Taste and see that the Lord is good!
20TH SUNDAY, YEAR B, 18TH AUGUST, 2024, ST. THERESA’S PARISH, WUMBA, ABUJA. HOMILY BY ARCHBISHOP I. A. KAIGAMA.
Readings: Proverbs 9:1-6; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58
Taste and see that the Lord is good!
As this is my first pastoral visit to St. Theresa’s Parish, Wumba, I am greatly delighted to see you in your numbers, joyful, hopeful, and resilient even amid the difficult economic dispensation in which we are. May our hope and perseverance not fail us. We have the assurance of Jesus’ ever-presence to see us through.
I shall be conferring the Sacrament of Confirmation on 200 of your parishioners. I thank all those who prepared these candidates under the guidance of your parish priest, Fr. Emmanuel Ejimonu. Each time I administer the sacrament of confirmation I stress the need for adequate preparation/catechesis. Those to be confirmed must be well-formed about the Catholic Church, her history, doctrines, and traditions. There is need for this because many easily fall victim and become what Ephesians 4:14 says, “disturbed and carried about by every wind of doctrine….”
I also stress the importance of sponsors to take their responsibility seriously. Sponsors are expected to be spiritual companions and guides not only today, but throughout the life journey of the ones they are sponsoring, and so, sponsors are expected to be committed and exemplary Catholics. Canon 892 (CIC 1983) states that “Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor for the person to be confirmed; the sponsor is to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament.”
One very important and necessary aspect of catholic life is the Eucharist, that meal which guarantees us spiritual strength as we journey in this life and also guarantees us immortality i.e. eternal life. For the past four Sundays, the Gospel readings have focused on the Bread of Life, the Body of Christ i.e. the Holy Eucharist which in the Christian life, is “the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being” (cf. CCC 1325).
In our first reading today, God who is Wisdom Himself, invites us to His banquet. However, only the humble can appreciate and take advantage of this invitation. Those who are wise only according to the standard of this world cannot understand this mystery (the Eucharist).
In our second reading, St. Paul urges: “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise.” We are invited not to remain skeptical like the Jews so that we can come to the banquet of the body and blood of Christ. Let us stop doubting the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Instead, let us make efforts to be reconciled to Christ the living bread of life.
When in today’s gospel, Jesus presents Himself as the “bread of life,” and that anyone who eats this living bread will live forever, the Jews found it difficult to understand this teaching of Jesus and could not accept it. We who are gathered here now have accepted that as St. Francis de Sales wrote, Jesus reduced “himself to food, in order to penetrate our souls, and to unite himself to the hearts of his faithful.”
The Catholic Bishops of Nigeria issued a circular dated August 15th, 2024, regarding some abuses and aberrations such as:
*The arbitrary distortion of the liturgy, arising from the desperate quest for inculturation
*The irreverent handling of the Eucharist
*Altering the structure of the liturgy by taking up too many collections and fundraising right in the middle of liturgical celebrations
*Invention of rites in the name of child dedication with some priests placing a child on the altar against the teaching of the Church that a child is already dedicated to God during baptism
*Inappropriate importation of secular music into the liturgy
*Indecorous dance, even with the monstrance containing the Eucharist *Inappropriate dressing for liturgical celebrations by priests and lay people
*Abusing the pulpit for personal gains, settling scores with parishioners
*The use of phones by priests during Mass and the lay people taking calls during Mass or doing Facebook, etc.
For us Catholics, the Eucharist should be a very effective means to help us transform our society; to arrest the degeneration of moral values, criminality, inhuman treatment to people, corruption by those in authority as well as the corruption found even among the poor; businessmen and women hiking the prices of things or selling fake items.
Up to today, many incidences show the continuous degeneration of security. Last Thursday, 18 students from the University of Maiduguri and the University of Jos were kidnapped along the Otukpo-Enugu highway in Benue State. They were traveling to the Enugu State University of Technology to attend the annual conference of the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students (FECAMDS). We strongly appeal to the government and security agencies to ensure the safe release of these students. Also, on Friday, a group said to be travelling to Abuja for the wedding of Gov. Charles Soludo’s daughter was ambushed by unknown armed men. Some were taken hostage while one or more lost their lives. Lord, spare this country from bloodshed and criminality!
We need the Eucharist to heal the family too. As today marks the end of the National Family Week, dedicated to help us reflect more on the gift and values of the family, through our Eucharistic devotion, may God transform families to become sacred institutions where parents are always available; spending time together, and praying together, and not where some parents encourage wrong doings such as: assisting their children to buy results, to cheat at exams, change their age, use public funds to train their children in expensive institutions, etc. May the Eucharist help us to achieve harmony, unity, and peace; to reconnect, heal any rift, in the family.
We earnestly ask our Mother Mary to intercede for us, our families, and our country. It is becoming too embarrassing as the outside world asks, “What is wrong with Nigeria?” Perhaps we can say something is grievously wrong with the family that is why something is wrong with Nigeria.
In conclusion, may I ask that you kindly remember the farmers and pray for more rain in some parts of Northern Nigeria, the scarcity of which is likely to compound the already bad situation of poverty and hunger. God bless and keep us well.
