CELEBRATING THE SAINTS; OUR HEAVENLY MODELS. (Homily for Sunday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time. Year B.)

Bible Study:  Revelation 7, 2 to 14. 1^st John, 3, 1 to 3 And Matthew 5, 1 to 12.

Happy new month to you all. Wow! Please tell yourself a big congratulations. If you can read this message now, you really need to shake yourself and rejoice because it means you just made it to the penultimate month of the year 2015. Yes, we have been able to make it this far by the grace of God and I pray for you today, that calamity will never come your way, you will see the end of 2015 in good health, in peace and joy. This year shall end well for you and all your plans shall come to pass, sadness and disappointment shall never visit you and all that you touch shall prosper. Let somebody say a big “Amen.”

On this first day of the month of November, the Church says we should turn our minds to the millions of men and women who have lived exemplary lives on earth, men and women who have fulfilled the demands of the Gospel, men and women who went all the way to even give up their very lives for the sake of Christ, men and women both known and unknown who decided to walk the narrow path, shunned the world and its pleasures, some of them married, some virgins, some religious, some priests even bishops and popes, some doctors, nurses, accountants, engineers, farmers, school teachers, professors, some even traditional rulers, selfless warriors who fought for justice and right, some models of our indigenous cultures who set up taboos, created myths and stories that kept our past generations in the path of morality. The list is just endless. Notice how I deliberately gave examples of our indigenous cultures. I really want us to understand that even as Africans we have a lot of saints who are in heaven today even though we do not remember their names or celebrate them based on our pre-literate society’s structure.

Today, there are three questions I would like us to ask ourselves:

FIRST QUESTION,: Do I want to be Saint? This is the first question any sound Christian should be asking himself or herself on a day like this. The answer is either Yes, or No. but don’t worry, you don’t have to answer it verbally. The very story of your life will answer it for you and when you die, the number of times your actions have said Yes, to this question will be compared with the number of times your actions have said No. And if it happens that the Yes’s of your life are more than the No’s, then congratulations!

SECOND QUESTION,: How Can I Be a Saint? This is where our readings for today come in. John had a glimpse of heaven and that is why he titled his book “Revelations.” The things he spoke about were not fairy tales, they are real and one phrase he uses to describe the people who made it into heaven is this: THOSE WHO HAVE WASHED THEIR ROBES AND MADE THEM WHITE IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. Now, take it that you are wearing a nice dress and you need to attend a wedding within an hour and let’s say the dress code is pure white and then, this dress you are wearing is the only piece of white you have. Would you dare to go out in that dress for a football match in the mud? But this what we do each time we play with sin!

Jesus himself gives us an outline of what he requires for us in the Gospel passage if we want to make heaven. They are called the beatitudes. How many of them do you know? Do you make efforts on a daily basis to live out each of these beatitudes?

Sadly, rather than aspiring to live out the beatitudes, we tend to compete with the world for the passing things of the earth. We want to be rich and held in honour by others, we want to have all the delights of the world, we want to be like everybody else. And when we do not get these things, we begin to feel we have not achieved anything. John again in our second reading tell us that we are God’s children and so we should not be surprised if the world is hostile to us. We should set our aspirations on things higher not on earthly things.

Who says you must build a house of your own? Who says you must earn a seven-digit salary? Who says you must marry the most beautiful girl or prince charming? Who says you must own a multi-million dollar business? Who says you must be President or Governor? Who says you must drive a big car? Who says you must eat the best food on earth? Why do we set our minds on these things when we have Heaven waiting for us? Sadly, even our Christian ministers today preach about how we must get these passing things forgetting where our real hope must be.

How many saints built their own house? How many saints controlled millions of dollars? How many saints drove big cars and lived expensive lives? These questions brings us to the third question for us today.

QUESTION THREE,: How much do I know about the Saints? How many Saints can I describe their live sentence by sentence? How do you hope to be a Saint when you don’t know much about those who have walked that path and you don’t seem to be interested in knowing much either. This is a pity. A pity because, we follow the statements of politicians daily, we analyse the actions of our footballers daily, we know what our so-called celebrities (movie stars and musicians) are up to, we even wish we can have exclusive access to watch their private lives like Big Brother show. But we have Saints who should be our celebrity we don’t even know about how they lived. What a pity.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, help me to make it to heaven and my very life be an inspiration to others after me. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday. Happy New Month.

PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL. (Homily for Saturday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time. Year B.)

Bible Study:  Romans 11, 1 to 29. And Luke 14, 7 to 11.

A simple way of understanding the meaning of pride is giving ourselves credit for that which is not ours. To be proud is to assume that we are what we are by our own power or that the Grace of God is no longer responsible for our goodness. To be proud is to start thinking that we could ever be better than anyone else. To be proud is to see ourselves as God’s chosen elects and then begin to look at others as infidels, children of Satan or people doomed for destruction forgetting that God’s love is universal for every people and every nation regardless of tribe, colour, race or religion.

A second reading at what St. Paul writes about in our first reading today shows that the problem with the Jews was that at some point they became proud as they started seeing themselves as exclusive children of God, a chosen race, a holy nation, a people set aside. They were so proud that they could not recognise God in the person of Jesus thereby leaving God with no other option but to turn to the so-called infidels, the “unchosen” race, the Gentiles.

Pride is like being drunk with wine. In that state of drunkenness, we always assume all is well, even when our house is burning, we still find courage to smile at the flames because we cannot see clearly. Pride, like strong drink prevents us from seeing the truth. It was pride that made this chosen race reject Jesus Christ. They couldn’t just imagine that God would decide to stoop himself so low as to take our human flesh and be called a son of a carpenter. St. Paul says: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear, down to this very day.” Even David had prophesied saying: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.” St. Paul then concludes by saying, that God had no choice to turn to the Gentiles so as to make the proud Jews jealous. “So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.” Romans 11, 8 to 11.

That is what happens when we become proud of ourselves. The moment we begin to see ourselves as better than others, the moment we begin to take absolute delight in talking badly about others and discrediting them as “good-for-nothing,” God does something that would make us jealous of the same people we are looking down on. It is like taking a place at the high table when invited for a ceremony only for the host to politely ask you to step down for a more important guest. This was the very parable that Jesus Christ gave to us in today’s Gospel passage to teach us the importance of humility.

It is a bad idea to ever esteem ourselves as better than other people or to see others as inferior or enemies of God while we consider ourselves as God’s precious diamonds. Even though it makes perfect sense to assume that we who are struggling to keep God’s commandments are more loved by God, and that those who are not even trying at all are simply good for nothing sinners hated by God, the truth is that God does not love us according to our  holiness. Even, it is like he cares for the one who went astray than for the ninety nine who have no need for repentance. 

And again, even though it is normal to give ourselves a pat on the back for training ourselves in virtue and actually feel good about our achievements, the truth is that we dare not become proud as whatever we are is simply because of God’s grace at work in us. If that same grace were to be given to the people we condemn in our hearts, they may even do more than us.

In conclusion, there is no need to be proud at all.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, may I never become so drunk with pride that I become blind to the fact that it is only your grace that sustains me. Teach me to be humble always and never look down on others. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Weekend.

LOVE, NOT LAW IS WHAT REALLY MATTERS. (Homily for Friday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time. Year B.)

Bible Study:  Romans 9, 1 to 5. And Luke 14, 1 to 6.

At the heart of all the commandments God demands of us, is Love. Remove it and everything else becomes useless. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13, 1 to 3.

No matter how holy we may think we are, if we do not love, our holiness is useless. This is what Jesus demonstrates in our Gospel passage this morning. He was invited to dine in the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees and he knew that even those at table with him were not really his friends. They had not invited him out of love but as a test, they wanted him to say or do something that would be used against him. Jesus went there as a friend and for love of them but they received him as an enemy. There were a lot of fake smiles over dinner, as usual with occasions like this, with lots of pretences here and there but unknown to them, Jesus could see through their cold hearts.

And behold, out of the blues there arrived a man in the banquet hall who had a dropsy. Was this man also invited? We are not told. But then, given the fact that the purpose of this dinner was not to honour Jesus but to find something to use against him, it is safe to assume that this man was brought in by one of the Pharisees to see what Jesus would make of him on such a Sabbath day. Note that, doing any work on a Sabbath was considered as an act of disrespect against God, as it was a day dedicated entirely only to the worship of God.

Now, the question was: “Would Jesus decide to turn a cold face towards this man and pretend as if he didn’t notice his malady? Or would he just go out his way to heal this man and thereby break the Sabbath law? Was he going to fall into this trap and show he had no regard for God or was he going to turn down an opportunity to show love by healing this sick man?

The wise Jesus simply looked at the scenario and decided to teach everyone present a lesson in love. Without waiting for them to say anything, Jesus asked them: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” meaning, “Does the Sabbath law forbid anyone from performing an act of love?” They pretended not to get the message by keeping quiet so Jesus clarified himself, “Which of you here would sit down and do nothing if his son or even his animal falls into a well on a Sabbath day? Would any of you wait till over the Sabbath since the law forbids any work whatsoever? And again, their stricken conscience would not allow them dare open their mouths to utter any word. They became ashamed of themselves. They realised the foolishness of trying to keep God’s commandment without the added dimension of love.

It is not just enough for us to we keep the commandments, we must aim at the spirit of the commandments which is love. If we simply strive to keep the commandments, we become like children who are being forced to eat good food; they grumble and play with food because they lack understanding. Like children, we often see God’s commandments as infringements on our personal freedom, we feel we have more important things to do or that we know better how to live. Once this inner rebellion is in us, even our very best acts of worship or attempts to keep God’s commandments become deprived of the essential element of love. We basically do the minimum like a child eating just because mummy is watching, as if by eating he or she is doing mummy a favour. No sooner had mummy turned her back, the child would instantly stop eating. This is why we find it so easy to break God’s commandments and sin again and again. We are yet to grow up because we lack love!

Growing up demands that we are no longer content with keeping the law as it is stated in black and white but that we now aim to love God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves. Growing up demands that our actions as well as inactions are purely motivated by love rather than fear. Growing up means that we put our hearts into what we do and love God in a manner that does not look as if we are trying to do him a favour or as if he cannot survive without our love. Growing up demands that we go beyond those fake “I-love-you”, “I-love-you” which we say at times to deceive people or lure them into sin. Growing up demands that we feed the hungry, clothe the naked and perform acts of kindness to people we do not even know or expect any return, it demands that we actually go all the way even to offer our very blood for the benefit of others. Like St. Paul who said in our first reading: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart… for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, open my heart to love you as I ought and to love my neighbour and teach me that it is only in love that I truly offer you any meaningful worship. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.

NOTHING CAN EVER TERMINATE OR REDUCE GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU. (Homily for Thursday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time. Year B.)

Bible Study:  Romans 8, 31 to 39. And Luke 13, 31 to 35.

Most often, we Christians find it difficult to consider ourselves as being in a love-relationship with God. We dare not call ourselves “lovers” of God even though that is what we are. This is because the word “love” has become so bastardized by modern usage such that when you mention the word “love”, so many unholy things begin to float in people’s minds. More still, only very people actually get to know what it feels like to be loved given that much of what we humans refer to as “love” these days are nothing short of business-relationships whereby once you stop giving to the other party, you automatically stop getting.

If we really want to know what love truly means, there is only place we can discover it. It is on the CROSS OF CALVARY. The fact that even though we were still sinners and enemies of God, God in the person of Jesus Christ went all the way to die on our behalf and even forgave those who nailed him to the cross is the one reference point we can quote for a sound definition of love.

Today St. Paul expatiates on the depth of that great love that God has for us. He says “Nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or the sword.” In fact, not even death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the Love of God. This shows us that God’s love for us is totally unconditional.

Contrary to what we think, God does not stop loving us when we commit sin rather his heart bleeds for us at what we do to ourselves. It is not as if he punishes us for sins or sends us calamity out of annoyance or revenge, rather the things we suffer come to us directly by the very act of the sins themselves. Sin is like a poisonous snake, if you carry it, it will harm you whether or not the owner of the snake is your friend.

Again, when things become difficult in life, when we seem not to be getting answers to our prayers, God does not stop loving us. It makes a lot of sense to assume that when we experience tough times, it is because God has turned his back on us. Even the Bible speaks of how the Israelites were thrown into captivity because they went after false gods. We tend to understand their suffering as a consequence of the reduction of God’s love for them but St. Paul is saying to us today that even in the midst of the greatest imaginable pain or trouble we may be experiencing in life, God’s love remains perfectly constant. He continues to love us when our eyes are filled with tears and with the same velocity as he loves us when we are bobbling in joy.

More still, as St. Paul says, not even our very death can make God stop loving us. Does this mean that God loves those who are in hell? The surprising answer is “Yes.” God still loves them but because they have always rejected that love while they were here on earth, they continue to reject the love even when they are no longer alive. It is their rejection of love that keeps them in hell permanently. That is to say, each time we reject God’s love by refusing to keep his commandments, we are already experiencing hell right here on earth, the short-lived pleasure, the seemingly glory of ill-gotten wealth, the conscience bites when we tell a lie, etc. are all sign posts of what hell is like. The sadness that sin creates in us as a result of having rejected God’s rule over us is a sound recipe of hell’s special delicacy.

And so, when we have to suffer for the sake of God, we should never assume that God has stopped loving us. A lady once told me how she was angry with God for refusing to keep his own side of the bargain. Having kept herself from impurity for the sake of God, she still lost her job and her mother died because she could not raise money for the hospital treatment. She asked me, “how else can God show that he does not hate me?” St. Paul responds to this question by saying: “… in all these things, we are more than conquerors.”

God so loves us that he can even decide to take away all our earthly and material comforts so that we have nothing else to love on earth other than him alone. He may decide to empty our pockets, he may take our friends away from us, he may even make us suffer shame and public disgrace all because he wants our heart to love nothing else. Unlike human love, God does not prove his love to us by buying us flowers, sweets or some material things which are there today and tomorrow are no more. God proves his loves to us at times by taking away these things from us so that our longing for heaven grows ever deeper. This is why Jesus was not scared of Herod in today’s Gospel passage. He did not have to run because he knew he would face Herod someday and eventually depart from this world.

No matter what life throws at us, God continues to love us. Let us each day enjoy that love by loving God back as true lovers do refraining with all our might from ever doing anything contrary to that love.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, I love you, all I have is yours, yours I am and yours I want to be. Do with me whatever you will. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.

YOUR LIFE IS NOT A MISTAKE. (Homily for Wednesday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time. Year B.)

Bible Study:  Ephesians 2, 13 to 22. And Luke 6, 12 to 16.

As we celebrate the Feast of two out of the twelve great apostles, Simon and Jude today, our readings challenge us to reflect on the concept of our election and choice before God. The question is: “Did Simon and Jude become saints simply because they were chosen by Jesus as his apostles?” If that is the case, then why do we have to celebrate them since they were simply lucky to have been chosen, perhaps if some other persons were chosen, then they also would have become saints, isn’t it? Well, that is far from the truth.

First and foremost, we must understand that nothing happens to us by chance. There is no such thing as mere luck or what scientists refer to as “random selection”, we are products of a God who is purposeful, a God who prepares things before hand, a God of whom Jeremiah spoke about as saying: “For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29, 11. Jesus did not simply do guess work in his choice of the apostles. He didn’t select them according to their good looks or merely according to their line of trade. He spent a whole night in prayer, consulting with God who has plans, before making his choice.

Like every good parent, God has plans for us his children. No responsible parent brings a child into the world without first making certain plans on how to ensure the future of that child, in fact, parents already have ideas of what they want their children to become even before they are born. It is in this light that St. Paul tell us in today’s first reading that we are not just strangers or foreigners to God, we are his children; citizens of God’s household. As long as we continue to pray the lines of the “Our Father,” which states, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we continue to remind both God and ourselves that we are not strangers, we are his children and we want his plans for us to come to pass in our lives.  

God wills the best for us, but, there are times when our own will, runs contrary to the will of God. Just as sometimes, a child may decide to deviate from his parents’ plans for him. There are times when like Christ, we also pray: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by, but not as I will, instead let your will prevail.” There are also times, we tell God out rightly, “I know what you want for me, but God, let my own will be done instead.” Every sin is a deliberate attempt on our part to reject the will of God for us. And you know what? God does not force his way on us.

That is why we should not be surprised that having spent a whole night in prayer, having asked for discernment over the choice of the twelve men who would carry on the message of salvation to the rest of the world, Jesus, being God, in all his wisdom still chose Judas Iscariot, the very guy who would betray him. Do you think Judas was chosen so as to betray Jesus? Not at all. Anyone of the entire twelve could have betrayed Jesus because they were the only ones who knew Jesus personally and could identify him. As much as the twelve were equally tempted, only Judas gave in to it. He had a chance like Simon and Jude to fulfil God’s will in his life as well.

So we celebrate Simon and Jude today because they co-operated with God. They were chosen, but they also worked hard, they strove to live above temptations, they carried out Jesus’ instructions and they proclaimed the Gospel to millions.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, give me the grace to know and understand your will for my life and follow it diligently everyday. Amen. Saints Simon and Jude, pray for us.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.

GROWING IN THE SPIRIT. (Homily for Tuesday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time. Year B.)

Bible Study:  Romans 8, 18 to 25. And Luke 13, 18 to 21.

To live in the Spirit, we must grow our spiritual selves and unless we allow this growth happen, we are bound to live perpetually in the flesh. If we feed the flesh on a daily basis with good food, water, air and light, then the spirit likewise needs an ample amount of nourishment in other to have enough energy to control the movements of the flesh.

Every growth requires death. For something to grow, something has to die. If there is no death, there will be no growth. Just as a seed that is planted will not grow unless it first dies under the ground, so also we would not grow spiritually unless we first put to death the works of the flesh.

The process of putting to death the works of the flesh demands that we no longer look forward to or take pleasure in those things that are against the commandments of God. This process may appear rather painful and difficult given that it practically involves having to deliberately carry the cross of suffering.

Hence, St. Paul having talked about the need for us to put to death the works of the flesh so that we may live in the Spirit comes around today to tell us that “the sufferings of this present life are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” In other words, whatever we have to suffer is like paying a little token to purchase an item that is far more valuable and precious than anything we can think of. It is like letting go of Five Naira to purchase of brand new car of Five Million Naira.

This is why we must not be afraid or discouraged if we have to choose the narrow path of suffering. Suffering as St. Paul says teaches us the virtue of perseverance and perseverance produces hope. And it is in hope that we are saved. This is the hope that Jesus was talking about in the Gospel passage when he compared the kingdom of God to a grain of mustard seed which when planted is quite small yet grows to become the biggest shrub giving accommodation to the birds of the air. This is the hope that a tiny amount of leaven when mixed with as much as three measures of flour will make the entire meal into leavened bread.

When we start living according to the spirit, we find ourselves taking only tiny steps at firsts. At times, we find ourselves even falling back shamefully into the works of the flesh and we begin to wonder if there is any hope for us doing away completely with the flesh. But as Jesus says, no matter how little we begin, as long as we never look back having placed our hands on the plough, we would grow and keep growing. As much as it is difficult for us right now to practice acts of virtue, time will come when our very habits will be virtues, time will come that we would be so used to living in the spirit that the flesh and its desires would no longer control us anymore. This tiny seed will become the greatest shrub. Don’t give up.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, help me not be afraid of death and may I constantly die within me to anything that is opposed to the spirit. May I never become discouraged by whatever suffering that may come my way as I die to the flesh and may your Holy Spirit take over my life completely. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.

LIVING ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT. (Homily for Monday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time. Year B.)

Bible Study:  Romans 8, 12 to 17. And Luke 13, 10 to 17.

The very fact that we are capable of exercising control over our actions is the most powerful asset that God has bestowed upon us and it is something we should be proud about. Our ability to exercise this control is not a function of our flesh but a function of something that no scientist has ever been able to see, hold and touch; the spirit.

Left to itself, the flesh is entirely animalistic in nature. This is why we should not be surprised when certain persons even in the developed world begin to advocate for a return to total animal life. You see people walking entirely naked on the streets and doing things that only animals in the forest would do, even things lower than animals. Come to think of it, that humans are becoming the only species in the entire animal kingdom that practice homosexuality. One day, the goats, rabbits and hyenas would gather the human race for a meeting and educate us on what they expect of us as their elder brothers in the animal world.

Dear friends, the choice is up to us, whether to live according to the impulses of the flesh, or actually allow our spiritual selves exercise its needed control over the animal in us. And as St. Paul says, “… if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.” Romans 8, 13.

One of the hallmarks of living according to the Spirit is RESPECT. Respect for the human body as a whole; respect for the dignity of others; respect for the fact that we are not only physical bodies but God-carriers; respect for the fact that even when our physical bodies has become old as a result of age, we are still worthwhile human beings.

Lack of the presence of the Spirit leads to disrespect of the body, man’s inhumanity to man, disregard of the sacredness of the flesh whereby fellow human beings are treated like mere objects of sexual satisfaction, slaves and beasts of burden. This disrespect is seen when people are regarded as pieces of rags because they do not have money or because they are sick or old. At times, fellow human are treated even with less dignity than animals.

In our Gospel passage this morning, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on a Sabbath day and there was a woman who had a sickness that made it impossible for her to stand straight and she had been suffering like this for over eighteen years. Jesus was touched to see a fellow human being in such deplorable condition so he decided to heal her. He did this out of respect for the dignity of a human being but for the ruler of the synagogue, Jesus has done the unthinkable by disregarding the Sabbath rule; a rule with states that no work should ever be done on a Sabbath day.

Jesus then opened the eyes of his adversaries to see that if they could untie a donkey on a Sabbath day without having committed a sin by so doing, then untying a woman who had been held bound by satan for eighteen years couldn’t possibly be a sin. And they were ashamed of themselves. They could now realize the extent of their disrespect for a fellow human being.

We are more than mere flesh. If we allow our Spirit control our flesh, we would treat our bodies with great respect. We would never expose our nakedness by dressing to show and we would not encourage others to expose theirs as well. Respect is more than just an honour we give our fellow humans, it is a sign of spiritual maturity on our part and everybody regardless of age, gender, health condition or social class deserves respect from us.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, teach us to live according to the Sprit that we may learn to respect our bodies as sacred temples of your indwelling. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy new week.

SEEING IS NOT ALWAYS BELIEVING, BUT BELIEVING IS SEEING. (Homily for Sunday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time. Year B.)

Bible Study:  Jeremiah 31, 7 to 9. Hebrews 5, 1 to 6. And Mark 10, 46 to 52.

The story of Blind Bartimaeus at first glance looks like one ordinary episode of healing by Jesus Christ but then, as with every single miracle performed by Jesus, there is always more to what simply meets the eye. Today, the church calls us to place ourselves in the scenario of that powerful healing account that we may learn certain lessons and grow in our faith.

1. Do You Recognise the Presence of Jesus?

It is an irony that while a blind man did not have trouble recognising Jesus as the Son of David, (the promised Messiah), many of those who could see clearly with both eyes were having trouble believing that this “son of a carpenter” was really the “son of God” sent to redeem mankind from sin and death.

Given that Bartimaeus was blind, he had not seen Jesus work any miracle before, he did not even know how Jesus looked like, all he heard was that this popular man was passing by, he wasn’t even sure if the crowd who had told him about Jesus were telling him the truth, but he believed. He had enough faith to believe that this Jesus was real. And because he believed, he cried out for Jesus’ attention.

2. Do you think Seeing is Believing?

I guess you may have heard the saying in the past that “seeing is believing.” Do you remember the doubting Thomas? One of the twelve disciples was absent when Jesus appeared after his resurrection and when he was told that Jesus had risen, he said: “Unless I place my hands in the holes made by the nails and feel his pierced side, I refuse to believe.” Read it up in John 20, 24 to 28.

The words of Thomas revealed the extent of his faith. A faith limited to what his physical eyes could afford. Now, let’s assume that after Thomas said these words, something entered his eyes and he became blind, would he have ever been able to believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

Many of us today are just like Thomas, our faith in God is limited to what we can see and sadly Christianity today has been reduced to a show with ministers scrambling here and there organising events and special ceremonies with actors, performers and stage managers to feed the eyes of people. Their reasoning is that, if people see wonders happening on stage, then they would believe so it doesn’t matter if such “wonders” are stage-managed, what they want is to see people believe.

Is that supposed to be the case? Are we supposed to see first before we believe? What about the people who saw Jesus face to face and still didn’t believe? What about the people who were present live and direct and saw Jesus casting out a demon from a man who was possessed? Did they believe? Didn’t they start accusing Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons? Read Luke 11, verse 15 or Matthew 9, verse 34 or Mark 3, 22.

Dear friends, seeing is not always believing. This is because, even when we see, we are free to doubt the contents of what our eyes see. Look at the way the Bible defines faith. Hebrews 11, verse 1. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We do not need to see to believe, miracles and testimonies do not precede faith instead the reverse is the case.

