IN PRAISE OF HUMILITY

In the middle of the book of virtue

You stand of highest value

Humility, you are  a treasure so noble

For a heart so humble

In you I sign my name

So that my life won’t be maim

I cherish you oh humility

For from you I take dignity

But still you remain my struggle

In this world of jungle

I pass through you as to a narrow gate

To receive all that is given in faith

Humility you are my delight

You bring me friends like magnet

With you heaven is more than a target

For you give me the angelic coronet.

 Fr Jude C. Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Sunday, 28^th August 2016.

St Mark’s Catholic Church,

Ohovbe, Benin City, Nigeria.

THE HUMBLE AT TABLE

In praise of humility, that is the ‘attitude’ of the first reading today, and the teaching of Jesus in the Gospel. Though the teaching is not new, the mood is never old. So Sirach reminds us to perform our tasks in humility; “Then you will be loved more than the giver of gifts...so you will find favour with God.” Humility is the secret of the wise.

Jesus sells out this wisdom at the banquet in the Pharisee’s house. It is the host who gives each guest his appropriate position at table. To avoid embarrassment and shame, each guest should humble himself, and allow the host to give the appropriate honour. Do not seek honour for yourself is the message. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

We are all guests in this life. God is our Host. He gives us each according to his capacity (Mt 25:15). Who we are and much of those around us at table are gifts, and should be received as such: family, relations, friends, status, etc.  In humility we accept the truth of our lives, and not claim to be whom we are not. We should be meek, since our immediate future is not within our conscious determination.  This is how we enjoy the meal with the few around us at table.

In maze of life, we are often connected with very few people, no matter how popular one might think he or she is. How many people will be our relations, siblings, friends, colleagues, neighbours, etc?  Since we have few people with us at the table of life, humility must be our watch word. But God lifts us up, and widens our horizon.

Hence, our acts of charity, which germinates from our humility, cannot be restricted to the few as if we are still short-sighted. “...invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

So our gaze is on the festal gathering in the heavenly Jerusalem, according to the second reading. The humble shall be gathered with Jesus, the Mediator, and with innumerable angels, with great confidence before God like first born in a family.

Like Mary, the humble shall be highly favoured, and the almighty will do great things for them.


Fr Jude C. Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R    
 Sunday, 28^th August 2016
St Mark’s Catholic Church,
Ohovbe, Benin City, Nigeria. 

 

THE NARROW WAY

                                        Reflection for the 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
                                                  (Is 66:18-21, Heb 12:5-7. 11-13, Lk 13:22-30)

In response to the question about those to be saved, Jesus draws our attention to the availability and nature of the way to the kingdom. He gives us insight into the absolute disappointment and pain of those unable to follow that way. The Kingdom of God is going to be a joyful gathering of people from different corners of the earth—gathered together as one family!

So, “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many will seek to enter and will not be able.” “Narrow” implies the way to the Kingdom is not popular; it’s not the way of the crowd. It is not common, but a discoverable way, seen by those searching for it. Yes, the Kingdom of God itself is a hidden treasure (Mt 13: 44-46), and the way to it is an open secret; a narrow way.

Since Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 14:6), and the Gate of the Sheepfold (Jn 10:7), He is also that Narrow Door that leads to the Kingdom—the secret of life! Jesus, lifted on the Cross, is the Standard that points heavenwards. The Cross of Jesus is given to us as a principle of life; the formula to resolve our mathematics of life. It is the Way! Once we apply the principle of the Cross in every situation, the answers we get thrust us heavenwards. Thus, meditation on the Cross remains the hinge of christian spirituality. “They shall look upon Him whom they pierced” (Zech 12:10, Jn 19:37).

In Jesus Christ and through His Cross as the principle of life, God is gathering us as His Children. Hence, the 2^nd reading enjoins us never to forget the exhortation which addresses us as God’s children. God disciplines us as His Children, training us to be modelled after His Only Begotten Son, Jesus. Therefore, we too must pass through the narrow way after Jesus; “Though He was Son, He learnt obedience through sufferings” (Heb 5:8). The sufferings we endure presently as God’s Children are training us to be transformed into the perfect image of Jesus, making us fit for the Kingdom. They are necessary steps we must take to be at the Banquet of Heaven.

The narrow door, the way of the Cross, is the pathway of sacrifice for others, patience, endurance, forgiveness, charity, humility, chastity and holiness. Passing through them ‘as a way’ means they become our habit. This cannot be a popular choice. It comes through ‘striving.’ But it remains the only way God is gathering us to experience His glory. If we have nothing to suffer, we have nothing to offer. The narrow door remains the only pathway to a happy and fulfilled life. It is the only way we can build up successful relationships and families.  “All that we suffer in the present time is nothing in comparison with the glory which is destined to be disclosed for us” (Rm 8:18).

