Dear parishioners, visitors & friends,

 

In 1996, at the funeral of seven Trappist Monks who were brutally murdered in Algeria by some Islamic fanatics, the local Bishop Pierre Claverie of Oran, who was also murdered by the same people a few months later, said in his homily amongst other things, ‘if Christianity distances itself from the cross of Jesus Christ, its content and strength are lost to a certain extent. The vitality of the Church, her fruitfulness and hope, have their matrix and their roots in the cross of Christ. Nowhere else. All the rest is secondary, leads to illusions and pulls the wool over the eyes. The Church cheats herself and others if she acts like a worldly power, like a humanitarian organisation among other humanitarian organisations or like an enterprise of evangelisation with spectacular effects.’ The harsh reality of the crucifixion can often appear to impede on the deep mystery of the cross and even make the cross almost irreconcilable with everything Christianity stands for. But the truth of the matter is that Christianity rises or falls depending on how Christianity makes sense of the mystery of the cross. ‘If Christ, (who died on the cross), had not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and our faith is in vain,’ (1 Corinthians 15:14). The cross is not an emergency measure adopted by God when everything else had failed. The cross was part of God’s eternal plan for the salvation of sinful humanity. Jesus Christ embraced His death on the cross freely and with a generous spirit. “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends, Christ says” (John 15:13). What was obvious as Jesus Christ took Peter, James and John with him to the Mount of Transfiguration, was that Jesus wanted to seek the approval of God before taking the decisive step to die on cross of Calvary. In the Nicene Creed we profess that Jesus is truly divine, begotten of the Father, consubstantial with the Father, “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.” “The Father and I are one, Jesus says” (John 10:30). They might be one but Christ never did anything without the approval of the God, Christ called ‘Abba, Father. “Obedience is an act of faith; disobedience is the result of unbelief,” Edwin Louis Cole once said. In the first reading, we heard of Abram. He was 72 years when God asked him to leave his present place and settle in a new country. Abram obeyed God, and God credited it to him as righteousness, (Genesis 15:6). Today, there are Catholics who are involved in anti-Catholic teachings. They want to be part of the Church but they hate the moral principles of the Church. Christ showed an utter obedience to God. The presence of Elijah and Moses clarified things for Christ. Moses received the Law from God on Mount Sinai and Elijah could be regarded as the greatest of the prophets. They were on the Mountain to give Christ the Ok. As Christians, an authentic and genuine life of freedom and liberation requires of us a profound transformation, and total metanoia. Christ constantly sought the face of God in prayer. Christ was in prayer, in union with the Father, and as He prayed, ‘the aspect of His face was changed and His clothing became brilliant as lightning.’ It is good that we have started the season of Lent. But we need to ensure that this year’s season of lent is special to us individually and communally. We need to be deliberate and intentional in our Lenten observances. Our prayers, fasting and alms-giving need to draw us into the mystery of our being, and into the depth of where we are physically and spiritually united with our God. Just as Peter, James and John descended from the mountain to resume normal living, I hope and pray that our Lenten journey may not leave us isolated but enable us to engage and make a difference in the life of people we meet beyond the walls of our Parish Chapel or the Worship Centre.

 

God bless you all.

Fr. John Ikechukwu Echewodo

Parish Priest