Fr. Jo's Reflection for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, January 25, 2026
January 23, 2026
From the theme of “Manifestation to the Gentiles” on the Epiphany of the Lord, to last Sunday’s theme of the “Lamb of God who takes away sins,” we’re greeted on this 3rd Sunday with the theme of “light that overpowers darkness.” The arrest of John the Baptist is used by Matthew to introduce this theme of darkness begging for the light, which only Christ can bring. Christ is the true light to all nations. He became the light for the forgotten towns of Naphtali and Zebulun. These were called the “Lost Tribes of Israel” because they were decimated by the Assyrians in 722 BC, but later became influential because Christ the true Light of the World began His ministry there and was called “Jesus of Nazareth.” Nazareth was north of the Sea of Galilee. In the first reading and the gospel, both Isaiah and Matthew referred to this city by their original names—Naphtali and Zebulun. These names would conjure a feeling of dread in many who would remember nothing but the assault by the Assyrians. Yet, Matthew, quoting Isaiah, declares the Good News that their darkness has been overpowered by the light of Christ.
In the summer of 2007, it was reported that while a group of tourists were inside the Arch of St. Louis, the lights suddenly went out. Among those trapped in the dark were two children, an eight-year-old boy and her five-year-old sister. It was a very scary situation, especially for the kids. As the little girl began to cry, her eight-year-old brother was heard telling his sister, “Don’t worry, Amy! There’s a man around who knows how to turn the lights on again.” As he said this, the lights came back.
Each of us needs a voice that promises hope in our darkness. Perhaps our own darkness is fear, sickness, some hurt or grudge we refuse to let go of, unforgiveness or a pattern of unhealthy behavior to which we’re sliding and conjuring hard substances and excuses with which to numb our brain and conscience. Our only help might be a thorough illumination of our darkness, a shining of light to our darkest nights and secrets so they can become cauterized and healed. A question that each of us should direct to no other than ourselves is: “Where in my life do I need some shining of the light of Christ?”
Certainly, we have areas of our lives that need some illumination, without which we may remain in our darkness and confusion. But the light of Christ brings clarity, love, and healing. Gradually, we’ll realize that we have more peace, more joy, more wholeness, and have become more lightsome and able to fix other minor dark spots both in our lives and those of our loved ones. If we honestly seek Him with all our heart, we’ll realize that He is that man around the “arch of our soul” who knows how to turn on the light and banish our fears.
St. John Henry Newman was someone who knew something about this light, understood it, and sought it himself. During the period when every long-distance travel was by boat, Newman was returning from Italy to his native England when his boat was detained in Sicily. There, he fell ill and nearly died. During his convalescence, he penned down a poem that has become a popular hymn for night prayer, describing his search for the light of Christ:
Lead kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom; lead Thou me on
The night is dark and I am far from home; lead Thou me on
Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see; the distant scene, one step enough for me.
As we enter the week of Prayer for Christian Unity in this cold deadness of winter, we pray for the light of Christ, which alone would lead us out of the ghettos of isolation to the bond of love and unity. St. Paul reprimands us for creating and holding on to factions and claiming that we understand and possess Jesus more than others. After 500+ years of division, all Christian people must let the light of Christ destroy our darkness of division.
Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
John the Baptist is unlike many of us in many ways. For example, we have a natural tendency to take the credit when things under our watch turn out right, though we might not have contributed effectively to those outcomes. John the Baptist, however, refused to be a “wannabe Messiah;” though his entire entourage thought him to be the Messiah and wanted to proclaim him one. He refused that accolade: “I am not the one you imagine me to be” (John 1:20). Today’s Gospel starts with him pointing to the people the one who is the Lamb of God. Once he saw Jesus, he proclaimed the words we hear at every Mass “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He went further to describe in detail the characteristics of the Messiah, one of which is that “the Spirit will come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him; hence, he will baptize with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:32-33). John the Baptist will never take credit for a feat he didn’t perform or a role for which he hasn’t been called. He is content to assume his true identity and be himself. His name is “the voice,” and not “the Word.” But there’s something curious about this Messiah: He is a Lamb. Lamb? Imagine a football team emerging for the Superbowl with the name: “The Lambs.” That’s not the type of names we’re used to or a name to which hard-hitting players would want to be associated. Avid fans and stars prefer names like the Panthers, the Tigers, the Lions, the Bulls, the Hurricanes, and the Cowboys etc., which depict strength. Isn’t it so? What is rather strange is that the one who is truly Almighty chose a rather humble name for his own team: “The Lamb.” Tt teaches us something about how the Almighty sees and understands real strength and the spiritual meaning of power? You may know that the Book of Revelation referred to Jesus as the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Rev 5:5), but the symbolism of the Lamb is more intimately connected with his Messianic role. In fact, the Lamb symbol does have a rich history that is associated with precise salvific events, like the lamb of the Passover (Exodus 12:5), linked by Peter to the “lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19), the lamb of the Last Supper (Mark 14:12), and the Lamb of the Book of Revelation that “appeared as if it had been slain” (Rev 5:6). This victorious Lamb is the one of which we sing in the great work of Handel Messiah “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,” often depicted in Christian art as wounded, yet holding triumphantly a pennant victory flag. Significantly, the lamb is the animal that sacrifices everything: its wool, its skin, its flesh. It keeps nothing to itself, and hence, is God’s chosen sign of victory. Some Christians with many in our world have a hard time grappling with this idea that Christ frees us from our sin. Perhaps they do not understand because sin is like living in a bubble. The culprits do not see it. We often do not see how sin affects us, how it damages our relationships, and causes us to hurt each other. Recent events show that we are more likely to shove sin away and blame other people, rather than look inward to see the terrible cancer eating our lives away. Politicians find ways to change the narrative of an event so that the blameless becomes the blameworthy. Shifting the discussion to something else means we remain in the mud. The lamb theology is what the world generally misses in the clamor for power and prestige. The world will readily hand the flag of victory to the Caesars, Alexander the Great, George Washington, etc., but Christians declare that victory belongs to the Lamb through whom alone our sins can be washed away and who speaks words of gentleness, love, and peace. We declare that the lamb is stronger than the lion and that the gentlest ones are the toughest. Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
The feast of the Baptism of the Lord is like a climax of the Christmas feast. Christmas celebrates the incarnation or God becoming a human being. God has a nature different from ours, the same way humans have a nature different from plants. We do have something in common with plants: we are creatures. With regard to God, scripture tells us that we are made in His image. And while that says something significant about humans, we need not be overly elated about that, just as a grass effigy need not rejoice that it is fashioned in the likeness of a human being. Incarnation or Christmas for plants would mean that one of us took the nature of plant, just as for us it means that God took our nature. I don’t really know what the most despicable thing about plants is. But I know what it is for human beings. It is the three-letter word: SIN. Today’s feast is about God’s identification with our sin condition. This explains why John the Baptist, who perhaps understood well who Jesus was, protested that he was unworthy to baptize Jesus as He didn’t have any sin. Jesus’ insistence to be baptized is curious; yet, it actually looks like the climax of the incarnation—for He desired to become one with us in our sinfulness, even without having any sin. This was a moment of great divide: the old would give way to the new. The Spirit of God which hovered over the deep on the original creation (Gen 1:2) would now descend like a dove upon Him, signaling a new creation. This new beginning was sometime in the past signaled to Noah after the dove returned to him bearing an olive branch to indicate that salvation—symbolized by dry land and fruitfulness—have appeared after the great flood (Gen 8:11). It was Noah’s dove, not Noah himself, which found dry land, and returning brought an olive