Fr Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Our Lady Queen of Apostles
Rumupirikom, Portharcourt
21st August, 2016.

THE URGENCY OF LOVE

{Reflection for the 13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C 1 Kg 19:16, 19-21, Ps 16; Gal 5:1, 13-18; Lk 9:51-62}

No time to waste! This seems to be the attitude in the readings today. Elisha sacrificed his yokes of oxen, “Then he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him.” As Elijah would not accept any delay form Elisha, so Jesus says, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Though “The Son of man has nowhere to lay his head”, those called to follow him in freedom must “Leave the dead to bury their own dead.” There is an urgency to announce the good news to the whole world. 

Yes, because the Kingdom of God is close at hand (Mt 3:2). And the response to the call must carry the same sense of urgency. This sense of urgency is embedded in the call because the dawn of the Kingdom in Jesus has become the first in our scale of preference. The Kingdom of God has come so close that it touches every aspect of our lives and is now our highest treasure (cf. Mt 13:44ff).

 

Therefore, the call to follow Jesus is a call to freedom; a call to achieve our highest aspiration. St Paul describes it in the second reading as an opportunity to love and be servants of one another. “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’” Love becomes the way we sustain the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. It becomes our evidence that we are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. 

Touched by the Gospel, our hearts burn with love of God along the way (cf. Lk 24:32). Love warms our hearts and gives us a sense of urgency for the beloved. The immediacy of the Kingdom carries our love along! Love is urgent. We should not delay nor postpone our love for our neighbor. The love of God poured out in our hearts impels us to love one another—to forgive them, to tolerate, to help out, etc. Hence Jesus rebuked James and John for trying to call down fire against the Samaritans that opposed them. Revenge is always selfish!

St Paul warns us that self-indulgence slows down and restricts the free flow of love. The result of which is slavery. We must align ourselves with the promptings of the Holy Spirit in order to maintain the frequency of love and the freedom it gives. By calling us to follow Him, “Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” Let the love flow;Love is our vocation.

Fr Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help

Maryville, Ugwogonike,

Enugu, Nigeria.

26/06/16

Compassion and Supplication

[Reflection for the 12^th Sunday in ordinary Time Year C Zech 12:10-11;13:1, Gal 3:26-29, Lk 9:18-24]

The prophet Zechariah gives an uncommon prophecy, “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication...” This will enable them to raise their hearts and mourn for “him whom they have pierced.” The mourning to be evoked would be great as in the plain of Megiddo. Compassion of heart implies that they will associate themselves with the Pierced One, and allow his agony to pierce their own hearts. Then there will be an internal flow of cleansing, “a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem...” Thus, The Pierced One becomes the answer to their supplication as their hearts melt before Him.

So we are all heirs of this great promise since we have all been joined with Christ, we mourn for Him as one weeps for an only-begotten son. With our heads raised to His pierced side, we have become one people, drinking from the same fountain and sharing the same promise as Abraham’s offspring in faith. Our compassion and supplication has a common meeting point in Christ. On the Cross hangs the heart of every Christian! “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:5). We see from the second reading that The Pierced One has become the fountain of unity. His wound has healed our brokenness and disunity. 

A gaze at the Cross, full of compassion and supplication, is the right disposition we need to answer the question, “But who do you say that I am.” Unless our hearts are melted before Him as in the plain of Megiddo, there is every tendency to misinterpret “The Christ of God” as the one who saves through the cross. The Cross is the defining moment, the meeting point!

“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Ironically, we are living in a society that is so much laden with many crosses, but which vehemently rebels against the idea of a cross! How can their wounds be healed? From which fountain will they be satisfied? Jesus announces, “The Son of man must suffer many things...” And all who lift up their hearts, who mourn with Him by accepting their daily crosses shall have the prophecy of Zechariah fulfilled in their lives—they shall drink from the fountain!

Therefore, our compassion and supplication become a participation in His Cross and Resurrection. By His wounds we have been healed (1 Pet 2:24). Our internal groaning, compassion and supplication, which is evoked by the Cross of Christ, brings healing and answers to our prayers. Yes, Jesus saves us from within! Our daily crosses, joined with Christ, now have a new meaning; they dispose us to drink freely from the fountain.  We cannot go through life without bearing one inconvenience or the other. If we have nothing to suffer, we have nothing to offer. 

The Cross of Christ is not the cause but a remedy to suffering. If we associate our pains with His—mourning for Him as in the plain of Meggido—we shall reign with Him (cf. 2Tim 2:12). Here we draw strength to carry on. Our compassion is deepened and becomes genuine, and our supplications are as heirs according to the promise made to Abraham’s offspring.

Fr Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Immaculate Heart Catholic Church,

Magodo, Sangotedo

Lagos, Nigeria.

19^th June, 2016