Thursday, January 28, 2021

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary time Year B - January 31, 2021

Homily of Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 2021

Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28

 The first reading is from the Book of Deuteronomy. The Book of Deuteronomy is a compilation of teachings, directives, and instructions from Moses, and God’s laws in the previous books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers) that were to guide the people of Israel as they journey to the Promised Land and when they arrive at and settle in the Promised Land. The Book of Deuteronomy is referred to as “second law” or “copy of the law” (Greek: deuteros – second + nomos – law).

 In Deuteronomy 18:9 and 14 Moses instructs the people, “When you come into the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of the nations there.” “Although these nations whom you are about to dispossess listen to their soothsayers and diviners, the Lord, your God, will not permit you to do so.”

 In the first reading, Deuteronomy 18:19, Moses spoke to the people what God said to him: “And the Lord said to me… ‘I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all I command him. Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it.” Scripture scholars explain that this statement was a prophecy about the coming of Jesus Christ. And when Jesus arrived, and during his transfiguration, God declared, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him” (Luke 9:35).

 We are reminded today “not to learn to imitate the abominations of the nations” accepted and practiced in our world, promoted and amplified by godless and Christ-less “soothsayers and diviners” in the form of institutions, groups, cultures, politics, economies, psychologies, philosophies, religions, beliefs, theories, ideologies, and so on.

 Further, the first reading warns, “But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die” (Deuteronomy 18:20). We can interpret this death to mean more a spiritual death than physical death whereby the Spirit of God leaves the prophet. The prophet is occupied by unclean spirits like the man in the Gospel reading of today. This warning is to all of us because we are prophets to one another and wherever we find ourselves; but the warning is in a special way to our teachers, preachers and ministers.

 Perhaps, we have accepted and we practice “abominations of nations” and listen to godless and Christ-less “soothsayers and diviners.” Perhaps, we are no longer “members of Christ’s Body and temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:15, 19). Perhaps, we have been overtaken by unclean spirits and we are spiritually dead. We are all invited to listen to Jesus, God’s chosen Son; and surrender to his authority to deliver and save us. Jesus says of himself, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). He also says, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock” (Matthew 7:24-25). May we have a taste, and a share, and experience the authority of Jesus.

 The second reading (1 Corinthians 7:32-35), further, describes the way some Christians worship God and mammon at the same time. Some Christians are divided because they are like “a married man [who] is anxious about the things of the world, [and] how he may please his wife.” Some Christians are like a married woman who “is anxious about the things of the world, [and] how she may please her husband.” St. Paul maintains that our relationship with God should be like an “unmarried woman or a virgin [who] is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit.” These analogies do not mean that St. Paul despises married life, nor do the analogies suggest that we should despise married life. The point St. Paul makes is that adherence to the Lord is to be without distraction (1 Corinthians 7:35).

 To conclude, let us, again, ponder on the following questions: Have we followed the way of the godless and Christ-less abominations of the nations and listen to their soothsayers and diviners? Are we overtaken by unclean spirits, and so are spiritually dead? Do we have a distracted and divided relationship with God because of anxiousness and anxieties about the things of the world?

 Whatever our shortcomings are, let us listen to Jesus, God’s chosen Son, and surrender undividedly to his authority to deliver and save us.

 Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary time Year B - January 24, 2021

Homily of Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 2021

 Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 25:4-9; 1 Corinthians 7:29:31; Mark 1:14-20

 The story of Prophet Jonah, his mission in Nineveh, and the repentance of the people of Nineveh was a prophecy to the people of Israel when they returned from the Babylonian captivity. It was an example of the type of repentance that God required of the people of Israel. God used a non-Jewish people as an example for the Israelites. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, an unfriendly country to Israel. This seems to give an insight as to why Jonah resisted God’s call to go to Nineveh to prophecy to them. However, he was forced to go by the means of the fish that swallowed him and dropped him off the coast of Nineveh. And when the people of Nineveh repented and God cancelled the threat of destroying them, Jonah was angry. It appears that Jonah wanted to see the enemies of Israel destroyed. He did not understand God’s plan. Surely, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither his ways our ways (Isaiah 55:8). Like Jonah, sometimes, we resist God’s will and prefer our own will. Later, Jesus made reference to the story of Jonah and the Ninevites while denouncing the Jews, “At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here” (Matthew 12:41).