branch, also symbolizing peace. The flood in Noah’s time is a prefigurement of the baptismal waters that make an end of sin and a new beginning of goodness (The Rite of Baptism). And through the waters of the Red Sea, God led Israel out of slavery, to be an image of God’s holy people, set free from sin by baptism (The Rite of Baptism). Christ’s descent into the Baptismal water was meant to sanctify it, in order to quell its destructive power over God’s people, just as He did at the Red Sea. The Holy Spirit descending as a dove on Jesus, just as He brought an olive branch to Noah, signals the arrival of God’s favor and peace, a form of dry land, and an assurance of salvation. Baptism is full of rich symbolisms. Whenever you’re present for a baby’s baptism, look out for symbolisms—like the shape of the baptismal font. Here at St. John, it is shaped like a womb from which children are begotten in the Spirit. The baptismal fonts at St. Pius X and St. Bernard’s in Tulsa are made in the form of a grave from which Christians are raised to new life in Christ. The cathedral of Burgos-Spain, for example, (one of the cathedrals we visited during our last pilgrimage) has a very large circular section where the baptismal font is located. It’s large enough for the entire congregation to gather around the baptismal font to witness the first entrance into the living family of God of those born anew and redeemed by Christ. St. Hilary of Poitiers taught that “everything that happened to Christ during his Baptism happens to us. After the birth of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us from high heaven, and we become adopted by the Father’s voice, calling us His sons and daughters.” Baptism is our greatest gift from God: it is God’s very life and love that we share when we’re baptized. Through this new life, we overcome Adam’s sinful death. It is a love that overpowers and wins us away from love of self to the love of God and our neighbor unto His glory. Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
If ever you have felt comfortable to watch the program on TV called “Modern Family,” I duff my hat for you. When in the late seventies and early eighties, the program: “The American Family: An Endangered Species?” aired on NBC, one in four families had the traditional family structure, 40% of marriages ended in divorce, and there were six million single parent families only . If you think that was bad, you’ll be shell-shocked by today’s statistics, which I’ll spare you. But consider that in the eighties, gay marriage hadn’t become law and it would have been unheard of to think one could choose his or her gender; threesomes and foursomes were still deviant behaviors. The various step-situations we have today were merely tolerated then, and having children outside wedlock was still frowned at. Against this backdrop of today’s family, the Church presents us with the Holy Family of Nazareth. It may sound strange to many brought up and living in present day families to learn that a family situation like that of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus was even possible. Not that things were all pretty and dandy for them. In fact, they contended with most or even much more of the complexities and worries of life than the average family. For example, we love to put up the Nativity Scene in our heated and air-conditioned living rooms and churches, often forgetting that the stable of Bethlehem was cold and uncomfortable, smelt of animal feces, and lacked doctors and nurses to aid in child delivery. The Holy Family was so poor that at the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, the family could only afford the offering of the poor—two pigeons. Joseph was a carpenter, barely able to put food on the table. While we cry and fret about bad politicians, we have not been targeted by government to the extent that we’ll need to escape to another country as fugitives. The Holy Family experienced fear, sorrow and disappointments, yet held on hope and resigned to God’s plan. We too may face difficulties, missteps and uncertain situations, and have the Holy Family as our mentor. In our church family as members of St. John’s parish or any other parish, it is possible, too, to feel abandoned like several families with runaway or separated fathers. But today’s feast can also help us reflect on the adverse effects that contemporary ethos has brought upon the family. More than 50 years after the encyclical, Humanae Vitae, by Pope Paul IV, we are living witnesses of the calamity he predicted about the family faced with a vehement contraceptive culture. St. Paul VI, as a true prophet, warned of four resulting trends: 1) a general lowering of moral standards throughout society, 2) a rise in infidelity, 3) a lessening of respect for women by men, and 4) a coercive use of reproductive technologies by governments. Do you need any argument to show that modern society has acquiesced to lower moral standards that are not just tolerated but radically enforced as the norm? You become a social outcast today if you do not accept abortion, homosexuality, gender fluidity, cohabitation, and pornography. About rise in infidelity and lessening of respect for women, we need look no further than the myriads of allegations of sexual exploitation of women and children roiling Hollywood and several in the political class. The pill was supposed to free everybody from sexual slavery, but look what it has given society—a greater percentage of men and women registered as sex-offenders, sexual molestation and exploitation of children and women, a deadening of the male libido in relation to real women, and solace in porn and online adultery. The HHS Mandate of the Obama era was an example of the coercive enforcement of the contraceptive culture by government as predicted by Prophet Paul VI. As we enter a new temporal year, we are called to recover the priceless jewel of family life seen in the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We must refuse to connive with the forces that threaten the family. Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
If ever you have felt comfortable to watch the program on TV called “Modern Family,” I duff my hat for you. When in the late seventies and early eighties, the program: “The American Family: An Endangered Species?” aired on NBC, one in four families had the traditional family structure, 40% of marriages ended in divorce, and there were six million single parent families only . If you think that was bad, you’ll be shell-shocked by today’s statistics, which I’ll spare you. But consider that in the eighties, gay marriage hadn’t become law and it would have been unheard of to think one could choose his or her gender; threesomes and foursomes were still deviant behaviors. The various step-situations we have today were merely tolerated then, and having children outside wedlock was still frowned at. Against this backdrop of today’s family, the Church presents us with the Holy Family of Nazareth. It may sound strange to many brought up and living in present day families to learn that a family situation like that of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus was even possible. Not that things were all pretty and dandy for them. In fact, they contended with most or even much more of the complexities and worries of life than the average family. For example, we love to put up the Nativity Scene in our heated and air-conditioned living rooms and churches, often forgetting that the stable of Bethlehem was cold and uncomfortable, smelt of animal feces, and lacked doctors and nurses to aid in child delivery. The Holy Family was so poor that at the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, the family could only afford the offering of the poor—two pigeons. Joseph was a carpenter, barely able to put food on the table. While we cry and fret about bad politicians, we have not been targeted by government to the extent that we’ll need to escape to another country as fugitives. The Holy Family experienced fear, sorrow and disappointments, yet held on hope and resigned to God’s plan. We too may face difficulties, missteps and uncertain situations, and have the Holy Family as our mentor. In our church family as members of St. John’s parish or any other parish, it is possible, too, to feel abandoned like several families with runaway or separated fathers. But today’s feast can also help us reflect on the adverse effects that contemporary ethos has brought upon the family. More than 50 years after the encyclical, Humanae Vitae, by Pope Paul IV, we are living witnesses of the calamity he predicted about the family faced with a vehement contraceptive culture. St. Paul VI, as a true prophet, warned of four resulting trends: 1) a general lowering of moral standards throughout society, 2) a rise in infidelity, 3) a lessening of respect for women by men, and 4) a coercive use of reproductive technologies by governments. Do you need any argument to show that modern society has acquiesced to lower moral standards that are not just tolerated but radically enforced as the norm? You become a social outcast today if you do not accept abortion, homosexuality, gender fluidity, cohabitation, and pornography. About rise in infidelity and lessening of respect for women, we need look no further than the myriads of allegations of sexual exploitation of women and children roiling Hollywood and several in the political class. The pill was supposed to free everybody from sexual slavery, but look what it has given society—a greater percentage of men and women registered as sex-offenders, sexual molestation and exploitation of children and women, a deadening of the male libido in relation to real women, and solace in porn and online adultery. The HHS Mandate of the Obama era was an example of the coercive enforcement of the contraceptive culture by government as predicted by Prophet Paul VI. As we enter a new temporal year, we are called to recover the priceless jewel of family life seen in the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We must refuse to connive with the forces that threaten the family. Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
If we’ll all be honest, we’ll admit that at some point or occasion in our life we’ve asked a similar question as John the Baptist did today. We often wonder and even ask Jesus: “Are you really the one who is supposed to save the world? Then, why are you not stepping up and doing it? See the mess in which the world is; look how truth is perverted; see how bad people progress and the innocent suffer; look how little Emily who has done nothing wrong is suffering from cancer. Whether you’ve been tempted to take the atheistic position that there’s no God or that He doesn’t care, the answer that Jesus offers is that you look at the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. Yes, God is doing His work, bringing the Good News to the poor and deliverance to captives. The quest for automatic and man-made solutions to world problems may blind us from seeing with the eyes of faith. We need to evoke the wisdom of the elder James who calls us today to “take as our models in suffering, hardship, and patience... the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord” (James 5:10). The year was roughly AD 31. John was ‘languishing’ in a Southern Palestinian jail. He’d been for six months in the prison dungeon located in the fortress of Machaerus, overlooking the Dead Sea. Prior to that, he’d announced to all the imminent arrival of the Messiah who would make all things right. Well, bad for him, he’d stepped on a lot of toes. He called people “brood of vipers,” “enemies of righteousness,” told them they were sinners, should repent or burn. Everyone tolerated John the Disturber until he publicly chastised king Herod about his adultery with Herodias—his brother’s wife. For daring to make such politically incorrect statement, he was thrown in jail. John the Baptist would not be the last person to suffer for proclaiming the truth. We experience today a vehement resistance to truth. Hardly do people give straight forward answers to questions of right and wrong. Facts are molded to suit the desires of the populace who seek flattery rather than truth. Truth has been declared unattainable and unknowable—so, you’re told not to bother about seeking it. If you fan your errors hard enough, they can become “your truth,” and you can sell it to the morally unfree society. Not wanting are books, videos and pressure groups that seek to or actively justify every behavior. Forget about universal laws; what’s important is how compelling your words are. The 10 Commandments are but 10 suggestions. Several Christian groups have discarded the biblical truth that, we will be judged according to our deeds. Judgment turns to the farce that happens in some law courts, where you can sway a jury to your side by just making yourself likeable. Yet, I know that not everyone has bought into this sting operation against truth. If you’re still attracted to the truth—not minding whether or not it is popular or politically correct—then this Sunday is your day. It is called Gaudete Sunday (Rejoice Sunday), because both the prophet Isaiah, the elder apostle James, John the Baptist, and the Lord Jesus Himself call us to experience true joy. That joy comes your way when you examine your conscience and discover that you need God’s mercy. Also, you may have found that you missed Mass on Sunday and the past one or two Holy Days of Obligation (All Saints and Immaculate Conception), that you have cheated your employer, employee or someone else, that you have told lies against others, that you have not contributed to the Church, that you have received the Eucharist with grave sins in your heart, etc., etc. Someone may say: “I don’t agree that those things are sinful.” You are free to live in your make-belief world. But if you believe that the Church cannot prescribe bad spiritual medicine to you, then examine your conscience, confess your sins, and win God’s pardon this Advent. You will certainly experience the peace and joy that the Savior brings at His birth. Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
As TV News and programs become increasingly unwatchable these days, I’ve made the conscious decision to only watch the Animal Channels. There, the big cats—tigers, lions, Chita, leopards are the lords of the wild, and they easily make meal of all other wildlife, big or small. Yet, occasionally I’ll see a baboon or—the really intriguing one—a coyote or one of the wolves tear a leopard to pieces. Life in the wild is never pretty; but that’s why it’s called wildlife. Politics in America is also turning society into a dangerous wildlife. The lives of people seeking public office are turned into grill for the media meal. Insult and calumny fall easily from the pens and lips of many in the media who seek one more ingredient to add to their soup of slander. As worked up as society is presently, our remedy would be the prophetic voice of Isaiah who proclaims peaceful coexistence between the wolf and the lamb, the cow and the bear, the calf and the lion; and going on, republicans and democrats, progressives and traditionalists, the media and the populace, the college professor and the factory worker. I doubt that we will ever see a world like Isaiah described. Yet, prayers must be offered for the healing of the terrible rift engineered by politics in America. I surmise that only Jesus, the Prince of Peace can do it. Unless we run to Him, the only peace we’ll experience going on in our society will be that of the cemetery. Clearly, something terrible is happening to our collective psyche: We are no longer able to tell each other the truth; we fear correcting our children and those placed in our charge; we are unable to argue reasonably for any position; any instance of disagreement causes the trauma of microaggression needing some ‘safe healing spaces’ to shelter from disconcerting moods; we have airbrushed sin away and have turned religion into cherry vanilla ice cream; we have detached from God and turned on each other. I heard recently that a social-media panic ensued in one of our colleges because a student saw a priest in white robe, with a cincture and rosary beads tied to his waist, and identified him as someone “in a KKK outfit holding a whip.” Thank God the priest wasn’t lynched, but a pity that the children we send to college cannot identify a priest when they see one. We are gradually being overrun by hysteria. God sends John the Baptist this Advent to awaken in us the sense of responsibility and the need to seek healing from this hysteria. St. Paul echoing the same message adds that we must think in harmony with one another. To the men and women of our time, John might as well be “John the Disturber, ” upsetting people’s quiet and peace of mind. However, John’s message of repentance and restoration is the only healing balm for our sin condition. He announces a coming wrath from which we must flee. We must repent from our sins and not think that we only blew our cool. He asks us to produce good fruits as evidence of our repentance. He wants us to be a voice for good, not a whisper; a burning torch, not a dying bulb. John’s austere life carries a message to abandon our pursuit of illusory wealth and pleasure which foster a false sense of security. He invites us to open our lives to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit with His sevenfold gifts that Isaiah prophesied in the first reading: a spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge, purity and the fear of the Lord . Some would prefer that John the Baptist to tells them: “Have a nice day” or “you’re cool.” There are many who will feel happy if that’s the only message they heard in today’s homily. If ever you need such feel-good sermon this Advent, I advise that you tune in to the likes of Joel Osteen or pay money to attend their concert. But to bury sin with such socio-economic buzzwords is to leave us as we are and sell Christ out, making a caricature of His incarnation and saving death on the cross. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus! Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
As TV News and programs become increasingly unwatchable these days, I’ve made the conscious decision to only watch the Animal Channels. There, the big cats—tigers, lions, Chita, leopards are the lords of the wild, and they easily make meal of all other wildlife, big or small. Yet, occasionally I’ll see a baboon or—the really intriguing one—a coyote or one of the wolves tear a leopard to pieces. Life in the wild is never pretty; but that’s why it’s called wildlife. Politics in America is also turning society into a dangerous wildlife. The lives of people seeking public office are turned into grill for the media meal. Insult and calumny fall easily from the pens and lips of many in the media who seek one more ingredient to add to their soup of slander. As worked up as society is presently, our remedy would be the prophetic voice of Isaiah who proclaims peaceful coexistence between the wolf and the lamb, the cow and the bear, the calf and the lion; and going on, republicans and democrats, progressives and traditionalists, the media and the populace, the college professor and the factory worker. I doubt that we will ever see a world like Isaiah described. Yet, prayers must be offered for the healing of the terrible rift engineered by politics in America. I surmise that only Jesus, the Prince of Peace can do it. Unless we run to Him, the only peace we’ll experience going on in our society will be that of the cemetery. Clearly, something terrible is happening to our collective psyche: We are no longer able to tell each other the truth; we fear correcting our children and those placed in our charge; we are unable to argue reasonably for any position; any instance of disagreement causes the trauma of microaggression needing some ‘safe healing spaces’ to shelter from disconcerting moods; we have airbrushed sin away and have turned religion into cherry vanilla ice cream; we have detached from God and turned on each other. I heard recently that a social-media panic ensued in one of our colleges because a student saw a priest in white robe, with a cincture and rosary beads tied to his waist, and identified him as someone “in a KKK outfit holding a whip.” Thank God the priest wasn’t lynched, but a pity that the children we send to college cannot identify a priest when they see one. We are gradually being overrun by hysteria. God sends John the Baptist this Advent to awaken in us the sense of responsibility and the need to seek healing from this hysteria. St. Paul echoing the same message adds that we must think in harmony with one another. To the men and women of our time, John might as well be “John the Disturber, ” upsetting people’s quiet and peace of mind. However, John’s message of repentance and restoration is the only healing balm for our sin condition. He announces a coming wrath from which we must flee. We must repent from our sins and not think that we only blew our cool. He asks us to produce good fruits as evidence of our repentance. He wants us to be a voice for good, not a whisper; a burning torch, not a dying bulb. John’s austere life carries a message to abandon our pursuit of illusory wealth and pleasure which foster a false sense of security. He invites us to open our lives to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit with His sevenfold gifts that Isaiah prophesied in the first reading: a spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge, purity and the fear of the Lord . Some would prefer that John the Baptist to tells them: “Have a nice day” or “you’re cool.” There are many who will feel happy if that’s the only message they heard in today’s homily. If ever you need such feel-good sermon this Advent, I advise that you tune in to the likes of Joel Osteen or pay money to attend their concert. But to bury sin with such socio-economic buzzwords is to leave us as we are and sell Christ out, making a caricature of His incarnation and saving death on the cross. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus! Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
