AVOID THE RELIGION OF THE LIPS AND UPHOLD THE RELIGION OF THE HEART.

HOMILY FOR THE 22ND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY  TIME OF THE YEAR B

R1:  Deut, 4:1-2,6:8 

R2: James1;17-18,21b-22,27

GOSPEL: Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23

AVOID THE RELIGION OF THE LIPS AND UPHOLD THE RELIGION OF THE HEART.

Today's readings lead us to reflect on the best way to obey God's law for the sake of our own salvation.

In the first reading, Moses spoke to the people saying, "you shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it. Keep the commandments of the Lord". What is meant by adding or subtracting from God's command?  The laws are the Word of God, they are complete. How could any  human being with limited wisdom and knowledge, edit God's perfect law? 

Thus to add to the laws of God presupposes that they are incomplete. To presume to make changes in God's law is to assume a position of authority over God who gave the laws ( Matt 5: 27-19, 15:3-9). Yet the religious leaders at the time of Jesus Christ did exactly this. They elevated their own laws to the same level as God's.  Jesus rebuked them for this ( Matt 23: 1-4). And this is  happening in our society today. We should know that God never gives a law that has no purpose. He gives it for the salvation of our soul.

Moreso, in the second reading, St. Paul advises us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. It is important to listen to what God's word says but it is much more important to obey it, to do what it says. Thus we can measure the effectiveness of our Bible study time by the effect it has on our behavior and attitude. Do we put into action what we hear or study in the Bible? 

To keep ourselves from being polluted by the world, we need to commit ourselves to Christ's ethical and moral system not to the world. We are not to adapt to the world's value system, which is based on Money, power, and pleasure. True faith means nothing if we are contaminated with such values.

Moreover, in the gospel reading, Jesus scolded the Pharisees for keeping the law and traditions pretentiously in order to look holy instead of to honour God.

The scribes and Pharisees are the religious leaders in the time of Jesus Christ. They were so religious and never took any of their religious ceremonies lightly. They prayed very well, they fasted and payed their tithes regularly, yet Jesus condemned them as hypocrites. Why?

Jesus was never against any of their religious life but their pretense. He wanted their external observance to have a pure interior disposition. He wanted what they claimed they were (Religious leader), to reflect in their lives. In other words, he expected them to be just in their dealings and show mercy and love to people around them as a sign of their faith in God. As a religious leaders, their lives should be models for others to emulate.

Be that as t may, the essence of today's message is to guide us against living the life of pretense which those scribes and the Pharisees of that time lived.

As you perform your religious duties and obligations, do not ignore the most important aspect of religion which is faith, love, mercy and justice. Let us not give undue importance to external observance of rules and regulations while neglecting a friend who is in need of our help, neighbor who lives in misery, a sick person who has no money to buy medicine. And finally note that nothing that goes into a man makes him unclean but what come out of a man makes him unclean.

Peace be with you.

Reflection by:

Fr. Valentine Ebube SMMM

CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A SERIES OF DAILY CHOICES EITHER FOR GOD OR AGAINST GOD.

HOMILY FOR THE 21ST SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR B

Theme: Christian life is a series of daily choices either for God or against God.

R1.    Joshua 24:1-2,15-18

R/P    Psalm 33:2-3,16-23

R2.    Ephesians 5:21-32

Gospel. John 6:60-69

In the first reading Joshua challenges the people Israel to make a decision if they are to serve the gods of their fathers, the gods of the Amorites in whose county they are presently dwelling, or the God of the Israelites who has done so much for them. 

The 2nd reading emphasizes the unity that must exist in the body of Christ and the intimate relationship between Jesus and His followers. It also challenges the Ephesian Christians to make the right choice in life and build christian marriages on mutual respect and love, accepting each other's rights and dignity. Jesus also uses the husband-wife relationship as an analogy to explain the close relationship between Christ and the church. Paul reminds us that Jesus nourishes us, the members of His church, through the Eucharist, making us His own flesh and blood, as husband and wife become one flesh.

Jesus in concluding His long Eucharistic discourse in today's Gospel challenges His Jewish audience, and later His Apostles, to make their choice: to accept Him as the true bread from Heaven who gives them His body and blood as their Heavenly food or to join those who have lost their faith in Jesus and left Him, expressing their confusion and doubts about His claims. 

Today's passage describes the various reactions of people to Jesus' claims. Many of the disciples left, but the apostles freely chose to stay with Jesus. In the Eucharistic celebration, we, too, are called to make a decision, profess our faith in God's Son and renew the covenant ratified in His life, death and Resurrection.

Brothers let us make our choice for Christ and live it. We have accepted the challenges of living a religious life let us keep to it. Let it not be the same stories we hear everytime that someone has left the congregation and moved on, let us remain focus and know whom we are following and whom we have decided freely without force to follow. Let us remain steadfast in our commitment to Jesus in the community which we belong. Christ's attitudes, thoughts, values, and life-view must become totally ours. Peace be with you all. 

Reflection by

Rev. Fr. Kenneth Amara Nwachukwu SMMM

SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF BVM

HOMILY FOR THE 20TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR B

SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

15th AUGUST 2021

R1:    Rev. 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab

R/P:  Ps 45:10, 11,12,16

R2:    1Cor 15:20-27

Gospel: Lk 1:39-56

Today the church rejoices in the exaltation of the humble handmaid of the Lord. 

The feast of Assumption is the greatest of Mary's feast days. Thus it has been well described as “Our Lady’s Easter”, for on this day, a holy day of obligation, we recall Our Lady’s Assumption into heaven and her crowning as Queen. Though the church has always believed in the assumption of Mary, the dogma was only formally defined by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950 on his Bull Munificentissimus Deus.

God is unique in all His ways and impeccable in everything He does. In the coming of His only Begotten Son in human form, He chose the holy and immaculate womb of the Virgin Mary to accomplish the mystery of incarnation; so that filled with grace from above, this stainless Maiden receives the singular honour of being the mother of her creator.

More so, the Assumption of Mary into heaven in body and soul remains one of the fruits of her ideal faith in God and in God’s plan for her. In the blessed and holy Virgin Mary, we see what God wishes for all His children and what the power of grace (the oil of impossibility) can achieve in all who place their trust in God. This power can change everything about us when we remain faithful to God like the Virgin Mary. She is the model of all Christian virtues because in her was deposited “the fullness of grace”. She is never lacking in any grace and that is why all the promises of God were realised in her.

Being full of grace, BVM is able to be a dispenser of grace though her powerful intercession. Through her faithfulness to God and trust in His plans and promises, she embodies all the merits of Christ her son. Mary remains a  model for all. Hence by imitating her virtues, we make ourselves available to experience the power and working of God’s grace and to receive in our lives the merits of Christ. In the words of the second reading (1 Cor.15:20-26), “just as all men and women die in Adam, so all men and women will be brought to life in Christ”. Mary lived and lives for Christ. She decided to place Jesus at the centre of her life. She challenges us to place Jesus at the centre of our lives too. She now lives in the glory of heaven by that singular act of grace through which she was assumed into heaven body and soul, so that where Christ is , there also she will be; and from where Christ reigns as King, there also she will reign as Queen; for “a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for crown” (Rev.11:19,12:1-6,10)

Unwittingly, the unique role of Christ as the mediator is often juxtaposed with Mary’s intercessory vocation, leading many to consider her an obstacle to a relationship with God. But the truth remains that Mary’s role in no way conflicts with that of her son and Saviour, Jesus Christ. As the first beneficiary of Christ’s salvation, she perfectly embodies and represents the salvation from her son by the singular privilege of God’s grace.

In effect, Mary recognises her lowliness as the maidservant (Lk.1:39) and her greatness because of God’s grace (Lk1:49) and  very readily proclaims both. Such a person at no time struggles with or constitutes an obstacle to the true worship of God. Accordingly, as the bearer of the plenitude of grace, Mary deserves the honour and devotion of all children of God as an extension of the praise of the prodigies of the Lord. 

In the words of a Protestant theologian, Joel B. Green “to say Mary is the ‘blessed One’ is to join the Spirit of the Magnificat to prophesy about who God is and what God has done. Mary is the blessed one because of what God  has in her and through her. Not to bless Mary is to turn away from the work of God”. 

Similarly, Joseph Ratzinger had earlier made the point. According to him, “the Mgnificat shows us that Mary belong to the name of God, so much so in fact, that we cannot praise him rightly if we leave her out of account” (J. Ratzinger, “Hail, Full of Grace”, 1997,116). 

Let us celebrate this day as we honour how God has “looked with favour on His lowly servant”. 

I wish us all a happy feast of Assumption.

Reflection by:

Fr. JohnPaul Obialor,SMMM

Christ Is The Living Bread And Mystery Of Our Faith

 Homily For 19th Sunday Of Ordinary Time, Year B

Theme: Christ Is The Living Bread And Mystery Of Our Faith

Readings:

R1: 1 Kg 19, 4-8;

R/P: Ps 33; 

R2: Eph 4, 30. 5, 2; 

Gospel: Jn 6, 41-51

Today is the nineteenth Sunday of ordinary time. God continues to draw us to himself in order to save, feed and strengthen us on our journey. The readings of this Sunday provide us another opportunity to continue our reflection on the gift of the Holy Eucharist, the mystery of our faith and the life of the world.  

In today’s first reading, the same Elijah who defeated Ahab, Jezebel and their entire prophets of Baal is afraid and running for his life. The same Elijah who shut the heavens for three and half years, and later brought down fire and rain is terrified and discouraged. All hope of survival was lost and God seemed to have abandoned him.  

This reading is very interesting and encouraging in many ways. This is because many of us are in the same boat right now with Elijah. Many times, I have heard people say to me: “I am afraid and tired of this life.” “I am alone in my struggle.” “I do not think God still hears my prayers,” even, “I feel like dying because, it is too much for me to bear.”

Such moments in life that provoke and force us to make such confessions are really tough ones. We are almost at our breaking or zero point. Like Elijah, some of us are on the run from different uncertainties of this life. We are saying or acting: “Lord, I have heard enough. Take my life!” So, we can appreciate Elijah’s predicament. However, like Elijah, when we think that all hope is lost, God will surely intervene to nourish and strengthen us.

In the second reading, Paul reminds us that as children of God, we bear the mark of the Holy Spirit. This is simply, to say that God never leaves us alone in the valley or desert of this life. Rather, through the Holy Spirit, He accompanies us daily. So, rather than making the Holy Spirit sad through our bad actions, we must obey, trust and walk with Him.

The Holy Spirit leads us to Christ the living bread who nourishes and equally strengthens us for our journey. So, Paul teaches us how to maintain this relationship with the Holy Spirit. “Never have grudges against others, or lose your temper, or raise your voice to anybody, or call each other names, forgive each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.”

In today’s gospel, like Elijah, Jesus confronts his own obstacles. The Pharisees would not believe in Him nor would they let him have his peace. Instead, they looked for means to discredit Christ and his work. However, Christ did not give up. Instead, he remained focused. He insisted: “I am the living bread, which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever, and the bread I give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

The good news today, is that Christ draws us to himself every day through the Eucharistic in order to nourish and strengthen us for our journey. He is the living bread that satisfies our spiritual hunger. He equally fills us with his spirit who directs us on the right path on our journey. So today, God is saying to us as he said to Elijah in the desert, “arise, eat, drink,” and continue your journey with a new hope, a zeal and a new spirit.

Finally, let us take advantage of this generous gift that God had given us through the Holy Eucharist in order to enrich our lives. We must do what the psalmist tells us today: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” He is really the living bread of life. He is the Mystery of our faith and the life of the world.

Peace be with you all!

Reflection by:

Fr. Canice Njoku,CSSp (Puerto Rico)