Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk

Second Sunday of the Year, Year A – Jan 26, 2020

Readings: Is 8:23-9:3; Responsorial Psalm Ps 26(27):1, 4, 13-14; 

1st Cor. 1:10-13, 17; Gospel Matt. 4:12-23.

Theme: Discipling for the Kingdom

Introduction

Beloved in Christ, today the Church invites us to follow the example of Jesus by recruiting others for the kingdom. As priests and religious and members of the laity, our baptism incorporates us into the priestly, kingly and prophet mission of Christ. Titled “Discipling for the Kingdom,” our reflection shall scan through the readings, define discipling, its institutions and types and state why discipling is crucial for the Church. This is with the view to obtaining the requisite pastoral lessons in the light of discipling.  

Background and Summary of the Readings

In the first reading (Is 8:23-9:3), the Prophet Isaiah provides us with a script and background for Jesus’ ministry to the gentiles nations. By emphasizing that a people that lived in darkness has seen a great light, Isaiah was offering hope to the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali which settled around the Lake of Galilee after the exodus and were suffering due to their mixing with non-Jews. He assured that they would no longer be described as people living in darkness. This is because God would set them free and grant them his glorious light.

The second reading (1st Cor. 1:10-13, 17) relates how St. Paul urges his audience to unite in belief and practice. He discourages the practice of cult personality like saying “I am for Paul” or “I am for Apollos” by reminding the Corinthian-community that it was Christ who died for them not the disciples. He also reiterated that they were baptised in the name of Christ. Paul surmised that Christ sent him to preach the Good News though not in terms of philosophy.   

The gospel (Matt. 4:12-23) presents us with Matthew’s revelation of Jesus’ geographical sojourn from Nazareth, in the Galilean hinterland, to Capernaum by the lakeside. This was a fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy. He relates how Jesus replaces John the Baptist whose ministry had come to an end by disclosing God’s saving plan. Jesus’ movement from his hometown, Nazareth through the Galilean countryside demonstrates that he was set to bring light to a region of “those who walk in darkness and the shadow of death.” Little wonder, his first target was “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24).

Galilee was an admixture of Jews and non-Jews alike. That is why it was referred to as “Galilee of the Gentiles.” In this sense, Galilee is a metaphor for a ministry to the gentiles. This indicates that Matthew wanted to teach that after his death and resurrection, Jesus’ mission would be directed to gentile nations as encapsulated in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). It also shows that both Isaiah and Matthew agree that Jesus’ ministry and that of the further Church is discipling nations.

Discipling, Its Types and Institutions

Discipling is the intentional, deliberate, relational, loving and purposeful guidance which one who is inspired by the Holy Spirit and guided by the Church’s principles provides to others especially the young in order to bring them close to Christ.

1. Home: By presenting the baby Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:22-40), his parents wanted to demonstrate the role of parents in the lives of their children. The home is the Domestic Church (Lumen Gentium, 1964, No. 11) where parents “by word and example... [are] the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children” (CCC , 1997, No. 1656). Accordingly, parents ought to provide their children with family catechesis and exemplary discipling.

2. Church: The essential role of the Church is discipleship or discipling through preaching, teaching and sanctification of souls. For example, we are told that when the early apostles preached in Derbe, many disciples were won to the Lord (Acts 14:20). Little wonder, the early Church chose Deacons for the distribution of food for the marginalized so as to concentrate on preaching the word and discipling (Acts 6:1-7). That way, “The word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. A great company of the priests obeyed the faith” (Acts 6:7). So, the local Church, that is, the parish has the mandate for discipling by ensuring that people are prepared for the sacraments and very parishioner belongs to a pious society. Leaders of lay pious societies ought to be discipled so as not to lead people astray.   

3. School: To demonstrate the importance of master-disciple relationship, Paul noted that he was educated at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:1-3). As such, parents, school managers, educationists and the government must expedite action in providing good and qualitative education which provides for spiritual and moral upbringing as well as mentoring programmes for the young. The early missionaries combined the missionary enterprise with provision of basic healthcare services and quality education. Unfortunately, because of the takeover of mission schools by Yakubu Gowon in 1974, catholic education suffered a great setback. Today we seem to be obsessed with primary and secondary education that Pentecostals have overtaken the Catholic Church in building Universities. Out of about 79 private universities in Nigeria, there are about only 8 Catholic universities. Why can’t we turn all our seminaries to universities where lay people can also be discipled like priests?  

4. Charities/NGOs: While Protestants busy themselves with what the British Anthropologist Radcliff Brown calls Achievement Motivation, Protestant Work-ethic and Economic Pragmatism, Catholic charities, whether they are ecclesial (JDPC) or secular have a role to play in discipling and mentoring young people. We need more Catholic-oriented Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) like The Kukah Centre and Lux Terra Leadership Foundation which expose leaders and potential leaders to purposeful leadership.

Why Discipling is Crucial 

1. Christ and His Great Commission: If we don’t continue the mission of Christ through furthering the Great Commission, we have no business being called Christians. This is the hallmark of discipling namely raising others for the kingdom.

2. Rise of Islam & Persecution of Christians: On April 1, 2019 Pew Research Center disclosed that there are about 2.3 billion Christians in the world and 1.8 billion Muslims. That gap is expected to narrow by 2060, when it is projected that there will be 3 billion Christians and nearly 3 billion Muslims making Islam the largest growing religion in the world. That’s because Muslims, on average, are younger and have more children than Christians.

It is worrisome that in 2018, it was reported that ISIS mobilized an estimated 40,000 foreign nationals from 110 countries to join their ranks. The report noted that they use social media for their recruitment (Ward, 2018).

At our backyard here in northern Nigeria, Hisbah is busy forcefully recruiting vulnerable Christian boys and girls in the north. No fewer than 2,900-3,000 Christians were hacked to death in 2018, out of the number, not less than 2,400 were killed by Fulani Jihadists or “killer Fulani Herdsmen” (Open Doors, 2019). Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution (Christianpersecution.com). This anomaly requires a radical response through discipling. 

3. Secularism and Modernism: Secularism or modernism is the attempt to remove God from the public space. No thanks to secularism, Churches in erstwhile countries like Ireland that were built on Christian principles are becoming Museums and Mosques. The twin evils of secularism are modernism have combined to bring about what Pope Francis calls “Ideological Colonialism.” Foreign nations are tactically forcing Western “values” like gay unions, foreign policy (loan on the condition that the currency is devalued and gay marriage is endorsed), used clothes (Okrika) foreign movies and music that are laced with sex and violence on Africa.

For instance, it took the resilience of Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Kenyan’s Uhuru Kenyatta and former President Goodluck Jonathan to insist that homosexuality is alien to African culture. While Christian politicians only care for their pockets and families, Muslim politicians have actually demonstrated that in Islam politics and religion are one and the same. That is why a governor in the north owes no one any apology to say the Salat (Muslim prayer) while addressing citizens of a multi-religious and secular state. Can many Christian governors remember to even pray before addressing the state? Is the lack of discipling from an African context not the cause of these imperialists’ tendencies? 

4. Passing the Baton: Unless the Church deliberately and decisively disciples the young for purposely leadership, there will be no future. As such, the Church must prepare those she intends to pass the baton of leadership to through discipling. 

Pastoral and Practical Lessons

1. Make a U-Turn: Jesus’ message of “Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand” challenges us to take a decisive action and move away from the roundabout of sin to navigate our way to the express or highway of holiness through a metanoia.

2. Look at the Bigger Picture: Since the message of Jesus was coming at a time when the Jews somehow believed God had disserted them into the bondage of evil spirits and oppressive Roman occupation, we are charged to always look at the bigger picture because Jesus has inaugurated the messianic age thus reassuring us of God’s rule. 

3. Make a Radical Change of Heart: Since the central message of Jesus was a divine mission to reclaim people’s hearts we are reminded that the most important thing in our lives is making a radical change of heart rather than mere political and economic freedom.

4. Recruit Others for the Kingdom: By calling Peter, Andrew, James and John and later the twelve, Jesus wanted to gather a renewed Israel thus calling later Christians to not only be pillars of kingdom but “fishers of men” through what Pope St. John Paul II calls “New Evangelisation” which targets those who have defected from the faith, those who are cold in the faith and ensuring a personally lived faith. 

5. Make God First: By leaving their family, profession or means of livelihood to follow Christ, the disciples teach us the indispensable value of seeking first the kingdom of God and its righteousness as every other thing would be added unto us (Matthew 6:33).

6. Be Intimate with the Lord: Just as Jesus was intimate with his disciples, he calls us to develop a personal relationship with him.

7. Seek Spiritual Dividends: In a society people are quick to ask God for money and material possessions, we are urged to look towards Jesus’ ministry of healing and proclamation of the Good News towards catching people for the kingdom.

8. Be Strategic: Although Jesus employed the principles of strategic communication to call his disciples, the Church seems to be distracted with concentrating about money and building Cathedrals thus sidelining the basic principles of integration and communication like discipling and mentoring which Islam is daily using to recruit Christians to its fold through Hisbah. 

Homiletic Quotes to Remember

1. In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah provides us with a script and background for Jesus’ ministry to the gentiles as presented in the gospel.

2. The second reading relates how St. Paul urges his audience to unite in belief and practice.

3. The gospel presents us with Matthew’s revelation Jesus’ geographical sojourn from Nazareth, in the Galilean hinterland.

4. Jesus’ movement from his hometown, Nazareth through the Galilean countryside demonstrates that he was set to bring light to a region of “those who walk in darkness…”

5. Galilee is a metaphor for a ministry to the gentiles.

Conclusion

In face of current challenges such as indifferentism and secularism, we are challenged to respond to the Great Commission by exploring the breadth and richness of faith, establishing a conscious and personally-lived faith and debuting new methods and expressions of evangelisation which takes mentoring the young in discipleship and leadership seriously. We must ensure that our disciplining has new ardour, new method (Christo-centricity) and new expression (culturally conscious). Either we are engaged in mission ad intra, within or mission ad extra, outside; may the Holy Spirit guide us to further God’s kingdom to the ends of the earth. Amen. Have a great week ahead!