In his Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis has a line of reflection for people slow to turn from evil and reform their lives: Student-devils were getting prepared to be dispatched to the earth to complete their coursework in causing mayhem. Satan held a one-on-one interview with each of them. To the first student, he asked: “What’s your strategy?” to which he responded, “I’ll instruct them that God doesn’t exist.” Satan shook his head and responded, “Not so smart; most of them know our enemy exists. Next...” The next student entered: “I’ll persuasively argue that there’s nothing like hell,” to which the devil responded: “No way, after millions of abortions and murderous wars, they do know that hell exists. Next...” Then came the last student, a she-devil intern. She revealed that her strategy would be to tell humanity that they have plenty of time, to which the devil responded with a shrill smile: “Smart woman. Do that and you’ll bring them down here in droves.” Advent comes, Advent goes! Year after year we arrive at this beginning of the liturgical year. We bring the same message that the coming of the Lord is near, as we have done for 2000 years. Someone may wink and role her eyes, saying: “Here we go again; the priests are going to once again scare us with end of the world messages; an end that doesn’t really come.” If that’s your default position, you must have been listening to Screwtape’s she-devil and believing that there’s plenty of time. Jesus reminds us today about a similar attitude that was prevalent during the time of Noah. People thought Noah was insane to be building a humongous ark in preparation for a flood that they considered a figment of his imagination. Given the number of improbable things that are happenings these days, we should better be on the watch. On the positive side, there’s considerable number of converts to the Catholic faith. Yet, quite a good number, especially younger women, are abandoning the faith. Many are yet to wake up to the reality that God has been giving us signs pointing to the eventual end. Screwtape’s she-devil might not really any longer be that smart; her code has been cracked. Reading the signs of the time, it’ll be smarter to admit that the end is nearer than many would want to believe. As you get busy putting out the lights, preparing the Christmas Tree, setting the manger scene, and buying Christmas gifts, I’ve this simple advice: This is a year of improbabilities. Spend some time to reflect on your life and on your eternal destiny. Consider the possibility that you’re using up your last chance and could be lost forever. Jesus cautions that we beware of letting our hearts become coarsened with debauchery, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and that day springs on us like a trap or a thief at night. What’s the trap for which we should be watching out? Who is the thief? Anything or anyone who would steal our eternal salvation from us must be put in check. The thieves we should be vigilant to stop this Advent are forces, influences, temptations that would steal the beautiful life that God has in store for us. If we succeed in warding off the night-thief, then would the Lord break into our heart and soul with His peace and serenity. That is the beauty of the incarnation. God Himself comes in the form of a babe to destroy all that could keep us from Him. You might still say: “Not yet. I have some fun to catch up with; I have a business deal to complete that would rake in millions; maybe after the holiday.” The story is told about two Catholics who talked about salvation over drinks. One said: “I’m making my confession on my death-bed like the good thief.” His buddy replied: “There were two thieves on the cross; one of them didn’t make it to confession even though he had the eternal high priest with them. What makes you think you won’t be the other thief?” Evidently, as you live your life, so shall you die. Last minute repentance is a grace given only to a few. The time to repent is NOW! Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
For a Hebrew person, the name David represented strength, wisdom, conquest, leadership. Despite his recorded moral misadventures, the Jews remember him as their most illustrious leader. When they suffered terrible persecution under foreign rulers who enslaved and oppressed them, they remembered David and hoped for a king with the talents and capabilities of David. The prophets had assured them that another king will arise from David’s stock, an anointed one ( Christos ), who, like David would be strong, a conqueror of nations, with power to establish the prosperous reign of God. The two disciples who met the Lord on the road to Emmaus voiced their disappointment with Jesus who, they thought, was this new king: “We were hoping that he would be the one to set Israel free” (Lk 12:21). From every indication He failed the “king” test. He was at best a wannabe-king . No real king would stand before another king handcuffed as he defends his kingship under interrogation. What definitely showed Him a weak earthly king was the crown He wore made of thorns, and not gold. The reactions of the individuals around the cross reveal a taunting deserving of an impostor or one of the “deplorables.” Like them or hate them, the Romans have incredible sense of humor—seen in Pilate’s inscription written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek to ensure that anyone in the world who could read saw and read it: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” It was a mockery to both Jesus and His Jewish folks. Pilate kind of says: “What a king you have in this one ...try another.” Yet, in this gloom and doom, someone saw a true king, and he was a thief. Church tradition holds that this thief, Demas, who was meeting Jesus a second time in his life was a Judean Robin Hood. Their earlier meeting occurred during the flight to Egypt by Jesus and His parents. Demas and his friend—the other thief—accosted the Holy Family to rob them. Demas seeing how lovely the Baby was could not bear to lay hands on them or steal their possessions. He was quoted as saying: “O most blessed of children, if ever there come a time for having mercy on me, then remember me and forget not this hour” as he escorted the family out of harm’s way. That second meeting happened at Calvary as he hung beside the One he had, thirty three years before, protected. This