Reflection Thursday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Reflection Thursday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Hebrews 12:18-19,21-24; Ps 48:2-3ab,3cd-4,9,10-11 and Mark 6:7-13

Through Christ we belong to a Spiritual Kingdom

In the readings of today we see the contrast between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion., between the old covenant and the new covenant. We learn that through Christ we belong to a spiritual and eternal kingdom, a kingdom of the new covenant. And this could be challenging in a materialistic and individualistic age that we live in.

Jesus in the Gospel summoning the Twelve sent them out two by two and gave them power over unclean spirit. It makes sense to work as a group, in company with others. He did not send them out one by one, but two by two- unity, community. They were to travel light no sandals, food, sacks, no money, but a walking stick, a symbol of Christ’s authority and his love. You can imagine  it would not be quite easy to leave one’s home without sufficient money and other material things.

Similar picture is painted in the community of the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Everything surrounding Judaism: Mount Sinai, Moses and the law, the temple, the furnishing of the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, the sacrifices, vengeance, retribution, the trumpet, the image of the voice of the Lord and the unapproachability of the divine presence.

These would have to be reassessed. It was not easy for these early Jewish Christian community to abandoned this religion to  follow a new way of Christ of grace and pardon, detachment, “turn the other cheek”, peace, love, forgiveness, no matter how many times you are being offended, welcome everyone , men women and children around the same table. These are the qualities of the citizens of the eternal kingdom, the city of the living God.

As children of the Spiritual kingdom, what prevents us today from making it to this kingdom, or keeping our citizenship intact- money, power, material wealth, and clothing, 'second tunics" cars, houses, lack of communal spirit and forgiveness,  the longing for vengeance always, or selfishness?

Reflection Wednesday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Reflection Wednesday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15; Ps 103:1-2,13-14,17-18a Mark 6:1-6

Discipline is part of our Christian faith

It is very easy for us to take our faith and gifts for granted without discipline. In his native place in the gospel of Mark many who listened to Jesus preached on the Sabbath took him for granted because they knew his parents, Joseph and Mary. And Jesus  was “amazed at their lack of faith.” And how easy it is to forget all the goodness of the lord in our lives, all the prophecies!

As we struggle to resist daily temptation and keep our faith the writer to the Epistle to the Hebrews reminds us the danger of not paying attention to God’s words. God has so much loved us. He treats us as his sons and daughters. Loving parents correct their children because they really loved them. Some of these disciplines an corrections may show up as pains and trials humanly speaking. But God knows what is good for us.

Though the journeys may be long but God’s discipline produces permanent peace and the fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained in Christian ethics.

Just as athletes requires training to do well each of us requires daily training in matters of faith, hope and love. Therefore, we must strengthen our drooping hands and make firm and strong our feeble knows in order to travel successfully, this road to holiness  and run our Christian race to the end, with peace, love and harmony.

Reflection Tuesday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Reflection Tuesday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Hebrews 12:1-4 Ps 22:26b-27, 38, 30-32 Mark 5:21-43

How we must run our Christian Race

The Bible lessons today remind us that practicing our Christian faith is like running a race. In order to win this race there are things we must reject, or do or look for. We must reject the burden of sins. We must run with endurance. It is action packed. We must fix our eyes on Jesus, just as Jairius did in today's Gospel.

Jairius a synagogue official we are told came forward and seeing, Jesus, he fixed his eyes on him, and felt at his feet and pleads for God’s healing mercies upon his daughter. Same with the woman who had suffered hemorrhage for 12 years; hearing about Jesus, came up and touched Jesus and was cured. Even at the house of the synagogue official many ridiculed the healing power of Jesus. But this did not stop the official in believing nor Jesus from saying to the sick girl “Talitha Koum” Little girl arise!

Rising on our Christian journey the Epistle to the Hebrew affirms is never going to be easy. We must let certain things go, materially and spiritually, especially sins and bad habits in order to rise smoothly or to run well. It requires endurance, perseverance and learning even from our past heroes, Abraham, and the Saints, and even from Jesus himself.

And like the synagogue officials and the woman healed of hemorrhage our senses, eyes, ears must be fixed on the compassionate High Priest, Jesus, no distraction.

As we run this race in our marriages, politics, friendship, studies, work, priesthood and religious life to whom do we have our eyes fixed upon? And what might prevent us from running this spiritual race to the end? And what will ever separate us from the love of God?

Reflection Monday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Reflection Monday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Hebrews 11:32-40; Ps 31:20-24 and Mark 5:1-20

Faith that Encourage Fortitude and inspire others

In the Gospel reading of today (Mark 5:1-20) Jesus freed the man who had been possessed by Legions of unclean spirit. The man is not only now free with his right thinking faculty but the legion went in to thousands of swine and drove them into the sea. The community is seized with fear. And the cleansed man wants to hold onto Jesus. But the Lord said to him, “go into the whole world and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”

 In other words go and spread the faith. This is the faith that is well summarized in the letter to the Hebrews chapter 11. Faith accepts God’s words and what the church teaches. Faith anticipates the future. It is the assurances of things hoped for. Faith reevaluates the "now", the present and accept things that eyes cannot see. Faith recognizes God’s power (Heb 11:3) in whatever we are able to accomplished.

 This is seen in the lives of Abel, Enoch and Noah (Heb 11:4-7) and that of Abraham (vv8-12), a sacrificial faith, a courageous faith, a persistent faith and faith that depends on God, Abraham’s GPS. Their faith and confidence in God challenges us. It challenges our cowardice and even our attachment to material things.

Sometimes, it’s like today we cannot do without cell phones, la tops and other material objects and electronics. When I went to Nigeria this past December I was surprised that I can survive, and live happily for three weeks without internet or checking my emails!

Faith requires submission to the will of God. Faith requires the right perception, anticipation, conviction and it conquers fear like in the case of the man freed from Legions of demons. Faith determines our choices and options. It recognizes our dependence on God and sharpens our visions, undaunted faith (v30), adventurous faith (v31), diversified faith and gifts. Besides Abraham, Noah, Enoch and others, think of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the Prophets, down to John the Baptist, that the first readings talks about today (v32).

There are many unknown saints and faithful heroes here in our midst and communities, today.  The man in today’s Gospel obeyed Christ. He went out to encourage others, to announce what he saw, the goodness of Christ.

We want to be like this man, heroes and heroines of faith by going out there to encourage the rest of our brothers and sisters.

Homily Sunday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Homily Sunday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Jer 1:4-5, 17-19; Ps 71:1-6, 15, 17; 1 Cor 12:31–13:13 and Luke 4:21-30

The strength for our Christian Journey is Love

Our Christian calling is like preparing for a pilgrimage or a long journey. It requires some home work and of course endurance on the way.

The strength for any Christian and Spiritual journey is Love! Of course not just any type of love. But the type Paul preaches for the troubled Corinthians Church. For Paul, Love is patient, love is kind; love is not jealous, love is not pompous, love is not inflated, love is not rude, love does not seek its own interest, love is not quick-tempered, love does not brood over injuries, love does not rejoice over wrong doings. Love rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things; hope all things, and endures all things.

When Jeremiah was called centuries ago, even before Paul to be a prophet to all the nations, to challenge faithlessness, idolatries of his time of late pre-exilic period, his excuse was that he was too young. Jeremiah did not know that before he was born, God had already prepared him with his love. He makes Jeremiah as strong as fortified city and his strength Scripture says was as strong as an iron pillar and a bronze wall. This is the strength that will resist all attack and temptations; the strength of patient, and endurance.

At the commencement of his ministry, Jesus knew people would ridicule him. He knew he would be rejected. But he did not blink because he knew he had the strength that only God his father can give; the strength of love. The more reason he said,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to Lord….today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing,” Christ concluded ( Luke 4).

 It was this love that enabled Jeremiah to preach to the nations of his time, even to the point of death.  It was this love that enable Christ to visit with the poor, the needy, the marginalized and the oppressed; that ultimate love to the cross.