 In the first reading Jonah announced to the people of Nineveh, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” The reading continues, “When the people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.” A way of applying the message of this reading is, there are people who must change their way of life or they ruin themselves. For such people, the change is necessary immediately or they are ruined. St. Paul warns in the second reading, “I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out.” The first reading shows us how great God’s mercy is. God forgave the people of Nineveh as soon as they believed in him and turned from their evil way. In the same way, God erases our sinful past when we repent, believe in him, and turn to him. God rescues us from the bondage of our ugly past as soon as we believe in him, turn to him and surrender.

 St. Paul warns in the second reading, “From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully.” This warning to the Corinthians was because at that time followers of Christ thought that the second coming of Christ was imminent. St. Paul taught the Corinthians that since “the time is running out” and “the world in its present form is passing away,” nothing else should matter to anyone except “adherence to the Lord without distraction” (1 Corinthians 7:35).

 This reading speaks to us in a special way. Each person’s world is passing away. It may be sooner or later. Since no one is sure, we are warned to prepare to meet our God any time he calls us. Jesus says in the Gospel, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” This is a reality that poverty, riches, or any condition must not distract us.

 The Gospel of today is St. Mark’s account of the call of Simon, Andrew, James and John. These men were fishermen. When Jesus called them, they left everything and followed him. Jesus says, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38). We, therefore, pray that more men and women may “abandon their nets,” “their father Zebedee in the boat along with hired men” and become “fishers of men and women.”

 Finally, in the same manner, we are all invited to detach ourselves from the things that may become obstacles to answering God’s call and doing God’s will.

 Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

 

Thursday, January 14, 2021

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary time Year B - January 17, 2021

Homily of Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Year, B 2021

 1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19; Psalm 40, 2, 4, 7-10; 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20; John 1:35-42

 The first reading tells us the story of the call of young Samuel. The second reading reminds us of the essence of holiness of life. The Gospel is about the call of three disciples of Jesus. It is not a mere coincidence that the theme of our celebration and reflection, after the Christmas Season, is God’s call to us to discipleship. We received so much from the Advent and Christmas Seasons. Now, in the Ordinary Time of the Church’s calendar, is the time to put the graces we received during the Advent and Christmas Seasons into action.

 In the first reading, we see that God did not give up calling Samuel until Samuel answered him. In the same way, God does not give up on us. He continues to send his Spirit to minister to our hearts. We pray for the grace to respond positively to God’s call as Samuel did. Samuel, finally, replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” The reading concludes, “Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect.” When we respond positively to God’s call, we will receive the same blessing Samuel received. We will grow in the Lord; and the Lord will be with us; and will not permit any word of ours to be without effect. What an intimate relationship with God!

 The second reading calls us to holiness of life. In the reading, St. Paul reminds us that our bodies are members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit, which have been purchased at a price. This is the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. St. Paul invites us to refrain from sins of the flesh but glorify God in our bodies. In 1 Corinthians 3:23, St. Paul reminds us, “You are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” This union with Christ is broken when union with a human being through fornication is committed. By the act of fornication, the union becomes with the two fornicators and no longer with Christ (1 Corinthians 6:16). If we are no longer in union with Christ, it means we are no longer temples of the Holy Spirit. Such a broken relationship with God is what St. Paul challenges us to avoid.

 The sequence of events in the Gospel of today is very striking. John the Baptist identified Jesus as the Lamb of God to Andrew and another disciple of his. The two left John and became disciples of Jesus. Later, Andrew “found his own brother, Simon, and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah.’…  Then he brought him to Jesus.” John de Baptist and Andrew teach us to show Jesus to others and bring them to Jesus. We can do this by our words and actions.

 I imagine that Simon must have, proudly, attributed what he became – the leader of the apostles and the first pope - to his brother, Andrew, who took him to Jesus. Won’t it be great if someone attributes his or her blessings to your help? There are instances where people deny help to those in need in order to prevent their success. The Gospel reading shows us that John was not afraid to lose his two disciples, and so was not reluctant to show Jesus to them. John declared, “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). And, Andrew eagerly found his brother and brought him to Jesus; for him to have a share of the treasure (Messiah) he had discovered.

