Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary time Year A - September 6, 2020

 

Homily of Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A, 2020

Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9; Romans 13:13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20

 

The people of Israel’s disloyalty to God resulted to their conquest and captivity by Babylon. While in exile in Babylon, God did not abandon them. St. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.” God called one of them, Ezekiel, to prophesy to them. In the first reading, God spoke to Ezekiel, “I have appointed [you a] watchman for the house of Israel…” In the same way, God has called each one of us to watch over one another. Priests are called to watch over parishioners. Parishioners, on the other hand, are to watch over the priests.  Family members are called to watch over one another. Children have the responsibility to watch over their parents who watched over them as they grew up. Unfortunately, some children fail in this responsibility. Siblings are called to watch over one another. Neighbors are called to watch over one another. Church members are called to watch over one another. Colleagues are called to watch over one another. We are not called to fight and destroy one another.  

 

There is a story of an old lady in Ireland who had no modern house heating system. She heated her house by burning firewood. The smoke of the fire oozed out of the house chimney every morning. On a particular morning, a neighbor living across from the old lady noticed that there was no smoke coming out of the old lady’s house chimney. The neighbor was surprised that in the Irish cold the old lady was not heating her house that morning. The neighbor imagined that something was not okay. The neighbor went over and knocked on the lady’s door but there was no response. The neighbor called the Emergency. The crew arrived, forced the house door open and found that the lady had fallen. The good news was that she was still alive. She was taken to the hospital where she recovered. Her life was saved by a good and observant neighbor who watched over her, even without her knowing!

 

Civil and religious leaders have the obligation to watch over the citizens. The leaders are not called to neglect, abandon, mistreat, abuse, starve, or devour the citizens.

 

God called Ezekiel to speak his words of truth to his people in order to save them. In the same way, God has called us to speak truth to one another, and save one another. Prophet Ezekiel says, “If you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I shall require from your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.” St. James writes, “Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20). Therefore, God has not called us to keeping silent in the face of evil, or to rumor mongering, gossiping, slandering and so on.

 

Sincerely watching over one another is an act of love. Telling one another the truth is an act of love. That is why St. Paul in the second reading says, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another… Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”

 

In the Gospel, Jesus, further teaches us another act of love. It is, reconciling with one another. It takes a lot of humility and patience to follow these four stages of reconciliation Jesus commanded. Stage one: Don’t presume, don’t rumor, don’t gossip, don’t grudge, don’t malign or slander. Go to the person and bring up your grievances. If the person refuses to reconcile with you, don’t give up, proceed to stage two: Take someone of influence along, someone he/she may listen to, and go for a second round of reconciliatory talk. If the person still refuses to reconcile with you, don’t give up still, proceed to stage three: Bring up the matter with the church leader, if the person practices his or her faith, or the leader of an organization the person belongs to or identifies with. After these three stages, and if the person still refuses to reconcile with you, then stage four: Accept the person with love; which is to say, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). That was what Jesus did to those who hated him and killed him.

 

To summarize, we are all called to show love to our brothers and sisters, and be our brother’s and sister’s keepers by watching over them; not watching their downfalls and failures; or being blind to their needs. We are called to show love to our brothers and sisters by speaking nothing but the truth to them. We are not to keep silent in the face of evil. We are called to show love to our brothers and sister by the act of reconciliation. May God give us the grace to answer these calls. Amen.

 

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

 

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary time Year A - August 30, 2020

 

Homily of Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time of Year A, 2020

 

Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63:2-9; Roman's 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27

 

We begin our reflection with a story. A young man was at the end of his road, seeing no way out, he dropped to his knees in prayer.

“Lord, I can’t go on,” he said. “I have too heavy a cross to bear.” The Lord replied, “My son, if you can’t bear its weight, just place your cross inside this room. Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you wish.” The man was filled with relief and did as he was told.  Before he opened the other door, an angel of the Lord moved the cross he had dropped to the other room. Upon entering the room, he saw many crosses; some so large.  Then, he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall. “I’d like that one, Lord,” he whispered. The Lord replied, “My son, that is the cross you just brought in.”

 

St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.”

 

Our crosses are our afflictions, difficulties, trials, temptations, responsibilities, and keeping God’s commandments. In the first reading, Prophet Jeremiah’s crosses were his responsibility to prophesy to his people, the rejection, humiliation, and persecution he suffered in the hands of his people. In his frustration he wanted to stop prophesying. He said, “I say to myself, I will not mention him, I will speak in his name no more.” However, Jeremiah continued to prophesy to his people amid the rejection, humiliation, and persecution. Jeremiah leaves us a good example to follow.

 

In the Gospel, Jesus spoke about his cross, “[He] must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Peter put pressure on Jesus to refuse his cross. “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” Peter became an obstacle to God’s plan for Jesus. Jesus rebuked Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.” Jesus teaches us not to refuse or abandon our crosses. He says, “Take up your cross, and follow me.” The encounter between Jesus and Peter reveals to us the pressure we go through which at times make us refuse our crosses or make us abandon our crosses.  The pressures, sometimes, come from those very close to us.  We need to be watchful.

St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” This is to say that God manifests his power in our crosses. Just as the event of the crucifixion of Jesus on the Cross concluded with the resurrection of Jesus from the grave; we believe that carrying our crosses and following Jesus bring us resurrection and glory.

 

The second reading, further, reveals to us the transformative power of the cross. If we truly take up our crosses and follow Jesus, we will no longer conform to this age, we will be spiritually renewed, and we will be able to do the will of God. We will be able to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

 

Here is another story.  God, according to his divine plan, gave a man a tall cross to carry and told him, “While on your journey, pray for anything, and I will give you.”  He set off on his journey. After a few miles he cried to God, “Lord, it is too heavy, please cut it down a little.” God threw a saw to him to cut the cross to the size he wanted. He was delighted and so continued his journey. After a few more miles, he cried to God again, “Lord, please cut it down a little more, I will be able to carry it better.” God threw a saw to him to cut the cross a little more according to his wish. He was glad. After a few more miles, he got to a gully. The easiest way he would have crossed over the gully would have been to place the cross across the gully and use the cross as a bridge. Unfortunately, the cross was, now, too short. Remember that God made him a promise, “While on your journey, pray for anything, and I will give you.” He did not pray for anything useful. Rather, his desire to have an easy journey ruined his journey. James 4:3 says, “You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

 

Let us take our crosses and follow Jesus. Through carrying our crosses, we will experience God’s power. Through carrying our crosses, we will experience resurrection and glory. Through carrying our crosses, we are pleasing to God. Through our crosses, God’s plan comes to fulfilment for us.  Amen.

 

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary time Year A - August 23, 2020

 

Homily of Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time of Year A, 2020

 

Isaiah 22:19-23; Psalm 138:1-3, 6, 8; Roman 11:33-36; Matthew 6:16:13-20

 

A daughter always complained to the father about one problem or another. One day her father took her to the kitchen and put three pots on the stove; first pot, a potato; second pot, an egg; and third pot, coffee. The three pots were left to boil for a while. He removed the pots from the fire and put the potato in a plate, the egg in a plate, and the coffee into a cup. He asked the daughter, “Touch the potato and tell me what you observe?” She touched and said, “Before, the potato was hard, but now it is soft.” The father took off the shell of the egg and told her to touch the egg and say her observation. She touched and said, “Usually, the egg would have been in liquid form but it has hardened.” The father said, “What do you observe about the coffee?” She said, “I perceive the sweet aroma.” The father said to her, “The three faced the same challenge, the fire, the boiling water, but each came out of it differently. In Romans 5:3-4 St. Paul writes, “we also glory in our sufferings…..” What matters about life is not what happens to a person; it is what the person makes out of the experience. The challenges either refine a person or break the person.

 

The first and second readings remind me a line in Mary’s magnificat, “He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly” (Luke 1:51-52).

 

In the first reading, Shebna, the chief steward of King Hezekiah, was a wicked, deceitful, and proud man. It was said that he conspired with Assyria in an attack against Jerusalem. God sent Isaiah to prophesy his removal from office and to be replaced by Eliakim, a faithful and trustworthy servant of God. Isaiah prophesied God’s blessings on Eliakim. He would take over the authority Shebna used to have. “He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the house of Judah. I will place the key of the house of David on [his] shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut; when he shuts, no one shall open. I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot …”

 

The prophesy about Eliakim was, indeed, a prophesy about Jesus, “the Christ, the Son of the living God” as Peter professed. God replaced Shebna (the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Lawyers, the Scribes, the Chief Priests, and the old laws) with Jesus the Christ (the new Eliakim), and gave him the authority above all authorities. Jesus, then, passed the authority to Peter and the Catholic Church, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

 

The Gospel of today helps us to understand the origin of the Catholic Church and the papacy. Jesus is the founder, and St. Peter is the first pope. It is only the Catholic Church that has Jesus as her founder. Every other Church traces its founder to a human being. The declaration and prophecy of Jesus in today’s Gospel has kept the Catholic Church going for more than two thousand years of her existence, and the gates of hell have not been able to prevail over her. From her very beginning, as early as the time of the apostles to our generation, the Church has gone through strong wind and storm, earthquake and fire; yet the Church has continued to survive. Jesus’ declaration and prophecy concerning the Church stand forever; which is to say, no matter what happens, the Catholic Church will remain till the end of time.

 

There is no doubt that the pandemic has caused so much loss and pain, and has tested and shaken our faith. Many times during this pandemic, we have reassured ourselves with the words of Jesus, “I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” We know that the gate of Covid 19 Pandemic will not prevail against the Church, her leadership, and our faith. We pray that our faith may not fail or become weak as the pandemic drags on. We pray for the end of the virus, and the healing of those infected by it and other diseases. We pray that we will gather again in large numbers, and without fear, to glorify God. However, the loss and pain of the pandemic do not prevent us from seeing God’s handiwork in the life of many individuals and parishes. We are witnessing the development and growth of various apostolates and ministries in many parishes, through the use of modern technology and other means and avenues. God has used the pandemic to reveal to us what the Church of the future will look like.

 

Also, the Gospel reading and the story invite us, as individuals, to reflect and see where God has used the pandemic to do something new in our life and our relationship with him.

 

In many countries and in many places, there are rulers and leaders, like Shebna, who are wicked, deceitful, proud, and corrupt, and who conspire against their own people. We pray for the end of their regime and leadership. We pray for the fulfillment of the words of Mary, that God, through his “inscrutable judgement,” shows the might of his arm, disperses the arrogant of mind and heart, throws down those rulers and leaders from their thrones and positions, but lifts up the lowly. Amen.

 

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP