CONSECRATED TO THE LORD

IV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 1 Co 7:32-35

Nowadays, mainly in the West, celibacy has been vilified and demonised as being abnormal and unnatural, as there is a glorification of sex and sexual pleasure, seen as a supreme value that one should look for and enjoy at all costs. However, looking at human history, we can discover that in many societies celibacy, mainly for religious motives, was highly respected.

In these modern times, many accuse the Church, specially the Catholic Church, of being anti-sex, blaming her for a negative and demeaning approach to the body and its functions. However, such an attitude, although found among some Christians, was never really Christian, but it derives from Gnosticism and Manichaeism, which, being widespread forms of religion in the first centuries of Christianity, left marks in some Christian thinkers. The idea that a human being is made up of two different entities - body and spirit, in which the spirit is trapped in the body, comes from Greek Philosophy, not from Biblical thinking. And then Manichaeism, following traditional Persian doctrine, demonised the body and everything that has to do with the body, which was created by the evil god.

In the Scriptures, we find that God created human beings, men and women, in his own image (Gn 1:27) and put  within their hearts a longing for each other. He is the one who took Eve to Adam, so that they may become one body (Gn 2:24). 

In Christian teaching, salvation implies the glorification of the body, in which our bodies will be like the glorified body of Jesus Christ: “He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory”. (Phil 3:21).

In Christian experience, which is expressed already in Paul’s personal experience, celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of God comes as a disposition of freedom to commit oneself totally to the service of the Gospel (1 Co 7:32-35), without having to worry about pleasing anybody else.

Pope Francis has given the Church this year as the year of consecrated life, and in consecrated life, celibacy has a central place, both in Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Celibacy, lived in total faithfulness to the Lord, has a prophetic and eschatological dimension. It stands as a reminder and a warning. Its strangeness denounces the glorification of sex, and calls for its right place for the expression and strengthening of love in marriage. At the same time, it makes us aware that we live in a passing world, and must stand awake in readiness for the coming of the Lord.

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It is interesting to see how the Zambian traditional culture had deep insights about sex and its place in the community.

In traditional culture, sex is celebrated, and this celebration can be seen in dances, but  is mainly done in the initiation and marriage ceremonies. However, people are well aware that sex is not something to play with, because it has a sacred dimension, which demands the respect for its rules. Once we ignore the rules pertaining to sex, we bring trouble upon ourselves and the community we live in. That’s why, when the young children reach puberty, they are initiated into adulthood, being prepared for marriage and family life, which are essential for the survival of the community.

In this modern culture of ours, sexual life is seen as standing on its own, separated from family and community, causing a lot of personal and community traumas. Celibacy for the sake of the Gospel, lived in truthfulness and love, must sound as a call to people to question the way they live and the values that guide them.

CALLED TO BELIEVE AND TO REPENT

III SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 1:14-20

After John’s arrest, Jesus started his ministry with a very simple proclamation: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mk 1:15)

This is the time, the right time, the promised time, which we were waiting for. Time for what? - we may ask. All the Jews listening to Jesus’s proclamation understood the time Jesus was speaking about, meaning that the time has arrived for the fulfilment of God’s promise, that is the promise of the Messiah, who is bringing salvation. Jesus made his message clear to everybody, saying that it is the time for the kingdom of God, which has come.

What is the Kingdom of God? It simply means that God is going to rule. The Jews understood this as a theocracy, in which God himself establishes the right political order, destroying all enemies and imposing his authority. However, to Pilate, when questioned about his kingdom, Jesus answered that his kingdom is not from this world (Jn 18:36). His kingdom is for those who listen to the truth and are ruled by love, because his kingdom is established on the law of love (Jn 13:34). Jesus did not come to establish a theocracy, but to establish the community of those, who following him, surrender their lives to God and entrust themselves totally to him.

This is the Gospel, the great message brought by Jesus Christ and the message that we must proclaim as well in Jesus’ name. God’s kingdom is established on peace, justice, reconciliation and love.

To be part of God’s kingdom, that is of the community of God’s children, we must carry out the two conditions proposed by Jesus:

1. Repent
2. Believe 

REPENT

We must recognise our sinfulness that cuts us off from God and sows the seeds of hatred, making us enemies of each other. We must confess our sin and turn back to God, asking for forgiveness. Repentance goes together with conversion, in which we change direction, leaving behind the wrong path which we travelled on, in order to walk in the company of Jesus, who will guide us towards the Father’s house.

BELIEVE

Repentance is only made possible, when we believe in the Gospel, that is in the message of salvation brought to us by Jesus Christ. The faith in the message of salvation is at the same time faith in the Messenger, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.

In the parable of the vineyard (Mt 21:33), we are told that the tenants refused the message and killed the messenger, who was the Son. With such action they were thrown out of the vineyard, that is they were excluded from God’s kingdom.

Faith and repentance are two essential conditions to enter the Kingdom of God and to become members of God’s household.

Jonah was sent to Nineveh

The call to repentance and conversion is a universal call, as we can see in the story of the prophet Jonah. He was sent to Nineveh to announce God’s punishment. 

Prophet Nahum had spoken terrible words against Nineveh, the mighty capital of the Assyrians, the worst enemy of the people of Israel:

“Woe to the bloody city,

all full of lies and plunder—

no end to the prey!

The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse and bounding chariot!

Horsemen charging,

flashing sword and glittering spear,

hosts of slain,

heaps of corpses,

dead bodies without end—

they stumble over the bodies!

And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute,

graceful and of deadly charms,

who betrays nations with her whorings,

and peoples with her charms.” (Naum, 3:1-4).

It is easy to understand that Jonah was full of revulsion and totally upset, when God ordered him to go to the capital of the most feared enemy to denounce their behaviour and threaten them with punishment. How could God care for them? And how could God forgive them and accept them as his beloved people?

Our God is not a revengeful God, always ready to exact punishment. He is a merciful God, offering his mercy to all, calling all to repent and turn back to him. Let us open our hearts to Jesus’ proclamation.

THE SPIRIT OF A HUMAN BEING IS IN THE EAR

II SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 1 Sam 3:3-10,19

In all languages, there are proverbs full of insight, which express the wisdom that guided generations and helped them to walk along the right path. In Bemba, there are plenty of proverbs, which people use time and again in their daily interactions. They are like sparks of the Spirit, giving meaning to life; and some of them can be well connected with passages of the Scriptures.

The Bemba wisdom teaches: Umweo wa muntu waba mu kutwi, meaning the spirit (life) of a human being is in the ear, that is in listening. Since the traditional teaching was oral, listening was of paramount importance, and that was shown clearly in the ritual of opening the ears, when the instructors would breathe into the ears of the one being initiated, while the whole group sang:

Komo, komo

Komona umwana amatwi.

(Open, open

open the ears of the child).

One must be ready to listen and learn from the others. This modern society of ours stresses individualism and proclaims the right and the freedom for each one to pursue his own way. Indeed, we must realise the importance of a personal experience, and this Sunday’s gospel refers to that, when Jesus invites us as he invited the two disciples of John: “Come and see” (Jn 1:39). However, those two disciples went to Jesus, because they listened to John, who had pointed out to Jesus. The others play an important role in our lives and in the choices we make, if we allow them to touch our lives. For that to happen, we need to have a listening attitude.

Samuel, who became an important leader in the land of Israel, had a listening attitude since his childhood and he would keep it throughout his life. As soon as he heard the call, he did not waste time, but answered promptly:   “Here I am”. A Bemba proverb expresses well that urgency, teaching: Uwaitwa tafwala bwino, meaning: The one who is called has no time to put on good clothes. He cannot waste time and delay his response. It is the readiness of the responsible person, who acts immediately upon knowing what is expected of him.

Like Samuel, we must say: “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Sam 3:10).

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Next Tuesday, 20 of January, the people of Zambia will choose a new President. Let us pray that the election may be peaceful, free and fair and that all parties will accept the people’s choice. 

WE WERE BAPTISED IN THE SPIRIT

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD: 1 John 5:1-9

To belong to God as God’s children, we must believe that Jesus is the Christ (1 Jn 5:1) and that he is “the Son of God” (1 Jn 5:5). And the Son incarnated and lived in a human body. His incarnation is testified by his baptism and by his death on the cross, or as the first letter of John puts it, he “came by water and blood”. In his baptism, Jesus showed his willingness to share our human condition and his readiness to carry our sins. His baptism in water was a prophecy and a preparation for the baptism of the cross, where he would shed his blood for the forgiveness of sins. 

The water of his baptism and blood of his crucifixion give witness to him as the Christ and the Son of God. And the Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth, testifies that Jesus is the true Son of God who came to be our Saviour. John counts three witnesses - the Spirit, the water and the blood, who agree together in testifying that Jesus is the Son of God, who became a human being. The Spirit manifested himself in the baptism of Jesus, anointing him and investing him with power to carry out his mission. 

Jesus’ baptism was an extraordinary event and an extraordinary experience, in which the water was sanctified, becoming a sacrament, that is a sign and an instrument that unites us with Jesus, mainly with his death and resurrection, so that in Jesus we find life and salvation. So we were baptised with the baptism of Jesus Christ, in the Spirit. The water is a symbol of life, and so a symbol of Holy Spirit, who recreates us, grafting us in Jesus Christ. In Christ, being one with him, we become children of God.

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The liturgy of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord gives us as first reading this extraordinary passage of the Prophet Isaiah:

Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty;

though you have no money, come!

Buy corn without money, and eat,

and, at no cost, wine and milk.

Why spend money on what is not bread,

your wages on what fails to satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat

and rich food to enjoy.

Pay attention, come to me;

listen, and your soul will live.

…

Seek the Lord while he is still to be found,

call to him while he is still near.

Let us approach the waters of salvation with confidence. Let us come closer to the Lord and listen to him, and we will find life.

LOOKING FOR LIFE AND SALVATION

FEAST OF EPIPHANY: Mt 2:1-12

Salvation is offered to all

In the feast of Epiphany, we celebrate the fact that salvation is not the privilege of a few, but it is offered to all. It is true that the People of Israel played a special role in the mystery of salvation, but Israel was set aside for the sake of all nations. And the same applies to the Church, the community of believers and followers of Jesus Christ. We are not called and chosen just for our own good, but for the good of all.

The prophet Isaiah already hinted to the universality of the mystery of salvation, when he wrote that the People of Israel was entrusted with the light, so that all nations may come to the light (Is 60:3). To the Ephesians, Paul wrote that the deepness and the extension of the mystery of salvation was not known in past generations, being only revealed in Jesus Christ that God decided that “the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (Ep 3:6).

The Magi and Herod face to face

Before the Light of Salvation - Jesus Christ - we are confronted with two choices or two attitudes, represented one by the Magi and the other by Herod. The gospel read in the Feast of Epiphany (Mt 2:1-12) puts before us two groups of people, in which one is set on the destruction of the other, but fails.

MAGI

They look towards the future.

Their hearts are full of hope and expectancy.

Their hearts were open to the Spirit of God, who gives wisdom and courage.

They do not rest until they find what they are looking for.

They put all their intelligence and their energy in the search for the Promised One.

Their journey was hard and difficult and they went through darkness, when the star disappeared.

Lost, they asked for help.

HEROD

Herod was blinded by his own power and by the fear of loosing it.

In spite of his old age and his pestilent sickness, he trembled with fear at the news of a child being born.

His throne was set upon violence, oppression and injustice.

The ones surrounding him, even priests and scribes, were not more than bootlickers, always saying what pleases the one in power.

Herod was feared and despised by the common people.

Herod is presented as evil and being evil in heart and mind, he is ready to destroy the future, by killing all children, thus killing hope. He refuses the light and hides in darkness, the darkness of his fear, which made of him a tyrant, ready to kill even his own children.

In our world, in this twenty first century, we need people with the attitude of the Magi, full of hope, looking towards the future, searching tirelessly for life and salvation.