THE BACKUP WISDOM

Reflection for the 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

(Wisdom 6:12-16, 1 Thes 4:13-18, Mt 25:1-13)

1.0.  The Dawn of Wisdom

As we draw closer to the end of the Liturgical year, the readings talk about the end times. Patterning our present lives for a successful ending is wisdom. The first reading describes wisdom as adorned with feminine beauty. She is radiant and unfading, and readily available to those who seek her.

The wise seek Jesus

Intelligence is the ability to interact with the power of our imagination. Imaginative prowess is intelligence. That is why an intelligent person is future-oriented or far-sighted. Wisdom is action! It is the ability to put into action what has been grasped by intelligence. It is practical intelligence. 

However, the first reading personifies wisdom. Now, it has become a practical response to a person. There is a limit our human mind can understand. The far-sight that goes beyond human mind can only be grasped through revelation. The fullness of this divine relation is given in Christ Jesus. Hence, the wisdom that lights up our life even after death is here with us in Christ Jesus. Therefore Jesus is the Incarnate Wisdom. Our intelligence is enriched when we begin to understand Jesus, and we are acknowledged to be wise when we put into action the life of Jesus. 

2.0.     “Behold the Bridegroom!”

Jesus tells us the parable about the wisdom that leads to eternal life. Ten virgins took their lamps to meet the bridegroom, five of them were wise, and five were foolish. By choosing the ten to enter the wedding hall with the bridegroom, the greatest act of charity had been shown them. But their personal commitment and choices are necessary for their realization of the opportunity given them. 

“As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.” Their hopes were stretched! They all got tired of waiting. But the five wise virgins had a backup plan; they took extra flasks of oil with their lamps. This practical step rendered them “wise”, as compared with the foolish ones. The extra oil was a practical demonstration that they did not know the hour the bridegroom would arrive. Now, they had to carry lamp in one hand, and extra flask of oil in another. That means they took extra ‘inconvenience’, which is a demonstration of personal responsibility and commitment to the invitation. Wisdom is not cheap.

Furthermore, the wise virgins were able to carry backup oil because their minds were focused on the coming of the bridegroom. They directed their imaginative gaze at the Bridegroom and his feast, and followed him up with a practical step. Wisdom is selfless. Meditation is the school of wisdom. A wise choice secures an enduring future. Even while we slumber in human weakness or our hopes diminishing, our earlier wise choices would back us up. So, we must guide our thoughts and act for a better tomorrow. 

“But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’” It is from the treasury of our earlier choices can we meet the bridegroom. The wise are revealed in retrospect. However, our present choices can continue to shine if our mind and heart are focused on Jesus. The Incarnate Wisdom is our guide.

3.0.  The Backup Wisdom

“Lord, let us learn the shortness of our lives that we may gain wisdom of heart” (Ps 90:12). St Paul in the second reading talks about the end of life. Knowing that human life will end one day is intelligence. But living so as to continue life after death is wisdom. “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (1Thes 4:14). At the end, the living shall also meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. This means that Jesus is the meeting point of life and death. He is our hope in life, and our life in death! Those who died shall live in Christ Jesus, and we who are alive should die to Jesus (cf. Phil 1:21, Rm 6:8). Therefore, wisdom is to live for Jesus.

It is a wise choice to put Jesus at the centre of our lives. If our present choices are informed by the faith and love we have in Jesus, they would constitute a treasury of wisdom that would guarantee our participation in the heavenly banquet. This is the kind of backup wisdom that would see us through even when our hopes are stretched to the twelfth hour. This backup assures us of a future with the Bridegroom. Thus, abandoning our selfish ways, and following Jesus each day and in every situation we may find ourselves, is wisdom that endures—a backup wisdom that carries us along...

The light of the wise continues to burn. When it dims, they refill from their backup flasks. For this they were recognized as wise. Let your light shine. Those who light up their mind and heart with Jesus will always have the light of their lives shining. Wisdom is radiant and unfading.

_____________________________________

Fr Chinwenwa J. Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

St Francis Catholic Church,

College Road, Ekenwan,

Benin City, Nigeria.

November 12, 2017.

         

THE BURDEN OF HYPOCRISY

Reflection for 31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

(Mal 1:14-2:2.8-10, 1Thes 23:1-12, Mt 23:1-12)

Hypocrisy, among other things, is a burden. This is an important lesson from today’s readings. The person, who is first laden with this burden, equally transfers it to others, especially his audience. This burden is so dicey that the one who bears it might not recognize it easily. In other words, it is difficult for one to identify himself as a hypocrite.  There is one way out of this problem.

The immediate victims of hypocrisy from the readings are those who occupy the chair of Moses. Since a priest is called from among his brothers (cf. Heb 5:1), and God calls the weak to shame the strong (cf. 1Cor 1:27), it is easy for the minister of God to battle between being mere human and living out his authentic divine vocation. Hypocrisy is a way of life, where one habitually lives contrary to what he teaches or stands for. Through the prophet Malachi, God announces his displeasure on priests who cause others to stumble and water down the covenant.

From St Paul’s authentic witness among the Thessalonians, it is obvious that the preacher of the Gospel must be personally committed and affectionate like a nursing mother to her baby. This cannot be so if he is not personally touched by what he preaches. By bearing the message upon himself, the priest brings healing to the people. Therefore, it is only those who bear the yoke of Christ can be true minsters of the Gospel, through whom the faithful are relieved. “Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light” (Mt 11:30). “Always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body” (2Cor 4:10). The Cross is the point of departure.

The Pharisees rejected Jesus, the Truth. Since they were not living out what they preached, they had to burden themselves with many externalities. And in order to impress the people, they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders. This is the same with some preachers of today. Once the imprint of the Cross, the yoke of Christ, is not in their lives, they divert their energies to lots of other things in order to acquire sense of relevance. Whenever a priest’s sense of relevance is rooted in something other than salvation of souls, he has laden himself with the yeast of the Pharisees (cf. Mt 16:6-12). The priest has to live out what he preaches. This is how he allows himself to be sustained by Christ Jesus, so that through him, Jesus will liberate the people. 

The burden of hypocrisy is on everyone who is not true to his/her vocation. For example, imagine the load upon an unfaithful husband who warns his children against fornication? The same goes for the corrupt politician who promises what he cannot do. Hypocrisy rears its head when people live dishonest lives, or raise themselves above their standard of living. Titles and positions are for service; to untie the burden on people. Most importantly, the burden of hypocrisy is equally laden on the faithful church member who does not accept the Gospel for what it really is, God’s word, and not some human thinking (1Thes 2:13). Such a believer hinges his/her faith on personalities. Those who worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth (cf. Jn 4:24). “Accursed be anyone who trusts in human beings, who relies on human strength” (Jer 17:5). However it comes, hypocrisy seeks vainglory and undue sense of relevance. 

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:12). The triumph of the Cross is our victory over hypocrisy. Jesus has borne our burden upon Himself on the Cross. Our participation in His victory, by accepting our crosses each day, is our only escape from the burden of hypocrisy. “So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free” (Jn 8:36). Any priest or preacher who does not project Christ, but infuses himself within the message, adds heavy burden upon the people. Unless we bear the yoke of Christ, the imprint of the Cross in our bodies, we remained burdened, and cannot lighten other’s burdens. Jesus is our only Master. “You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am” (Jn 13:13). Yes, as we follow Him humbly, bearing authentic witness, He exalts us, and liberates us from the burden of hypocrisy.

_________________________________________

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

St Francis Catholic Church,

College Road, Off Ekenwan Road,

Benin City, Nigeria.

5 November, 2017.

   

THE LOVE ENCOUNTER

Reflection for 30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

(Ex 22:21-27, 1 Thes 1:5-10, Mt 23:34-40)

1.0.   Love at Its Source

God is love. He is the source of love. In the first reading today, His commandments to the Israelites reflect His nature as love, “For I am compassionate.” The chosen people of God were instructed to imbibe this love in relating with one another. 

In the Gospel the Pharisees, who never loved Jesus came again to question Him. “Princes plot together against God and His anointed...He who is enthroned in the heavens laughs, God is making a mockery of them” (Ps 2:2-4). One of them asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the law?” Jesus answered them kindly, and even more. He summarized the law and taught a new lesson with a new horizon of understanding for all ages. 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. “This is the greatest and first commandment.” This is our call; it is the reason why God created us. We cannot put anything between our relationship with God. Loving God must be the first response of our heart in love. We must recognize in our hearts that undivided and unequal impulse of love towards God. God is the source of love, and must be loved first if we ever want to love at all. 

2.0.  The Transfer of Love

You shall love your neighbour as yourself. This is where we encounter difficulty. And that was one of the reasons for the laws in the first reading, to overcome the obstacles in loving our neighbour. Jesus opens up this new horizon where we come to understand that love of God is not separated from love of neighbour. “Anyone who says, ‘I love God’ and hates his brother is a liar...” (1 Jn 4:20-21). However, loving the other as ourselves is not the projection of our weak selves to others. It does not imply the transfer of our subjective disposition, such that we tend to reduce people to ourselves. It is relating to others with that self that has been consumed by love of God. And since God is the source of love, our love for our neighbour brings something of God to them. Through our words and actions, God’s love is transferred to others. 

We can now love one another genuinely, no matter who they are or where they are from, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts (cf. Rm 5:5). This out pouring of God’s love in the Holy Spirit has become a new law written, not on tablet of stones, but in our hearts (cf. 2 Cor 3:3. Heb 10:16). And the ultimate gift of His love that God has given us is Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..”(Jn 3:16). 

3.0. The First Neighbour

Jesus is God and Man. In Him God has visited His people (cf. Lk 7:16). He is that living point of encounter between love of God and neighbour. And He unites the two and makes it possible for us to possess them as one. As the First Born of all creation, Jesus is our first Neighbour! Though in Him dwells the fullness of divinity, still He loves us with a human heart. It is Him who engineers this love in us. Therefore, to love our neighbour as ourselves begins with Jesus. It is through Him that our human love encounters God. At that point of encounter where our human heart grabs the person of Jesus as neighbour, is when we begin to the journey to love our neighbour as commanded. “You must love one another just as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34). 

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). In Jesus the Unseen God has revealed Himself. Our undivided love in Christ Jesus consumes all our heart, soul and mind. And this renews us, making us to assume the image of Jesus. The Love of Christ overwhelms us...that we live no longer for ourselves, but for him who dies and was raised to life for us (cf. 2 Cor 5:14-15). So we love others with that self which has been redeemed by Christ. Hence, the first and perfect Neighbour we love is Jesus. In this way we can love people even in the midst of their shortfalls. Since we have the one perfect Neighbour, we can endure the imperfections of others. 

4.0.  The Love Encounter

On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. All the blessings of the law and the promises of prophecy now find their completeness in Christ Jesus our Lord (cf. Mt 5:17). Accepting Jesus as our First Neighbour, in whom and through whom we Love God and neighbour, becomes an encounter of blessings. Here is offered an assurance of all prophetic future.

Love conquers all. Loving God and neighbour in and through Jesus Christ is our victory over every obstacle to love and observance of the law. Such love that is first touched by Christ cannot be mere emotional. Encountering each other in love has become a living expression of our ultimate encounter in Jesus. Therefore, we love each other basically because of Jesus Christ. 

Such loving encounter amongst us is a living response, and it is life-giving. It brings freedom and refreshes our lives.        

Happy Sunday!

_____________________________________

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

St Paul’s Catholic Church,

Gwagwalada, Abuja

Nigeria.

October 29, 2017.