The Treasure of the Word: Commentary on Biblical Readings for Sundays, Feast Days, and Solemnities, Cycle B

By Isidore Okwudili Igwegbe

Readers of the Bible know events on the Catholic Churchs liturgy have scriptural passages referring to them. Many, however, are only familiar with a few. One might be surprised at how many more are there for the reading.
The Treasure of the Word: Commentary on Biblical Readings for Sundays, Feast Days, and Solemnities, Cycle B is a life-related meditation on the sacred texts within events of the Catholic Churchs liturgical calendar. Author Isidore Okwudili Igwegbes work is intended for everyone, from the layperson to church leader to those in the clergy. Beginning with Advent, each insight is based on his experiences teaching, leading, and breaking the Word of God with mixed Christian congregations in different countries and continents. Each chapter begins with the date and event, followed by a list of scriptural references.
Igwegbes text satisfies human yearning for the meaning of the Word. It is an exposition of the good news within the good news, a prayerful sharing of the great secrethuman fate is Gods fate, and God is an imprudent investor who blesses his capital and his love on every person, everywhere, and every time. This book encourages Christians and all believers to realise they are the centre of Gods attention.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781491756324

Isidore Okwudili Igwegbe

Isidore Okwudili Igwegbe is a Catholic priest, teacher, and storyteller. He was born in Ogboko, Imo State, Nigeria, and has served in Italy, Germany, Nigeria, and Canada. He has written numerous articles and is the author of a companion volume of commentaries on the readings for the lectionary’s Cycle C.

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Advent

God advances towards his people and invites them to advance towards him.

Salvation is the meeting of God and man.

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First Sunday of Advent

Waiting in Joyful Hope

Readings: Isa. 63: 16--17; Isa. 64: 1, 3--8; Ps. 80:1--2, 14--15, 17--18; 1 Cor. 1: 3--9; Mark 13: 33--37

O ne of the threads that runs through the story of God's loving relationship with his people is hope, and the Word of God always stirs up hope in its readers and listeners. Biblical hope is an openness to the fulfilment of God's promises and is another name for a believer's yearning for God's love, God's loving forgiveness, God's healing mercy, and God's life-giving presence. In the context of the season of Advent, hope is the desire for God's intervention in the life of his people who have been exiled by God because of the sins they committed and who exiled God from their hearts and lives as a result of their sinfulness.

In the readings for the first Sunday of Advent, Isaiah, the great prophet of hope, addressed those returning from exile in Babylon, kindling in them high hopes that the temple would be rebuilt, religious ceremonies there resumed, political and social institutions reconstructed, and normal life restored, but no change seemed imminent. The temple lay in ruins. The scars of its destruction were evident everywhere, and the exiles felt the pain of political, social, and spiritual loss. Frustration, impatience, and despair were in the air. This is the historical context of Isaiah's lament.

In this political, social, and religious atmosphere, some believers recalled God's faithfulness in days past: Our Redeemer from of old is your name (Isa. 63: 16). Some hoped God would intervene immediately in the nation's life: O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence (Isa. 64: 1). Some blamed their fate on sin: We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth (Isa. 64: 6). But all agreed on one thing: that life for the believer is waiting in hope for divine intervention, is breathing the air of hope, drinking the water of hope, eating the bread of hope, singing the song of hope, and engaging in active works of hope. The believer understands that God cannot be forced into intervening. God intervenes in history in his own time; he relates to history on his own terms; he lifts us up at his own pace. Faith is the acceptance of this logic with hope.

We are like those exiles from Babylon. By responding to faith in Jesus Christ, we returned from the exile of unbelief with high hopes that God will take care of everything: that he will intervene in our lives to restore the temple of our political, social, moral, and spiritual life, and that he will banish all our pain and sorrow. But we still notice the presence of ruin and pain. We still struggle with the destructive power of sin and see that our prayers, offerings, and religious practices do not shield us from political, social, moral, and spiritual wounds.

We respond to our situation like our spiritual ancestors who physically returned from exile. Like the psalmist, we acknowledge that our sins are responsible for the delay in God's intervention: Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved (Ps. 80: 3). In our anguish while we wait for the Lord Jesus, the words of St Paul to the church in Corinth make much sense: Grace to you and peace from God our Father ... so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1: 3, 7). In spite of our strengths or weaknesses, our virtues or vices, our knowledge or ignorance, we cannot force divine intervention. Our return from the exile of unbelief is a return to the land of hope. As believers, we wait joyfully in hope for the Lord to return from his exile in the place where we have sent him with our sins. Our vocation to faith is a waiting for the manifestation of the Lord, and it is certain that the Lord will intervene in our history. This certainty should open us to the great hope of God's plan in Christ, but it is not a substitute for hope. We must not become content with our present circumstances and not be open to what God has to offer, for those who fall into this temptation deny the very important aspect of faith that is hope.

Advent is the great season of joyful anticipation of divine intervention, a season of waiting for our Redeemer from of old (Isa. 63: 16).

The Gospel of Mark 13: 33--37 presents a message of waiting in sober vigilance. The man going on a journey who puts his servants in charge of his goods reminds us of the departure of Christ at his Ascension and the church's waiting in active hope for the Second Coming. The four divisions of the day (evening, midnight, cockcrow, morning) are spiritual metaphors meant to teach us about the critical importance of every moment in the life of the believer. We are called to prepare for the coming of the master even in the evening of frustration and failure, even at midnight through sickness and pain, even at the cockcrow of an uncertain new adventure, even in the morning of happiness. We prepare for Jesus's coming by wearing the robe of compassion, caring for one another, and meeting other people's needs.

The city to which the master is expected to return is the human heart; the temple he is expected to restore is the human soul; the home he is expected to dwell in is the human spirit. Divine intervention, the return of the master, can happen at any time, so every second, every minute, every hour, every day is important in the life of the disciple. We must always be alert so that we will not be taken unawares. Lucky are we if the master comes while we are engaged in prayer or good works, practising acts of kindness or compassion, healing broken relationships, or forgiving others or asking for forgiveness. When we participate in such activities, we are spiritually alert and living in hope. Mark's parable, therefore, is a wake-up call to believers.

Second Sunday of Advent

Preparing the Way of the Lord

Readings: Isa. 40: 1--5, 9--11; Ps. 85: 7--13;

2 Pet. 3: 8--15; Mark 1: 1--8

O n the second Sunday of Advent, we are reminded that the Lord of life and Master of the house is coming not to visit but to dwell with us. This is a very important time both for God and for his people, and the Lord has taken time to prepare the blessings of his abiding presence, peace, forgiveness, healing from the wounds of sin, and justice for all. He has commissioned his messenger to personally deliver the news of his coming so that we may prepare to receive him.

The Prophet Isaiah tells us to prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God (40: 3). Isaiah knows his people well, as he knows there are many ways in Israel that are not God's ways. These are man's ways of sin and death: injustice, exploitation, greed, wickedness, hatred, war, and destruction. The Lord wants us to turn from these ways and to recognise and follow his way. Our way is full of valleys, bumps, rough patches, and winding paths, but the way of the Lord is smooth and straight.

The season of Advent is time to do something about the state of our lives and to make straight in the desert a highway for our God. The desert in this verse refers to our spirit, made dry by the disobedience to the Word of God; absence of compassion, justice, mercy, and forgiveness. Sin drains life from the soul, making it a desert where virtue does not thrive. Now, at Advent, the Lord urges us to make way for him in the desert of our lives.

The prophet Isaiah further insists that Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain (Isa. 40: 4). Isaiah sees valleys of injustice; mountains of unfaithfulness; hills of pride; bumps of self-righteousness; rough patches of broken vows, broken homes, and broken relationships; and uneven ground of bitterness and hatred in the lives of his people, and he calls on them to do something about these obstacles to their salvation by acknowledging their sins, repenting of them, and calling upon God with hands extended in prayer and good works. The prophet emphasises preparation for the manifestation of the glory of the Lord but not external preparation -- setting up lights and decorations. Instead we must make internal preparations -- we must cleanse our souls, repent, and do good works. When this is done, the Lord shall be revealed, and all people will see his glory and saving presence.

The message of Isaiah echoes in the voice of John the Baptist, the preacher of baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 1: 1--8 points out some remarkable features about John relevant to our faith and mission as believers.

First, John appeared in the wilderness with a message of repentance, and each of us is called to be a John the Baptist of our age to deliver the message of repentance in the wilderness of our political, economic, social, moral, and religious worlds. Do we have the credibility, courage, and humility to take the risk and preach this message to our families, social groups, and co-workers?

Second, Mark tells us that John the Baptist was clothed in camel's hair and leather and ate locusts and wild honey. This coded language means that John was an ascetic, a man of sacrifice, whose teaching was countercultural, and, therefore, John the Baptist was an odd celebrity and an unusual role model, a leader of a messianic people with a godly outlook. John's ascetic lifestyle was, to some extent, a protest against the materialistic indulgences of some of his contemporaries, and his life serves as a lesson that those who repent may appear out of alignment with the social order in which they live.

Third, John the Baptist humbly acknowledged that he was not the Word that saves but the voice of the Word, not the Saviour but an instrument in the hands of God, the only one who saves.

It is interesting that this strange person's preaching attracted many people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem (Mark 1:5) to confess their sins and be baptised. He taught us that people who yearn for God, listen to God's prophets, and follow the prophets' bidding will always exist.

John the Baptist also reminds us that external preparations are not the best preparations for the coming of the Lord, who will save us. Instead, repentance and confession of sins are the best preparations, for repentance removes obstacles from our path to God and God's path to us; they fill up valleys, level mountains and hills, and make straight the way of the Lord.

Isaiah and John the Baptist are still preaching to us. Their voices are audible in the pages of Scripture, in the teachings of the Church, and in fellowship activities and all other activities meant to draw us closer to the Lord, who is reaching out to us, and all people of our modern society are invited to heed these voices, just as these prophets invited all Judea and the people of Jerusalem to hear their messages.

Third Sunday of Advent

A Man/Woman Sent by God

Readings: Isa. 61: 1--2, 10--11; Luke 1: 46--50, 53--54;

1 Thess. 5: 16--24; John 1: 6--8, 19--28.

T he first reading on the third Sunday of Advent is from Isaiah, a prophet called and commissioned by God to proclaim the mission of the Messiah to the people of God. The Spirit of God inspired Isaiah's prophecy of what the Messiah would accomplish in every believer's life in this world:

-- He would deliver good news to the oppressed, for he is God's messenger.

-- He would bind up the broken-hearted, for he is a healer.

-- He would proclaim liberty to captives, for he is a redeemer.

-- He would release prisoners, for he is a liberator.

-- He would proclaim the year of God's favour, for he is the Saviour.

In other words, it refers to God's agenda and manifesto which the prophet understands to be a cause for joy, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation (Isa. 61:10). God delivers the good news of salvation to those oppressed by sin and covers them with garments of salvation. He binds wounds inflicted on us by sin. He whispers into our ears, provides liberty from addiction and vice, sets us free from prisons of hopelessness, and proclaims to us that every second of our lives is a moment of divine favour.

The joy that God gives to our lives is also the theme of St Paul's letter to the church in Thessalonica: Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ (1 Thess. 16--18). To believe in God is to trust him unconditionally, to see all circumstances as the unfolding of God's plan of salvation. The exhortation to rejoice always was heeded by John the Baptist, who, even in his mother's womb, leapt for joy at his first meeting with Jesus, the Saviour. In the passage from John's Gospel, John the Evangelist describes John the Baptist as a man sent from God (1: 6) who has a mission to prepare the way for the Lord not on the streets of Palestine but in the people's hearts; he has a mission to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him (1: 7).

John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord and testified to the light through his preaching of baptism for the forgiveness of sins. He boldly and loudly preached repentance in the political, social, and spiritual wilderness of his day because repentance and confession of sins is the sinner's safety net, and it is the best preparation, the most beautiful decoration one can make for the feast of Christmas.

John the Baptist was a strange person who wore strange fashions and kept a strange diet of locusts and wild honey, which shows us that he had a different mentality and a different spirituality from those around him, and in this way, he challenged his audience. It is interesting to read that his preaching appealed to many people, for large crowds went out to hear him, and his teaching consequently became a topic of current affairs discussed in public places. The political and religious leaders of the Jews took note and sent a powerful delegation of priests and Levites to ask John the Baptist, Who are you and why are you baptising? To their questions, John humbly told them that he was not the Messiah but the one prophesied in Isaiah 40: 3: He said, 'I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord' (John 1: 23).

John the Baptist was an ideal man of God and a worthy messenger of God. When people pointed to him, he pointed away from himself to God; when crowds followed him, he led them to their Saviour; when people spoke about him, he spoke about God. John avoided becoming an obstacle to the message he was sent to proclaim, as he acknowledged that he was John and not Jesus, that he was the messenger and not the message, the voice and not the Word, the servant and not the Messiah. He spoke about God, who sent him, and not about himself. He faithfully testified to the light, and many came to believe through him.

We are each the John the Baptist of our time; we are each one of us Mr John the Baptist, Miss John the Baptist, or Mrs John the Baptist, for each of us has been appointed by God to testify to the light of God's love in our homes, workplaces, churches, and social groups so that all might believe through us. Our first duty is not to convert anyone but simply to be bearers of God's light and to testify to that light of love, joy, peace, solidarity, healing, and caring for others in our words and actions, and so that all people might believe through us. Our words and actions always point to ourselves, whether we do good works or bad works or point to the Messiah, the hope of the world, or away from him. We either stand in the way of God or stand with him as his messengers. We either speak like John the Baptist or contradict him. We do all this when we love or hate, we embrace or repel, we forgive or hurt. We carry an awesome responsibility as Christians.