 Someone writes:

“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

When we give of ourselves, nothing is truly lost.

When one candle lights another, its light is not diminished.

In fact, the light given off together is greater than the light of one.”

 A candle diminishes and disappears as it burns. That is how our life is. Every day, we diminish like a burning candle. It’s only a matter of time, we will disappear, and our light goes out. So, let us pass on our light and light up other human candles before we disappear and our light goes out.

 To conclude, as God calls us to various vocations, responsibilities, and to repentance, many other voices from the world and the Evil One call us too. The voices from the world and the Evil One are usually voices of discouragement. These voices discourage us from hearing God or listening to him and answering him. We pray for the grace to hear God’s call and the grace to respond like Samuel, “Speak, your servant is listening.” 

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Thursday, January 7, 2021

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for the Baptism of the Lord Year B- January 10, 2021

Homily of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord Year B, 2021

 Isaiah 55:1-11; Psalm: Isaiah 12:2-6; 1 John 5:1-9; Mark 1:7-11

 Last Sunday was the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. Epiphany means the revelation of Jesus to the world. The revelation continues, today, with the Baptism of Jesus.

 As we see in today’s Gospel, God himself and the Holy Spirit are the witnesses to Jesus’ revelation. God makes a public declaration about Jesus, not through any prophet, not through any angel, not through the shepherds, not through the Magi, not through Simeon and Anna, not through John the Baptist, but by himself and in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel says, “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” This declaration by God is the greatest disclosure or revelation of Jesus. St. John urges us in the second reading, “If we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is surely greater. Now he has testified on behalf of his son” (1 John 5:9).

Catholic catechism teaches that Baptism is a Sacrament through which we are cleansed from original sin; we become followers of Christ, children of God, and members of the Church. We may ask, if Baptism cleanses us from original sin, why, then, was it necessary that Jesus was baptized although he was sinless? Maximus of Turin explains, “Christ is baptized, not that he may be sanctified in the waters, but that he himself may sanctify the waters… For when the Savior is washed, then already for our Baptism all water is cleansed and the fount purified… Christ therefore takes the lead in Baptism, so that Christian people may follow after him with confidence.”

By his Baptism, Jesus incarnates himself into humanity. He fulfils all requirements of identifying with sinners. According to St. Athanasius, “He became what we are, so that he might make us what he is.” We, therefore, become recipients of his incarnation by our own Baptism. Hence, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1272, teaches, “Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation. Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated.”

Today’s celebration reminds us of the importance of our own Baptism. As mortal beings, we may not achieve the state of purity that the Sacrament of Baptism granted us when we were baptized. However, we are invited to strive to follow after Jesus, strive to be configured to him, in order to become beloved of God and well pleased to God. We can do this by keeping the baptismal promises we made, or that were made on our behalf during our Baptism (for many who were baptized as infants). The baptismal promises are to reject Satan, and all his works, and all his empty promises, and to believe in God, in Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit, and in the Church.

Keeping our baptismal promises helps us to maintain the Christian dignity which the white garment we were clothed during our Baptism signifies. Keeping our baptismal promises helps us to walk as children of the light which the candle that was lit during our Baptism signifies. During Baptism, the minister touches our ears and mouth and prays, “May the Lord soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.” If this prayer bears fruit in us, then we are beloved of God and well pleased to him.

Unfortunately, many Catholics and many Christians fail to understand the spiritual meanings of Baptism. Some take it lightly as a christening, which is a church ceremony of giving a baby a name. This ignorance results to many people’s lack of commitment to keeping baptismal promises. Failure in keeping baptismal promises means failure in configuring to Christ, failure in following after him, failure in belonging to him, and failure in pursuing Christian dignity. Therefore, the celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is an invitation to us to rediscover the importance of our own Baptism to our journey of faith, and to see that our Baptism bears the fruit of salvation. That is the only way we become beloved of God.

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for Ordinary Time (A) February 19, 2023

  Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48   First reading: Israelite community wa...