Homily for January 20, 2018.
In our
Gospel passage this morning, Jesus gives us two parables wherein he compares
the kingdom of God to a field that contains a treasure and a pearl of great
value. In both instances, a man had to sell all he has to buy it. The emphasis
is on “ALL.”
If we must
make heaven, we should be prepared to give up everything else. We cannot eat
our cake and still have it. The kingdom of God is not cheap, it demands all we
have, our time, our resources, our total commitment.
We cannot
get to heaven if we are trying to be average Christians. If we are concerned
only about doing the minimum, then we cannot buy this treasure field.
Today is
the Feast Day of Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, a man whose life gives us
an example of deep trust in God. Tansi was always accused of taking his
Christianity too seriously. First a secular priest, he went on to become a
Trappist monk because he wanted to completely live out his piety in close
communion to God as much as possible.
Born to
non-Christian parents in September 1903 in Aguleri, Anambra State, Nigeria,
Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi was sent to live with his uncle at the age
of seven. It was his Christian uncle gave him an education. He was baptised at
the age of 10 by Irish missionaries. Tansi was a diligent student with a
precocious personality and deep piety. He worked as a teacher for 3 years and
later served as a headmaster of St. Joseph’s school for one year in Aguleri.
When Tansi
expressed his desire to become a priest, his uncle arranged for a very
beautiful lady to visit him with the hope that she would make him think twice
about becoming a priest. But despite several attempts, he reached a conclusion
that Tansi only talks to two women in the world; his own mother and the Blessed
Virgin Mary. In 1925 against the wishes of his family, he entered St. Paul’s
Seminary in Igbariam and was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Onitsha on
19 December 1937.
For a time
Tansi worked tirelessly in the parishes of Nnewi, Dunukofia, Akpu/Ajali before
discerning vocation to be a Cistercian monk at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey,
Leicester, England. He lived this vocation at the abbey for 14 years. Father
Tansi used to say, “If you are going to be a Christian at all, you might as
well live entirely for God”.
He died on
20 January 1964 and was beatified on 22 March 1998 by Saint Pope John Paul II in
Nigeria. The Pope said of Father Cyprian:
He was first of all a man of God: his
long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and
courageous love. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone
who met him was touched by his personal goodness. He was then a man of the
people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to
the pastoral needs of families.
The words of
Pope regarding Blessed Tansi are resonated in our first reading this morning.
St. Paul gives us the clue to sainthood when he said: “Do nothing from
selfishness… count others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not
only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, I surrender everything to you. Amen.
Blessed
Cyprian Iwene Tansi: Pray for us.
Happy
Weekend. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. (Feast of Blessed Tansi. Bible Study:
Philipians 2:1-11 and Matthew 13:31-46).
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