3. How Often Do You Cry to Jesus? 

Like Bartimaeus, each of us has a particular problem that we are not happy with. If we were to examine ourselves very well, we would identify the one thing about us that we are not comfortable with, the one thing that is part of us, yet we deny it at every instant because we are ashamed of it. Bartimaeus problem was his physical blindness. What is your problem?

Dear friends, whatever that problem is, we are reminded today that it is not above the power and mercy of God. That is why our first reading from the book of Jeremiah assures us:

For thus says the Lord: "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, `The LORD has saved his people, the remnant of Israel.' Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who is in travail, together; a great company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; Jeremiah 31, 7 to 9.

Jeremiah says: “With weeping they shall come…” Note that Bartimaeus was not smiling when he called out for Jesus! Indeed, it is not a bad idea to weep before Jesus in prayer. What matters is that our weeping is loaded with faith, that we do not allow our tears lead us into desperation or become a sign of hopelessness. If we must weep before God, let our weeping be that of children who weep because they know their parents are around and tend to increase the weeping when they notice that daddy or mummy has just returned home; this is what I call a weeping of faith, a weeping that calls for attention. It is different from the weeping of a child who is being flogged for wrong doing.

4. Do You Believe God Can Solve Your Problem?

There is something that must be in us before we ever present our tears before Jesus. If this is lacking, our tears may simply become tears for others attracting people’s pity or sympathy. If you don’t believe God can solve your problem, there is no need telling others about it.  Yes, if you don’t believe God can solve your problem, there is no need telling others about it. And if you haven’t told God yet, do not mention it to others.

Why are we to tell God our problem rather than telling people?  One, if you tell people your problem, they will pity you quite alright and you may feel a sense of relief knowing that you are being pitied but no problem has ever being solved by pity. Two, if you tell people your problem, they themselves would also feel a sense of relief to know that they are not the only ones experiencing difficulty and would be more than happy to know that you are not better than them. Three, if you tell people your problem, they may start defining you according to your problem, they may even forget your name and start calling you nicknames according to your situation and by so doing, they no longer desire your problem to end. As long as you live, they would keep addressing you by the nickname they have given to you.

Dear friends, we must learn how to stop looking up to human beings for solutions to our problems. It is time for us to start developing our own faith and stop relying on the faith of others. Bartimaeus did not ask somebody to go and call Jesus for him, he didn’t need to, he had a mouth that was functional and a voice that could talk. So he shouted out to Jesus. He called out to Jesus himself. In the end, he did not have to give credit to any particular person but only to Jesus. Some of us today believe more in human beings than in God and it is sad to say this, that some people now attribute miracles to human beings instead of God. The fact that someone helped you to pray and God did something for you does not meant that that person is now better than you. Take note. You have what it takes to also ask God for something yourself.

This is what is leading to the many abuses that we see in our Christian world today. Imagine a so-called man of God standing on top of fellow human being in the name of praying for the person. Even to the extent of jumping on somebody’s body and commanding people to eat grass. What rubbish? Dear friends, don’t be deceived oh, I stand at the pulpit today and I must tell you the truth, these guys are just after your money, all they do is to take advantage of your problem in the name of providing a desperate solution.

5. Do You Try to Listen to God or to People?

The case of Bartimeaus is another classic example of how people can constitute an obstacle in your path between you and God. He was there calling out to Jesus and guess what, the people around him were asking him to be silent.

How do people try to silence us when we try to call out to God? By discouraging us from praying. It is sad to say today that many people do not believe in prayers anymore. You hear statements like “na prayer we go chop?” Even fellow Christians would tell you, “this one no be prayer go solve am oh.” A lot of persons have lost the zeal for prayers and in so many homes today, family prayer has died. Anyone who tells you prayers are not good enough is no better than the people around Bartimaeus who were telling him to be quiet when he was calling out to Jesus. Never listen to such discouraging voices. Never allow people around you prevent you from reaching out to God. Silence the voices of the people around you and make efforts to listen only to God. Believe the Bible more than the news. Believe what God says about your situation more than what the world says.

6. Finally, do you know that to believe is to See?

When you have faith, it is like acquiring new sets of eyes because faith makes you see things that others cannot see. And by believing, faith brings into existence the things that do not exist. Just believe, and by the time you begin to see the reward of your faith, it will look as if you are dreaming. In the end, you will realize that the worst form of blindness is not that which affect the eyes but that which affects the heart. True blindness is inability to believe.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, you are the high priest of our salvation. Open the eyes of my mind and deepen my faith, teach me to call out to you and not to people in my moments of distress and like Bartimeaus, bring me healing. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday.

