By His Wounds, We are Healed

Sermon by Fr. Joseph Mungai

Good Friday, April 14, 2017

St. John the Apostle Awasi Catholic Church, Kisumu Archdiocese, Kenya

This is a very wounded world we live in.  No one is exempted.  This is what original sin is all about; because of our wounded nature, we keep on hurting each other, consciously or unconsciously, even though we desire to love and care for each other.

Indeed, when we reflect on the gospel text (Jn. 18:1-19:42)  we can identify with the different characters in the Passion play.  In fact, this explains why on Palm Sunday and on Good Friday, the congregation is asked to speak for those characters who denied Jesus and the crowd who called for His execution.  In so doing the Church reminds us that all of us have different roles to play in the suffering, not just of Christ but of the world. 

Let us not be naïve and think that we are suffering because others have done us injustice.  We have our part to play in every problem, misunderstanding, quarrel or conflict.

So today, if you feel that you are alone in your suffering, assuredly you are not.  The world suffers too.  Most of all, Jesus suffers in His humanity and His love. If you feel betrayed in a relationship -- with your spouse, your children, your close friend -- remember Jesus endured that as well.  

He was abandoned by His apostles; even Peter, James and John could not keep vigil with Him in His final moments.  But what is most heart-breaking is that one of the Twelve

betrayed Jesus and sold Him out for money!  If you were Jesus, you would have been heartbroken too.  No wounds pierce our hearts deeper than those inflicted by people we love.

Equally painful for Jesus was to know that His chief apostle, Peter, lacked the courage to acknowledge their friendship even to a maid and some servants.   That is how we feel too.  In times of trouble, our bosses do not stand up for us. In

times of failure, even our parents and loved ones condemn us.  In times of need, our friends play us out and abandon us.  Few stand up to defend us publicly, although in private they say they support us.  This is the truth.  Many lack courage to risk their lives to stand up for others even though they are right.  We all want to be accepted and to be popular.  We see

which direction the wind is blowing and accordingly, we choose what is in our best interest; not for what is right.   This was the case for Pilate as well.  He saw the devious intentions of the priests, but instead of taking a firm stand on Jesus’ innocence, he allowed the popular wish of the people to determine the fate of Jesus for fear of losing his office and position.

Then there are others who are enslaved by past hurts and resentments.  We find it difficult to forgive those who have hurt us, much less to forget the psychological pain.  Some of us carry our wounds for years.  We cannot forgive our siblings or even our parents for failing us.   Indeed, much of our pains today is due to the inability to let go of those hurts that wound us deeply.  We bear so much resentment.  But

what we see at the cross is the silence of those who had been wounded.  Jesus was silent and only uttered words of excuses and forgiveness for His enemies.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, grieved silently with Him but uttered no words of anger or hatred.  With Jesus, she would have said in her heart as well, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”

Finally, some of us cannot accept our illnesses, our immobility or are still grieving over the death of a loved one.  We are angry with God that we are not able to look after ourselves.   We cannot accept that He took away our loved ones, especially if they had suffered a sudden death, such as in an accident, or even from a short illness.  Departures are always painful, as they create a vacuum in our lives, knowing that we cannot see or touch or hear them anymore.  Someone has to be blamed and we cannot understand why God is so cruel to take away someone whom we love and depend on so badly, leaving us alone.

What must we do?  How can we heal our pains?  The prophet Isaiah says, “through his wounds we are healed.”   How do the wounds of Jesus heal us?  He shared our sufferings. Not only that, but He carried our sufferings on our behalf.   

He was without sin and He suffered unjustly and innocently for our sake.  “They gave him a grave with the wicked, a tomb with the rich, though he had done no wrong and there had been no perjury in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:9)

Unlike us, He was not suffering for His sins.  As Isaiah says, “And yet ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried. But we, we thought of him as someone punished, struck by God, and brought low. Yet he was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins.  On him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and through him his wounds we are healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, and the Lord burdened him with the sins of all of us.”  (Isaiah 53:4-6) Jesus suffered to waken us to our sins and to God’s love and mercy.

Jesus showed us how to suffer positively.  Again, Isaiah said, “Harshly dealt with, he bore it humbly, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter house, like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers never opening its mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)  It is not enough to suffer in life like a stoic but to suffer in a 

redemptive manner, using our sufferings to transform ourselves and to inspire others.   It is how we suffer that will inspire others and give hope to them.  When we visit patients in hospitals, we see some who are full of bitterness. We leave the hospital feeling sad.  But if we meet patients who are suffering  with love and faith in God, we leave feeling hopeful and encouraged.  

Jesus is our leader in suffering and in salvation.  He perfected His love for God and for us through the sufferings He went through.  His love of God was not sheer sentimentality, but a giving of Himself and His life.  

Before His enemies, Jesus was faithful to His identity.  Twice He said to those who arrested Him, “I am He!”  He was hinting at His divinity.  Before Pilate who thought he had power over Him, He said, “You would have no power over me if it had not been given you from above; that is why the one who handed me over to you has the greatest guilt.”  

In no uncertain terms, He made clear His mission and identity.  “Yes, I am a King, I was born for this, I came into the world for this; to bear witness to my truth, and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.”  This is in direct contrast to many of us who succumb to our enemies.  Instead of being true to our faith, we give in to the pressures of society. We adopt secular values, consumerism, and anti-life opinions. 

We are called to contemplate the Crucified Christ.  In the first reading (Is. 52:13-53:12) the suffering servant will be “lifted up, exalted, rise to great heights.” 

This foreshadows Jesus' death on the cross. Indeed, the sufferings of the Crucified God on the cross is something beyond human imagination; that God would die in Christ on the cross.  Truly, “His soul’s anguish over, he shall see the light and be content. By his sufferings shall my servant justify many, taking their faults on himself.”  When we know that God suffered, we can accept the mystery of suffering since God was not spared from suffering either. 

The image of the Crucified Christ gives us hope and courage.  Regardless of our weaknesses, we know that Christ will understand for He has been through all trials, sufferings and temptations.  “Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme High Priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed. For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin.”   So none of us should ever feel unworthy or hopeless.

We can “be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help.” 

“During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard.”  With Jesus, in times of trials and even death, we too must say, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”  Let us not be afraid to accept His divine will and find peace for our souls.  

Through suffering, we will also learn obedience.  Mary and John and a few women stood by Jesus at the cross. He was not alone.  And just as He sent Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus to give Him a proper burial, so too, God will send the most unlikely people to help us endure the storms of life.

HAVE A GOOD FRIDAY.

Ride to Betrayal

Sermon by Fr. Joseph Mungai

Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017

St. John the Apostle Awasi Catholic Church, Kisumu Archdiocese, Kenya

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord.

We relive the events that brought about our redemption and salvation. We find our own dying and rising in Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection, which will end in our healing and reconciliation.

Attentive participation in the Holy Week liturgy will deepen our relationship with God, increase our faith and strengthen our lives as disciples of Jesus. Today’s liturgy combines contrasting moments, one of glory, the other of suffering: the royal welcome of Jesus in Jerusalem and the drama of His trial, culminating in His crucifixion, death and burial.

In the Shakespearean classic, Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare narrated the betrayal of Julius Caesar by his best friend Marcus Brutus. In that tragic play, Brutus was tricked into joining a team of conspirators who wanted to kill Julius Caesar. On the fateful day of Caesar’s assassination at the Capitol, he was stabbed in the back by his murderers, but the stab from Brutus came as a very big shock to him. He felt betrayed by a friend and was disposed to defeat. 

Shocked at the betrayal, Caesar died with the words “Et tu Brute?” (and you Brutus?). You may have had similar

personal experiences of betrayal by a trusted friend. 

These are usually very painful and traumatic experiences. In the light of our personal experiences of betrayal by a trusted friend, we can better understand the agony Christ went through in today’s passion narrative (Mt. 26:14-66 or 27:11-54). Judas, one of the closest friends of Jesus conspired with the chief priests to hand Jesus over to them at the cost of thirty pieces of silver. Perhaps, he thought Jesus would miraculously escape as he had always done, but the whole drama became clear to him only when Jesus was taken away to be crucified. His inordinate love for money led him to betray his master.

Most of us may have condemned Judas for betraying Jesus, but when we closely examine our lives, we find traces of Judas in us. When we develop inordinate love for money, making us indifferent, negligent or ready to kill someone

(including procuring an abortion), steal and lie just to fill our pockets, we are no better than Judas. Some of us in a bid to acquire wealth, power or fame betray people, harass others, abuse privileges, turn the truth upside down and sell expired and substandard goods including drugs. Maybe we just cut corners on our expenses and this results in a loved one's harm.

These actions are no less than the betrayal of Judas. Our human nature tempts us to indulge in any of these activities especially when we suffer lack. In situations like this, we have to obey the will of God which invites us to do only what is good and avoid what is evil. Like Judas, Jesus has also called us to be his special friends. We sit round his table and dine with him each time we participate in the Eucharistic celebration. Therefore, let us try not to betray Him for he has called us to strive towards perfection as is Our Heavenly Father.

On another note, while we recognize that many of us are like Judas, betraying Christ through their actions, we cannot fail to also recognize the fact that most of us are also suffering betrayal from our friends. Many have been betrayed by their

spouses, lovers, friends, relatives and those dear to them. Some have had to suffer betrayal on account of their openness or charity or trust reposed on people. 

Today’s first reading (Is. 50:4-7) is a message of hope for you. Do not feel disappointed in God for allowing you to pass through such terrible experiences. St. Peter advises us to rejoice when we share in Christ’s suffering because we shall shout for joy when his glory is revealed (cf. 1 Pet 4:13). 

Though we may suffer when we are determined to do good and avoid evil, the first reading also assures us that in the end, we shall not be put to shame. Christ -- though He was betrayed and killed -- was not put to shame because God raised him on the third day. Perhaps, your day of resurrection is coming soon; the day God will put an end to your sufferings and shame your enemies. Do not lose hope but remain steadfast in faith and fervent in prayer.

We need to answer five questions today: 1) Does Jesus weep over my sinful soul as He wept over Jerusalem at the beginning of His Palm Sunday procession? 2) Am I a barren fig tree? God expects me to produce fruits of holiness, purity, justice, humility, obedience, charity, and forgiveness. Am I a barren fig tree? Or worse, do I continue to produce bitter fruits of impurity, injustice, pride, hatred, jealousy and selfishness? 3) Will Jesus need to cleanse my heart with his whip? Jesus cannot tolerate the desecration of the temple of the Holy Spirit in me by my addiction to uncharitable, unjust and impure thoughts words and deeds; neither does He approve of my business mentality or calculation of loss and gain in my relationship with God, my Heavenly Father. 4)Do I welcome Jesus into my heart? Am I ready to surrender my life to him during this Holy Week and welcome Him into all areas of my life as my Lord and Savior? Let the palms/branches remind us that Christ is our King and the true answer to our quest for happiness and meaning in life. 5) Are we like the humble donkey that carried Jesus, bringing Jesus’ universal love, unconditional forgiveness and sacrificial service to our families, places of work and communities by the way we live our lives?

Are you a donkey with a Christian name or one carrying

Christ? An interesting old fable tells of the colt that carried Jesus on Palm Sunday. The colt thought that the reception was organized to honor him. “I am a unique donkey!” this excited animal might have thought. When he asked his mother if he could walk down the same street alone the next day and be honored again, his mother said, “No, you are nothing without Him who was riding you." Five days later, the colt saw a huge crowd of people in the street. It was Good Friday, and the soldiers were taking Jesus to Calvary. The colt could not resist the temptation of another royal reception. Ignoring the warning of his mother, he ran to the street, but he had to flee for his life as soldiers chased him and people stoned him. Thus, the colt finally learned the lesson that he was only a poor donkey without Jesus to ride on him. As we enter Holy Week, today’s readings challenge us to examine our lives to see whether we carry Jesus within us and bear witness to Him through our living or whether we are Christians in name only.

Beloved friends, today, the Church encourages us to look inwards and see how much of Judas resides there. Like Judas, is there anything we value more than our union with

Christ? Like the crowd, are we always sincere in our chants of “alleluia”? Do we truly recognize Christ as the Son of David especially when there are forces pushing us to deny Him? Like Peter, have we denied Jesus when we should have proclaimed Him? If we find ourselves wanting, let us not be discouraged because it is for our sake that Christ died.

Like Peter, let us weep sorrowfully for our sins and repent of them. Therefore, as we begin the Holy Week, let us strive to join in the activities and also try to reconcile our broken relationship with God. It's a good time to go to confession, if you haven't already. 

Pope Francis going to confession 

The second reading (Phil. 2:6-11) presents Christ to us as an epitome of humility and obedience. He was humble and obedient even unto death. Let us try to imitate him and so, instead of betraying Jesus, let us obey and solidify our friendship with Him. Happy Sunday. God loves you.

Ad Maiorum Dei Glorium

Come Out of the Tomb!

Sermon by Fr. Joseph Mungai

Fifth Sunday of Lent, April 1, 2017

St. John the Apostle Awasi Catholic Church, Kisumu Archdiocese, Kenya

The hope of the Resurrection is the central

theme of the Scripture readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent (Ezekiel 37:12-14, Romans 8:8-11, John 11:1-45)

We can see the progression in Lenten themes from the thirst for living water (on the Third Sunday)  to the healing of spiritual blindness (Fourth Sunday) to our ultimate end eternal life with the risen Lord (Fifth Sunday). 

Death and resurrection are the themes for today. The Psalmist waits for Yahweh’s redemption both for himself and for Israel. Reporting his vision in the first reading, Ezekiel bears witness to the reanimation of

the dead Israel in preparation for her return to the Promised Land. He guarantees his community in exile that Yahweh will one day bring them back to live in the freedom of the Promised Land. He assures his people that not even death will stop God from carrying out this promise. Yahweh states, "I will open your graves, have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel."
The image of dry bones given Ezekiel writes about in our first reading, may well have come from an actual battle site -- probably after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon in 586 BC.

After a few years, the Babylonian soldiers uprooted many of God's people and dragged them into slavery in Babylon, some 750 miles from their homeland. This was the beginning of the period known as the Babylonian Captivity, or simply the Exile. 

Ezekiel was a priest of the Temple of Jerusalem up to 597 B.C., when he was deported to Babylon with the rest of the first deportees. In his vision, the release of the Jews from the captivity and slavery of Babylon is described as a rising from their graves to return to a new life in their own homeland. Through the prophet, God assures the exiles that they will live again. They will be raised from death and filled with life. They will experience new life, life that springs from God’s own Spirit. The prophet urges his devastated nation to look beyond that catastrophe to a future that vindicates God's justice and promises the restoration of the nation through the Spirit of God.

In the second reading, St. Paul reassures the Romans of a future resurrection to a life of unending glory for all those who during their time on earth have been loyal to God and His Son Jesus. This coming resurrection is won for us by the suffering, death and Resurrection of Jesus. Paul advises the Roman Christians to allow the Holy Spirit who dwells in them to renew and sanctify them, thus making them eligible for resurrection.

“If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you.” 

This indwelling Spirit of God, which we have received in Baptism, will release us from the "grave" of the flesh and allow us to live the life of the Spirit. The Spirit-filled life is a life of intimacy with God. In this passage, Paul stresses the empowering action of God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel, of all the miracles Jesus did, the raising of Lazarus ranks as the most astonishing to the people of his time. 

Traditional Jewish belief was that the soul of a dead person somehow remained with the body for three days. After three days, the soul departed and that is when corruption set in.

When Martha objected to the opening of the tomb, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days” (John 11:39), she expressed the common view that it was a hopeless situation. 

Is that why Jesus delayed coming to the funeral, to let the situation become “impossible” before acting on it? English Journalist G.K. Chesterton once said, “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all.” In the traditional Jewish thinking,  bringing back someone to life, who is already decaying is as unthinkable as the  Ezekiel’s vision of the field of dry bones coming back to life. 

For the early Christians the story of Lazarus was more than an indication of the future resurrection of Jesus. Jesus rose on the third day; his body never saw corruption. For them this miracle is a challenge to never give up hope even in the most discouraging of situations. It is never too late for God to revive and revitalise a person, a church or a nation. But first we must learn to cooperate with God.

How can we cooperate with God so as to experience Christ's resurrection in our own lives and in our own world? Faith. 

But that is not the point that John makes in this story. In fact, there is no one in the story, not even Mary or Martha, who believed that Jesus could bring Lazarus back to life after he was four days dead. No one expected him to do it, so expectant faith is not the emphasis here. Rather the emphasis is on cooperation with a miracle-working God by practical obedience and doing God’s will.

John's Gospel begins with a wedding and closes with a funeral. There are four primary characters in this story: Jesus and three siblings who were good friends of Jesus,  Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Jesus loved these friends. The funeral rituals of Jesus’ day were different from ours. When somebody died, there was no embalming. Instead, the body was wrapped in linen and, before sunset on the day of death, was put into the burial vault -- a cave carved into limestone rock – often with myrrh, frankincense and perfumes.  Then there was intense mourning for seven days followed by a less intense mourning period of twenty-three days. Lazarus’ sisters had sent word to Jesus that their brother Lazarus was ill and perhaps would soon die.

