March 03, 2024; Third Sunday of Lent; Year (B)

Readings: Ex. 20:1-17; 1 Cor. 1:21-25; Jn. 2:13-25

Stop Making My Father’s House A Marketplace.

1.    This morning’s first reading presents us with the 10 Commandments – the Decalogue. The finger of God wrote this law of love. “When the Lord had finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the commandments, the stone tablets inscribed by God’s own finger.” (Ex. 31:18). St Thomas Aquinas defines the law as “Ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated.” Therefore, the law was given to guide the people of God in the proper direction. “The Decalogue must first be understood in the context of the Exodus, God’s great liberating event at the center of the Old Covenant. Whether formulated as negative commandments, prohibitions, or as positive precepts such as: “Honor your father and mother,” the “ten words” point out the conditions of a life freed from the slavery of sin. The Decalogue is a path of life: If you love the Lord your God by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply.” (CCC 2057). The gift of the Commandments is the gift of God himself and his holy will. In making his will known, God revealed himself to his people.

2.    The whole meaning of the Ten Commandments will be revealed in Jesus Christ. Therefore, when asked which was the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus replied: “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. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the laws and the prophets.” (Mt. 22:37-40). The commandments: “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandments are summed up in this sentence: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:9-10).

3.    The Gospel reading is seen as violating this law of love, which provoked righteous indignation from Christ. How could Christ have been so angry as to destroy things, beat people, knock down their tables, and spill their money? We are told that Christ arrives at the Jerusalem Temple for the Passover. The Temple had been under construction for 46 years. One had to pay half a shekel to gain access to the Temple. But if one comes from outside Jerusalem, Rome, or other places, you must convert your money to shekels. But those working in Bureau de Change were bandits. They charged more than was expected, thereby cheating the people and making it difficult for them to access God. This was stealing in the name of God. There were too many abuses, corruption, and manipulation in the Temple of God. And Jesus could not stand it. Jesus had to clean his Father’s house and restate the purpose of the sacred space reserved for the worship of God. My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a marketplace. Isaiah, the prophet, reminded us of the universal call for all people to come to the house of the Lord. “Them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; Their holocausts and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (Is. 56:7). 

4.    On this third Sunday of Lent, we need some house cleaning. If the Lord comes into our hearts, home, or Church, what condition will he find them in? Don’t you think some cleaning needs to be going on as we speak? If the Lord inspected your heart today, what would he find? Will he find anger, bitterness, hatred, lust, immorality, unforgiveness, jealousy, pride, arrogance, laziness, gluttony, indulgence, or deceit? We may hide these indiscretions from people, but our hearts are open before the Lord. What about our spiritual poverty? Is the Lord calling you to pray more? Will he remind you that you are lacking in charity? What about your sacramental life? When did you go to confession last? Don’t you think it’s time you went to have your sins forgiven? Perhaps you do not pay attention in Church, or you do not help to keep the Church clean. What do you think Christ will say to you then? How respectful are we in Church? Do we see the Church as a place to mingle and renew our friendship or deepen our love for God and one another? Maybe Christ is asking you to look at your anger. What infuriates you? Are you upset when the poor are abused and deprived of the necessities of life just because they have no voice? Do you speak for them? Are you upset with how people use God to further their ends? 

5.    Dear friends, Christ wants to help us clean out our lives’ mess and clutters. He wants to change us into men and women who keep the commandment of love. May we never turn his house into anything but a house of prayer? Be blessed.

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

February 25, 2024; Second Sunday of Lent (Year B)

Readings: Gen. 22:1-2, 9, 10-13, 15-18; Rom 8:31-34; Mk. 9:2-10 

Be Quiet! Listen and learn.

1.     A priest wanted to show his parishioners that they did not pay attention at Mass and that their responses were automatic. After the sign of the Cross, he tapped the microphone and said, “This microphone is faulty and must be repaired.” The congregation responded, “And with your Spirit”. Today, we see Jesus, Peter, James, and John on the mountain of Transfiguration. Elijah and Moses will be visiting soon. On this mountain, Jesus was transfigured, his clothes became dazzling white, and the Father’s voice was heard: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” 

2.     Listening is an integral part of communication. Do we really listen to one another? It is easier to communicate with people through texts on smartphones, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, and what have you than be engaged with someone in the same room. Often, we see families at the dinner table with everyone on the phone. How frequently do you try to communicate with someone, but the person is scrolling on the phone or video chatting with someone else? Do we even listen to God when we pray? We are often eager to let God know what we want and how we like it rather than allow God to talk to us, too. We bring the same attitude to our everyday life with our friends. We often hear people say, “Be quiet and listen!” Or “Look at me when I’m talking to you.” Listening means being quiet, attentive, and thinking about what to say when we have to say something. We must talk not because we must but because we have something to say. St. James warns: “Everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak.” (James 1:19). Today, God tells us to be quiet and listen to his Son.

3.     God’s covenant is continuously made manifest in the life of Abraham. His willingness to sacrifice his Son provokes more blessings, even as it renews the promise, “I will multiply you exceedingly…for I am making you the father of a host of nations. I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings shall stem from you.” (Gen. 17:1-8). Abraham’s faith was unhindered by God’s demand, as painful as it was. “Take your son, Isaac, your only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on the height that I will point out to you.” (Gen. 22:2). Isaac was his only son between him and Sarah, the child of their old age and the son of the promise. 

4.     Love is sacrifice. God loves us sacrificially: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:16). “No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn. 15:13). In the same way, our love for God requires the sacrifice of our love, our will, our heart, and our being. How do we let go of what we love for our love for God? Abraham was willing to let go because he loved God that much. Abraham was not disappointed! He heard: “Abraham, Abraham! Do not lay your hand on the boy, do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.” (Gen. 22:12-14). 

5.     In the gospel, we see God’s willingness to sacrifice his son, his only son whom he loved, the only son of Mary, out of love for humanity. He told us, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” (Mk.9:7). In the second reading, Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else with him?” (Rom. 8:31-34). Yes, it is hard, challenging, and sometimes scary to let go and let God. Letting go without listening to Jesus is, to say the least, impossible. Hence, we must be quiet and listen to Jesus. God cannot enter a noisy environment. Therefore, Christ tells us, “When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your father who is in secret.” (Mt. 6:6).

6.     Abraham went into his heart’s inner room to pray and listen. He heard the Lord, who made an earnest request of him. Jesus went up the mountain for a few days of prayer with his friends, and his death was confirmed, and his mission to save the world by shedding his blood was sealed. That is why “As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” (Mk. 9:9). On this second Sunday of Lent, we must be quiet and listen when we pray. Yes, the Lord may ask you for something demanding and strenuous. Will you obey him? Prayer is not giving God the list of what we want. It is an opportunity to listen to the Lord. The Lord likes to talk to us, to share our worries and joys. He has a mission for us. There is a specific thing He wants only you to accomplish on his behalf, but you may have blocked him with too much noise. Let us be quiet and listen so that he may transform and transfigure us into the image of his Son. Amen.

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

February 18, 2024; First Sunday of Lent (Year B)

Readings: Gen. 9:8-15; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mk. 1:12-15

 

Temptation may draw us closer to God

1.    In the first reading, God said to Noah and his sons, “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you…that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood.” (Gen.9:8-11). A covenant is an agreement between two people with a promise and commitment to each other. It marks the relationship and the expectations they have for one another. God always made a covenant with his people in the Old Testament and urged them to remain faithful to Him while he would be their God, always providing and protecting them. God is faithful to his promises. 

2.    The passage in Genesis speaks of God’s covenant with Noah and his sons after the disastrous flood. This new covenant demonstrates that the first one in Genesis 1:28-30, where God commanded Adam and Eve to go and multiply and fill the earth, was shattered by human sinfulness. “When the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on earth was and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So, the Lord said: “I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created, and not only men but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them.” (Gen. 6:5-7). The flood was seen as the divine reaction to the human rejection of God. But there was a note of hope, for “Noah found favor with the Lord.” (Gen.6:8). So, with Noah and his descendants, God made a new covenant, but this time around, God demanded nothing from Noah but promised what he would do for his people while asking nothing in return. According to Peter in the second reading, the covenant between God and Noah’s family prefigured baptism, God’s pledge to us of salvation and eternal life.

3.    With this covenant, God seems to have said to Noah, “Let us forget the past and forge ahead together. We will begin anew with peace between myself and humankind and, indeed, between myself and all creation. The rainbow will be its sign.” “Through the rainbow, God shows that he wants to be connected to his creation – all of it – in such a way as to create confidence in him and peace among his creatures…Light and darkness, wind and fire, water and earth, the tree and its fruit speak of God and symbolize both his greatness and his nearness” (CCC 1147). The new covenant includes all creatures, showing that God makes all things suitable, and in the end, all creation will be transformed (Rom. 8:18-22). This bond between God and us and nature marks this new beginning.  

4.    Lent invites us to begin a new relationship with God. “Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord: though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.” (Is.1:18). Lent is God’s second chance to humanity. Do we always give a second chance to people who wrong us? Temptation and sins are roadblocks to a healthy relationship with God and one another. Still, like lovers’ quarrels that can renew love, we can strengthen our relationship with God by removing those blocks from our paths. We are invited to enter a new covenant with God and rediscover the outpouring of God’s grace into our hearts on the day of baptism. God is always faithful to his covenant; we must also be true to ours. What about temptation and sin?

5.    Today’s gospel presents us with the temptation of Jesus. We are not immune from the same temptation. Temptation comes in many ways. We may be tempted to be something we are not, to assume the personality and status we don’t deserve. Being attracted to this kind of life may turn us into liars, egotistical, and proud. We may begin to think that we are everything to everyone. As such, our services to God, the church, and humanity may become sterile and shallow. We may even forget why we do the things we do. Mother Theresa told Father Le Joly, a Jesuit priest who was writing a book about her, “Father, when you write a book about me, tell everybody we are not here for work; we are here for Jesus. We are religious, not social workers, nurses, or teachers; we are religious Sisters. All we do, prayer, work, and suffering, is for Jesus. He gives me strength. I love Him in the poor and poor in Him. Without Jesus, our life would be meaningless…incomprehensible…” If what we do is not done for Jesus, our work is nothing more than false spirituality, and our work will draw us away from the covenant of God. Therefore, the Psalmist cries out, “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name give glory.” (Ps. 115:1). Let me conclude with this reflection from Fr. Eugene Maly, “What is important for us is not so much what we do during this Lenten season, whether it be attending daily Mass, visiting the sick and the elderly more often, or preceding some special pleasure. All these are fine. But what is essential to Lent is our resolve to begin anew. One thing is certain: God’s covenant love is here to strengthen and comfort us.”  

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

February 14, 2024; Ash Wednesday (Year B)

Readings: Joel 2:12-18; 2 Cor. 5:20-6:2; Mt. 6:1-6, 16-18

 

Remember that You are Dust, and to Dust, You Shall Return

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent. This season of grace calls on us to question our beliefs and challenge our assumptions about God, our relationships, and our lives. This is the time to take stock of our lives and fall back on God who is merciful. Scripture tells us: “You are merciful to all, O Lord, and despise nothing that you have made. You overlook people’s sins, to bring them to repentance, and you spare them, for you are the Lord our God.” (Wis.11:24, 25, 27). 

2.    As ashes are imposed on our foreheads, we are reminded,’ We are dust, and to dust we shall return.’ The priest will pronounce these exact words as he pours sand over our coffin on the day of burial. A reminder that our circle of life on earth is over and a new life has begun with God. The second option for applying ashes is ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel.’ This theme is heard loud and clear in the first reading. “Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole hearts, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.” (Joel 2:12-13). The Catechism of the Catholic Church, however, warns that “Jesus’ call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, “sackcloth and ashes,” fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures, and works of penance.” (CCC. 1430). It continues, “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time, it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace.” (1431). When we sin, we turn away from God the creator to the created, thereby falling into the sin of Adam and Eve, choosing our ways over God’s ways. The Psalmist admits, “For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always: “Against you only have I sinned; and done what is evil in your sight.” (PS. 51:5-6).

3.    The Second Vatican Council reminds us that “Lenten penance should not only be internal and individual but also external and social, that it should be suitable to the present time…” Hence, the Church calls us to fast from food and abstain from meat and other things that we indulge in memory of the passion and death of Christ. “Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The law of abstinence prohibits the eating of meat, but eggs, milk products, and sauces made from animal fats may be eaten, as may fish and all cold-blooded animals (e.g., frogs, clams, turtles). The law of the fast means that only one full meal may be taken during the day; two light meals are permitted in accord with local custom as to the amount and kind of food. The consumption of solid food between meals is prohibited, but liquids may be taken at any time. The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year of age. The law of fasting, however, binds all those who have attained their majority until the beginning of their sixtieth year.” (Canon 1250-1252).

4.    As we begin this season of grace, let us take a long, loving look at our lives. What we fast from or give up depends on our willingness to embrace the life of grace with the help of God. Three things we must observe: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Prayer brings us to the presence of God as we raise our minds and hearts to him. By fasting, we identify with the suffering humanity, while almsgiving enables us to help them with our gifts. Pope Francis reminds us to fast thus: “Fast from hurting words and say kind words. Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude; fast from anger and be filled with patience; fast from pessimism and be filled with hope; fast from worries and have trust in God; fast from complaints; contemplate simplicity; fast from pressures and be prayerful; fast from bitterness; fill your hearts with joy; fast from selfishness and be compassionate; fast from grudges and be reconciled; fast from words; be silent and listen.” Finally, support any charity of your choice. Give to ‘Faith in Action, Transforming Lives, Impacting Communities’ 2024 annual appeal for Catholic ministries. Our goal is $66,650.00. Please be among the 600 parishioners needed to pledge and pay $120.00 so that we may reach and exceed our goal by the third week of Lent. This, too, is a beautiful way to celebrate the season of Lent. For your divine appointment with the Lord, pray the Penitential Psalms that are very suited for the season: Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51,102, 130, and 143. Let us join our voices in these seven Psalms during Lent and ask for forgiveness for our sins and the sins of the world. Amen.

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP

February 11, 2024, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Year (B)

Readings: Lv. 13:1-2, 44-46; 1 Cor. 10:31-11:1; Mk. 1:40-45 

Go and show yourself to the Priest. 

The first reading described the deplorable condition of lepers. “If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch which appears to be the sore of leprosy, he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest.” (Lv.13:1). According to Fr. Robinson, “Without the sophistication of modern medicine, the term “leprosy” was applied to almost any kind of skin disease: such as ringworm, psoriasis, eczema, and leprosy itself. Anyone afflicted with such diseases was required to avoid contact with anyone else lest the disease spread to the whole community. A ‘leper’ could not work, go to a synagogue or temple, or visit their family. Usually, a ‘leper’ lived in caves or tombs alone or a colony with other lepers.” It was the responsibility of the Priest to declare a leper unclean. Such a person was then cast out of the community.

2.     The leper in today’s gospel knew his dire and deplorable situation. Leprosy can chop off people’s fingers and toes, eating off the earlobes and hardening the stumps left, disfiguring the leper completely. The leper knew he was not to come out in public or near anyone, even Jesus. He dared it all the same. He had no other option than Jesus, who says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (Jn.14:6) Again, “Come to me all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt. 11:28). He was courageous, bold, and hopeful. He must have heard about Jesus, that he was compassionate, kind, merciful, and caring. He approached Jesus, went on his knees, and made his request. “If you wish, you can make me clean.” (Mk. 1:40). His prayer was simple. He surrendered himself and entrusted his sickness into the hands of Jesus. His faith was in God; he was hopeful that “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, he saves those whose spirit is crushed.” (Ps. 34:18-19). Because “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.” (Ps. 125:1). We must have the courage to break free from the status quo and go for what we want. If you want it so badly, then break free and go for it. 

3.     Two instances stand out for me in the bible, among many others, that Jesus touched and transformed people and left them speechless. The first is the woman caught in the act of committing adultery. She was condemned to death; her accusers were waiting with stones in their hands. The law of Moses commanded it, and they were ready to obey. But Jesus uttered those magic words: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (Jn. 8:7). With that, the woman was brought back to life from the brink of death. She was grateful to Jesus and praised him for her life.

4.     The second is the leper in today’s gospel. We heard the prayer of the leper and heard those magic words again from the lips of Jesus: “I do will it. Be made clean.” (Mk. 1:41). And “Leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.” (Mk. 1:42). Then Jesus told him to “go, show yourself to the priest.’ Jesus rescued the leper from isolation, disgrace, pain, distress, rejection, and helplessness. Mark Links states, “The leper’s life was a living hell. People hated seeing him, and he, in turn, hated himself.” The Psalmist describes his wretched condition. “Those who know me are afraid of me; when they see me in the street, they run away…I am like something thrown away.” (Ps. 31:11-12). But the Lord removed from his mouth the words we heard from Job last week, “I shall not see happiness again.” (Job 7:7). Instead, the leper would say, “I waited, waited for the Lord, who bent down and heard my cry. He drew me out of the pit of destruction, out of the swamp’s mud, set my feet upon rock, steadied my steps.” (Ps.40:1-4).

5.     Our world is desperately in need of love. Young people do unthinkable things in the name of love, but Jesus is the lover that the world needs. He will never disappoint us. We are fragile people living in a broken world. But St. Paul reminds us in the second reading that “We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed. For this reason, we never become discouraged.” (2Cor. 4:8-9,16). Let us go out of our way to look for Jesus with our pains, rejection, sin, and sickness. Jesus will touch and heal our wounds. Jesus is the lover who loves us more than anyone else. We are lepers excluded from the community because of our sins. Our sins have hardened our hearts and left us twisted and broken. But Christ will direct us to show ourselves to the Priest in the sacrament of reconciliation so that he may restore us to wholeness and reconcile us to God and one another. Be courageous, be strong, and approach the God who loves and is ready and willing to forgive us. May God bless you now and always! Amen. 

 

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP