Selection of the sermons of Father Ezekiel Oko
Love makes new!
Dear sisters and brothers, four weeks ago we celebrated Easter. For many of us that is a long time ago and almost forgotten. But the message of Easter remains. Resurrection happens every day - in us and through us. The stories we have heard and hear in the readings since Easter are stories about how Jesus' disciples experienced the resurrection.
They are stories of how, despite adversity and tribulation, they passed on the love they experienced from God through Jesus. After their fears and traumas were overcome through encounters with the risen Lord, they experienced a new beginning. These encounters made them new people, people who were no longer afraid but courageou.
We just heard what John sees in his Revelation - a new heaven and a new earth! John, who is banished to the convict island of Patmos and will not leave there again if the emperor has his way (all because he was a Christian), wants to comfort the small, insecure and anxious communities in Asia Minor with his revelation. How can you be so brave? How can one have such great hope despite all the suffering?
We received the answer to these questions in today's Gospel: "I give you a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so should you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you love one another.” These words are not empty and dry words. They have become practical experiences through acts of love that Jesus' disciples experienced. The moments when he appeared to them in the midst of their fear and said to them: "Peace be with you!" The moments when they received forgiveness from him. These experiences of Jesus' love strengthened them and took away their fears. As a result, they too were filled with this love.
Dear sisters and brothers, love makes new! Where love reigns, there is hope for something new and better—in us, in those we love, in our world. Love sees the possibility of a new beginning where we might feel there is no reason to keep trying. Jesus is our example of this love. How I have loved you, he tells us. And how did he love us? The evangelist spreads this out before us, with ever new approaches, ever new perspectives.
Jesus does not first form an image of the people he is calling into the flock of his disciples, whether they are faithful, reliable and intelligent enough. Jesus calls without asking about the character of the person. He does not turn away anyone who does not submit to him and live by his example. He does not separate even from a Judas who is mentioned in the gospel. Jesus meets people as they are: pious and sinners, greedy tax collectors and prostitutes, wealthy Pharisees and poor widows. With his love, his kindness and his benevolence, he calls for conversion and brings many to their senses. Quite a few were moved by his love to change their lives. Jesus wants us to embrace this kind of love.
In his love he is realistic. He hasn't always been able to convince people to change their behavior right off the bat, much less to persuade everyone around him.
The same will happen to us. Yes, it's not easy to love people who are different, who grew up differently, were socialized differently, shaped differently - who speak a different language, have a different religion, tell a different story. That's the only reason why we shouldn't allow ourselves to be tempted to distance ourselves from these people and avoid them.
Jesus calls us to be open to all in love. Because this offers the chance that we stimulate thought, just as Jesus did. To meet one another patiently, long-suffering and openly in love is the most successful, albeit very arduous, way of moving one another to good. Love makes new! Let's let Jesus speak to us and follow in his footsteps.
Overview