On receiving the message, Jesus waited two more days so that the will of God might be demonstrated and God glorified by His Son. At last, Jesus went to the house of Lazarus, knowing very well that his friend had died. 

On his arrival, Jesus pacified Martha with one of the most treasured of his teachings, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Jesus offers “eternal life,” which begins with faith now and lasts forever in its fullness. 

Then Jesus asked one of the most important questions found in the Bible, “Do you believe this, Martha?” Martha answered, “I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” Martha confessed her faith in Jesus, Who had revealed himself as the Resurrection and the Life. Her faith did not depend upon seeing her brother raised from the dead. Proof begets knowledge and confirms faith. Faith does not rest on proof but precedes it. As John writes this story for the persecuted early Christian community, Martha represents that grieving community in asking the perennial question: "If Jesus gave us eternal life, why are believers still dying?" The story of the raising of Lazarus is a consoling response: “I am the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes in me even if he [or she] dies will live, and everyone who believes in me will never die.”

To effect the miracle, Jesus issues three commands and all of them are obeyed to the letter. First, Jesus said, "'Roll away the stone.’ … So they rolled away the stone.” 

Did they understand why they had to roll away the tombstone to expose a stinking corpse? You bet they didn’t. But it was their faith in Jesus expressing itself not through intellectual agreement with Jesus but through practical agreement with him -- through obedience. 

Why didn’t Jesus command the stone to roll away all by itself, without bothering the people? We don’t quite know. All we know is that divine power seems always to be activated by human cooperation and stifled by non-cooperation. As C.S. Lewis said, “God seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures.” God will not do by a miracle what we can do by obedience.

"Roll away the stone, unbind him and let him go.” There are so many dark areas in our private lives. We often bind ourselves with chains of

addiction to alcohol, drugs, sexual deviations, slander, gossip, envy, prejudices, hatred and uncontrollable anger, and we bury ourselves in the tombs of despair. 

Sometimes we are buried in the tomb of selfishness, filled with negative feelings such as worry, fear, resentment, hatred, and guilt. Jesus asks us today to seek his help to loosen those chains and come out of tombs of our own creation. Is there an area of life where hope is gone? Why not invite Jesus to visit this area?

If we want Jesus to visit our dungeons of sin, despair and unhappiness, let us ask Jesus during this Holy Mass to bring the light and the power of the Holy Spirit into our private lives and liberate us from our tombs.

Are there times when we refuse to let God enter into our wallets, fearing that faithful

tithing will endanger our savings? When we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus will call our name and command us, "Come out!”  

“Lazarus, come out!"  This is good news to someone who is addicted to a chemical substance or to unsavory habits. “Lazarus, come out!” This is good news for the person who has lived an empty life, “Lazarus, come out!” This is good news for the tired, the hurting, the person at his or her wit’s end. “Lazarus, come out!” This is good news for all of us. “Lazarus, come out!” This can be the beginning of a new life.

"Lazarus, come out!’ and the dead man came out.” We do not know what transpired in the tomb. All we know is that Jesus is immediately obeyed. Lazarus gropes his way out of the dark tomb even with his face, hands and feet tied up in bandages. Even a man rotting away in the tomb can still do something to help himself.

The third command again is addressed to the people, “Unbind him, and let him go.”  Even though Lazarus could stumble out of the tomb, there was no way he could unbind

himself. He needs the community to do that for him. By unbinding Lazarus from the wrappings of death and setting him free,  the community is accepting Lazarus back as one of them.

Many individuals and communities have fallen victim to the death of sin. Many are already in the tomb of hopelessness and decay, in the bondage of sinful habits and attitudes, in the bondage of tribalism, clannisim and nepotism. Nothing short of a miracle can bring us back to life in Christ. Jesus is ready for the miracle. He himself said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10).

Are we ready to roll away the stone that stands between us and the light of Christ’s face?  Are we ready to unbind (i.e. forgive) one another and let them go free? 

How can we live this life of Jesus now? Jesus offers us His life at every Mass, every time we receive the sacraments, every time we pray, every time we read Sacred Scripture.

 

Jesus gave us the sacraments to lift us up to everlasting life. Allow Jesus to lift you up to new life.

Have a blessed week.