God is still in need of Johns, of men and women on a mission to be witnesses and to testify to the light so that all might believe through them. The church is John the Baptist called not to witness to her own light, not to point to herself or away from Christ with her dogma and doctrine, morality, and liturgy, but to witness to the light of Christ and point directly to him with her dogma, doctrine, morality, and celebrations. On this third Sunday of Advent, the life and mission of John the Baptist challenges us to re-evaluate whether our lives and actions point towards or away from the Messiah, and we are called to consider how many people believe because of our witness to the light or disbelieve because of our witness to the power of darkness.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

The House of David

2 Sam. 7: 1--5, 8--12, 14--16; Ps. 89: 1--4, 26, 28;

Rom. 16: 25--27; Luke 1: 26--38

O n this fourth Sunday of Advent, the scriptural readings remind us of God's plan to build a tent for the Master of the house who is coming in the womb of the virgin of Nazareth from the line of King David.

King David understood the importance of a good dwelling, as he was not settled for many years because he was distracted by wars with his enemies. Then, when he finally subdued his foes and settled into his own house, he thought of erecting a permanent temple for the Ark of the Covenant, which had hitherto been housed in a tent. To legitimise his plan, King David consulted God's oracle, the prophet Nathan, as it was, and still is, the duty of prophets to discern and declare the will of God, without editing. Not wanting to offend the king, Nathan gave him a politically correct answer: Go, do all that is in your heart; for the Lord is with you (2 Sam. 7: 3). David did well to consult the prophet, but the prophet spoke without first consulting with his boss, the Lord, and thus he spoke his own mind and not the Lord's. God protests whenever prophets misrepresent his position.

Consequently, that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 'Go and tell my servant David ... would you build me a house to dwell in?' (2 Sam. 7: 4--5). Night is the time for prayer, for sober reflection, and the time of connection to divine wisdom and of openness to the Spirit, and upon reflection, we see that the word of the Lord contradicts the word of Nathan, as the word of the Lord reveals God's plan that David will not build a house for the Lord; rather, the Lord will build one for David: the Lord will make you a house.... I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom (2 Sam. 7: 11--12). In this passage, David stands for all believers who have plans to build or do something else for God, but for every plan we make, he has a master plan for us, and for every dream we have for God, he has a project for us. We do not find God; he finds us. We do not plan for God; he plans for us.

The king's desire was good but was not endorsed by God, and Nathan was too familiar with David to objectively be the voice of God to the king, so he became an endorser of the king's will rather than God's. King David was a hard-working and staunch believer in God, but his hands were soaked in blood, and the Lord wanted him to have a contrite heart before he could have a temple.

The passage further tells us that in the fullness of time, the Lord would build a house for himself from the raw materials of David's lineage: he would use wood from the tree of Jesse, mud from the ashes of David, and water from David's tears of repentance to build a house for himself that no enemy could destroy, that could not fall into ruins, that shall be established forever. This tells us that God uses something of us to realise his plans for us.

The house that God built for David was both more beautiful and longer lasting than wood: David's very flesh and blood. What a mystery! God builds with humanity, for humanity, and to live within humanity from generation to generation. This mystery was kept secret for ages but is now disclosed that it involved three people: God, Mary, and Joseph.

The disclosure happened without spectacular display in a small village in Galilee called Nazareth. Marvellous events happen away from the main streets and squares of the world in places like Nazareth, which was the political, social, economic, psychological, and spiritual context where Mary faced the mystery of love, the mystery of vocation, the mystery of choice, the mystery of doubt, the mystery of faith, the mystery behind mystery. In Nazareth, the angel Gabriel met and said to Mary: Hail, full of Grace! The Lord is with you! (Luke 1: 28). Mary was perplexed at this greeting and wondered what it could possibly mean. She was devout but not credulous; that is, she believed in the existence of angels and divine apparitions but was not superstitious. She had a critical faith and was hesitant to believe any revelation, for she knew that the evil one, the ancient enemy, the serpent, was capable of whispering sweet words, making promises and fulfilling them, and impersonating God as a way to lure and deceive. Therefore, Mary's reaction to ponder what sort of greeting this might be was reasonable.

The angel understood her reaction and assured her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus (Luke 1: 30--31). But Mary still was not ready to surrender her will, and she asked the angel for clarification. How can this be Mary's reaction was reasonable; she merely probed the angel for some explanation. The angel finally clarified, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child will be called holy, the Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son (Luke 1: 35). Mary battled with her doubts before making a leap of faith, let it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1: 38).

Mary is the model of faith. Confronted with divine invitation, she was confused and uncertain whether God's call was really meant for her. She had her doubts, fears, and hesitations. The obedience of faith St Paul mentions in Romans 16: 26 and to which we are called is baked from the raw materials of doubt and hesitation. Faith is not credulity. When God calls us to faith, he expects a dialogue with us. Mary finally surrendered to what she did not fully understand, for faith is a conscious surrender to mystery.

Nazareth was the geo-theological context in which Mary received the mystery of God and where she confronted her doubts and made the leap of faith. Each of us lives in our own village of Nazareth, where the word of God comes to us and invites us to make a commitment.

Christmas: Night Mass

The Light of Men

Readings: Isa. 9: 2--4, 6--7; Ps. 96: 1--4, 11--13; Gen. 1:1-2; Titus 2: 11--14; Luke 2: 1--16

T he liturgy of this solemn night recalls the condition of nothing before it became something through the creative act of God. Before God's creative intervention, earth was like night: dark, cold, deadly silent, and absent of life. The author of the book of Genesis described this situation thus: Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, with a divine wind sweeping over the waters (1: 2).

God brought about Christmas to recreate man in his own image after it became deformed by sin. Isaiah describes the world in which the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, was born as being without light and says that the Son of God born among men will be the light shining in the darkness. The prophet also describes the world in which Jesus was born as being without clear ideas of God and, hence, living in bondage. For the prophet, the coming in the flesh of the Son of God would make a great difference in the world: The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined (Isa. 9: 2).

The Son of God, born into a world of darkness and shadow, is what the human soul secretly yearns for, because to people living in the shadow of doubt, he is certainty. To people living through conflicts and wars, he is the Prince of Peace. To people who are hurting, he is healing. To people living with addiction, he is meaning. To people struggling with confusing feelings, he is a wonderful counsellor. To people ruled and oppressed by dictators and gods, he is a mighty Saviour. To people floating aimlessly in the fluctuations of life, he is the eternal Father. To people oppressed by guilt, he is a liberator. To people entangled in a vicious circle of sin, the Son given to men at Christmas is salvation. God the Father plunged his Son, who freely chose to be plunged, into the depth of human weakness, struggle, pain, anxiety, hope, fears, and tears. He was born into the darkness and shadows of our lives in order to bring us to the light. Christianity is the good news that help has come from outside ourselves and our world to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, to forgive our sins and give us the grace to do what is right. The birth of Jesus is the fulfilment of the words of Isaiah. The message of Christmas is that God descended to our level in order to raise us to his level. The gospel of Christmas is that God so loved the world that he chose to become a human creature. Jesus went through human experience totally dependent on God and taught every person to do the same. The coming of the Son of God in the flesh gave the world a new name (Isa. 62: 2): The Lord's delight.

The psalmist invites his community to celebrate the presence of the wonderful counsellor, mighty Saviour, eternal Father, Prince of Peace, light of hope with a special melody, a new song, O sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth! (Ps. 96: 1). Christmas is God's act of love, a masterpiece, a salvific gesture that calls for an original response in the form of a new spirit, a new song, a new dance, a new life, a new resolution to love. It is a new impetus to imitate God, another reason to believe God's Word and promise. The new song suggested by the psalmist is to be sung and danced in all the pathways and highways of our world, in all our squares and on all our corners, for the gospel of Christmas cannot be kept hidden. God's marvellous work and glory are present in our joys and sorrows, in our hopes and anxieties, in our health and sickness, in our successes and failures, in our life and death. They are to be declared loudly.

The birth of the Son given to men at Christmas is the revelation of God's grace and wonderful light to the whole human race (Titus 2: 11). Jesus is the grace of God, the gift of salvation that equips believers to make healthy choices. Believers do not discover Jesus by their own power; he is revealed to them: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6: 44). The revelation of Jesus happened at the time Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be made of the whole inhabited world (Luke 2: 1). Joseph, a just man, obeyed the decree and went to Bethlehem to be registered with Mary, who was pregnant. Because the town was overcrowded with people who had travelled there for the census, it was difficult to get accommodation, and when Mary's time came, the Son given to men at Christmas was born in an animal's feeding trough.

The story of the birth of Jesus during the census organised by Quirinius is a theological masterpiece woven to emphasise Jesus's relevance to the political and social lives of institutions and individuals. Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, of a descendent of David. It is now time for him to be born in the Bethlehem of every heart, every family, every community and institution. God allowed his Son to be born into the world at the time of a major census in order to teach men to count God first and to consult him in the governance of