THE SEAT OF WISDOM


OUR LADY, QUEEN AND PATRONESS OF NIGERIA

Isa 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-2,7-8,12-13,17; Eph 2:13-18; Mt 2:13-15,19-23

The Throne of the Word of God

Today, we Nigerians celebrate our said Independence Day. We use the opportunity to celebrate Our Lady as the Queen and Patroness of Nigeria, asking for her maternal intercession for our country. As members of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, we contemplate God in her arms, in order to understand the will of God for us as a nation. The throne of God was set before the angels in the spiritual realm, as we contemplated in Daniel’s vision, for they are pure spirits adoring in God and his immutable will in truth and in spirit. But the throne of God is set for us mortal men in the flesh or body of the Blessed Virgin Mary for our contemplation and worship. Since we are embodied spirits, God sent his Word to take flesh in the Blessed Virgin Mary so that we may attain our vocation, which is the same vocation as angels; namely, the beatific vision of God. It is the same God whom the angels contemplate in heaven that she has in her arms for our contemplation and worship. The prophecy of Isaiah clearly has this. “A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots: on him the spirit of the Lord rests, a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” The Son of the Virgin is the face of God or the divine Presence from whom flames of fire issue for our purification, transformation, and contemplation.

The sign of our salvation that God gave in the beginning, when Adam and Eve fell from grace, is the Woman and her Son. The Son is the Eternal Wisdom cloak in our mortal nature. Thus, Isaiah continues: “The fear of the Lord is his breath. He does not judge by appearances; he gives no verdict on hearsay, but judges the wretched with integrity, and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land. His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless, his sentences bring death to the wicked.” These describe the flames of fire that issue from his presence in our nature. Thus, being in the presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary brings us to the presence of God, for she leads us to contemplate God in our mortal realm. The original sin and our own individual sins separated us from God. For sin is the abandonment of God’s presence and will. But through the Immaculate Virgin, we have access to God’s presence in our land of exile from God. Saint Paul’s words underscore this. “In Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ.” God revealed himself to Abraham and to his descendants, thereby making them his people. He prepared the stock of Jesse that would receive his Son through Abraham's descendants. But the revelation is for men. “For he is the peace between us, and he made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law.”

The Son of Man came for the salvation of all men. In his humanity, he made it possible for all men to gaze on the face of God and be purified of their sinful wills and come to embrace the will of God. His humanity is the inheritance of people of every tribe, language, and nation. The Gospel narrates how Africa contributed to safeguarding the Father’s gift to us. “So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I called my son out of Egypt.” The salvation and progress of all men consist in contemplating the face of God and doing his will. As Nigerians, our salvation as individuals and as a country lies in seeking the face of God and living to fulfill his divine will each day. It is appropriate for us, therefore, to seek the intercession of the Blessed Virgin as we celebrate and long for true Independence in our nation. Without abandoning our own wills to do the will of God, progress and development will ever elude us as a people. As the Psalmist says: “In his days justice shall flourish and peace till the moon fails.” Let us seek the coming of the days of the Lord in Nigeria by earnestly asking the intercession of Our Lady, Queen and Patroness of Nigeria.

Let us pray: Grant, Lord God, that we, your servants, may rejoice in unfailing health of mind and body, and, through the glorious intercession of Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, may we be set free from present sorrow and come to enjoy eternal happiness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The offsprings of the Old man and the New Man

Image
Monday, fifth week of lent/2024 Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP Offsprings of Old man and New Man To be able to live the new life within the new Covenant in Jesus Christ, the old life must come to an end. The distinctive difference between the old man and the new man is the focus of desires. The old man and all who live by him have their desires focussed on the satisfaction of self. On the other hand, the new man and those living by him desires only to fulfil God's holy will. Thus, the old man and his offspring obey the law of sin and death. Living for self alone breeds sins, and sin causes death. So, the old man and all living by him are dead and harbingers of death to others. They are adept at manipulating the Law of God to perpetuate their interest and selfish desires. An example of this skill is the treatment the two old judges of Israel in Babylon meted out to Susanna, wife of Joachim, employing the Law of Moses as given in the first reading. “Two elderly men had ...
Read more

WE CANNOT ENTER INTO HEAVEN WITHOUT FAITH

Image
OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP  Isa 7:1-9; Ps 48:2-8; Mt 11:20-24 If you do not stand by Me, you will not stand at all The Lord Jesus Christ takes up the issue of rejecting or ignoring the Gospel message when it comes to us in the gospel reading today. The word of God contains all the blessings of heaven which God had given us in Christ before the beginning of the world. Hence, a rejection or refusal to accept or listen to the Gospel message is a rejection of all the heavenly blessings we have received in Jesus Christ. These divine blessings have import for our lives here on earth. While still dwelling here on earth, those who believe in the word of God already possess the heavenly inheritance God will fully manifest to us when we exit this mortal tent. By faith, we enter into the eternal kingdom and the promised inheritance. The importance of faith for our reception of the heavenly blessings here on earth is illustrated in the first reading...
Read more

BECOMING A DEPENDABLE FRIEND

Image
FRIDAY, SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Eccl 6:5-17; Ps 119:12,16,18,27,34-35; Mk 10:1-12 Making and being a Good Friend The usefulness of a faithful friend is the subject discussed in the passage of Sirach we are considering. From the qualities that make a good friend, we understand that faithfulness depends on the perfection we attain in the formative school of wisdom. The first lesson we learn in nature is faithfulness. The quality of faithfulness is so closely aligned with nature that we consider nature and faithfulness synonyms. The faithfulness of nature, and subsequently of wisdom, is hinted at when we read that wisdom stands at her post/gate daily to beckon the passers-by to turn in and partake of her table. Everything that God made participates in this faithfulness of wisdom in the sense that each remains faithful to his will without failing or leading our minds astray. First, Sirach admonishes us on friendliness to people in general: “A kindly turn of speech multiplies a ...
Read more