Reflection/Homily: Third (3rd) Sunday of Advent Year A

Theme: What is Jesus actually coming to do?

Within this period of advent, as we prepare for the arrival of Christ, some might be asking of what physical value will Christ’s arrival be to them. As the savior, what kind of salvation will he bring? Will he save us from the economic dungeon we have found ourselves? Will his arrival bring peace to our troubled world? Will he create jobs, reconcile political opposites and administer justice to the oppressed? These are pertinent questions that yearn for answers. John the Baptist in the Gospel reading (Mtt. 11:2-11) also found himself asking this type of question. He was imprisoned for the sake of the gospel and it was not out of place for him to think that Christ whose arrival would bring liberty to captives would at least visit him in prison or liberate him from the hands of Herod. When Christ’s visit to his prison was not forthcoming, he had to send his disciples to ask if he is actually the Christ. Of course, he is the Christ but he has a special mission.

Reflection/Homily: First (1st) Sunday of Advent Year A

Uwakwe Reflections: 5 Years Anniversary Edition

Reflection/Homily: First (1^st) Sunday of Advent Year A

Theme: Behold the Lord is Coming

On this first Sunday of Advent, the Church begins a new liturgical year (A), the first in her three year cycle. The season of advent is a special season in which the Church prepares for the arrival of the Lord, her bridegroom. The Church speaks of this arrival in three historical strands. The first is the first coming at Bethlehem as the Prince of Peace. The second is the second coming at the Parousia as Judge while the third is the daily coming of Jesus into our lives as Lord and Master. For us Christians, this should be a special period of encounter with Christ. It is a period that reminds us of His first coming, urges us to prepare for His second coming and makes us conscious of His daily coming into our lives. To encounter Christ, the first reading (Is. 2:1-5) invites us to “go up to the mountain of the Lord”. It is an invitation to encounter God in the Holy Mountain where He dwells.

Reflection/Homily: Thirty-Third (33rd) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C

Theme: How best to wait for the end

The Prophet Malachi prophesied to the Israelites at a time when there was a great loss of faith among them. The religious leaders of that time together with the people lost the sense of the sacred. People no longer fulfilled their religious obligations because they thought God was no longer interested in their activities let alone taking records. It was against this backdrop that the Prophet Malachi emerged to rebuke the people for their religious insensitivity. As the first reading (Mal. 3:19-20) presents to us, the Prophet Malachi warned them about the day of the Lord. He reminded them that God will still visit them on the last day and reward each person according to his/her deeds.

Reflection/Homily: Thirty-Second (32nd) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C

Theme: Becoming Children of the Resurrection

Luke, the author of today’s gospel reading addressed his Gospel to the Gentile converts who had a similar Greek cultural background with him. The belief in the immortality of the soul was not foreign to the Greeks because several Greek scholars like Pythagoras and Plato held such beliefs in their philosophical doctrines. For Pythagoras, the soul is immortal and returns to life through a process of transmigration which could include returning to life through an animal. For Plato, the soul is also immortal and returns to life through the process of reincarnation. In relating the encounter Jesus had with the Sadducees, Luke uses a familiar Greek belief to divert the attention of the early converts from a mere belief in the immortality of the soul to a superior belief in the resurrection of the dead. 

Reflection/Homily: Thirty-First (31st) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C

Theme: Radical Conversion and Transformation on Encountering Christ

Today’s gospel reading (Luke 19:1-10) presents us with the encounter Zacchaeus had with Jesus which led him to a radical conversion and transformation. Jesus was passing through Jericho when Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree just to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Similarly, Jesus constantly passes through our lives in the experiences we have, places we visit and persons we meet. Like Zacchaeus do we make any effort to encounter him even in the least possible way? Encountering Jesus simply means giving him the attention he needs in order for us to be converted to him and be transformed. In our encounter with Jesus, we are only but recipients of divine favour. It is Jesus who truly works for us to encounter him. Like the parables of the lost sheep and coin, he is the owner looking for his own. But there could be a number of things that could prevent us from encountering him.

Reflection/Homily: Thirtieth (30th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C

Theme: Humility: The Path to Righteousness

Today’s gospel reading (Luke 18:9-14) presents us with the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican who went to the Temple to pray. According to this parable, the Pharisee thanked God for his righteousness while the tax collector being mindful of his sins asked God for pardon. Surprisingly, Jesus approved only the prayer of the Publican and was dissatisfied with the prayer of the Pharisee. Ordinarily speaking, there is nothing wrong in thanking God for living a righteous life. This Pharisee is supposedly a devout Jew who lived even more than he was expected. He recognized the need for thanksgiving and went ahead to thank God. As the object of his thanksgiving, he presented his religious credentials.

Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Ninth (29th) Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Theme: Augmenting Human Efforts with Persistent Prayer

In the history of the Israelites’ journey through the desert, they were faced with several challenges. At Rephidim, there was no water for them to drink and while they murmured against Moses, Moses prayed to God for intervention. But when God decided to provide water for them from a rock, they had barely satisfied their thirst when the Amalekites rose against them as we see in the 1^st reading (Exodus 17:8-13). Applying this reading to our context today, the Amalekites represent those near-success challenges that confront us when we are about to enjoy something good. It could be disappointment at the threshold of marriage, financial crisis when beginning a new business, legal dispute when acquiring a new property, etc. The examples of the leaders of Israel is presented to us today as a paradigm of our response when confronted with such challenges. What did they do?

Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Eight (28th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C

Theme: What is your Gratitude Response?

Sometime ago, the social media was inundated with what came to be known as the ‘Gratitude Challenge’ where people mentioned things they were grateful for or people they were grateful to, while nominating their friends to do the same for nine days. One advantage of that online exercise is that it offered people the opportunity to think about the numerous favours they have received and the much expected thanks they had failed to give. Today, it appears that the culture of giving thanks for favours received is gradually giving way for the culture of indifference and ingratitude. I once bought a biscuit for a little boy during the just concluded apostolic work and rather than thank me for the gift, he was asking me why I bought that brand and not another. After receiving favours from God or man, rather than give thanks for what we have received, we either ask for more like Oliver Twist or wish we had received the other type of favour. We are hardly satisfied with what we get that we often forget to give thanks. 

Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Seventh (27th) Sunday in Ordinary Time of the Year C

Theme: Having an Increased Faith in God

At a time in the history of the Israelites, there were so much tyranny, oppression and violence against the innocent. Before this time, various prophets have encouraged the people of Israel to remain steadfast in faith hoping that God would give them victory at the end. However, during the time of the prophet Habakkuk as we saw in the first reading (Hab. 1:2-3, 2:2-4), he was moved to ask God why He allowed injustice to triumph over the oppressed. From the response he got which we saw in the later part of the reading, it became clear that the Lord keeps secret how He rules the world and all He asks is that we remain faithful to Him since the upright will live by his faithfulness.

Reflection/Homily: Twentieth (20th) Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

 Theme: Courage to Swim Against the Tide

We live in a world where there is a constant clash of opposites. There is always a battle between good and evil forces. In our lives, this battle is between the desire to do good and the desire to go evil. Every attempt we make today is geared towards making a choice as to which force we will incline to or which desire we will satisfy. Often, we discover that these evil forces and desires seem to be stronger and appear more attractive. It apparently seems better to defraud an unsuspecting rich man to become rich quicker than to keep struggling for genuine wealth.

Reflection/Homily: Seventeenth (17th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C

Theme: Praying with the Holy Spirit

In the first reading of last Sunday we saw how Abraham welcomed God in the form of the three men who happened to be angelic beings and how they blessed Abraham with the promise of a Son. In today’s first reading (Genesis 18:20-32), we continue from where we stopped last Sunday. Abraham was already immersed in an atmosphere of prayer because he was already communicating with God. In verse 17 of Chapter 18, God said to Himself “I will not hide from Abraham what I am going to do”. God quickly communicated His plan of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah to Abraham. Immediately, Abraham intervened by interceding on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were so engrossed in immorality. Abraham’s intention was to change the mind of God if a certain number of righteous men were found in these cities even though not even ten were found.

Reflection/Homily: Sixteenth (16th) Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

Theme: Between doing what is wanted and what is needed

 

In Genesis 17, we read that God appeared to Abram and changed his name to Abraham. Abram means venerated father and Abraham means father of multitude. God went ahead to make a covenant with him marked by the obligation to circumcise all men children. God also changed the name of his wife from Sarai to Sarah and promised to give her a son. How that would happen, Abraham didn’t know. However, he went ahead to assume the responsibilities of his new name as father of multitude. He became a father to all those around him, caring for them as he would care for his own biological son. It is against this background that we can understand what motivated his hospitality to the three men in the first reading (Gen. 18:1-10).

Reflection/Homily: Fifteenth (15th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C

Theme: Imitating Jesus, the Exemplary Lawgiver and the Ideal Good Samaritan 

The existence of law is necessary for the sustenance of peace and order in a given society. A good interpretation and understanding of the law is also necessary for the observance of the law. While civil laws are confined to geographical territories, divine laws transcend the limitations of geography or religion. In the first reading (Deut. 30:10-14) Moses addresses the issue of interpreting divine laws for proper understanding and observance. He made the Israelites understand that in divine laws, God gives, interprets and executes the law and so he urged them to obey the laws of God he had communicated to them. The language of divine laws is one anybody can understand such that one does not need an interpreter. They are clear and simple since God has written them in human hearts in a way that all men will understand. 

Reflection/Homily: Fourteenth (14th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C

Theme: Our Identity as Missionaries

In today’s gospel reading (Luke 10:1-12.17-20), the evangelist presents us with an interesting narrative of how Jesus appointed and sent out the seventy-two disciples. In Luke’s gospel, this is the second incident where Jesus sent out people as missionaries. We find the first incident in the sending of the Twelve (Luke 9:1-6) which today we may consider to represent the mission of the clergy. The second (sending of the seventy-two) therefore may also be considered to represent the mission of the laity indicating that all Christians are called for and sent on mission.

A missionary is one who is sent on a mission (errand). As Christian missionaries we are sent by God to preach the unchanging Word of God in the changing world of man through words and actions. Our primary mission is to evangelize the world and bring all men to salvation. Today we still find the instructions Christ gave to these seventy-two disciples still relevant for our mission. Like them we are sent in pairs not necessarily in twos but as a community of believers who ought to cooperate with and assist each other in our mission. We are sent like sheep among wolves because as Christians we are supposed to be a sign of contradiction to our morally decaying society.

Reflection/Homily: Thirteenth 13th Sunday of the Year C

Theme: The Art of Followership

There is this popular opinion which holds that success without a successor is a failure. This opinion has generally driven great achievers to work for some successors to continue their success stories. We can believe this to be true in the case of Jesus who went about looking for followers and disciples who were going to continue his mission on earth. He attracted a lot of followers which can be grouped into three. The first group was the crowd who followed him looking for signs and miracles. Today, this group is represented in the laity. The people in the second group were those called by Christ to follow him as his witnesses (the 72 disciples) and today this group is represented in the religious. The last group was called to follow him as his special friends (the 12 Apostles) and today this group is represented in the clergy.

Reflection/Homily: Twelfth (12th) Sunday of the Year C

Theme: Who is Jesus for you?

Personal identity simply means the sum total of all those elements and factors that make a person who he is. It is the unique characteristic of a being. This personal identity reflects the way people see and understand a person. Today, we shall look at the personal identity of Jesus and that of his followers. In the gospel reading (Luke 9:18-24), we see Jesus investigating into his personal identity or we can say, evaluating those characteristics by which people knew him. To discover this he asked his disciples “Who do people say I am?” Upon their response, he asked them “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter stood up and gave a personal response of his understanding of the identity of Christ by responding: “The Messiah of God.”

Reflection/Homily: Eleventh (11th) Sunday of the Year C

Theme: Learning to Say “I AM SORRY” in Words and Deeds

In human relationships we discover that one of the most difficult things to do is to say “I am Sorry”. Relationships break, opportunities are lost, enemies are made just because one party couldn’t say “I am Sorry”. The difficulty here does not lie in pronouncing the words but in accepting responsibility for the guilt done. “I am Sorry” is more than an expression, it is a disposition. Simply put, it is an attitude of recognizing one’s guilt before another and the readiness to make amend. In the first reading (2 Sam. 12:7-10.13), we see this attitude in the action of David who was confronted by the Prophet Nathan for his sins. David not only slept with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, he took her for a wife and conspired to have him killed with the sword of the Ammonites.

When the prophet Nathan approached David for this abominable act, David did not make any effort to defend himself. Instead, he realized and acknowledged his guilt, asked for forgiveness and spent days in fasting and prayer. As a result of this, God forgave his guilt and today he is known as the man after God’s heart. In his action, we see David’s humility, sincerity and contrite heart despite his lofty position as king. 

Reflection/Homily: Tenth (10th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Theme: Never you Lose Hope, Jesus is coming to Intervene!

Divine intervention is what so many Christians may have experienced in their lives. Simply described, it is God’s intervention in the unfortunate circumstances of one’s life. Most often people consider it to be an unexpected miracle. For this to happen, God makes use of human and non-human agents. These human agents could be priests, spiritual directors, one’s friends or relatives. The non-human agents could be the Church, a pilgrimage center, an adoration ground, a prayer session, etc.

In the first reading (1 Kings 17:17-24) we see this divine intervention in the life of the widow of Zarephath through a human agent. The prophet Elijah was staying in the house of this widow and through him God intervened in her life by restoring her deceased son to life. In the gospel reading (Luke 7:11-17), we see another case of divine intervention in the life of the widow of Nain. Jesus though God, was the human agent people could recognize. He was moved with pity at the death of the widow’s only son and he restored him to life.

Reflection/Homily: Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi

Theme: Undergoing a “Pseudo-Transubstantiation”

Today’s celebration of the solemnity of the Most Holy Eucharist is a celebration that is at the center of the Church’s liturgical life and worship. It is the source and summit of our Christian life and faith. The Council of Trent and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1376) make it clear that by the consecration of the bread and wine, there takes place a change of the whole substance of bread into the Body of Christ and the whole substance of wine into the Blood of Christ. This change, the Council of Trent calls Transubstantiation. 

For us to understand this dogma of transubstantiation better, it is important to look into what it is not first. There are two heretical theories opposed to the theory of transubstantiation. The first, the heretical theory of Annihilation claims that at consecration, the bread and wine cease to exist and the body and blood of Christ is created ex nihilo (out of nothing) to take the place of the former bread and wine. The error here is the assumption that the ordinary elements of life are annihilated and supplanted by grace. Thus, grace does not build on nature and in fact destroys nature. This makes divine transformation a magic without the aid of the agent.

Reflection/Homily: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity 2016

Theme: The Blessed Trinity: Our Faith and Model

In the fourth century AD, the Church convoked a council at Nicea precisely in 325 to condemn the Arian heresy taught by Arius. This man taught that Christ was not fully God and is unequal with the Father in all respects. This Council proclaimed Christ equal with the Father by proclaiming the dogma of the Blessed Trinity. The Council Fathers also composed hymns and prayers to be used specifically on the Sunday after Pentecost. At the request of St. Thomas a Becket, the Church in England was granted the permission to celebrate it as Trinity Sunday and in 1334 AD, Pope John XXII made it a universal solemnity. That is why we are celebrating it today.

The mystery of the Blessed Trinity is very important in the life of the Church because it is the source of her faith. The Church is in fact Trinitarian in her origin, form and destiny. In other words, the Church originated from the Trinity, is formed according to the image of the Trinity and is destined to return to the Trinity. Despite the importance of this mystery in the life of the Church which is God’s visible instrument of salvation, she is not in any way interested in unravelling this mystery but in explaining the relationship between the three Divine persons and the role they play in the history of our salvation.