THEOLOGICAL :UBIQUITY OF GRACE AND THE CONDITION OF THE HUMAN HEART TODAY

(My Homily for the 15^th Sunday of Year A, July 16, 2017)

1^St Reading: Isaiah 55:10-13; 2^nd Reading: Rom. 8:18-23: Gospel: Matthew 13:1-23.

The Word of God will bring about what it promises and will never fail. No difficulties or obstacles can prevent its fulfillment. This is the testimony of the first reading taken from the prophecy of Isaiah 55: 10-13. Specifically, Verses 10-11 declare thus:

            As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without           watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower             and bread for the eater,so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to    me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent        it.

In Jeremiah 1:12, God says: “I am watching over my Word to fulfill it.” And in Mathew 24:35, Jesus declares:”Heaven and earth shall pass away but my Word shall not pass away.” Towing the same path, Job 12:22 testifies thus: He reveals mysteries from the darkness and brings the deep darkness into light.” Still on the same subject, Hebrews 4:12 asserts thus: “The word of God is alive and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Today’s Readings, therefore, present us with the irrevocable power of the Word of God which comes to us in the form of grace and the four conditions under which the Hearer – you and I – may have heard or received it. These conditions are:

1. The Hardened Heart (as depicted by the seeds that fell on the paths).

2. The Shallow or Rocky Heart (as depicted by the seeds that fell on rock or stone)

3. The Crowded or Double-Minded Heart (as depicted by the seeds that fell on thorns)

4. The Good or Fertile Heart (as depicted by the seeds that fell on good soil).

It has to be observed that the Sower did not discriminate on the grounds the seeds fell on. The onlooker may have the impression that the sower is working vainly just throwing away both his seeds and his energies.

Jesus told this parable at a very difficult juncture in his life – at a time he had been rejected and threatened by the Pharisees, and with a death sentence dangling over his head. The subject matter of these difficult verses is found in Verses 10-17. Many people have hardened their hearts and closed themselves up completely against God. They were threatened by the truth that confronts them and would do everything possible to kill both the truth and the vehicle of that truth. Festus Iyayi puts succinctly thus: some people find their ears hurt when the truth is being spoken and consequently they are incapable of listening.

When no strong and resolute efforts are made to check or control our sensual appetites, they may go beyond constituting distractions and oppositions to the natural desire of the human heart for God to suppressing and deleting it. This is how the hardened, shallow and double-minded hearts are cultivated, consciously or unconsciously.

So the parable of the Sower is meant to help us identify the actual nature and dimensions of the obstacles that stand on our way to a life-giving and fruitful encounter with the Incarnate Word. And given the fact of the Universal Salvific Will of God and that of the Co-operate Salvation (Redemption) achieved on behalf of humanity, it has to be clearly noted that the Word addresses, directly or indirectly, every member of the human family.

Although human nature was totally corrupt as a result of the fall; and whereas the human person cannot do anything to save himself, the Universal Salvific will of God for fallen humanity (which gave rise to the Call of Abraham, the Election of Moses and the inauguration of Israel as the new People of God) cast some rays of grace upon and interfaced with human nature that was already corrupt, and in this way restored the hope of human nature for regeneration. This necessary interface of grace and nature is present in every human heart and could be said to be the basis for the search for ultimate truth, natural knowledge of God and obedience to conscience.

 Grace and nature must not be confused with each other but must rather be reckoned as necessary concretizations of two distinct realities – the divine and the corporeal respectively – where the latter cannot exist without the former. Here, grace is said to be merely “efficacious”. Therefore, even though human nature was totally corrupt, grace made it very impossible for this corrupt nature to exist without some rays of grace. The implication of this is that no human situation or condition is bereft of hope and none exists outside the reach of grace except there is a conscious and persistent attempt to reject the divine touch.

Jesus Christ is the most radically decisive thematization or concretization of the “self-communication” or “self-donation” of God, otherwise referred to as “Uncreated Grace”. It is Grace in its overflowing capacity which, by virtue of the Paschal Mystery, actualized and concluded the work of redemption or cooperate salvation (cf John 19:30).

Salvation per se – individual subscription to the Redemptive works of Jesus Christ or personal appropriation of cooperate salvation – demands explicit acceptance and appreciation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Saviour of the World. The character of grace here is “Sanctifying” or “Habitual”.

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If there ever existed a strong and an honest desire in me to meet and have a handshake with my theological mentor, Fr. Karl Rahner, SJ., the Readings of today have reasserted and confirmed that need. Whereas this has proved to be an impossibility, this need may have to be attended to through some other way – a visit, perhaps, to his grave, may not be a bad idea.

“Hearers of the Word” is a title of one of the most important books written by Karl Rahner. And one of the dominant considerations in this book is that “the human person has the capacity to hear the Word of God”.

The “Word” comes to a person in the form of “Unmerited Grace”.

But this “GRACE” which is unmerited – that is to say that the human person is incapable of earning or winning this grace as a price for one’s work or efforts – is offered by God to all human beings as gift and can only be accepted by the human person in freedom.

The acceptance and appreciation of grace can be delayed, eclipsed, stifled or even entirely extinguished by issues and events into which the human person is immersed yet it is always a given in every individual human life and experience, and constantly places an irrepressible demand upon each and every humanperson. 

An acceptance or rejection made in response to the demand upon a human person by virtue of the “Word” can be explicit (for instance when such a person makes an act of profession of religious faith) or implicit (when the person resolves to live by the testimony of truth and conscience in his/her everyday life without making a public act of faith).

By the event of acceptance of grace, the human person comes to recognize, appreciate, embrace, hear, see, touch and taste that which he/she ought to be and can be and has always yearned for and strived to be or experience by him/her in the very depths of one’s being. The fullest experience and appreciation of the “Word’ that confronts one is not a product of a single activity of the act of knowing but a thread of reality that is at once a mystery which is present in every activity of life especially the acts of knowing and willing things and which could escape a conscious observation except if one is always alert and attentive to issues and events around him/her.

We live in a grace-filled world. Consequently, grace is everywhere. In other words, grace is ubiquitous.

Acceptance of grace signifies the recovery and revitalization of the principle of life that one lost by the event of the Fall and confers it with the character of eternity, while rejection of grace effects the final and irrevocable annihilation of the human substance as this cannot exist outside of grace thereby foreclosing every hope for the recovery of the principle of life.

The human person is a Spirit-in-the-World. Another way of saying this is that he/she is an “unbounded mystery” or “finite infinitude”. He/she has the capacity to leave or go beyond the realm of the physical body and the entire physical world – in this way he goes beyond or “transcends” himself and the physical world into a totally different realm that is entirely spiritual or infinite or a mystery yet this does not make him/her cease to be a human being. Thus, even though such a spiritual or infinite or mystical sphere or realm constitutes another phase of existence that is higher and far removed from the circumstances of corporeal existence (which is the abode of the human person) and imbued with a character of unlimitedness (this is another way of saying that this sphere of existence is infinite or spiritual or a mystery) he/she goes to such a realm as a finite or corporeal being. This kind of movement is what Karl Rahner referred to as “Self-Transcence” or “Auto-Transcendence .”  

But that he/she can be admitted to or has the capacity to access and operate in such a realm that is higher and far removed from the corporeal world which, ordinarily, is his/her abode is a proof that he/she is a spirit. And that this spirit lives in a human body and that this body is part of the corporeal world means that “even though a spirit, the human person is finite or corporeal”.

It is therefore the case that the human person shares, partakes and operates at two different levels of existence - one is corporeal and finite, the other is infinite and a mystery.

No human being, let alone a Christian – what more a Catholic – can afford the luxury of living a totally sensual life. The human being is not merely a bundle of sensuality without a remainder. Instead the human person is a Spirit-in-the-World.

Now the character of a human being as “SPIRIT” is what distinguishes him/her from and places him/her far above every other corporeal reality. In which case he/she also belongs to the World of the Spirits, or, if you like, the World of Mystery. This sphere belongs to and is inhabited by incorporeal beings. The ultimate of these incorporeal or supernatural beings is God. God has been discovered to be the Infinite Infinitude or Absolute Mystery or the Discovered Unknown. But whereas every incorporeal or supernatural being has a far more defined and higher placed character of the infinite or supernatural or mystery than that of a human person, this character of the infinite is not absolute. The “infinitude” or “supernaturality” possessed by every other infinite or supernatural being is measured and has its relevance in reference to the proximity it shares with the Absolute Unbounded Mystery which God alone is.

Thus, there could be many mysteries, but there is only One Mystery.

It is in the nature of God to “communicate” himself to the human person. This “Self-Communication” or “Self-Donation” of God to humanity has the character of “WORD” or “LOGOS” and comes to the human person in the form of grace. When this “Grace” which is “WORD” decided to enter into the realm of humanity, Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the form and shape it took. This theological event of “entering history and taken flesh” is referred to as the “Mystery of the Incarnation”.

The Church is the legitimate custodian of the “UNCREATED GRACE” of God which was ratified, manifested and thematized in the person, life and ministry of Jesus Christ of Nazareth especially in the event of the Paschal Mystery.

The “INCARNATE WORD” is a function of the Church. Today, this function is, by a special divine ordination and mandate, given at two levels: Ministry of the Word and Sacrament.

Kerygma, catechesis, evangelization, and now, new-evangelization are events that are at the service of the Word.  The Sacramental Ministry is also at the service of the Incarnate Word at another level. Yet these are not opposed to but rather exist to enrich and complement each other.

In the Eucharistic celebration, the People of God gather around the Table of the Word and the Table of the Eucharist to make a specialized and exclusive act of acceptance and in-depth appreciation of Grace in a very official manner. The high point of this act is what is evidenced in the reception of the Holy Communion.

This Church (the Catholic Church occupies the major picture as the real and only Church) - which is the only real and legitimate custodian of word and sacrament – is an organized institution with visible structures. It is made up of “juridical” and “non-juridical members”.

Whether as juridical members (official membership acquired and ratified through water baptism) or as non-juridical members (casual membership that has not met the basic condition of water baptism); and whether here in the local church communities (in his/her capacity as a Bishop, a Priest, a Knight of the Church, a Lady Auxiliary, a Catechist, a member of the Parish Pastoral Counsel, an ordinary church member, church worker, e.t.c.) or at the Vatican (as a cardinal, a papal legate, a member of the Roman Curia, a papal spokesperson, a theologian, e.t.c.), two types of Christians (as different from the two types of membership of the Church) exist: Pagan Christians (Juridical or non-juridical members of the church who are recognized and addressed as Christians in the sense of its nomenclatural value only but whose life does not reflect the influence or effects of their Christian calling and has nothing to prove or show that they are believers) and Christian Pagans (juridical and non-juridical members (including those living outside the visible walls of the church) who live their lives in total acceptance of God’s offer of grace in quite obedience to the divine will expressed through a commitment to truth and authenticity of life. It may have happened that the circumstances of their life, birth, race or color opened or dictated a disposition or a path that did not and may not give room for a direct encounter with God, and may therefore not have the opportunity to, explicitly, hear about the name of Jesus Christ - the Word of God made flesh - nor have they been opportune to make a public confession to him or receive water baptism but yet they live their lives in total cooperation with the grace that is available to their lives and in the authentic search and need for the ultimate truth and the final purposes of life). Christians who have overcome the stage of anonymity to become juridical members are called the “Saints” whether they are dead or alive.

To read about and tell the story of Jesus Christ outside of the context of faith is possible. Jesus is a historical figure. In fact there are many people today who profess Christianity but they are merely, HISTORIANS, and nothing else. Today we have many experts in the Church – Liturgical, Biblical, Ecclesiological, Canon Law, Mariological, and Marriage Experts, including others in in Parish or Diocesan affairs. After all, the Church is a co-operate institution running the Jesus Enterprises Ltd. In which case, it is also a juridical personality, that is, it can sue or be sued. Overseas, especially in Europe/America, somebody who is not even a Catholic can be employed to be the parish secretary or Sacristan once the person has the capacity to fulfill his/her duty. The institutional church is a cooperate organization with visible administrative structures established by Christ Himself and entrusted into the Apostles for the purpose of presenting and making Jesus perpetually present and active in the World. She needs all the support, all the money and all the services. And God bless all who are committed in one way or the other to see that this is achieved.

But get this correctly, and as Rev. Chidi Okoroafor (now the General Superintendent of Assemblies of God) would say in one of his popular messages titled “This Born Again Thing”, what you are doing for God is not as important as your relationship with Him. Jesus Christ is a personal experience.

There are powers in this Church – not just the power a Bishop exercises by picking up a phone to call the Governor; or the intervention the parish priest, the general CWO president can make by deploying his/her influence. It is rather about the power God has to save you.

Anybody can be a member of the Church but salvation is a gift God gives to his believers through faith in Christ Jesus. This is individual salvation - as different from, co-operate salvation.

A man chose to be a monk and lived in a moanastery. Then later he became a priest, and was eventually elected a Bishop and made a cardinal. At his deathbed he voiced a regret; If only I had spent my time and life serving as a gateman at the monastery it would have been better for me than being a Bishop in Rome. God would not have abandoned me at this point.

There is an after–life. There is a day called the Resurrection Morning. It is about invitation to the Wedding Feast.

It is good to tell or talk about and do something for Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of Mary (therefore, you can be a Legionary, a Mary league girl, a member of Queen of Peace C.W.O, a biblical expert, a pastor, a papal legate, an Apostolic Nuncio, e.t.c. Yet after all said and done, one fundamental question still persists: Are you saved?

Pentecostals have a way of positing this question: Are you born again? Or, have you received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour?

My problem with the Pentecostal way of positing this question is its irremediable inclination to fanaticism or fundamentalism. Fanaticism separates faith from life, and treats the former as if it has another existence outside of the life we live.

The most any person can tell a man or a woman who has received water baptism, the Sacrament of Confirmation and has as well received Jesus Christ in the Holy communion is that he or she has not allowed the Spirit of God in his/her life to function properly and in full capacity, not that he/she is not “Born Again” or that he/she has not received Jesus Christ as his/her personal Lord and Saviour.

There are many vocations in life, and the Church is not a fool to have recognized and instituted basic ways of fullfilling them.

And so, having rescued this question from its inclination to fanaticism, I return to you again with it and ask you again: Are you Saved?

Asking  CBIU, CPM, CWO, CMO, Youth or Knight members this question looks funny and embarrassing and so it also appeared to Nichodemus.

I believe there is a whole dose of truth which theis question brings to bear on our consciousness. It is a way of awakening our consciousness to the Reality and Necessity of personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

It is about a necessary discovery. The Bible is not just a book of History or Fiction Literature. But the last Chapter of the Gospel of John says the story of Jesus cannot be contained in a book but this is written so that you believe. Therefore, it is about the discovery you need to make about Jesus. In this Discovery lies the ultimate power!

And what is this power? It is the POWER that is clearly identified in  John 1:12ff; “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God”.

Then what comes up in the verse 14 of the Chapter One of John’s Gospel is very remarkable: THE WORD TOOK FLESH AND DWELTH AMONG US”.

The powerful testimony of St. Paul in 2^nd Corinthians 5:21 introduces us to the great lesson we all must learn today with regards to the tension that has continued to heighten between the publication of Pope Francis’ Encyclical “Amoris Laeticia” and the Dubia cardinals especially given the event of the death of Joachim, Cardinal Meisner, Emeritus, Archbishop of Cologne and very close collaborator of Ex-Pontiff Benedict XVI on the implementation of the Fatima message. It is quite in order to observe here that Late Cardinal Meisner proved to be a dependable collaborator with the MaryRose Organization (Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO, founded by my Late Father, Mr. Fidelis Evurulobi which I oversee today in my capacity as its president.

We must keep our mind at peace and our hope alive despite the gloomy situation of the world even as we groan and moan – after the example of Joachim Cardinal Meisner -  for God to reaveal his sons/daughters.

An interpretation of the groan of creation that does not hold hope and peace is not Christian. The story of the woman with the pains of child birth illustrates this.

Sooner or latter, God will reveal his sons in the world and the cries of sorrow and pain will turn into cries of joy.

There is a lot of suffering in the world, and Christians cannot pretend not to hear such cries of sorrow and the groans of creation. They do not however lose hope but are sure that, in spite of all the contrary appearances, a new creation will arise.

 

Sainthood is the manifest goal of the life of every human person as ordained by the Universal Salvific Will of God.  

True and authentic Christian identity can only be established on the basis of the membership of the community of saints and that of Anonymous Christianity. While the former could be threatened and invalidated by a strong inclination to pharisaism or fundamentalism, the latter is, however, fraught with a very high degree of probability.

It suffices that every human is equipped with the possibility of hearing the “WORD” (what Rahner referred to as “obedential potency”). Consequently every human being is a Christian except if such a person vehemently closes himself/herself to the truth. Juridical membership signifies a radical thematization of the acceptance of grace.

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Whereas, the Church will always exist as long as there are human beings in need of grace; whereas there exists a critical need for every human being to identify, recognize and become a member of the authentic Church which is at once an institution and the Mystical Body of Christ; whereas this Church must, now and always, be true and authentic and be visibly so; and whereas it is by the transformative power of the Holy Spirit that “God’s Self-Communication” comes to every human being but significantly to every member of the Church through “Word” and “Sacrament”; it has become quite evident that, going by the testimony of the Readings of the 15^th Sunday of Year A, on This Day of July 16, 2017, Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Amoris Laeticia – a sound and powerful instrument of mercy and transformative pastoral action in the church and in the world - can be exploited by the Church’s enemies to seduce Bishops to touch the untouchable and do the undouable.

At the death of one of the Dubia Cardinals, Joachim Meisner, Emeritus Archbishop of Cologne, Germany and an all-weather benefactor of the Church at every level, as a result of what has been suspected as a heart attack, I cease this opportunity to Pope Francis to utilize the opportunity provided by the forthcoming funeral of this refined and dedicated churchman Joachim Cardinal Meisner to address the legitimate concerns raised by the Dubia Cardinals.

A heart attack suffered by the Church as the bride of Christ will have far more greater significance for heresy, schism and apostasy if this path is not followed.

This kind of intervention is what the person of Karl Rahner, both as a theologian and a faithful member of the Church, held for all during his lifetime. My love and admiration for Rahner compels me to follow in his footsteps as a practical theologian and a priest to the roots. That was vintage Rahner – Rahner the Jesuit.

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Outright rejection of the Word of God which comes to us as grace or gift through Jesus Christ and which is actively transformative by the power of the Holy Spirit is what it means to have a hardened heart. Over familiarity with God, unforgiveness, acute disobedience or unbelief are the real marks of a hardened heart. A disposition of repentance and acceptance of the unchanging word of God is the only place where Divine Mercy and authentic pastoral action meet to effect salvation – not in lowering the standard of holiness and compromising the faithfulness of the bride – the Church.

Grace is offered in freedom and accepted in freedom. The acceptance is, itself the function of grace – the grace that is naturally ours by virtue of a being human but which takes an additionally supernatural significance by the fact of baptism. The Pope has the right and the avowed duty to bring all to the knowledge of the truth and appreciate the salvation brought through by Jesus Christ but this must be achieved in line with and in consciousness of the faithfulness of the Bride of Christ.

The condition of the human heart in the 21^st century is imbued with the possibility of a heart attack or “cardiac” arrest. This danger or risk of a heart attack is what confronts a suffering, poverty-stricken, terrorized, crisis-ridden and suffering humanity that leaves under the yoke of sin.

Souls are perishing, and the engine–houses of many cooperate institutions and sovereign nations are cracked. Humanity is threatened by the events of total extinction and violent death through suicide or genocide.

The situation, as it defines and asserts itself in the Church is greatly insinuating and unacceptable. Simply put, it questions the power of God to serve as testified to in the Book of Romans 1:16. “The Gospel is the power of God unto Salvation.”

Does God exist? Was Jesus Christ really God or one of the greatest impostors and a tragedy that happened in human history? Does religion hold any greater significance except as an effective instrument designed for the purpose of coercing and controlling the human mind especially the ignorant? What are the actual dimensions of sin and authority for hearts that are ignorant and in a church that feeds and basks on pretensions and deceit?

If the actual dimensions of the clergy sex–abuse of minors,  arrogant structures and intolerable doctrinal impositions that asserted themselves in the life of the Church and attempted to condition the form and shape of “Word” and “Sacrament” which the Church holds in trust for God the father through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and on behalf of the new humanity - if the actual dimensions of these anomalies have not been totally discerned and may not be fully discerned in this early part of the 21^st  century, then the Church is at the risk of a cardiac arrest occasioned by the sins - through omission or commission - of her so–called sons and daughters. This is the urgency that Pope Francis resolutely addresses in his Encyclical “Amoris Laeticia”.

The ignorant and the impostors who may want to hide under the cover of conservatism as well as the Devil who might want to find expression and accommodation in the pages of Amoris Laeticia under the cover of progressives must be made to shut up. 

This two–way danger coalesces and asserts its powerful contradicting presence in the person of Pope Francis. Pope Francis is the authoritative and credible symbol of the Church of Sinners and Saints; of God of Mercy and Holiness; of a forgiving Father and a Just Judge. The situation is delicate and at once volatile in the sense that the Church is the victim and the accused at the same time.

In this Holy Mass, we pray God to give the Holy Father, Pope Francis - Vicar of Christ, Successor of St. Peter, Supreme Pontif/ Head of the Universal Church and Bishop of Rome the GRACE and WISDOM to use the opportunity provided by the event of the forth coming funeral of Cardinal Joachim Messier, Emeritus Archbishop of Cologne and an all–weather benefactor of the Church in need (KIRCHE–in–NOT) to,, positively and realistically, address the “Dubia” presented to him by the elders of the Church even as the Holy Spirit still remains the the Author of “Amoris Laeticia”.

But our actions must show a manifest proof of our faith. This is the stand of the Cardinal Advisers to the Pope Francis.

Do we need to crucify or quarrel with believing and convinced members of the Roman Curia who are committed to their pastoral obligation to a Church filled with Sinners, their loyalty to the figure of a Pope who is an apostle of Divine Mercy in practical terms and the joy that belongs to prodigal humanity who expresses her need for a forgiving father - whether this is uttered consciously or unconsciously, implicitly or explicitly, audibly or inaudibly – and did find one in Pope Francis?

And even if we are apostles of mercy - an apostle of Divine Mercy and a forgive father that is genuinely concerned about prodigal humanity - must we also be so at the irrevocable expense of the saints? This is the contradiction that should be addressed, and cannot but be addressed and, therefore, must be addressed.

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The human person has the right to accept or reject the Word of God. In this regard, one is responsible for taken the decision to accept or reject God.

The problem lies with the human heart. The condition of the human heart in the 21^st Century is a tragedy.

This is not any good news at all for those who understand that at the very bottom of the mystery and deception of the human heart is the seat of the decay wrought by sin - the consequence of the fall. In Psalm 64:6, the bible says that the heart of man is mysterious and deceptive.   Therefore, the condition of the human heart can only be remedied by the acceptance and appreciation, or to use another term, co-operation with the Grace of God offered through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. For if the disobedience of one man wrought so great a transgression, what an abundance of grace that has accrued to us all through the obedience of one man.

Permit me, at this juncture, to explore at greater depths, these four different pictures of the response of the human heart to the demand of grace upon it as presented to us by the Gospel Reading of today where we are told the Parable of the Sower”.

 The Pharisees rejected Jesus outrightly and went beyond this to plot on how to kill him without taking into account the consequence of such a plot. And they were determined to actualize their murderous plot so much so that when they were confronted with the implication of their action, they shouted something that made history: Crucify him! Crucify him!! And let his blood be upon us and upon our children and upon our children’s children. The story of Judas isn’t any different despite the greatest assurance of love and grace that came directly from the hand of the master himself. This is the tragic condition of a human heart that is hardened up and closed against God. Nothing - neither the scandalous secularist incursions into the deposit of faith in the guise of a search for tranquility for perverted conscience by some criminal dispositions and over-arching pretentions that usurp the charitable pastoral platforms of Divine Mercy erected by our own dear Pope Francis, nor the doctrinal flexing of muscles that has brought the Church to the brinks of heresy, schism and apostasy and which may end up sponsoring insidious attitudes that are unbending in their effort to change the rules at the middle of the doctrinal and pastoral games - can change it. Nothing can remedy it. And nothing of divine positive action can affect it from outside without the reciprocity that can only come from the inside.  An inroad to the seat of the decay can only be initiated from within and made to manifest on the outside as a visible sign of faith which alone has the capacity to attract the grace that always lie in ambush for the human heart.  Even the move from within is a function of grace. But a hardened heart seems to be strongly allergic to grace. Hence, beneath the frigid layers of vituperations that have been laid at the door of the frustrated conservatists that the Dubia Cardinals are, ostensibly, said to be and sarcastically hidden somewhere in the beautiful pages of the Chapter 8 of Pope Francis’ Encyclical, “Amoris Laeticia” is found a visceral acid discharge that has the capacity to, corrosively, attack the faith of the Church, if not now, then certainly in the post-Francis papacy.           

Secondly, further probe of the human heart reveals another dimension of disposition that is shallow. This disposition is at once diplomatic and bureaucratic as it is ideological. Pope Benedict  XVI referred to it as “the  dictatorship of relativism”.  The other side of it is what Pope Francis has come to refer to as “the ideological war”. Thus, the overt and covert forms of terrorism and corruption inflict untold suffering, pains, hardships, injustice and deprivations against the human person even from quarters that used to command our respect and allegiance. there is also the fact of great oppositions, persecutions, deprivations, oppression and injustice which have crystallized into a dominant factor in the event of taking a decision for grace. What is happening in the North East of Nigeria and in Syria with regards to Boko Haram and ISIS, for example, serves to illuminate the shallow condition under which the human heart accepts and appreciates the grace of God. Consequently, trust is broken, relationships are severed and hearts are wounded. A shallow heart can become despondent and would bow to pressures to lose its grasp on grace.

Thirdly, a double-minded or distracted heart can be challenged by “yes” or “no” response to grace by choices, situations and circumstances that seem to lie beyond him.  The rich wise man in the bible rejected the loving invitation unto discipleship from Jesus because he was trapped in the person of his wild fancies and worldly attractions which he considered inescapable and irreducible.

But Mathew upturned the hold that duplicity had on him and overcame the dwarfism imposed on his faith status by public hatred to become a disciple.

Fourthly, there is the believing heart which bears fruits at different levels - the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

There is one thread of fact that runs through the four conditions of the human heart. The sower sows indiscriminately- on the road path, on the rocky ground, on the thorny ground and on the good soil. We all live our lives and become what we are by the decisions and choices we make as these affect our relationship with Jesus Christ, the Word of God which took Flesh and dwelt among us and is still present to us whenever we hear the word preached or participate in the sacraments.

Cooperation with the grace that is available to us in accord with the different states of our lives is a challenge that the parable of the sower confronts each and every one of us with.

I belong to the theological heritage of ex-Pontif Benedict XVI. That’s my family as a theologian. But for the purpose of practicability and application I am content to dwell as a tenant in the Rahnerian neighborhoods. And when the so-called conservatist–impostors shall question the appropriateness of my tenancy here and begin their treacherous investigation that has already, as always, been concluded and labeled a dogmatic ruse and a handbill of bias and prejudice before ever it began, they shall be confounded to know that Benedict XVI is my father.

The Dubia Elders actually knew Pope Francis and recognize him as the infallible Pope. But Pope Francis cannot afford the luxury of dismissing a pillar of the Church’s faith that is seeking understanding, not for its own sake – for it believes – but for the sake of the apprehensions that filled the ambitious sons of Zebedee and the education and resolve the entire College of Bishops received in the hands of the Master himself as a result.

The Devil is wicked. It employs thorns, ravenous birds, creates want and manufactures obstacles against people and nations so as to kill their appetite for and attention to the word given life that is Christ Jesus.

But the word of God is powerful. It is fire. It is authoritative. It never fails. In Romans 1:16, Apostle Paul says the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

Do never grow tired of preaching the word. Preach the word in the market even when no one cares to listen. Preach it in the church, in the car, in the village square; during the women august meetings; early in the morning during or  during Morning Call. Preach it to your husband, wife, children, relations and neighbors. Whichever way the Gospel is urgent to the point of emergency.

Consequently, read the Bible from Monday till Sunday. Publicize the WORD; advertise it and preach it in the Morning, Evening and Night. Whether it is raining preach it. Whether the Sun is shining, preach it. Persecuted and abandoned, rejected and intimidated, do preach the WORD.

The implication or force of the options of accepting or rejecting the WORD is not immediately discernible to all but it is revealed to the “SAINTS”. There is something like the day of Judgment. It will be a great and terrible day. Our Blessed Lady made me understand during my encounter with her that, like in the days of Noah, whoever was anybody that was not in the boat perished in the flood. In the New Ark, anyone whose name is not found to be among those under listed in the Gospel of Luke 6: 20-23 is already dead.

I thank God for the light and love Cardinal Joachim bore in his life and ministry as a priest and a shepherd. Had I the opportunity, I would have told him to his face and to the face of anybody who cares to listen that Cardinal Joachim was and still remains a fearless and courageous defender and propagator of the authentic faith, even though it was necessary for him to know and understand that “Amoris Laeticia” is a parable.

Remarkably, it is more important to note that: it is better to kneel before Jesus Christ today and confess to him as the Lord and Saviour as testified to by Late Pope John Paul II’s powerful Encyclical “Dominus Iesus” or we resolve to face him on the Judgment day as an incorruptible Judge.

The hearer of the word has options. After all, it is a free world.

He/she must choose between two places, Heaven and Hell; he/she must choose between two, Jesus Christ or the Devil;  he/she must choose between two paths, Broad way or Narrow way.

And while a delay may be considered necessary as a way of evading the the interrogation of conscience, it must be pointed out that guilt grows.

The concept of “Wasted Years’ is a truism that only the humble can appreciate.

We can begin to re-build our wasted years by surrendering to Jesus the Master, and allowing the “Word’ to set the pace for us in everything.

We ought to raise these three serious questions.

1.  What is my spiritual condition?

2.  What are my prospects for eternity?

3.  And what will my verdict be at the Judgment?

Nichodemus, a member of the Pharisaic cult, was a very simple and honest man. But the only way Jesus considered it fit to maintain his friendship was to get him firmly rooted in the faith of the fathers – He must be born again. Being born again has got a lot to do with “heart circumcision” as referenced to in the book of Prophet Ezekiel. The heart of stone must give way to a new heart”.

 

The man who refuses to pay attention to what Jesus says about sin and repentance will find it difficult to be born again.

The man who will not give up and turn from his sinful and worldly ways but will rather initiate a process of rationalizing and negotiating abortion, same-sex relationships, e.t.c.,  as a cover-up for a decayed conscience and a decadent society will find it difficult to be born again.

The man who will allow his station, his position in life and his circumstances of life, or even his associates to stand on his way will find it difficult to be born again.

A man’s CHOICE settles things for time and eternity. Two boys were born to two kings respectively. Jonathan chose God and right and built himself into a noble character. Absolom turned from God to a sinful pleasure, and left a name that is a symbol of a fool’s folly.

What you CHOOSE will make you what you become in time and eternity.

Two men walked with Jesus, heard all he said and equal opportunities. One chose to love Jesus with all his heart. The other chose to make money his God. John’s choice made him immortal among men, but Judas’ choice made his name the symbol of treachery and betrayal.

A man choice will do something for him now and in eternity.

Two men belonged to the same Church and they listened to the same preaching. Barnabas chose to be sincere and honest with himself. Ananias chose to be insincere and got trapped in his lies and disgraced himself. God eulogized Barnabas and stigmatized Ananias.

Choice made the difference between two Sauls. One bowed to the antics of greed and disobedience. In this way, a man whom God fetched from the trenches of anonymity and placed on the path of greatness became a despicable symbol of defeat and disappointment. That is King Saul. The other chose to listen and obey his conscience and re-dedicate himself to the voice and the name that confronted him as the ultimate truth. In this way, he won himself an enviable place in the pages of Sacred History and became a household name that could mean nothing except honour, integrity, inspiration and selfless service despite a rotten past dotted with murder and perjury. That’s the Apostle Paul.

Choice made the difference between two brothers. One chose to live a life of total deceit and irresponsibility. The other chose to live in total appreciation and acknowledgement of the ever abiding presence of God and divine guidance. Cain thus became the symbol of irredeemable imbecility, a wanderer and a fugitive in this beautiful world where he had the opportunity to actualize every of his potentialities. Abel worn for himself a place in the heart of his maker, and became the first martyr whose blood was the first to speak before God and console Him about the ingratitude of a fallen humanity.

Ten women started off on a pedestal of integrity and in this way, won a royal invitation to the wedding feast of the son of a certain Royal Family. Five of these virgins chose to shun and throw away the vigilance and continuous revivalism or spiritual alertness which were the only passport that could guarantee them entry into the Royal Palace and in this way turned out to be a total embarrassment to themselves and whatever they professed and represented. The other five women held on and persevered in their struggle for greater acceptance and credibility and in this way, they used their life to illuminate the great fact and qualititive testimony that Jesus Christ is the Way, the truth and the lifeThi is the story of of the five wise virgins and the five foolish ones.

Uthman Don Fodio left a valid testament when he wrote that: “Conscience is an open wound that only the TRUTH can heal!”