On our Christian journeys, on our faith journeys I have no doubt there have been challenges; challenges in our relationship with God and one another at homes, in our families and work places.

We want Christ's love to be our strength. And love is nothing else than, hope, faith, trust, patient, humility, selflessness,  endurance and kindness  towards one another.

Reflection Saturday Week 3 Year C (Presentation of the Lord and World Day of Consecrated Life)- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Reflection Saturday Week 3 Year C (Presentation of the Lord and World Day of Consecrated Life)- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Hebrews Malachi 3:1-4; Ps 24:7-10; Heb 2:14-18 and Luke 2:22-40

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. It reminds us that Christ is the Son of God, the first born, the heir and higher than the angels. He is the messiah, human and divine and of course the light of the world; the savior of the world, who conquers our fears, particularly that of death.

This morning I received the sad news the passing on of two priests who not only had presented themselves for years of services in the Lord’ vineyard, but touched my life too, on my personal journey to consecrate myself in the service of the Lord as they did. One of them is Rt. Rev. Msgr. S.T. Umoh who was my one time vocation director, the other Fr. C. C. Ndonduok, one time Parish priests of mine. May they rest in perfect peace, in Christ Jesus?

My consolation (and I believe that of their families and the church  as a whole),  is that, that preparation for the Lord long foretold by Malachi in today’s first reading has been fulfilled in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ whose feast we celebrate today- presentation of Christ. We rejoice with Mary, Joseph, Anna and Simeon because our eyes have seen the salvation and our ears continue to hear this message of hope and salvation daily, and sometimes in mysterious ways.

The Letter to the Hebrews puts to us this message of hope well in the second reading. Even in the face of death or loosing a loved one, Jesus has final power over death and the devil of fear. He is the life, death and the resurrection. He demonstrates this by overcoming temptations in the desert.  Moreover, after his presentation, baptism, and through out the course of his ministry he taught us on every step of the way, to be courageous, to overcome fear with courage and love. Courage and love took him to the cross, as a merciful priest, faithful and humble victim!

Symbolically, the candle we carry today in processesion  is a candle of hope and love; a universal love for peoples of all walks of life, culture, race and nations; a light for Israel and a Light for the Gentiles; the opposite of darkness of sins and evil. It is a light of hope no matter what our daily challenges and fears may look like.

May we encourage one another today; May we continue to be that conduit and channel of Christ’s light to our neighbors, especially the poor, the depressed, the sorrowful and those who have recently lost their loved ones, including those who had consecrated themselves in one way or the other to the service of the Lord and Humanity.

Reflection Friday Week 3 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Reflection Friday Week 3 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo

Readings: Hebrews 10:32-39; Ps 373-6,23-24,39-40 Mark 4:26-34

Patient with Faith Endurance

Psalm 37 verse 9a captures well the message the Epistle to the Hebrews as well as the Gospel, today,” The salvation of the just comes from the Lord”. Or as Habakkuk would put it “ My just one shall live by faith and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him” (Hab 1:1-4).

What this means is that in the face trials and persecution Christians must persevere as see is as participating in the sufferings of Christ. Suffering with our neighbors is a way of partnership with Christ. As the writer to the Epistle to the Hebrews would stress, think of visiting those in prison. Or what do you do when you are unjustly treated, your property unduly taken away from you. Patient endurance and compassion are recommended. These are ways of sufferings with Christ.

Moreover, the seeming delay of God’s judgment or Christ arrival should not discourage us. Christ is in our midst in a mysterious ways. It is like a planting who plants seed, goes to bed at night only to be surprise the following day of how far the seed has sprout and grow, without his knowledge.

Again the workings of Christ is like a mustard seed planted which grows up to a huge tree that can even accommodates birds of all kinds on its branches(Mark 4:26-34)

Truly there are many ways and instances Christians are tempted today or are made to feel that God is so far away from them. Some are made to feel like Job and Habakkuk.  Some are been persecuted. Some are ignored. Some are ridiculed. For such group of Christians, the writer to the Epistle to the Hebrews suggests that prayers, patient and faith endurance are the answers.