Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for The Twenty-FSixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C - September 25, 2022

Homily of Twenty Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 2022

Amos 6:1a, 4-7; Psalm 146:7-10; 1 Timothy 6:11-16; Luke 16:19-31

About 750 B.C., Amos denounced the rich and the leaders in Israel who in their extravagant life of luxury oppressed and neglected the suffering poor: “Those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge upon their couches; eating lambs taken from the flock, and calves from the stall; … who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils, but are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph” (Amos 4:6-7).

The neglect of the poor by the rich and the leaders was not different during the time of Jesus, which was why Jesus gave the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores” (Luke 16:19-21).

The rich man did nothing wrong for being rich. His three sins were: lack of moderation (“dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day”), negligence, and lack of compassion (“lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table”). While the rich man did not show compassion to Lazarus, the rich man’s dogs did. The dogs, ordinarily, would have barked and driven Lazarus away from their master’s gate. Instead, the dogs showed him compassion by licking his sores. 

The neglect of the poor, despite the world’s rich resources, may be worse in our time than it was during the time of Amos and the time of Jesus. Some rich countries do not care about the plight of poor countries. Rather, some rich countries are recolonizing poor countries by offering them high interest loans and all kinds of Greek gifts instead of assisting in their development. Activities and operations of rich countries’ multinational companies in poor countries further impoverish the poor countries. It’s a fact that some corrupt rulers wine and dine excessively and do not care about the sufferings of the majority of the people who are poor. The funds that should have been used for the benefit of the poor is stolen and spent on life of vanity. The corrupt rulers “are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph” (Amos 4:7).

There is a story of a poor widow whose husband passed away. The widow went to a rich man in her village and requested for financial help to bury her husband. The rich man, who had so many lands, demanded that his financial help to her was only going to be on the condition that the widow transferred to him the ownership of the only piece of land that belonged to her and her children.

We may not be among the heartless rich people, or among the corrupt political and economic leaders and rulers who waste and squander the wealth that would have benefited the poor; but we are all called to be compassionate and caring; to open our eyes and see the ‘Lazarus’ lying at our door; and to open our hearts to help them.

The readings invite us to evaluate how we are performing our Christian duties of works of mercy. Corporal works of mercy are: feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned (Matthew 25:35-36), and bury the dead (Tobit 1:17-18). Spiritual works of mercy are: instruct the ignorant (Romans 2:20), counsel the doubtful (1 Thessalonians 5:11), admonish sinners (1 Thessalonians 5:14), bear wrong patiently (Luke 6:27-28), forgive offences (Matthew 6:12), comfort the sorrowful (2 Corinthians 1:4), and pray for the living (1 Timothy 2:1), and the dead (2 Maccabees 12:46).

We conclude our reflection with the following passages:

“Whoever has two tunics should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise” (Luke 3:11).

“If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also, faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14-17).

“When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, … If the person is poor, you shall not sleep in the pledged garment, but shall definitely return it at sunset, so that your neighbor may sleep in the garment and bless you. … You shall not exploit a poor and needy hired servant, whether one of your own kindred or one of the resident aliens who live in your land, within your gates. On each day you shall pay the servant’s wages before the sun goes down, since the servant is poor and is counting on them. Otherwise, the servant will cry to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty” (Deuteronomy 24:11-15).

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for The Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C - September 18, 2022

Homily of Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 2022

Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113:1-2, 4-8; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13

Amos prophesied in Israel about the 8th century B.C. At that time, Israel enjoyed material prosperity. Unfortunately, with the material prosperity were corruption, injustice, oppression of the poor, and unfaithfulness to God. The unfortunate situation is captured by Amos’ words in the first reading, ‘“When will the new moon be over,’ you ask, ‘that we may sell our grain, and Sabbath, that we may display the wheat? We will diminish the ephah, and add to the shekel, and fix our scales for cheating! We will buy the lowly for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals, even the refuse of the wheat we will sell’” (Amos 8:5). This passage shows the dishonesty of political, economic, and religious leaders, and the decadence in the society. The dishonesty of rulers and leaders is a huge problem in our world today.

One of the priests, Amaziah, unable to take in Amos’ prophesies lied to King Jeroboam, “Amos has conspired against you within the house of Israel; the country cannot endure all his words. For this is what Amos says: ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.’” Then, the priest fumed at Amos, “Off with you, seer, flee to the land of Judah and there earn your bread by prophesying! But never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple” (Amos 7:10-13). Here is a priest bearing false witness against God’s prophet and driving him away! Wow!!! Unfortunately, there are many ‘Amaziah’ religious leaders in our world. Let us pray for our religious leaders that they may lead a life worthy of their calling (Ephesians 4:1); and that they may be beacons of light in our dark world.

In the Gospel, Jesus shows that dishonesty and corruption are not only a problem with leaders but are a problem everywhere; to the extent that in many places, honesty is nowadays a surprise. In the parable, when the dishonest steward was about to be fired, he became even more dishonest and infested his dishonesty on more people (his master’s debtors). This shows the contaminating harmful effect of evil.

