Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C - July 31, 2022

Homily of Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 2022

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23; Psalm 90:3-6, 12-13; Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; Luke 12:13-21

I was ten years old the first time these words, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity,” captured my attention. My parish priest repeated the words during one of his homilies. The words sounded beautiful and captivated me but meant absolutely nothing to me. I memorized the words and repeated it to my friends to show off some new English words I learned, although I had no idea what I was saying. Now, I wrestle with the words in order to harness their rich spiritual meaning.

The word vanity can be defined as excessive attention to oneself, one’s possession, one’s appearance, or one’s achievement. Some products that encourage self-attention are prefixed with the word ‘vanity.’ For example, vanity table, vanity mirror, vanity license plates, vanity surgery and so on. Vanity can further be described as self-worship, or excessive seeking of self-satisfaction. Vanity is preferring world-centered life instead of God-centered life.

In the second reading, St. Paul names sins that result from world-centered life: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, and lying. St. Paul tells us to put to death these parts of us that are earthly.

In today’s gospel, Jesus gives two examples of people of vanity. Their problem was greed. The first man was upset with his brother and wanted his share of the inheritance. If his case was genuine, I imagine that Jesus would have intervened on his behalf. After all, Jesus is the “Lord our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23: 6). Rather, Jesus saw the greed in his heart and addressed him, and all of us: “Take care and guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” By this statement, Jesus warns us that selfish desires should not define us, or determine our existence, or rule us, or lead us to sin.

The second person in the gospel was so greedy that he was unable to share his possession with others. St. Paul condemns this attitude in the following words, “Their end is destruction. Their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. Their minds are occupied with earthly things” (Philippians 3:19). These words of St. Paul are very visible in the second person in the gospel.

A boy accompanied his dad to an interment service. When the coffin was lowered into the grave the boy and his dad had the following discussion:

Son: “Uncle X is in the box?”

Dad: “Yes, son.”

Son: “Will he come home soon?”

Dad: “No, son.”

Son: “Does he not need his car? His car can’t get in there.”

While we possess, grab, accumulate, bicker, and fight; let us remember Job’s statement, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart” (Job 1:21). Jesus advises us in today’s gospel to be rich in God rather than storing up treasures for ourselves. The more we are rich in God, the less we store up treasures for ourselves. The deeper one’s spiritual life is, the lesser one is involved in things of vanity. Therefore, we are challenged not to acquire more than we need, and to share our treasures with others. God has given enough blessings to the world. Suffering, poverty, hunger and various afflictions are caused by greedy men and women.

At the hour of reckoning, we will not be judged according to our vain life. We will be judged by how rich we are in God reflected in our selflessness, generosity, and righteousness; and our reward will be great in heaven. 

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for The Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C - July 24, 2022

Homily of Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 2022

Genesis 18:20-32; Psalm 138:1-3, 6-8; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13

The readings, today, want us to reflect on the importance of prayer in our relationship with God. More than anything else, the first reading teaches us that prayer is a conversation between God and us. God initiates the conversation by offering us the grace to desire conversing with him. When we accept the grace and the invitation, then, the conversation begins. In the first reading, God initiated the conversation by revealing to Abraham that he was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their grave sin. Then, Abraham responded by interceding for the cities. Abraham kept conversing with God and interceding for the cities until he submitted to the will of God. This is an important point too. Our desire and prayer may not be the will of God. We need to learn from Abraham how to surrender to God’s plan no matter how painful. Jesus prayed, “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Dante Alighieri writes, “And in his will there is our peace…”

Although God’s will is our peace, sadly, sometimes, we place ourselves in irredeemable situations as Sodom and Gomorrah did. We hear it often said, “God / heaven helps those who help themselves.” St Paul writes, “This is good, and pleases God our savior who wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). There is nothing God nor human beings can do for anyone who knowingly and freely chooses the path of destruction. May Jesus pray for us as he prayed for Peter, that none of us is sift as wheat by Satan (Luke 22:31).

The gospel begins with these words, “Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray…’” Prayer was very important to Jesus. He prayed in the desert for forty days before he began his ministry (Matthew 4:2). He prayed on the mountain all night before he chose his apostles (Luke 6:12-16). He was praying when he transfigured (Luke 9:29). He often withdrew to lonely places to pray (Luke 5:16). He prayed to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11). He prayed for Peter that his faith may not fail (Luke 22:32). He prayed for his followers and those who believe in him through their word (John 17). He prayed before his arrest (Mark 14:32-42 and John 17). He prayed on the Cross (Luke 23). What is it about prayer that Jesus never stopped praying? If Jesus, who is God, prayed constantly, then, mortals like us need to pray as Jesus did.

