“BE OPENED”

Meditation for 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
(Is 35:4-7; James 2:1-5; Mk 7:31-37)

Affliction, sickness, infirmity, poverty, etc can set a man apart from among his fellows or make him feel abandoned my God. Fear, uncertainty, sadness, etc are often the immediate responses that such situations can arouse in someone. Isaiah speaks directly to the heart going through such affliction, “Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance…He will come and save you.” When He comes, the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped…and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy.

This prophecy was fulfilled in the Gospel as Jesus heals the man who was deaf and dumb. “And taking him aside from the multitude privately, He put his fingers into his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.” The man’s affliction set him ‘apart’ from his community since he could not interact freely. But Jesus took him apart from the multitude—away from their general understanding of the sickness—and healed him with gestures that showed that He associated Himself with the man at the very point of affliction. So, being ‘apart’ with Jesus privately heals and reconciles us with God and others.

“And looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that, ‘Be opened.’” As in the sacrifice of the Cross, Jesus offered up the man pains, shame, isolation, poverty, fear, heartbreak, etc with a sigh that pierced heaven! This prayer cannot be disconnected from the prayer of ‘His Hour’, i.e. His agony in the garden, and His loud cry on the cross. And Jesus continues to set us apart to Himself privately, and touching us with the merits of this saving sacrifice at our very point of affliction through the Eucharist.

Therefore, in our worship and Eucharistic celebration, we join our voices with the man that was thus touched and healed to sing joyful praises to God. Our Eucharist is a thanksgiving offering that the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in us. Then, how can we begin to show partiality against the poor and afflicted in our church gathering! This will make our worship hypocritical. Since Jesus takes us to Himself in our poverty and affliction, we too should have preferential option for the poor, and through our charity and care, offer their pains in union with the sacrifice of Jesus. Let our eyes and ears be opened (Ephphatha) that we may see the afflictions around us, and hear the cries of the poor among us. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Sunday September 5th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE LORD OF THE SABBATH

Meditation for Saturday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time
(Col 1:21-23; Lk 6:1-5)

St Paul recounts the good things that happened to the Colossians as they accepted Jesus. They were saved from their evil deeds, reconciled with God through the death of Jesus Christ, and made holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him. All these will continue to hold if they remain steadfast in faith, not shifting from the hope of the gospel.

This hope in Jesus Christ through the gospel is what the old law and prophets tried to achieve. But the Pharisees and scribes focused on the mere letters of the law and to their own benefits. Jesus condemned their hypocrisy saying, “The Son of man is lord of the sabbath.”

Immediately, we recall St Paul’s message we read yesterday that Jesus Christ is pre-eminent, and in Him is the fullness of divinity. Therefore, He becomes the reason for the law, for in Him is the fulfillment of the law. And our faith in Him becomes our rule of life and our guide for action. That means, for us to follow the details of the law now implies to live in friendship with Jesus; to live for Him, and to act to please Him. Who shall condemn those chosen by God, Christ died for! (Rm 8:33-34). The inheritance of the saints and the riches of God’s kingdom shall be ours if we remain steadfast in faith. Amen.

St Ross of Viterbo, pray for us! Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Saturday September 4th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

 

THE PRE-EMINENT

 Meditation for Friday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time
(Col 1:15-20; Lk 5:33-39)

“Christ is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation; for in Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth…” St Paul gives this all-time description of our relationship with Jesus Christ in relation to the Father and the rest of creation. Since the Father has ‘transferred’ us to inherit the riches of the Kingdom of His Beloved Son, we need to understand the position Jesus Christ occupies in our lives. “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” That means our lives, families, society, etc cannot have lasting peace if they are not formed in Christ.

“He is the head of the body, the Church; He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything He might be PRE-EMINENT. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.” Since is God among us, and we have been called to faith in Him, we must accord Him that highest position as the pre-eminent in our lives and worship.

Think about the freshness of life we have in Jesus, to whom we have surrendered ourselves, such that He now becomes ‘our conscience’ and principle of life! Think about how powerful we are when we render ourselves powerless before Jesus! That means, if Jesus becomes pre-eminent in our lives, He will give us a new beginning and keep us reconciled with God. This new ‘burst of life’, to which the Father has transferred us to, must be received with a new heart. “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.”

The old legalistic and hypocritical approach of the Pharisees and scribes cannot contain the ever-new riches in glory given to us in Jesus. Yes, Jesus Christ is pre-eminent; He is the Beginning, before all, and God among us. Therefore, we need a new wineskin, a new heart, like the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to preserve these divine riches. And we shall have peace and be bubbling with life like the new wine! Amen.  

St Gregory the Great, pray for us! Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Friday September 3rd, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE TRANSFER INTO THE RICHES OF HEAVEN

Meditation for Thursday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time
(Col 1:9-14; Lk 5:1-11)

As part of his opening pleasantries, St Paul prays for the Colossians that they may be filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding, to be fully pleasing to God and fruitful in every good work… Since he will be talking about the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ in our lives, St Paul began by mentioning how the Father positioned us in Christ. God the Father has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

This great transfer to the riches of His glory in Jesus Christ shines out in Peter’s great catch of fish in today’s gospel passage. At the authority and command of Jesus, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch”, Peter’s labors were transferred to abundant harvest; his disappointment turned to fulfillment. The riches of God in glory awaits us and is available in Jesus. However, like Peter who gave Jesus his boat, we step forward to be transferred to the riches of His Kingdom through our CHARITY and by obeying His commands. And He continues to draw us deeper into the riches of Kingdom in glory until, like Peter and his companions, “They left everything and followed Him.”

