HOMILY FOR FIRST MASS OF FATHER EMMANUEL OMUNYOKOL Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 8, 2018
Ezekiel 2:2-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6
INTRODUCTION
Nearly twenty-years ago, in August 1998, I came to Mbale to work as the secretary of Archbishop Odongo. And so on Sundays, I would come here to St. Austin’s Church, to help the late Father Osalia, with celebrating Mass. A few years later when Father Onyeba took over as Parish Priest, I continued to come and help out. At that time there was a long line of little altar boys who would serve Mass with me. One of those little boys was in Primary Three; and perhaps because he was short like me, and not tall like Father Osalia and Onyeba, he tended to serve my Masses. That little boy was Emmanuel Omunyokol, who today, is now Father Emmanuel Omunyokol, who will soon have his own little altar servers.
And so today is a joyful day. We are rejoicing with Father Emmanuel who has completed a journey that has taken him to several places. He began from Moroto, Magodes and Maluku Primary Schools; then he went to St. Peter’s seminary in Madera, Mbale Elgon and Mbale Comprehensive Secondary School for O’Level, and for A’Levels to Oxford – not the Oxford in England, but Oxford Secondary School in Mbale. He would then go on to Katigondo Seminary and to Notre Dame Seminary in the USA. And most recently he took a detour or diversion, like the people of Israel in the Desert through Bududa and Achilet Parishes. And now he is a priest.
That he has completed this long journey is a good enough reason for us to rejoice today. But that is not what I am going to talk about. You see today is really not about Emmanuel Omunyokol. Let me repeat that; today is not about Emmanuel Omunyokol. We are gathered here today to celebrate the life, the priesthood of another man. And I am not talking about myself who has celebrated twenty-years a priest last week, nor my colleague from Notre Dame Seminary Father Lance and his classmate Father George, who have celebrated 25 years in the priesthood. Today we are here to celebrate the priesthood of Jesus Christ, in which I, my brothers priests here at the altar and now, Father Emmanuel is privileged to participate.
One of courses I teach at the seminary, in fact, I taught Emmanuel, is a course on the theology of the priesthood. But don’t worry. I am not going to say everything that I teach for four months; otherwise our lunch will get cold. Instead, I want to simply reflect on two basic questions about the priesthood of Jesus Christ:
- What is this priesthood of Jesus Christ, in which we participate?
- What do priests do to participate in the priesthood of Jesus Christ?
SCRIPTURE AND THEOLOGY
The Letter to the Hebrews speaks a lot about the priesthood of Jesus Christ. But one verse, the first verse of Chapter 5 summarizes for us who a priest is. Speaking about Jesus, this verse says: “Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” Did you hear that? The priest, a man himself, a human being, is a mediator between the people and God. That is who Jesus Christ was, God who became a human being, so that he could speak to God on behalf of the people and to the people on behalf of God. This man Jesus offered a sacrifice to God on behalf of the people and in so doing brought down God’s blessings to the people on behalf of God. Catholic priests today are also taken from among men and made their representatives before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices. In other words, like Jesus priests are mediators.
Perhaps the best image to describe a mediator is a bridge, that connects two sides of the river. Last week when I was bringing Father Lance and the other visitors from Kampala, as we were crossing the River Nile, I told them that this was the only bridge connecting Eastern Uganda and Central Uganda. And if it were to break for any reason, there would be no way for them to get back to the airport – they would be stuck here, unless of course they took the long way via Karuma Bridge or via Kenya and Tanzania.
But even this morning, coming from Tororo to here, we crossed many bridges. At Mailo Two, Mailo 5, Mailo 8, Magodes, Lwaboba, and then there is the big one at Manafwa. We have had such heavy rains that I saw on TV, that some bridges on Tirinyi road were broken and people had to pass via Tororo to get to Mbale. And so, just as we really need bridges to get from one side to the other, we need priests to help us cross from our side to God’s side, from the side of the world to the side of God.
But some Christians do not accept that the priest, a man can be a mediator, a bridge, between us and God. They say that since the New Testament speaks of only one mediator between God and human beings, one bridge that is Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father, to intercede for us (cf. 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 7:24-25), there can be no other mediator.
That is true, that there is only one real Mediator, Jesus Christ. But what our Christian friends don’t realize is that there are two kinds of mediators: the original mediator and the delegated mediator.
- The first one, Jesus Christ, is the original and most important mediator, because he is the one who has actually reconciled us with God forever, by paying our big debt of sin.
- But Jesus did not want to do this work alone. He wanted us human beings to join him. He could have done it alone, after all he is God. But he wanted us human beings to help in saving each other.
The other day I saw a mother carrying a jerican of water on her head from the borehole. And behind her was her two or three-year old daughter, also struggling to carry a very small container, containing less than one litre of water, like those bottles of juice. We know that the mother could have carried all the water; but like Jesus, she wanted the child to be a part of the family, to make their small contribution to the welfare of the family.
In the same way, that is why throughout the Bible, God has always chosen other people, he has delegated mediators to participate in saving his people.
In the Old Testament:
- He chose Moses and Aaron to free his people from Egypt and lead them to the Promised Land.
- Later he chose kings, like David, to help them to settle in the Land.
- And much later when they went astray, he sent them prophets like Ezekiel from who our first reading came, to bring them back to the right path.
Even in the New Testament, after Jesus had done all the hard work of suffering and dying on the cross, he still chose human beings to help him finish the work of saving us.
- He chose those same 11 disciples, who had run away from him. Now that he had strengthened them, he told them: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:20-21).
- Jesus even chose Saul a former persecutor of Christians to continue his work.
- How can we forget that even much earlier, God chose the teenage girl, Mary, to be the Blessed Mother of his Son, to be the instrument that would bring his Son into this world.
And so, what the Lord has done throughout the Bible, he continues to do in the Church for the past 2000 years and today. He appoints deacons, priests and bishops, to be mediators and bridges, to speak on his behalf to the people, and also to speak on behalf of the people to God; to act on his behalf to his people and on their behalf to God. Yesterday, Father Emmanuel, became one more bridge to help us cross from this side of the world to the side of God.
APPLICATION
Now that we know that Father Emmanuel priesthood will essentially consist in his being a bridge sent by Jesus Christ, we go to the second question to ask: how will do his work of being a bridge? How will he help us to cross to the other side?
One simple way to describe the work of the Church and the work of priests is to divide it into three main categories, a Trinity of ministries if you like:
- There is teaching the gospel, also known as the office of prophet.
- There is celebrating the liturgy, also known as the office of priest.
- Finally, there is leading the faithful to God, also known as the office of shepherd.
And so the priest is a bridge by teaching, celebrating and shepherding.
The first job of teaching could be compared to the work of the spokesman at a Marriage introduction ceremony, which we call “Okwanjula.” As you know at the Kwanjula, each side picks a spokesperson, called “Omwogezi” in Luganda, to speak on their behalf, in the negotiations regarding the bride-price and other matters concerning the marriage.
In a similar way, when he teaches, the priest is like the spokesman, the Omwogezi. God has chosen the priest to speak on his behalf, like he chose the prophets of old. We heard in today’s first reading, God sending the prophet Ezekiel, to speak on his behalf to the rebellious house of Israel. God sends his priests, today he sends Father Emmanuel to speak to us, who are also sometimes quite stubborn, quite rebellious, who sometime fail to heed what the Lord wants of us.
Many years ago, at the Kwanjula of my aunt, the spokesman for our side did not do a good job. You see my grandfather was a proud Etesot man, who likes cows; but the mwogezi we chose was a Muganda man, who somehow did not understand how important cows were to us the Iteso. And so in his negotiations, he did not speak up and ask for the cow that my grandfather wanted. Instead he asked for some beer, a kanzu and some kilos of meat. This mwogezi spoke his own ideas; but a true mwogezi should speak the words of the people who have sent him.
In the same way, that is why the priest as spokesman of God must not speak his own message; he must teach the message of God himself. He must speak the whole gospel and nothing but the gospel. He must teach the Word that will help the people cross from the side of sin to the side of virtue, from the side of darkness to the side of light, from the side of evil to the side of good, whether they like that word or don’t like it, whether they like the priest or not. He can only do that, if he sticks to the message that God, throughout the two thousand years and before has told him to teach.
The second main job of the priest is to feed the people with spiritual food, to sanctify them. Again I want to use another domestic example, to explain this job. Some of you perhaps have house-girls or house-boys, whom you leave behind to care for your children, especially by feeding them, when you go on a journey. Like me, Father Emmanuel is the oldest child in his family; like me when I was growing up, his parents used to leave him in charge of the other children: to bathe them, to cook for them, to feed them. It seems that he did a good job, since all his sisters and brothers somehow survived and are alive today.
But now, he has to do that for God’s people, to feed God’s people with spiritual food, with the graces of the various sacraments. In baptism Father Emmanuel will wash away your sins; in confirmation he will fill you with Holy Spirit; in the Eucharist, he will feed you with the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ himself; in confession, he will forgive you your sins, in anointing of the sick, he will give you the healing and strength of God and in Matrimony, he will transform your human love into a divine love. It is by giving these various spiritual foods, these sacramental graces, that the priest enables the people to cross the bridge and to get to the other side of God.
The third job of the priest is to lead the people of God back to him. In doing this job the priest is like a shepherd, a herdsman, a herdsboy who takes care of animals. Most of us here remember what it was like to care for the animals when we were boys. Your father sent you out in the morning to care for the animals and it was your responsibility to make sure that all the animals came back that evening. If you lost one animal or if one got sick or injured in some way you were in deep trouble. You had to find food for them, you had to find water for them, you had to care for them completely.
What the shepherd does for the animals, the priest does for the souls of people. He leads them to God. He does not lead like a manager or a boss, but like a shepherd who cares for the people. Sometimes he has to lead by using a big stick, especially when the people are stubborn. Sometimes he has to lead by using kind words, especially when he has to comfort those who are suffering. Whatever he does, even when doing what seem like ordinary things of building schools, collecting money or instructing them in political matters, the priest must make sure that he leads all people to heaven.
CONCLUSION
So, now that we have seen that the priest is a bridge to God and that he takes people across the bridge by teaching the Word, by celebrating the sacraments and by leading them to God, what does that have to do with us today?
For us who are priests, especially for Father Emmanuel, let us remember who we are and try to live accordingly. In my life I have met many good priests, priests who have provided the bridge for me to cross to God’s side. They have done this even in the small things they have done; in giving a homily, in celebrating Mass worthily, even by the kindness they showed to children and the weak. For us celebrating 25 years, 20 years, 10 years, let us get renewed strength in our ministry, so that we can be bridges for another 25 years, another 20 years, another 10 years.
For those who are not priests, today is an occasion for you to remember our priests, not just the young shining Father Emmanuel, but indeed all our priests.
- If priests are bridges to God, we must use those bridges; we must not be like the people we heard in the gospel, who refused Jesus because they knew his family. We too might look at Father Emmanuel and say, but that is the son of Mzee Peter Ogwang and his mother is Anna Margaret Ariokot. We know his brothers and sisters! Where did he get all this? Well, you might know him very well, but now after ordination, he has been set apart by God to be a bridge that lead us to God.
- If priests are bridges to God, like ordinary bridges we must maintain them. If we don’t maintain them, they will break and we cannot cross, forcing us to take a longer road or worse, to get lost. Please pray for your priests, advise your priests – they don’t always know everything; support them with the things they need to carry out their ministry. Don’t leave them by themselves. In my 20 years of priesthood, I cannot count how many times I have learnt, not just from my superiors the bishop or the older priests, but also from my parishioners. Perhaps some of you here have also called me aside and said, “Father Deo, you might consider doing this a little differently.”
- There is one more group I want to speak to: the young men here. As you look at Father Emmanuel, you also be inspired to think about the priesthood, to consider if God is calling you to the priesthood. God has not stopped calling messengers, ambassadors, bridges to himself.
Finally, my prayer is that after 25 years, most of us will come back here to celebrate with Father Emmanuel in this very place. I also hope that some of you, will still be around to come back here after 50 years, to celebrate with Father Emmanuel 50 years of helping people cross to God’s side.
But the celebration which I hope all of us will attend, is the one in heaven, on the Last Day, the Day of the Resurrection. At that time, God will call Father Emmanuel (and indeed any of us priests) and ask: “For how many people were you a bridge, helping them to cross to my side?” I hope that each of us priests, and especially Father Emmanuel, will report that we have been bridges to thousands or even millions of people, who have crossed over to God because of them. And I hope those thousands or millions of people will be standing there and confirming our answer.
And he will say to you: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” And then he will also say to us priests and to Father Emmanuel: “Well done good and faithful servant; come and share in your Master’s happiness.”
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