WHERE IS JESUS CHRIST RIGHT NOW? (Homily for Saturday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time. Year B.)

Bible Study:  Romans 8, 1 to 11. And Luke 13, 1 to 9.

Have you ever been asked where Christ is right now? What was your response? Probably, you would simply say Christ is in heaven, isn’t it? After all, even in our Credo, we often sing, “He ascended into heaven, where he is seated at God’s right hand…” But honestly, that is not all. Looking through the scriptures, we hear Christ say to his disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, to the close of the age.” Matthew 28, 19 to 20.

Was Christ simply speaking in symbolic language here? Impossible. He meant every single word he said. He is literally with us always. Christ is always with us. Even right inside our weak flesh, Christ is there. And we cannot flee from his presence. As the Psalmist confesses: “Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, thou art there! If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Let only darkness cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to thee, the night is bright as the day; for darkness is as light with thee. For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb.” Psalm 139, 7 to 13.

In the battle against sin, we often tend to FORGET that we are not alone! Or put in another way, even when we remember that Christ is with us, we pretend as if we do not know he is there or we ask him to excuse us. Or again, we listen too much to Satan in the course of the temptation and start believing his lie that Christ is not there. He says: “Look, no one is watching!” How can no one be watching when as we have just read in Psalm 139 that “even if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea… your right hand shall hold me.”?

After almost dashing off our hopes of ever winning the battle against sin yesterday, St. Paul presents to us some beautiful lines in our first reading today. He says: “…You are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ, does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you.”   Romans 8, 9 to 11.

Yes, it is true that our flesh is weak. Yes, it is true that “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” Yes, it is true that the flesh is like a ferocious beast often demanding from us the very things we do not want to do.  But we are not alone and we are not hopeless. Yes, in our desire to overcome sin, we are like people engaged in a war. But in this battle, we have superior weapons, in this battle, we have a strong ally fighting beside us who is stronger than anything we can ever think of, we have a strong ally who once fought on the cross against Satan himself and beat him hands down. And this strong ally is Christ Jesus. How does he fight with us, HE COMES TO PUMP ENERGY INTO OUR WEAK FLESH. As St. Paul rightly affirms, even though the flesh is dead because it has become so used to sin, Christ comes in to give life to this mortal body so that we are strengthened to overcome sin.

Some people believe that the flesh is totally useless and that as long as we live in the flesh, we cannot overcome sin. They believe that the battle over sin can only be won when they are out of the flesh. This wrong belief even led to a serious heretical doctrine in the past where some persons treated their flesh very badly, refused to wash it or feed it all in the name of trying to be holy. Some people even started wondering how Christ managed to save the world while inside human flesh, that led to another heretical teaching that Christ never took flesh, that he was pure spirit throughout such that he was only pretending to be crying while carrying the cross. Can you imagine the extent of their flawed thinking?

No matter how bad or weak the flesh is, it is still with the same flesh that we are called to overcome sin. Yes, the battle over sin can only be won right inside the flesh but first, the flesh must first be EMPOWERED, ENERGISED, ENLIGHTENED, and ENLIVENED by Christ himself. We must create room for Christ, spend time in prayer, welcome him by allowing 90% of our thoughts everyday to dwell on Christ. This is how he comes to give life to our mortal bodies.

Yes, Christ knows that we can win the battle over sin right inside our flesh. That was why he demanded repentance from us. If Christ wasn’t sure we would ever succeed in stamping out sin, he would have said: “You all need to kill yourself so that you will sin no more.” But he did not say so. In fact, in today’s Gospel passage, Christ uses very graphic imagery to describe the extent of damage that becomes of us when we allow our flesh lead us into sin. And he says, there is nothing like bigger punishment for bigger sin, all sin deserve the same punishment and that punishment is not smaller than having a whole story building collapsing on top of a person.

Some people told him about how Pilate killed some Galileans and mixed their blood with the sacrifices. Hear how Jesus responded: “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Luke 13, 1 to 5.

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, I know you are in me always, help me to always be conscious of your presence especially in moments of temptation that I may never give up or surrender in the battle against sin. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.