26; Mk 11:1-10 and Luke 19:28-40) we sing we shall be inviting Christ, Son of David, the King of Israel to “save” us, to come into our lives, into our homes, offices, parish communities and families.

Again from that Gospel (s) Reading (s), He is a humble King, a King of Peace, riding on a donkey instead of a horse. Remember at the time of David and Prophet Zechariah (cf 9:9) the donkey had been a sign of kingship, but later an animal for the poor, while the horses came to represent the might of the mighty. Christ today presents us the image of a King of peace arriving Jerusalem on a donkey not on a bullet and nuclear proof presidential Limousine.

With this we are reminded not only of Christ’s humility, his identification with the poor, but also his fearlessness, his prophetic courage to conquer death even death on a cross.

Let us now with enthusiasm go forth in peace, praising Jesus our Messiah, and welcoming him like the Jerusalem multitude!

  Homily Palm Sunday (2) Years ABC: Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Isa 50:4-7; Ps 22:8-9, 17-18,19-20,23-24; Phil 2: 6-11(A) Matt 26:14–27:66 (B) Mk 14:1–15:47 (C) and Luke 22: 14–23:56

Christ’s Victory over Death

Today begins our Holy Week. As we saw at the beginning of this Mass, it is mark with the blessings of our palms and then we solemnly process into the Church, singing “Hosanna to the Son of David…! This ushers us into the most Holy Week of Christian Liturgy.

It is a week we read and share  a lot of scriptural passages, like the ones just read. In the passion narrative of Christ (this year from Matthew, Mark, and Luke) - it is clear that Jesus is the center of our focus as well as his teaching endurance and living perseverance. In this week our savior will be exalted on the Cross. It is a week of that hour of glory come to fulfillment. This  is the week Christ, our Lord and Savior will be betrayed, falsely accused, plotted against (John 11:45-53), arrested (Matt 26:47-56), interrogated by Annas, Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin ( Matt 26:57-58), tried by Pilate ( Matt 27:1-14), denied by Peter (Matt 26:59-66), mocked and executed in a Roman way ( Matt 27:15-56).  It is a week Christ will draw all people to himself, Jews and the Gentiles, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea (John 12:32). It is a Holy and Salvific Week for us; a week of grace; a week of victory over death and injustice, lies and hatred; a week we see new life in the death of Christ. It is a teaching week for our religious communities, families and homes.

 It is a week we also learn to resist evil not with violence, not by chopping off “Malchus’ ear,” but with prayer, endurance and through peaceful process of dialogue and reconciliation. A week we learn not to act like Pilate, remaining indifferent to truth nor being in a hurry to condemn our neighbors, brothers and sisters, friends and children. It is a week each of us is invited to the foot of the Cross, a week Mary will be handed over to us the faithful disciples of Christ (John 19:25ff). Even as a nation, parish and family, we can in this weak also learn from Jesus how to love, how to how to suffer and how to endure persecution and injustices. Of course how to “sing” the song of the suffering servant of God.

That third song is chanted in the second reading of today, Deutero- Isaiah (Isa 50:4-7). In the Second reading, the Lord God has given him, the servant, and a well-trained tongue that he might know how to speak to the weary, the weak, the poor and the powerless. The Suffering servant is a skilled counselor, because he himself has been trained by the Lord, how to endure and how to be humble, how to get up when you seem to be down. The suffering servant is a disciple, before anything else. He listens to the Lord, morning by morning. He does no rebel, like some Israelite in the desert. He does not say, “No I can’t make it to that cross, it is too rough”! He handles all the beatings, the insults and spiting with patience, wisdom and humility, “he gave his back and cheek to those who slapped and plucked his beard.”

He had every power to resist his arrest in the garden, but he did not. He taught Peter in the Malchus incidence to put back his sword, that violent was not necessary (Luke 22:50) - then. It is not necessary now. Rather, patience, wisdom, forgiveness, love, endurance and humility.

It is these same humble virtues of Christ that Saint Paul emphasizes in the Second reading.

 “Christ Jesus though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God, something to be grasped…he became obedient to death, death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-11).

I believe, we all come here today because we do like Paul recognize this legacy of limitless love Christ handed to us. Throughout the whole world, in Rome with our new Pope Francis, Thousands of people, men, women, seniors and children, attorneys and physicians, philosophers and theologians, factory workers and business men and women of diverse cultural and political background., have all gathered to commemorate this mystery of Christ’s events. It reminds us of those women at foot of the Cross, the Beloved Disciples? What about the Gentile Roman Soldiers and other Jews like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea  who went asking for the body of Jesus for a kingly anointing and speedy royal burial in a new tomb that had been hewn in a rock (Matt 27:57-61; Mk 15:42-47; Lk 23:50-56 and John 19:38-42).  The tomb was never going to be the final destination of Christ. It all comes to fulfill the victory of the cross and what Christ had said that, when he will be lifted up on the cross he will draw everyone to himself (John 3:14; 8:28 and 12:31-32).

As we walk through this Holy Week may we see it as a Holy and a Saving Week; a Week of grace of victory of peace over violence and war, a victory of life over death? Let us not only focus on the weaknesses of Judas, Peter, Pilate and other disciples who betrayed, denied and  fled the suffering and the trial scenes of Christ. But with God’s grace we want to imitate the teaching endurance of the Kingly Christ, a King of Endurance, Peace and Love with the faithful examples of those women, men, the Beloved Disciples at the foot of the Cross, by uniting our sufferings, our illnesses, our setbacks, frustrations, dejections, feeling of abandonment (Ps 22), the mockeries we experience in life with the Exalted Cross of Christ and with the victory of the Resurrection.

 

Homily Wednesday of the 5th Sunday of Lent: Michael U. Udoekpo

Homily Wednesday of the 5^th Sunday of Lent: Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Dan 3:1-20, 91-92, 95; Dan 3:52-56 and John 8:31-42

Faithfulness to God

Today we celebrate our last Wednesday’s/ Community Mass in Lent, 2014. And a few days from now we enter the Passion Week, the most Sacred Week during which the Church invites us to contemplate the victories and the glorious meaning of Christ’s paschal mysteries. Our Scripture readings this morning anticipates these mysteries. Emphasis is on true discipleship and fidelity to Christ, the sacrament of the God of Shedrach, Medrach and Abednego. Fidelity to Christ when the going is rough and tough: more classes to attain, papers to write, final exams to prepare, thesis proposal to submit, integrated seminar to present, your advisors to consult with, rector’s conferences and faculty meetings to attain, MA students to direct, Dehonianism to promote, your ordinations to prepare for, our sponsors to collaborate with, our various duties and administrative responsibilities to carry out, and of course the decorum of a  Catholic Seminary Institution like ours, to  uphold.
In that first reading, a beautiful piece of Midrash, that speaks directly to our faith, Daniel’s three companions: Shedrach, Medrach and Abednego refuse to play idolatry in exile (Dan 3:14-20, 91-92, 95).  They remain faithful to their God and refuse to worship idols and the gods of Nechadnezzar.  For their punishment, they are thrown into the white-hot furnace to be roasted to death. Miraculously, they are not  burnt to dead. The fire rather devoured those who carried out this evil, while Shedrach, Medrach and Abednego, through divine intervention came out alive, praising God in today’s responsorial Psalm, to the amazement of Nechadnezzar who also  praises God, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!

For me the most important lesson in this faith story is not only for modern Christians to watch out for our modern idolatries which could come in form of: abuse of sex, power, and worship of money and material things, sycophancy, and frivolous entertainment in places of worship. We are also invited to brave fidelity to Jesus and his Church particularly in  those difficult circumstances of our day, time and culture.  The faith and the resilience of Shedrach, Medrach and Abednego in a hostile culture like then Babylon- also raises the question of how do we today maintain fidelity to our religious heritage,  our vows and values when the very structure of our society run counter to the basic element of our faith? Or, when we are confronted with daily challenges, even here in Seminary Community?

There may not be easy answers to these questions except those offered by Johannine Christ in today’s Gospel. Jesus addresses both his opponents and those crypto- converts who believe in him, yet with a faint and shaky faith. Those who say, " I do believe in Jesus, but I can’t profess him openly." I am not sure! I don’t want to be prosecuted! I don’t want to lose my job. I don’t want to offend my neighbors of other religions, even though I don’t feel offended when my neighbors of other religion profess their faith! We have seen this before in Nichodemus who went to Jesus at night in John 3. We have seen this in the Pharisees, and in the Scribes, the opponents of Jesus. We saw this a few Sundays ago in the parents of the man born blind in John 9. A shaky faith! Last Sunday Martha, Lazarus’ sister, said to Jesus, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died (John 11).

 Thank God our Lord is always here! As believers the Jesus of John makes clear to us the terms of a believing disciples. The Christ of John does not seek short terms followers and pursuance of fake freedom and false liberty. As the giver of true freedom, Jesus does not glory in superficial faith, empty legalism, and false dependencies on national pride. It is not enough to say, “We have Abraham as our father. We are call, rather, to imitate the faithfulness and righteousness exemplified by Abraham. Johannine Jesus does not seek easy starters, who fall by the way side when the journey to Jerusalem gets rough. Christ’s disciples must recognize themselves as sinners, grow-up, abide and remain in his Word at all times if they are to be a part of his company.  The more reason he says, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (v.31).

 Christ’s disciples must stick with Christ, at all times, hear what he teaches, abide with his values and be at home with him!  In John, remaining with Christ means not only hearing, but it also means of obeying Him. It means sitting at his feet, living under the authority of Christ. It means being patient! It means endurance. It implies running away from sins. It means perseverance in our studies, in our work, in our love and respect for one another. It is only through such obedience will the disciple know the truth. And the deepest knowing comes not only by memorizing theological concepts, writing good papers, or parsing verbs, nouns and adjectives, or by delivering sweet homilies. These are also important. But the deepest knowing of Christ comes by doing the will of Christ in a joyful freedom, by being faithful to him, by encountering him in our neighbors, in our daily works and studies, and by yielding to his truth,  by deeply remaining faithful to Christ even in moments of flames of temptations to sin and furnace frustrations.

Therefore, let us pray at this Mass that as we approach the Passion Week, Christ the Sacrament of the God of Shedrach, Medrach and Abednego may increase our hope and inspire us to fidelity to  always say, preach and do things that show us to be  faithful children of God.

 

 

Homily (2) Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A: Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Homily (2) Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A: Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo
Readings: Eze 37:12-14; Ps 130:1-8; Rom 8:8-11 and John 11:1-45

Christ, the Restorer of Life

Our liturgy of today, the fifth Sunday of Lent marks the end of the Lenten Season. It introduces us, by next week into Passion Sunday and the most Sacred Week during which the Church invites us to contemplate the victorious and glorious meaning of Christ’s, arrest, his trial, his crucifixion and death. The more reason, today the scriptural emphasis is on Christ the giver of life.   He gives us life when we are death in hope, when we are left in despair. He revitalizes our faith when confronted with faithlessness, spirit dampening and frustrating circumstances in life.

  We can draw many examples ourselves, but a typical biblical example might have been the life situation of the exiled and displaced Israelites. Their faith and hope must have been in great danger but not for the metaphorical and encouraging words of restoration by Ezekiel, the prophet of exile.  In their difficulties which were like being dead in the grave, Ezekiel said to them: “”thus says the Lord God; O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezek 37:12-14).

We see this life giving and faith restoring Lord always in Johannine ironic Jesus. We see this in his turning water into wine, in his healing ministries, in his fearless preaching, authoritative teaching, moral ascendency; in his multiplication of bread and in his last and seventh miracle/ signs of raising Lazarus from the death, demonstrating his sovereignty over life and death, God’s glory and how much he has always loved us till the end, even though he knew this would lead to some “Jewish leaders’” plot to kill him (John 11:45-53), come this Holy Week.

The most important lesson for us in this in this story is to imitate Mary and Martha. Initially they wept over Lazarus helplessness. Their spirit was down. They were also frustrated because it took Jesus two days to respond to the illness of Lazarus. Truly God’s ways are not our ways. God knows and works by his “hours” and time. He knows when to change water into wine. He knows when to heal the royal official son. God has his own clock and watch different from ours. This is the hour of the cross.  The hour of the Cross is the hour of the Father’s true glory, the hour of Jesus’ true glory.

 Like Martha in our moments of frustrations and hardships we might be saying, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.”  Of course, “Lazarus their brother will rise and live.” Like Martha and Mary after our doubts and frustration we want to return to that  faith which holds that  Jesus is the life and the resurrection, and those who believe even though they die will live and everyone who lives and believes in Christ will never die (John 11:25-26). The coming out of Lazarus from the grave teaches Martha and all of us that eternal life conquers death but does not abolish physical death. Remember Lazarus was human and would have to die again.


During this coming Holy week we shall be presented with stories of the arrest, the trial, the mockery, the insult, the crucifixion of our Lord. Just like the dead of Lazarus, they are not fairy tales. They are real faith stories, but are never the end, but ironies of human incomprehensibility of God.   The resurrection of Christ will definitely defeat his passion. What was lost in exile shall be restored. Let us pray at this Mass that, the Spirit of one who raised Jesus and Lazarus from the death may accompany us daily (Rom 8:8-11) in our faith pilgrimage.  And may we always imitate Mary’s and Martha’s faith in Christ the Giver of Life Eternal, by the way we respond seemingly life’ crises including, illness and the loss of our loved ones.