While we spend time and energy clamoring and lamenting about the dishonesty and corruption in our leaders, systems, and establishments; we, also, need to self-examine our performance in our various responsibilities. How honest are we to our responsibilities in our families? in our jobs? in our various relationships and transactions? How honest are we to God who has blessed us so much? Jesus says to us, “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.” Jesus’ saying brings to mind a rule of caution that says that a person who testifies falsely about one matter is capable of testifying falsely about other matters. Dishonesty is at its worst when it is masked in hypocrisy; like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The master was amazed at the craftiness of the dishonest steward, which made Jesus to say, “The children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.” This is to say that many times, honest people who are supposed to be “children of light” lack courage, firmness, and exuberance. If “children of this world” turn their energy and craftiness to doing good, hardship and suffering will disappear from our society.

St. Paul appeals to us in the second reading to pray that leaders and everyone may live honestly, since, as we reflected above, dishonesty is not only a problem with the leadership.  “I ask for supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Honesty opens many doors; while dishonesty closes many doors. Honesty guides; but dishonesty leads astray (Proverbs 11:3). Honesty creates positive energy that builds; but dishonesty creates negative energy that destroys. According to William Shakespeare, “No legacy is so rich as honesty.” O Lord, grant us the grace of honesty. Amen.

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for The Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C - September 4, 2022

Homily of Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 2002

 Wisdom 9:13-18; Psalm 90:3-6, 12-17; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33

 The second reading is St. Paul’s letter to his friend, Philemon, who was a wealthy Christian leader. In the letter, he appealed to Philemon to reconcile with his former slave, Onesimus, who escaped. It is remarkable that St. Paul encouraged Philemon to welcome Onesimus and have him back “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother … beloved in the Lord.” St. Paul’s action demonstrates 2 Corinthians 5:19 where St. Paul teaches us that we are not agents of discord. We are, rather, instruments and channels of reconciliation since God entrusts to us the ministry of reconciliation. “Blessed are the peace makers, they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Blessed are we when we no longer see anyone through the lens of color, ethnicity, religion, class, status, gender; but see each other as equal before God, our Maker. St. Paul states, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor there is male and female, for you are all one in Christ” (Galatians 3:28).

Today’s first reading reminds us of the first reading of the 18th Sunday, “Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). The vainness, helplessness, restlessness, emptiness, unfulfilled-ness of human being without God is, again, the focus of our reflection today.

The first reading says, “For the deliberations of mortal are timid, and unsure are our plans. For the corruptible body burdens the soul and earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns. And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find difficult…” (Wisdom 9:15-16).

A man was hell-bent to building the biggest mansion in his village. He took a huge loan, and succeeded in building his dream mansion. However, he could not do any other thing for himself and his family as he paid back the loan. Even when he became sick, he had no money for a good medical treatment. Unfortunately, he died shortly after paying back the loan.

After his death, his two sons began to fight over the ownership of the mansion. They went to court and the court sealed off the mansion pending judgement. After ten years of court back and forth, the ruling was that the mansion be sold and the two sons to share the proceeds. Unfortunately, by then, the entire property which had been overtaken by trees and bushes was sold off at a scrap value. What happened to the man and his sons usually happen to those who pursue vanity.

Centuries ago, a Catholic Theologian, Blaise Pascal wrote, “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there, the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God himself.” 

 

In this quotation, Blaise Pascal confirms that in human being is an empty print, an empty trace, a void, a vacuum, a hole, an infinite abyss which finite human knowledge and human cravings alone are incapable of filling. God alone can fill it.

In the Gospel Jesus addresses us, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. … Anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26, 33). Jesus does not literally mean that we hate anyone in order to be his disciple. He does not mean that we should not have any earthly possessions. Jesus means that no one or no possession can take the place of God in our life. He says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Stressing on Jesus’ instruction St. Cyprian of Carthage writes, “Prefer nothing to Christ, because he preferred nothing to us, and on our account preferred evil things to good, poverty to riches, servitude to rule, death to immortality.”

There is God’s space or God’s vacuum in everyone and in every place. From creation till today, the Evil One has tempted and misdirected human beings to fill the God’s space with possessions (worldly and ungodly things). Also, not only that there are attempts to fill God’s space with possessions, many people and places hate and renounce God but prefer possessions. That is the root of evil in each human being, and in the world. Where God is rejected, or hated, or renounced; when the pursuit of possessions be it power, money, pleasure, wealth, job and so on, replace God, there’s bound to be disorder. It is impossible for human beings, made by God, to be orderly without God who made them. Isaiah prophesies, “Woe to anyone who contends with their Maker” (Isaiah 45:9).

In the Gospel Jesus says, “Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? … Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide with a thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?” (Luke 14:28-33). Jesus reminds us the old proverb, “Look before you leap.” Since many years and until this day, for whatever reason, there is a huge uncompleted abandoned building in Gwagwalada, Abuja, Nigeria which has made the building and its vicinity to be, now, known as “Uncompleted.” By God’s grace, may such not be anyone’s story. Amen.

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP