Ecce sponsus! (Mt. 25:6)

 

At first glance, I found this parable unfair. It is unfair that the five stupid maids were excluded from the wedding simply because they forgot to bring enough oil for their lamps. When I read it again, I found the parable deeper than I thought before. It is about much more than a little lamp oil. Then I tried to redesign it to better understand the gospel.

“The kingdom of heaven is like ten parents who had good families. In those days, girls married so young that it was the parents’ duty to organize their weddings. Five parents had many children. And so they had many opportunities to celebrate their children's weddings. So, they knew everything it took to organize a wedding. They knew everyone involved with whom they had to contact. Also, they already had a list of their guests. They knew all the steps they had to take. In short, they knew everything. These five parents became stupid women. And the other five parents only had one child each. They had to learn by doing it. You were inexperienced in organizing a wedding. You might have been overwhelmed with a lot of preparation: finalizing the list of guests. ensure enough food and drink and properly follow the ritual. With all these engagements, they may have sleepless nights before the wedding was over. Indeed, it was the first and last chance of her life to organize or support her child's wedding. And so, they could not miss it. These five parents became wise women.”

Let us now return to the story of Christ. It should be clear by now that this is not a momentary memory loss - we forget to bring some extra oil. We are dealing with two opposing attitudes towards the wedding celebration. For the wise women, it was their one chance of a lifetime. It was something they really valued and diligently prepared for. Here was the opportunity to meet the groom and take part in the wedding feast. There was no way they would miss it. For the fools, I imagine it was a bit of fun, a joke. They would have said we should take it easy just out of habit. Deep down, they did not care. Still, they felt disappointed when they did not enter. But it was her whole attitude that was wrong, not just a small memory loss. In fact, they were not judged at a moment in their lives.

Our learning points should be clear to us by now. We are not dealing with a one-off wedding party. The stakes are far higher. It's about our eternal salvation. We are talking about the possibility of being excluded from the eternal banquet. When the word of God becomes so trusted that we no longer need to hear it, we are at risk. When sin becomes a habit to the extent that we cannot see the urgency of conversion, we are at risk. When poverty and injustice become so normal around us that we do nothing about it, we are at risk. When it becomes so normal not to pray and to seek a virtuous or Christian life, we are at risk. When God calls us, all that matters will be the kind of people we are, not what we have achieved or what we have amassed. Before that call of God comes, we ask ourselves what if we are caught off guard with no oil in our spiritual lamps? We are therefore invited to ensure that our lamps are always on. So, we have to keep pouring oil into them. And the Eucharist, prayers, our services are times to refill our lamps. Our vigilance should be a daily matter. Vigilance means keeping an eye on our faith. Vigilance is necessary to seek God and one another.

We are all called to be bearers of the light of Christ, lamp holders. But like the five foolish maids, we are sometimes careless and irresponsible, taking for granted our life of routine and let this lamp goes out or at least get very darkened.

Let us convince ourselves today that through a spirit of prayer and vigilance, Christ will help us keep His light burning brightly. God of life, please, help us keep the lamp of faith burning. Help us keep the lamp of hope burning brightly. Help us keep the lamp of love burning brightly. Never leave us alone!

By Fr. Ouwakpare Victorin Oussoi, SVD

 

 

Fecit nuptias (Mt. 22:2)

 

Today's gospel will never make sense to my people who live in rural areas. People do not need an invitation to any festive occasion. As soon as they hear there is a party going on and there is a portion of food and drink, they will just show up. Then who would be crazy enough to turn down an invitation to a royal wedding? But then, when I think about the gospel and think about my own life and my relationship with God, I find that I was often stupid to turn down God’s invitation. And I believe that each of us knows the moments when we not only reject what is good but also cannot recognize it. God continually calls us as individuals and as members of the Body of Christ, as members of this community gathered around this table of the Lord, to a deeper and better life. His call is always gentle, very persistent, and very real. We all hear it from time to time and mostly come from our depths. However, there are many ways to decline this invitation. God invites me to pray all the time, but I often decline the invitation because I am too tired right now. Jesus Christ invites us to meet him here more often in this church, but at the last moment there is always something in the way and I choose not to come. God invites me to love my neighbor, but the neighborhood is dangerous. I cannot stop here and help anyone. The Spirit of God invites honesty, but I often refuse by apologizing for my dishonest actions and telling myself that everyone does the same thing. God invites me to spend more time with my family, children, and church, but I need this overtime pay for my next vacation expenses. I could go on and on. Each of us, if we got involved, could make a pretty long list of things that we know we should or shouldn’t do in our hearts that we don’t want to look at. And we have no shortage of excuses, many of which are extremely plausible. They jump up in our defense like over-excited guards. Defense, excuses, evasive maneuvers! How well do we know them? But this is a dangerous road. Hence, it is important to note that the people who turned down the wedding invitation did so not for bad reasons, but perfectly good and reasonable reasons. All perfectly good jobs for themselves. But that is exactly what makes them so dangerous and stumbles over our good relationships with God and others. And as a Christian, I believe that the greatest danger to us is not that we leave God and turn to evil, but that we ignore his invitation. If we prefer to devote all our energies to good causes of choice, we are ignoring God's invitation to something infinitely deeper and better. That is why Jesus articulates the Father's vision for us today: a “banquet” at which everyone is respected and honored for who they are and what kindness they bring to the king's table, be it the “table” of the classroom, the clinic, the playground, the house or the community. If we are to remain true to God's vision, God's compassion must change the perspective of our hearts and allow us to see beyond our reasonable excuses. Hence, in the first reading, Isaiah proclaims the goodness of God preparing a banquet for all his people on the holy mountain. And the banquet symbolizes God's closeness to us and the celebration of the ultimate victory over sin, suffering, and death. This festival is not only for the Israelites but for all people. God wants to invite everyone into his kingdom without excluding anyone. The Lord comes to bring comfort to those who mourn and to give new vision to those who are blinded by the calamities that afflict them. The call of the Christian is the call to hope in the Lord who cares for all that concerns us and will lead us to the new joy that comes from being with the Lord. That is, if we ignore God's invitation, it means that we are indifferent. To benefit from the feast, one must wear the wedding dress of conversion. But how do you go about converting those who are indifferent or those who, like the religious leaders of Christ's time, believe that they need no conversion? How do I convert myself to changing my indifference? How do I avoid turning down God's invitation in my daily life?

By Fr. Ouwakpare Victorin Oussoi, SVD.

Inter te et ipsum (Mt. 18:15)

 

In the summer of 2014, I met a friend in California, USA. This friend told me his story that moves me every time I read this gospel. He and his father had serious differences of opinion and never really tried to resolve them. As a result, they avoided seeing each other. He was just trying to avoid family reunions because he had to meet his father there. And it got worse prolonging that they stopped talking to each other. Both stayed in these broken relationships until his father went to a nursing home he never visited. But then his father stopped his contacts in the nursing home as a direct point of contact. And one day one of the nurses at that nursing home called him and told him his father was sick and they do not know if he will make it next week. When he got home from work, he decided to tell his father that despite their differences, he loves him. Just making that decision seemed to lift a heavy burden from his chest, he said. The next day he flew to New York to see his father. Fortunately, his father could still speak. And when he walked into the nursing home, he paused for a while and prayed that his father would not get angry again, that they would never fight again. He just wanted to tell him that despite their differences, he loved him. Then he took a step in the door and said, “Father, I just came over to tell you I love you so much.” And his father's face began to shine as if a transformation were coming over him. His face softened, the wrinkles seemed to go away, and he started to cry. He held out his hand and smiled. One day after this visit, his father died. What if he waited many more days to express his love for his father? In answering this question, Jesus gives us advice from the gospel we just heard. Do not wait to do the things you know need to be done. Take the time to do what you need to do and do it now! And the best time to take this step is today! After all, I was wondering why my friend waited so long before making that decision. Why do we usually keep our broken relationships long before we decide to restore them? I think we often create a wall between us by choosing to keep the injuries to ourselves. And it could either be that we are ashamed or just not able to speak to anyone about it. We believe that our case is unique and therefore no one can understand our feelings. So, we hold up a facade and pretend everything is normal. In the meantime, we ponder the injury. Over time, it increases in size, so even small things can become disproportionate. Then we begin to feel sorry for ourselves and cut off the perpetrator from our networks. After a while we can no longer keep it to ourselves, we start telling others about it - friends, neighbors, and relatives. And the last person to hear about the pain is often the person who is causing it. Suddenly he finds out that everyone was talking about him behind his back. This discovery is very hurtful and can make reaching reconciliation even more difficult.

And so, the gospel of today describes a process of reconciliation between divided members of a community or household. Jesus calls his listeners to seek honesty and righteousness in all relationships, to put aside selfishness, anger, and wounded pride, and to take the first step in healing the cracks that destroy the feeling of love that family and friends, church and community unite – the love of Christ is what binds us together. And so, Jesus invites us to create and maintain households of love and forgiveness and communities of reconciliation and peace. Christ promises that when we gather in his name, he will always be with us. God can only be among us if we are reconciled and love one another. The best time to take the step of reconciliation is today, so that Jesus may be among us.

By Fr. Ouwakpare Victorin Oussoi, SVD.

Quae Dei sunt (Mt. 16:23)

About a month ago I went to Sankt Augustin for my background check. There I visited a family with three children. One of the children is highly active and full of energy. He never seems to get tired of jumping around. This child managed to get on a table and wanted to jump from there to the floor. The mother who saw him ran to him quickly and got him from the table. Why did she do it? It is because she knew the boy would have injured himself if he had jumped. Yes, there is none of us who does not want to protect those we love from suffering. Parents are always on the lookout to protect children from all the human dangers that each child faces on the way to maturity. Saving a loved one from pain brings deep fulfillment and joy. St. Peter was no exception. The bond between him and Christ had grown so deep in the past few months that he was appalled when Christ spoke of his future suffering in Jerusalem. Peter would not have any of this nonsense. He assured Christ that such a conversation was out of place. However, sometimes we overprotect ourselves by causing those we love to miss out on many learning experiences. 

Hence, today's gospel brings us that awareness. We are therefore invited to always call on the Holy Spirit for guidance through prayer. When we are filled with the Spirit of God, we become enlightened and can know. Whenever Peter was filled with the Spirit of God, God could reveal the truth to him. But in this gospel, he was guided by the flesh. Therefore, without God's Spirit in our lives, we will run away from God's glorious works. Without prayer, pain and suffering will always lead us to seek the easiest way. In God's plan, Christ would suffer and die on his way to resurrection and glory, on his journey to open the door of God's eternal life for us. Christ was lonely and afraid in his torment, but he knew that no matter what happened, his father would not leave him. The path of suffering is the path of life that many people travel. It is comforting to believe that no matter what our torment is, God will never forsake us.

Jesus now turns to each of us here and makes the demands of the gospel and all that they contain. Whether someone comes after him is voluntary, but once we have made up our mind, we need to know that his path is not an easy, comfortable path. It requires constant self-denial, a no to yourself, and a yes to God. He, therefore, reminds us that "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for Jesus' sake will find it." This implies that we must die for our false selves, for all forms of selfishness and self-promotion. Every day we are allowed to die in small ways for ourselves - for our pride, for our selfishness, for our lust for pleasure and power, etc. We are supposed to die so that the true self can be born.

To live with Jesus means to give space to the living God in my life. To live with Jesus means, with Jesus, to accept what life brings me. Joy and sorrow, success and defeat, resurrection, and cross. That means living in the Christian faith. Today the gospel makes us aware of it anew.

By Fr. Ouwakpare Victorin Oussoi, SVD.

Mittere catellis (Mt. 15:26)

 

Today’s gospel is echoing the stories of many undocumented immigrants in the US. In fact, a friend shared with me his story that explains how he got his American citizenship. He crossed the border many times illegally and was deported three times. But now he owns his company in the States and has many employees. In his work, he found another call that is to help the homeless and poor, which he does monthly. All that he is and does for other people now come from his persistence and endurance. His story therefore can be identified with that of the woman whose story we have heard in the gospel. The woman kept begging until Jesus talked to her. Likewise, three times, my friend was denied the right to benefit and eat from the food as the average American does have. With faith, he has finally made the US his home. Feeling unwelcomed, he persisted till he made this hostile place, something he can now call home. This story is not only applied to my friend and all undocumented immigrants, but it is also to every one of us. At a certain point in life, we begged for relationships. At a time, we begged for help from people who are not our family members.

 In the gospel, Jesus does not say a word to the woman at first; he even refuses to send her away. And this refusal to send her leads to say that he was expecting her to persist and express her deep faith. Only after her persistence does he converse with her. Jesus’ response to her second cry for help includes a reiteration of his mission to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He even likens her status as a Gentile to the status of dogs who long to be fed from the table. The woman, however, is not deterred from her goal. She claims a place in the household, but it is not a position of privilege or even the position of an insider. She accepts the status of a family’s dog by claiming that even the dog enjoys crumbs from the table. But then, if I were this woman, I would probably have given up. I would have even gotten angry. She asked a favor, and yet she was insulted. Hence, her statement is striking and is also an outstanding witness of faith. Her faith in Jesus allowed her to put her hope in what many of us could have discarded. Her faith helped her to appreciate how much grace Jesus Christ had, which was sufficient for the house of Israel and the whole world. She recognizes that even a small crumb that falls from the table is powerful enough to defeat the demon that has possessed her daughter. Indeed, what comes out of this woman’s heart is faith, which gave her certainty that Jesus has power enough for Israel and powerful enough to save everybody: Israelites and all gentiles without exception.

This teaches us how to persistently endure in all ups and downs through our faith and prayer. Just like the woman in the story, Jesus will always recognize our persistence, which comes from our faith and trust through prayer. Also, we need to have a clear knowledge of what we are searching for and focus on it so that nothing can deter us from seeking it. When Jesus spoke to the woman in language that demeaned her and her people, she did not lose faith nor got angry nor gave up. Rather, she kept her eyes on the goal of her mission, which was to show that even non-Jews are entitled to God’s blessings in Christ. Above all, it is the courage that the woman had that opened the dialogue. If she were not courageous enough, she would have been afraid to approach Jesus and ask him for the healing grace. Being a foreigner and as a woman in those days, it might have required from her to display great courage and boldness to approach Jesus and the cohort of his male companions.

So, courage, faith, persistent prayer, and focus on her goal were things that helped the woman obtain what she was looking for. And I believe that these were also things that helped my friend to become an American citizen. It is therefore an invitation for us to cultivate these virtues in us so that Jesus can recognize our deep faith and humility with which we come to him. And then he will say to us, “Great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”

By Fr. Ouwakpare Victorin Oussoi, SVD.

Domine, salvum me fac! (Mt. 14:30)

 

In summer 2013, I did my clinical pastoral education (CPE) in Reading in Pennsylvania. There, I was blessed and privileged to encounter many sick people in the hospital who gladly opened their sacred garden of life for me to enter. They shared their intimate and personal life stories. They were all experiencing depths of despair and challenging storms. All these stories that I listened to were stories of simple people who were walking on water. Some were still in their boats calling on God to their aid while the storms continue to hit it hard. As I became part of their stories, I realized in many of them how their faith was helping them to walk through. Meanwhile, in times when things seemed to be all right, they were not able not to realize how little faith they have. They never realized how difficult it could be to find the meaning of life when they are having hardship. Indeed, when we enter the darkness in which we are helpless and alone, we measure how strong is our faith in Jesus. When storms come in which we have nothing of our own to rely on, and nothing in our nature to support us, we realize how well do we distinguish the encouraging voice of God and that of the evil. Hence, as a human being, storms have always sown confusion and fear in our lives. It sometimes takes away or weakens our faith to the extent that we begin to doubt the presence and closeness of God to us. And once fear takes control over us, we are then deprived of our peace. At such moments we know we cannot save ourselves. Only God can save us and restore calm to our troubled lives. That is why today’s readings come handy by encouraging us to never give up. And so, through today’s readings, the Church is reminding us that Jesus Christ is always close to us no matter how heavy the storms of our lives are. He is in our hearts to calm the storms of our life. He is going to lift us from the depths of despair and restore our peace.

As Christ said to Peter, so he also says to us today: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” So, all we need to do is to trust Him and keep walking without the fear of sinking. Like Peter, we must step out with faith and courage against the storms of our life. But then we should be careful not to confuse Jesus with a ghost who comes and seeks our death. So, we need to build a strong relationship with Jesus Christ so that we can recognize his voice when he calls us out. The stronger is our relationship with Christ the easier it is to recognize him even from the distance of our life experience. And when the difficult moments come, we can listen to the voice of Christ as he tells us to leave the boat and start walking towards him. But what if we begin to sink? It is then that, like Peter, we cry out to him for help. He is not a ghost-like figure from the past. He is the Son of God who lives in our hearts and among us. Therefore, let us hold on firmly to Jesus, who calms our storms and restores our peace.

Let us pray for those whose personal boats are being crushed by waves. Maybe it is an illness, maybe it is a fractured relationship, maybe it is economic uncertainty. Sometimes, the storms are visible to others and sometimes they are hidden, but the storms are very real. But today’s Gospel passage reminds us that God and Jesus are with us in life’s toughest moments when waves threaten to drown us.

By Fr. Ouwakpare Victorin Oussoi, SVD.

Venite ad aquas (Is. 55:1)

Since November I have started studying the Book of Changes, also known as the I Ching. I have read a lot of articles and watched a lot of YouTube videos that discuss it. What is it all about? The I Ching or Yi Jing, usually translated as the book of changes or the classic of changes, is an ancient Chinese divination text. And in our world today, many people use it to predict what to expect in their various undertakings or enterprises. Some even use it confusedly to read the future, which leads them to astrology and many forms of spiritual activity and New Age religions. Yes, it is true that physical hunger is a very real fact of life, especially in poor countries, but spiritual hunger is just as real. As a result of my study, I will say that there are millions of people who are spiritually malnourished. Many of the symptoms of spiritual hunger can be seen here in Europe and around the world. Today we see spiritually hungry people looking for food of their soul outside the church. They are looking for solutions to their problems in astrology and geomancy. This leads them to believe that the position of the stars has something to do with their daily life. And so, the media, in many newspapers, feed them with a daily horoscope. This is an indication that people are looking for something transcendent; they are looking for guidance from a force that goes beyond themself. That is why many Europeans and Americans practice transcendental meditation through exotic yoga or other unknown practices. This indicates our human need for interacting with God. We need a rich and solid spiritual food that comes from our God. And the Church comes to us and points where this spiritual food is found. 

That is why today’s gospel tells us that more than 5,000 people have been fed to their fullest satisfaction: “They all ate as much as they wanted.” That sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But it is Jesus Himself who opens his hand wide. And so, like the psalmist, I will say: “You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145: 16). This is why I ask myself: why are we still going somewhere else for spiritual nourishment? Meanwhile, we meet someone who has the power to give us food, anything we want. And no money needed. As the Lord invites us in the first reading: “Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!” (Isaiah 55). Hence, each soul that loves wholeheartedly is fed with God’s own flesh and blood in the form of bread and wine on this holy table. So, it is left to us to believe and trust that our Lord Jesus Christ is absolute that we can rely on unconditionally. If God cannot feed us to our satisfaction, it will most likely depend on us. We are reminded today that as Christians we do the best if we live out of our lives in fullness in Christ and not for our egos and wants. We must, therefore, learn to surrender ourselves to Christ even when darkness seems to override our dreams of doing God’s will. God is always there for us no matter what happens, no matter what our life situations are. The reality is that when we are in pain, grief, distress, and feel abandoned, we recognize our need for God more clearly. These are the moments when the grace of God can work through us to help other people and to satisfy the hunger of the heart and mind. They may not be spectacular miracles, but these are the things we can do to give meaning to our lives. Even then, Jesus, who is God, took the time to go alone to an abandoned place. He knew that he had to get rid of all the insults, false accusations, imagination, and fear. Before we taste the fullness that God gave us through Christ, we are invited to go to our abandoned place. We are invited to come to a place of hunger. We are called at a time of separation so that we can focus on who and what we have. And so, we ask ourselves: What are my needs, my hunger?

God wants us to eat to our satisfaction, then He can send us to feed others. Because a hungry person cannot feed another hungry person, just as a blind person cannot lead another. So, we must take and eat the food that God gives us every day. And after that, we can go out and take care of the hungry crowd. Let us, therefore, let Jesus fill us with his eternal food. Let us allow Him to fill us with love and kindness. Let us give him the chance to feed everything we need.

By Fr. Ouwakpare Victorin Oussoi, SVD.

Virtus in infirmitate (2 Cor. 12:9)

Growing up my parents taught me a cultural moral value that I continue to practice everywhere, every day, and whenever the opportunity comes. That moral value is that young people must help the elders of their community. Whenever I see any elderly person, I run to help. Because it has become the moral duty that I have to perform. However, in my first year in the US, I struggled with this moral value as I was trying to integrate myself into the community. I often ran to my elderly confreres who were trying to do something, and they often rejected my help saying: “No! thanks! I can do it.” In the end, I learned that allowing someone to help you is a sign that you are either too weak or old enough to go to a nursing home. What is going on in this story is that no one wants to recognize that he or she is weak enough to be helped. Thus, only the person who recognizes his or her weaknesses can accept the help that others are offering. How many of us are rejecting the help of the Holy Spirit in our lives? How many of us are unable to recognize that they are weak and need help? This is where I find the invitation that today's second reading is offering us. This invitation is to recognize our weaknesses and allow the Holy Spirit to help us.

Therefore, one of the main reasons that we do not pray as frequently as we should is our pride. We do not pray as fervently as we ought because we do not recognize how weak we are. If we knew ourselves to be weak, we would always come to the Lord and crying out for His strength. We fail to pray because we think that we are strong enough to handle life without God. This implies that we do not need Christ in our lives because of our strength. Jesus has nothing to do with us because we are self-sufficient.

And Jesus came for the weak, not for the strong. If we want to meet Jesus, we should go to the weak. He or she who knows his or her weaknesses knows himself or herself better. If we want to meet God who lives in us, we should discover where our weaknesses are. Hence, let us stop searching for God and search for weaknesses. Let us stop searching God’s will and search where our hearts are. “And the one who searches hearts knows what the intention of the Spirit is.” God does not confront us or condemn us for being weak. Rather, He sends His Spirit to help us in our weakness. And so, God tells, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9) And enjoin our voices to that of St. Paul and say, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:9b-10). In other words, anytime I boast on my strength, I am running away from God's grace. I am no longer fit to receive the help of God.

God graciously gives the Holy Spirit to help us by interceding for us in our weakness. For, “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” (Rom. 8:26) So, the Spirit helps us by praying for us in our weakness. What an encouragement!

Also, “And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.” (Rom. 8:27) This statement implies that the Spirit takes our deepest feelings and unexpressed needs to the Father, who understands everything perfectly. Hence, let us stop searching for God elsewhere and search for weaknesses. Let us stop searching for God’s will and search where our hearts are. If we find our hearts, our prayers should come from these hearts. If we find our weakness, they should become the reason for our faith in God.

This an assurance that we are not alone in our struggles. This is an affirmation that we are sons and daughters of God because God’s Spirit is in our hearts, and It constantly prays with and for us. The questions that remain to be answered individually or communally are: do I profess that I am a child of God? Do I recognize and acknowledge that God’s spirit lives in my heart? What is then my main hindrance to prayer? How can I overcome it?

By Fr. Ouwakpare Victorin Oussoi, SVD.