DAILY HOMILIES #Mary and Joseph

In today’s Gospel passage, John the Baptist introduces Jesus Christ as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” We can interpret this statement in two ways. One, by dying for us, Jesus has become our advocate (our defence attorney), and his blood continues to plead for mercy on our behalf. We should not be afraid to approach him, regardless of our past sinfulness. Two, as the Lamb of God, there is no sin in Jesus. The closer we draw to the lamb, the less sinful we become. If you want to be rich, you must surround yourself with rich people. If you want to be holy, ensure your inner circle of friends values righteousness.

Between Joseph and Mary, who was the prayer warrior? I’ll let you debate that. If you say Mary was the prayer warrior, I wonder why the angel appeared to Joseph rather than Mary, warning him about the child’s safety. Men who neglect prayer in the name of it being a woman’s duty are terrible fathers. As a man, you should be the one seeing visions and dreaming big for your family. Every man is the Joseph of the house. You lead, you provide, and you protect; to do this, you must be deeply connected to God. Twice Joseph dreamt and received vital instructions. If he weren’t prayerful, he would have failed in his responsibilities.

If every Nigerian Christian truly lived out the values of the baby in the manger, humility, love, justice, and sacrifice, Nigeria would be transformed, not by laws from above, but by lives changed from within. Christmas is a call to repentance. It is a call to let the Christ who is born tonight to be born again in us, to live in us, to rule in us, to change us. St. Paul’s words are clear: Grace trains us to renounce ungodliness. If our Christianity has not changed our behaviour, our integrity, our honesty, our treatment of others, then we have received the grace of God in vain.