was the juncture at which the mercy of God would be extended to him: for, as long as a person’s heart beats, the door to God’s merciful heart remains open. Mercy is the balm of God’s love. Mercy is the door to God’s heart. Mercy is the highway to heaven. God doesn’t wish to pull us kicking and screaming along this road. He asks us to make an introspection so we may hear the sound of His voice in our consciences where He rules supreme. It is in our conscience that He has established His government house, His Supreme Court and Congress. We may try, but we cannot escape that court of God. We may protest the voice of conscience, but it never ceases to point to us the good and the evil in our lives. God would not send Fr. Jo to your homes to monitor how you live, whether you cheat on your wife...your employer, your taxes; whether you pray and teach same to your children, whether you use artificial birth control, whether you visit pornographic websites in your computer and other devises, etc., etc. It so happens, though, that because these are based on truth, whenever we speak of them, your conscience is disturbed. That’s the true meaning of kingship. Nearing the close of the Jubilee Year of Hope , this gospel story tells us that God’s mercy endures forever and it’s never too late to embrace it. As king, Jesus invites us as He invited the good thief to walk with Him as a companion of the garden or paradise. Paradise is a Persian word for “a walled garden.” And like a Persian king, who, wishing to do a favor to his subject would invite him as a companion of the garden, Jesus invites the good thief and us to walk with Him in the honored place of the garden of heaven (Barclay). Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
The clock in my office won’t work, even after replacing the batteries, so I went to buy a new clock. Getting back to the car, I saw a ticket tucked to the windshield, which got me really upset! I exited the vehicle to check whether I had parked wrongly or at a reserved parking spot. Everything appeared fine. I pulled out the ticket and unfolding it, I saw written in bold prints: “Where will you spend eternity?” A few other sentences with misspellings warned about the imminent arrival of Jesus and why I should seek my salvation from a Baptist Church listed in the address. So, it wasn’t after-all a ticket. I relaxed my already upset nerves and looking around I could see that all the cars in the lot had the “ticket.” I pulled out of the lot; but seriously, those words, “Where will you spend eternity” stuck to mind. The experience reminded me about the words of the scripture scholar, Raymond Brown, that “End-of-the-World” preachers provide us a valuable lesson: keeping the Second Coming at our attention and reminding us of the words we say or sing, often without attention, at Mass. For example: at the Creed we say: “ He will come again in glory to JUDGE the living and the dead;” or at the Memorial acclamation: “When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again .” As it did for me, may that “ticket” I got renew in everyone’s heart the desire for the great coming of the Lord! You’d have noticed from today’s readings references to the end and the Second Coming. Those who know that the liturgical year has 34 Sundays and that today is the 33rd Sunday won’t be surprised that the Church is presenting to us this theme of the Second coming. We’re not to idle our time away like the Thessalonians whom Paul sternly admonishes in the second reading. We cannot keep minding everybody’s business but our own. We have no other option, after witnessing the various recorded attempts on Christians, than to gird our loins for what faces us. I will no longer need to preach about being intentional about our faith; the circumstances to which we are confronted leave no other choice for you. You have to decide to be intentional Catholics or “nones,” children of the kingdom or of the blindly innocuous world, a counter-cultural people or people who have no morals, and most importantly, a force for good in our society. In the Gospel, Jesus asks us not to get flustered, distraught or full of anxiety, like those who mindlessly refuse to commit their lives to the kingdom. As persecution from the world is ominous, we have rich opportunities to become witnesses. It’s no longer just the early Christians to whom today’s message is addressed; they’ve had their share of persecution. The words: “You’ll be delivered up to those who will kill you for being faithful” was heard by all the early Church martyrs, but also by Oscar Romero, by Maximilian Kolbe, by the Coptic martyrs of Egypt, by Fr. Jacques Hamel, by the persecuted Christians in Nigerian, and by you and me. Those words are addressed to all who throughout the ages suffered for their faith and would continue to so suffer. When you are mocked by the media for hanging on to what they present as a dated morality, you are part of the persecuted Church. When you hold on to traditional family values and prefer responsibility over the forces that deify selfishness and self-gratification, you are a member of the persecuted Church. You will even suffer and be treated with scorn for telling your 19-year-old daughter that it isn’t right for her to move in with Tom without the benefit of marriage. You’ll be told that you have “archaic morals;” but that’s part of the persecution you’ll face for being a child of the kingdom. The Lord’s promise that “through patient endurance, you’re saving your life” (Lk 21:19) should gladden your heart; for, according to Barclay, “a prison can be like a palace, a scaffold like a throne, the storms of life like summer weather, when Christ is with us.” Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo
