Tag: Joy

Joy to the world – By Sonnie Ekwowusi

It’s another Christmas, the dies natalis (birthday) of Jesus Christ. At Christmas, we are invited to relive that deepest mystery that took place more than 2000 years ago. As the Psalmist puts it: “A child shall be born for us, and he will be called God, the Almighty; every tribe of the earth shall be blessed by him”. Prophet Malachi unhesitatingly joins in re-echoing the urgency, immediacy, and the eschatological underpinning of his coming. “But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears” (Mal. 3.1-4)? When peaceful silence enveloped the earth, and the night had run half of its swift course, God, who had taken flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, chose to be born in the relatively humble city of David called Bethlehem. St. Josemaria Escriva recaptured it in these words: “When the fullness of time came, no philosophical genius, no Plato or Socrates, appears to fulfill the mission of redemption. Nor does a powerful conqueror, another Alexander, take over the earth. Instead, a child is born in Bethlehem.” Meanwhile, Pope Francis invites us to speak to and listen to the newborn child Jesus. “Let us turn our eyes to Bethlehem and listen to the first faint cries of the Prince of Peace. For truly, Jesus is our peace,” he says.

The events leading up to the birth of Christ are a salutary lesson in humility, self-abnegation, love, and self-sacrificing service. Presidents, Emperors, and Kings of this world are born in special hospitals, but Christ chose to be born in an animal pen. He came to serve, not to be served. Even as a newborn baby, he allowed himself to experience suffering, want, and deprivation. He was laid in a manger, not in a golden bed. Animals were the first to witness his birth. He was the light. He cared for both the spiritually and materially poor. He condemned injustice. He fed the hungry. Seeing the widow of Naim, who lost her only son, He wept. Later, he allowed himself to be crucified on the cross and, by doing so, redeemed mankind and made the cross the pathway to salvation.

Therefore, following the exemplary life of Christ, world leaders should bring light to the dark land, hope to the hopeless, justice to the oppressed, and integrity to the wasteland. This Christmas affords an opportunity for Russian and Ukrainian leaders to humbly return to the roundtable and re-negotiate a peaceful settlement and ceasefire to the war between the two countries. Equally, we call on Israel and Palestine to end the latest war, strife, and hostilities that have engulfed the Middle East and have claimed uncountable precious human lives, especially the lives of innocent children. In particular, let us pray for peace in Bethlehem, located about 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) south of Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ was born more than 2,000 years ago. We continue to pray for peace in war-torn Southern Sudan. We pray for an end to the bloody conflicts and instability in Libya, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mali, and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Back home in Nigeria, we pray for an end to the Boko Haram insurgency, kidnapping, banditry, abduction, arson, and political hired assassination. We pray for a responsible and incorruptible judiciary in Nigeria. We pray that our political leaders should learn from Christ the lesson of altruistic dedicated service to the people. Nigerian political office holders should be ashamed that, while they live in a spendthrift, pompous exhibition of their ill-gotten wealth, many Nigerians are dying in agony in penury. Many federal highways are in bad shape. Many Nigerians will be celebrating this Christmas in darkness due to electricity supply failure that has paralyzed social and communal life across the country. The worst part is that Nigerians who have money in their bank accounts cannot collect them to purchase Christmas goodies owing to the scarcity of the Naira currency. Many illegally detained prisoners will be celebrating Christmas in various prisons across the country. Many sick people will be celebrating it in their sick beds in hospitals. The security of lives and property is not even guaranteed. By now, kidnappers must be sharpening their hands in readiness for the great kidnapping, which will be unleashed in different parts of the country at Christmas. Of course, in this Christmastime, commercial bus drivers drive recklessly; traders swindle hapless customers; workers embezzle their employer’s money; kidnappers and armed robbers lay siege to the country’s highways to kidnap Christmas travelers and rob them of their belongings.

Therefore, this Christmas calls for a deeper reflection and repentance. In general, we need a new humanism in Nigeria. We must learn to see our neighbors as human beings, not just mere instruments to be used to satisfy our selfish interests. The self-sacrificing service of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph at the first Christmas is a spur to us to be less self-centered and attend to the needs of our fellow men and women.

Christmas underlines the importance of the family in nation-building. Jesus was born into a family of Joseph and Mary. Everything in the Holy family of Jesus, Joseph, and Mary bespeaks the family values of concern, service, dedication, and altruism. The family is the nucleus of society. The family plays a vital role in the upbringing of a person. All the things that shape the life of an adult are what he/she learned from his family or from his parents in childhood. Any wonder the family has been dubbed as “the shaper of values.” The values that the family institution imparts into the child eventually form the superstructure around which the child’s future behavior will revolve. And for us in Africa and Nigeria, the family, viewed from a historical and cultural context, essentially doubles as the provider of those “social safety-nets” that a person needs to grow up to become a responsible member of society.

Finally, Christmastime is a time to regain our laughter and sense of humor. Everything may be collapsing; politics may become synonymous with hypocrisy, but with our laughter, we can challenge the sad world to look at us and be hopeful.

Thanks for your company in clothing the naked public square in 2023.

A joyful Christmas.

December 25, 2023
The joy of the Lord is our strength – By Femi Aribisala

“The gospel is good news, but unfortunately, most Christians are socialised on bad news”.

Adam and Eve initially lived in God’s paradise, the Garden of Eden. They lived in a state of bliss because: “In (God’s) presence is fullness of joy; at (His) right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11).

They did not have to work to make a living. God provided everything they needed. All that He required of them was to tend the garden. Moreover, they had peace like a river, the peace that flows from God.

But when they disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit at the instance of the devil, sin entered the world. With sin, death also entered because the wages of sin death. (Romans 6:23).

When God threw them out of the Garden and prevented them from returning, they could no longer be in His presence. Therefore, sorrow also entered the world because they could no longer enjoy the joy of the Lord. They no longer enjoyed the joy that comes from God’s presence.

Decree of sorrow

Moreover, God pronounced a sentence of sorrow on them. “To the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’ Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: ‘Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.’” (Genesis 3:16-19).

Without the joy of the Lord, men developed counterfeits. We rejoiced in happenstances. We rejoiced in things that brought occasional happiness mixed with sorrow. We confused the blessing of God with the blessing of carnal things.

Solomon points out God’s uniqueness: “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. (Proverbs 10:22). Not so, the blessing of men.

With the world now steeped in darkness, wealth and riches became confused for an abundant life. Joy became carnal and ordinary. In ignorance, men spoke mistakenly of the joy of the harvest, the joy of giving and receiving presents, and the joy of owning property.

As Jeremiah laments: “The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!” (Lamentation 5:15-16).

Redemptive joy

But one fateful day, an angel appeared to some shepherd tending their flock by night and made a momentous proclamation. God had decided to send His joy back to the world:

“Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11).

What is the cause of this great joy and what does it have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ?

Jesus is “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Once we are rid of the sin, we can bask once again in the joy of the Lord for it was our sin that brought sorrow into the world.

Isaiah foretold this redeeming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Speaking in the past tense since it was already accomplished in the spirit, he says: “Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” (Isaiah 53:4).

This message is also included in the Isaiah passage Jesus read when he announced his ministry: “The Lord has sent me to comfort those who mourn, especially in Jerusalem. He sent me to give them flowers in place of their sorrow, olive oil in place of tears, and joyous praise in place of broken hearts.” (Isaiah 61:2-3).

In effect, even before going to the cross to take away our sins, Jesus overcame the world. He says to his disciples: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

What did He use to overcome the world? He overcame the world with the joy of the Lord.

Overcoming joy

The Bible says: “For the joy that was set before Him (Jesus) endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus overcame the world with the joy God, the Father set before Him. He then asks us to overcome with the joy He sets before us. This is the joy of spending eternity with God in heaven. The joy arising from our hope of salvation is henceforth to provide the strength for us to endure and overcome every situation and adversity we face.

When Jesus was going to the cross and His disciples were sorrowful, He alerted them that His crucifixion would end by giving them the joy of the Lord, and this joy would be forever:

“Therefore, you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.” (John 16:22).

Thus, when He rose from the dead, the first thing He said to them was: “Rejoice.” (Matthew 28:9).

Before then, He warned them that their joy must never again be the counterfeit joy of the world, which always ends in sorrow. Henceforth, their joy must be the joy of salvation.

Even when they were joyful that the evil spirits were subject to them in the name of Jesus, He says to them: “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20).

Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit which those who accept Christ as Saviour receive. (Galatians 5:22).

Holy Spirit

The gospel is good news, but unfortunately, most Christians are socialised on bad news. No jobs, no electricity, no water, high prices, and high school fees. But all this pales into insignificance when we recognise that we now have the joy of the Lord.

When we do, we shall: “Rejoice always.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16). We shall: “Count it all joy when )we) fall into various trials. (James 1:2). We shall rejoice and be exceedingly glad when we are persecuted for Christ’s sake. (Matthew 5:11-12).

We shall rejoice and leap for joy when men hate us, exclude us, and revile us. (Luke 6:22-23). We shall rejoice when we share in Christ’s sufferings. (1 Peter 4:13). We shall: “Joyfully (accept) the plundering of (our) goods, knowing that (we) have a better and an enduring possession for (ourselves) in heaven. (Hebrews 10:34).

Thus, Hezekiah told the Jewish exiles who returned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in the Old Testament: “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10).

February 19, 2023
Under APC Christmas is joy deferred – By Zogbobia Selomo

By Zogbobia Selomo

In one week and a day, it will be Christmas, the day appropriated for the birth of Jesus Christ. In how many homes across the nation will there really be Christmas? The question haunts me, without end, without reprieve.

Yet I am in no way responsible for any of the ills that trouble the nation. The APC has ensured that in so many homes, there will be no Christmas. Either there is no food and no money to buy, or they are in the refugee camps or even in the hospitals, having survived kidnapping or banditry, or even recovering from the pains inflicted by a devastating flood, for which this government showed only remote but confused empathy.

For days, I have been labouring in the precincts of reminiscences, a constant recall of the luxuriant but beautiful way of life in the days of yore. My friend stoked the fire even more a few days ago as we reflected on Christmas, what life used to be in Nigeria. How those in the cities would return to the villages at that time of the year, when there would be dances all through the night, when men would gather around bonfires and even roast yams as they tell tales of good life. All that have faded into history as life gets increasingly difficult and very desperate. Peace has departed from most parts of the country and those who longed to return to the villages for the annual celebrations perish the thought on the grounds of safety.

The more things change the more things remain the same. The ruling party reinforces that notion very strongly. In 1985, We are the World, a song written by Lionel Richie and late pop icon, Michael Jackson, was released by a super group of artistes under USA for Africa, to raise money for charity works in parts of Africa that was blighted by famine.

One point driven home then is that there are some people who would never know it is Christmas. That was a natural disaster. This year, a huge population of this nation will not experience the smell of Christmas because of the disaster visited on them by the ruling party. There is insecurity on a large scale. There is hunger on a large scale. There is even death on a large scale, and uncertainty or more precisely, the fear of tomorrow, is the looming umbrella the people see. Were a group of artistes to gather today to do a charity song for Nigeria (God forbid?) what reason would we give, that the politicians decapitated the country? You can call this leadership disaster.

This is why the time is most appropriate for good campaigns to take place since Nigerians can no longer wait for this government to vamoose and just disappear for ever. Never again to return with their evil. The times we are in call for ideas from the presidential candidates, of what they will do to stir the country from a debilitating stupour occasioned by large scale incompetence.

Those who are campaigning know that they must not only say things that give hope but also release details of how they will execute their plans to give life back to the people. It is based on this that the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had said that he would take out Boko Haram terrorists from Sambisa forest in Maiduguri, expressing surprise that they enjoyed cover where there is real no visible forest for such hiding.

That has drawn a reprimand from the APC or the Nigerian government whose spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that for six years, for an evil that started in 2009, the PDP did nothing about it.

Such manner of speaking is the reason so many Nigerians will not enjoy the smell of Christmas. Because instead of looking at problems needing urgent attention, the APC has spent nearly its entire two terms looking back in anger. The only reason that parties campaign to take over the top job of a country is because they sense gaps that they can quickly fill by initiating projects that benefit the people. In the case of Nigeria,when the people got tired of PDP, they voted in a new government, and that seemed to have been a fatal error.

Government, they say, is a continuum. Not with APC. When the party came to power in 2016, it spent the whole of six months searching for angels to fill cabinet positions. Within the period, the country’s currency was destroyed. International businesses who were not so sure of the capacity of the new government, took their cash to the black market to buy foreign currencies for remittances and cut their losses. When the cabinet was eventually set up, it was pure anticlimax; most of them incomtent folks. They have ruined the country with their incompetence, and have driven the nation to the edge.

Things that should stagger the mind are now very trite and despicably acceptable. The dollar is on the rise daily, some say it is heading towards the thousand mark before the end of the year. A bag of rice is between N40, 000 and N50, 000 depending upon the specie. The national minimum wage remains stubbornly at N30, 000, that is for those lucky to be employed. Ironically the minimum wage cannot buy a bag of rice. Families don’t think of a gallon of cooking oil any more, they buy in sachets.

APC is one party that has no time for self introspection or even evaluation to put a mark on history. Instead of improving the fortunes of the nation, in just over seven years, the party has taken everything down – economy, security, standard of living, infrastructure and just anything that supports good living, the party has destroyed them all, leaving 133m people of the population in multidimensional poverty.

So when somebody like Atiku speaks, they must criminalise him because they don’t feel any sense of guilt. There is no sense of remorse that the party has done wrong. If after seven years the party can hardly point to any positive thing but ruins, how will it ever turn around to fixing things? If problems are not acknowledged, how will they ever be solved?

My pain for Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu is that he is running around preaching hope, but that is on the ground of falsehood, on the ground of patent insincerity by a party which believes it has done nothing wrong. Such positioning diminishes his political
status. Such abnegation of the truth invalidates his message of hope.

So if PDP is planning a return and it’s message gaining traction, it is because the party has admitted to a past which is not so perfect, but such a past established some landmark projects and policies in the country. Such a past put food on the table and grew the country’s economy. Such a past built some level of prosperity that the ruling party has totally ruined.

For a majority of Nigerians, they live under the debris of these ruins and will have no stomach to sing Christmas songs. They won’t even know it is Christmas because their hopes are deferred.

The PDP and its presidential candidate are promising a new beginning. It is only reasonable to interrogate their proposition for the joy it brings instead of dwelling on a cornflake of lies that has been the forte of this administration in the past seven and half years.

Selomo writes from Lagos

December 17, 2022
Christmas: Share Joy, Hope Among All, Archbishop Martins Urges Nigerians

The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins has called on all Nigerians to celebrate the joy of Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ, despite the insecurity and economic challenges in our country.

In his 2021 Christmas message titled, ‘Joy to the world, the Lord is come’, signed by the Director of Social Communications, Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, Archbishop Martins also encouraged all citizens to be grateful to God for the gift of life, and for the grace of surviving the numerous security challenges that have arisen in the outgoing year.

“Being alive to witness yet another Christmas is a great gift from God that should never be taken for granted particularly in our present realities. We know that thousands who started this year with us are no longer here; having fallen victim to the endemic insecurity in the land caused by kidnappers, bandits, Boko Haram terrorists, COVID-19, amongst others. Having come thus far, we must remain thankful and hopeful that the good Lord will sustain us to the end of this year and beyond.”

While calling on all Nigerians, irrespective of their religious and tribal inclinations, to learn to live in peace, love and unity as exemplified by the life of Jesus Christ, he equally urged them to put aside their fears and open their minds and hearts to the beautiful message of the season.

“The message of Christmas is a message of hope for everyone. The message that God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to redeem us and show us the way to the Father in heaven, should raise our hope that all is not lost despite all our problems” he said. God cares and is in control even if it is difficult to see.

The Archbishop also charged all Nigerians to offer all that is within their power in order to bring joy to people especially those in a state of despair. This should be the desire of everyone not only in this season but all the time. He said:

“We must be generous to the less-privileged in our midst through our kind words of affirmation and offering the support that we can as our proclamation of the joyous tidings that ‘God is with us.’ By so doing, we will, in no small measure, help to dampen the wave of violence and hunger in our land, awaken hope in the hopeless, give water of life to the thirsty and food to the hungry as well as joy to those in distress. These are what God expects from us during this yuletide and beyond.”

Finally, the Prelate enjoined the Federal Government to redouble efforts in stemming the tide of insecurity in the country, particularly during the yuletide and New Year celebrations. In the midst of insecurity and anxiety due to the killings, kidnappings etc, people must be able to see hope in the actions and policies of their governments.

December 22, 2021
Gaudate Sunday and the Joy of Sharing, By Stephen Ojapah MSP

Stephen Ojapah MSP

Today is the third Sunday of Advent. The third week of our preparations for the solemnity of Christmas. The church celebrates the Joyful anticipation of the coming of our Lord. The day takes its common name from the Latin word Gaudete (Rejoice). The first word of the introduction of this day’s Mass is: Gaudete in Domino semper: iterumdico, gaudete. Modestiavestra nota sit omnibus hominibus: Dominus enimprope est. Nihilsollicitisitis: sed in omniorationeetobsecratione cum gratiarumactionepetitionesvestræinnotescantapud Deum. BenedixistiDomineterramtuam: avertisticaptivitatem Jacob.This may be translated as: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob.” Philippians 4:4-6; Psalm 85: 1.

Gaudete et exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad) is the third apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis, dated 19 March 2018 and published on 9 April 2018, subtitled. It addresses the universal call to holiness, with a focus “to re-propose the call to holiness in a practical way for our own time”. The document is arranged in five chapters: (1) On the universal call to perfection of charity; (2) On the heresies of Gnosticism and Pelagianism, described as “false forms of holiness”; (3) On the Beatitudes as “worship most acceptable to God”; (4) On five signs of holiness in the modern world (perseverance, patience, meekness, joy and a sense of humor, boldness and passionate commitment), and (5) On life as constant spiritual combat against evil, with discernment.

The Holy Father has provided some sort of a guide for us in our reflections this week. And I would like to expatiate on the 4^th point that talks about the signs of holiness in the modern world. Putting in mind the experience of hundreds of thousands who are in the world of over 6 billion people yet are lonely and hungry. Pope Francis as we all know has remained a Pope who wants to smell like his sheep. And he has demonstrated this through his preferential option for the poor, in his writings, visits and actions. His ability to kiss the feet of warring leaders for the sake of peace. His washing and kissing the feet of prisoners who are on death roll. And indeed his great sense of humor. C.P Varkey, in one of his classical writings has written about Being Human and Being Holy. These are two sides of the same coin, in every respect. One cannot be excluded from the other. If not you run the risk of becoming an extremist. Pope Francis has provided these insights on being holy in the 21^st century, in his GaudateetExsultate.

PERSEVERANCE AND PATIENCE: In the Bible, Perseverance is our total confidence and believe that God will finish the work He started in our lives that makes us to persevere over a lifetime. People give up without Hope. Christians must not only work by faith; we must also persevere and endure for there will be trials and tribulations. When someone shows perseverance, it means they work hard in anything they choose to do and when they face difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement, they don’t give up. It means you keep trying until you get it. (Romans 12:12).:Patience is a virtue. It is listed by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 as among the fruit of the Spirit. So there’s no disputing that the Christian ought to be patient. Patience is “waiting without complaint,”. What’s so virtuous about not complaining? In itself, not complaining carries no particular virtue. Suppose a person awaits the arrival of a friend from out of town, and she spends the time happily reading or watching television. We wouldn’t say that, simply because she’s not complaining, she exhibits patience in this case. Something else must be required to make one’s lack of complaint virtuous. That something is discomfort. It’s because a circumstance is uncomfortable for someone that we find her refusal to complain remarkable and thus regard her as patient. So to improve the initial definition above, to be patient is to endure discomfort without complaint. Jesus was very patient with his disciples. They were sometimes thickheaded, lazy, selfish, and slow to believe. Even from a merely human standpoint, we can see how frustrating they must have been. In spite of Jesus’ miracles and words of wisdom, they were focused upon themselves and wavered in their belief about who he really was. To say that was uncomfortable for Jesus would be an understatement. Yet do we find him railing at his disciples over their foolishness and stupidity? Or making fun of them when they make mistakes?

MEEKNESS AND JOY: It has been defined in several ways: righteous, humble, teachable, and patient under suffering, long suffering willing to follow gospel teachings. When Christians talk of joy; it is not been confused with a mere feeling of happiness. Feelings are fleeting, and depend on the circumstances of the moment. Christian’s joy is different. It is not temporary, but permanent; it is founded not on circumstances, but on certainty of God’ love poured out gratuitously on the cross, and put on display for all to see. One of my greatest sources of encouragement to grow in Christian joy is looking at the lives of saints. One sees a certain joy in the midst of the many tribulations they went through. Most vividly of all the saints. The martyrs exemplify this joy. When reading St Ignatius of Antioch, for example, his joy and excitement at being too able to follow Christ in death leaps off the page. The early Martyrs joy was contagious. There are even stories of Romans leaping into the arena to join the Christians in their trial. This joy comes with the ultimate motivation of the Holy Spirit.

SENSE OF HUMOURFriedrich Nietzsche, the infamous 19th century atheist, was raised in a Christian home that apparently was mostly joyless. Very little laughter must have echoed in its hallways, for later on Nietzsche would often observe that he might be more inclined to believe in redemption if Christians actually looked a little more redeemed. To him, Christianity had no sense of humor.Perhaps all too often, Nietzsche has been correct. To be sure, there is much to be serious about in Christianity. Our faith makes serious claims about God and fallen humanity, sin and salvation, heaven and hell. “How will we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3). Nevertheless, the same God who makes such eternally grave claims upon us is also the One who creates giraffes, baboons, camels, and avocado pits. And laughter.Nietzsche, who certainly knew firsthand about chronic pain and intense suffering but doggedly persisted in laughing his way through it, was convinced that Christians’ long faces were largely Jesus’ fault. Nietzsche admired Jesus, but only to a point: “He knew only tears and the melancholy of the Hebrew. Would that he had remained in the wilderness and far from the good and the just! Perhaps he would have learned to live and to love the earth-and laughter too.” But Nietzsche was just plain wrong about Jesus.

The writer who has probably done the most to correct our misconceptions about our Savior in this regard is Elton Trueblood, the Quaker philosopher who wrote The Humor of Christ 40 years ago. Trueblood confesses early in the book that it took the wisdom of a child, his four-year-old son, to jar him out of his well-worn assumptions about Jesus as a staid sage.During family devotional time, as Trueblood read from the Sermon on the Mount, suddenly their little boy began to laugh. “He laughed because he saw how preposterous it would be for a man to be so deeply concerned about a speck in another person’s eyes, that he was unconscious of the fact his own eye had a beam in it,” Trueblood wrote. “Because the child understood perfectly that the human eye is not large enough to have a beam in it, the very idea struck him as ludicrous.”If the absurd image of a man (a carpenter, perhaps?) stumbling around with a 2 x 4 sticking out of his eye-trying, no less, to help someone else remove a speck of sawdust from her eye-is not enough, let us consider Jesus’ apparent love for puns and word plays. He was not content simply to say, “You Pharisees get so obsessed with all your little rules and regulations!” No, in his native Aramaic tongue it becomes clear that he punned: “You strain out a gnat (kalma) but you gulp down a camel (gamla)!” (Matthew 23:24,).

Joy, humor, patience, perseverance, are qualities that should mark a Christian in this period of preparation. Let us look out for members of our communities that have lost everything through fire disaster, or those driven out of their homes as a result of insurgency. And put a smile on their faces. Let us identity barren women and men who are old and have no family of their own to cater for them. Special appreciation to women like Mrs Henrietta IfeomaOdume the founder of the Childless Old WomenFoundation. Who has been silently putting smiles on the faces of such abandoned women for the past twenty years.That is the spirit of Gaudate Sunday.

Fr Stephen Ojapah is a priest of the Missionary Society of St Paul. He is equally the director for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism for the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, a member of IDFP. He is also a KAICIID Fellow. (omeizaojapah85@gmail.com)

December 13, 2020