When we perform acts of charity, we surrender our ‘boats’ to Jesus for the greater glory of His Kingdom. Then, we are ‘qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints’, which is the blessings of Heaven and eternal life at the end. Amen.

St William of Roskilde, pray for us! Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Thursday September 2^nd, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE DIVINE TOUCH

Meditation for Wednesday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time
(Col 1:1-8; Lk 4:38-44)

It is so beautiful that we are stepping into the new month of September with St Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. In this letter St Paul addressing a Christian community, which he did not evangelize directly. What prompted him to intervene in the life of the Church in Colossae? You can guess as much that there are some doctrinal issues at stake. Let us read along with the Holy Catholic Church as she leads us through St Paul’s letter to the Colossians for a week.

The letter begins by acknowledging the faith of the Colossians in Jesus Christ, “And of the love which you have for all the saints.” The gospel was preached to them by Epaphras, who also informed St Paul how the faith is flourishing in Colossae.

What Paul heard prompted him to ‘go’ to the Colossians through letter, just as Jesus heard about the sickness of Peter’s mother-in-law and went to her. In our meditation, we gaze upon Jesus standing beside the sick woman and bending over towards her. What does this gesture portray? This reclining gesture of Jesus towards human suffering, and my personal suffering in particular, is enough strength and courage to carry on! He rebuked the fever, “And it left her; and immediately she rose and served them.”

Afterwards, they brought many sick people, “And He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.” Think about this physical contact that drove sickness away! Imagine the divine healing hand landing gently on the sick body…The feeling of such touch reassures of his abiding presence and inter-mingling with us even in our unworthy state. But, by going to a lonely place, Jesus shows us that ‘touching’ human lives is important, however, the most important thing is to be in touch with God!

That is why in THE SOUND OF SILENCE we re-live the gospel experiences through a contemplative gaze at Jesus. Those who follow Jesus to the lonely place in the silence of their hearts through the gospels, testify to His divine touch, which heals and uplifts. Amen.

St Giles, pray for us! Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Wednesday September 1^st, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE DAY OF THE LORD

Meditation for Tuesday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time
(1 Thes 5:1-6; Lk 4:31-37)

St Paul gives his final exhortation to the Thessalonians about the end times and the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. “But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the darkness.” That day, when everything will surrender to the authority of Jesus, can only come as a surprise to those who are not already living under His authority. St Paul says, “Let us keep awake and sober”, avoiding works of darkness, for it is the will of God that we obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ and live with Him.

So, if we are already living with Him, we need not fear the end times or the endings of our undertakings and situations in life. Sometimes we are tempted to misuse time or misappropriate our time.

Think about the event that occurred at Capernaum. As the people felt the authority of Jesus, and were reclining their hearts to Him, the demon cried out in protest against Jesus. Imagine, he was protesting against Jesus with the truth about Him: “Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Interrupting Jesus with such a loud voice is rebellion, no matter the truth he acknowledges about His person. It was the wrong timing; and a contradiction that the ‘Holy One’ has come to destroy! But Jesus rebuked this noise maker, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

For sure, the demon was afraid of surrendering to the authority of Jesus and decided to resist. Think about the empty noises and interruptions we face whenever we are inclined to enjoying some peace with Christ or when we feel the urge to pray. The devil can use truth like a bait to catch us into a bigger lie. And most of these temptations come at the wrong time, but they are usually loud and overpowering. Our victory is that we have the grace to live out today in full ‘the day of the Lord’ by inclining our hearts to His authority. For those who are already in Christ Jesus, who walk in the light of Christ, the day of the Lord will not take them by surprise, and the tricks of the devil will not take them unawares. Amen.

St Raymond Nonnatus, pray for us! Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Tuesday August 31^th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

 

CHRIST-CENTERED LIFE

Meditation for Monday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time
(1 Thes 4:13-18; Lk 4:16-30)

As we draw close to the end of the month and St Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he begins to instruct them about death and the end times. About those who died, “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.” With hope in the resurrection in Christ Jesus, we should not grieve over the dead like those who do not have faith. The life of the Christian is not a death-burdened life, rather, it is a Christ-centered life; he does not live merely to escape death, but he lives to the glory of God in Christ Jesus. This is the hope the Christian ought to bring into his daily activities.

So, we gaze our eyes of meditation on Jesus as He reads from the Prophet Isiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” A great sound of silence resounded over the people as He closed the book and sat down. The powerful words He read continued to re-echo within that ‘sound of silence’ and vibrate in their hearts! And their attend was focused on Him. This is how a Christian ought to center his life around Jesus. From within that silence, He said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Now, the words that touched their hearts would not remain a mere imagination of their hearts, but it has taken concrete root in the Person of Jesus!

That is why those who has issues with the personality of Jesus and rejected Him lost the blessings and hope He assures. They became angry, restless and bloodthirsty. Their frustration is boldly on their faces as they attempted to throw Jesus off the brow of the city hill. “But passing through the midst of them He went away.”

 

St Felix, pray for us! Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.
Monday August 30^th, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com