Jesus assures us in today’s gospel that God answers prayers. “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” This assurance notwithstanding, Jesus gave a parable to emphasize the importance of perseverance in prayer. The man who went to his friend to beg for bread did not give up until his friend got out of his bed at midnight and gave him the bread. If he had not persisted, he would not have received the bread from his friend. Perseverance in prayer is nicknamed P-U-S-H: which is, “Pray until something happens.”

In addition to prayer of petition and prayer of intercession, there is also prayer of loving communion with God, or prayer of presenting oneself to God, or prayer of losing oneself in God. This prayer is essential for spiritual nourishment and growth. It is food for the soul. Without this prayer, the soul malnourishes. This prayer helps us transcend the level of asking for one favor or another to the level of not asking, not needing, not wanting, but being in loving communion. This is the prayer of Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” This is what we mean when we sing the hymn, “Lose yourself in me; and you will find yourself…” (Matthew 10:39).

Lose yourself in me and you will find yourself

Lose yourself in me and you will find new life

Lose yourself in me and you will find yourself

And you will live, yes you will live in my love.

Unless a grain of wheat, falls into the ground

It still remains but a grain of wheat

But if it falls and dies, then it bears much fruit

So it is with those who lose themselves in me.

Lose yourself in me and you will find yourself

Lose yourself in me and you will find new life

Lose yourself in me and you will find yourself

And you will live, yes you will live in my love.

You will live, yes you will live, in my love.

No one is comfortable with another who relates only according to what he or she can get. That is selfishness. We can imagine that our relationship with God based on what we can get is, also, not okay. Therefore, pray but surrender to God’s; pray without ceasing; pray until something happens; most importantly, pray in loving communion with God.

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

 

 

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C - July 17, 2022

Homily of Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 2022

Genesis 18:1-10; Psalm 15:2-5; Colossians 1:24-28; Luke 10:38-42

In Genesis 12:3, God promised Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” As Abraham and Sarah his wife aged, there was no sign of the fulfilment of this promise. Encouraged by Sarah, Abraham’s maid bore Abraham a son called Ishmael. But Ishmael was not the child of the promise.

We read, in today’s first reading, how Abraham and Sarah showed hospitality to three strangers, not knowing that they were angels of the Lord. Abraham and Sarah were rewarded with a gift of Isaac, the child of the promise. God’s promise to Abraham would not have come to fulfilment in the manner it came about if Abraham and Sarah did not show hospitality to the strangers. I believe that the Book of Hebrews echoed Abraham’s and Sarah’s encounter where it writes, “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels” (Hebrews 13:1-2).

Two other wonderful examples of the reward of hospitality are as follows. In 1 Kings 17:7-16, the widow of Zarephath, not knowing that Elijah was a prophet, shared with him and her son their “only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug.” Her reward was, “There was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry.” In 2 Kings 4:8-17, the Shunammite woman and her husband who showed hospitality to Elisha and his servant were rewarded. “The woman [who was barren] became pregnant, and gave birth to a son, just as Elisha told her.”

The closing statement of my last Sunday’s homily is, “Somehow, someway, someday, all the love we have given will come back to us.” Jesus promises us, “Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you” (Luke 6:38).

In today’s gospel, Jesus visited Mary and Martha. Mary sat beside Jesus and listened to him, while Martha was burdened with much serving, and was anxious and worried about many things. She was also upset. She upset with herself, with Mary, and with Jesus. It is not surprising that Martha was upset. How won’t someone who is burdened, anxious and worried about many things not be upset with oneself and with everybody?

The gospel passage teaches us that like Mary, we need to create quality time to commune with God in order to nourish our spiritual life. If we do not do this, there is every possibility that we become like Martha; demands of life burden us, keep us anxious, worried and upset us. There is a saying that the one who is too busy to pray is busier than God wants the person to be. Jesus emphasized the importance of nourishing the spiritual life to his apostles.  At some point in their ministering to people Jesus advised them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31-33). Spiritual recollection and retreat need to, also, occupy prominent places in our calendar as vacations and various kinds of trips do.

Martha complained to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” Of what use is someone who is hardworking but unhappy and full of complaints? Paul writes in Ephesians 6:7-8, “Do God’s will from the heart, willingly serving the Lord and not human beings, knowing that each will be requited from the Lord for whatever good he does…” And Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others, knowing that you will receive from the Lord the due payment of the inheritance…”

Jesus cautioned Martha, “You are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her,” The one thing chosen by Mary is be close to Jesus. Let us bring all our burdens, anxieties, worries, upsets, and complaints and lay them at the feet of Jesus, and listen to him speak to us. His words are spirit and life (John 6:63). Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Also, in Matthew 6:25 & 27 he says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, … Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?” In 1 Peter 5:7 we have the invitation, “Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.” And in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” May God’s words be fulfilled in our lives. Amen.

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP