CYCLE II: HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE 24TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (1)
CYCLE II: HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE 24TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
HOMILY THEME: The RESURRECTION: AN AMAZING TRANSFORMATION
BY: Rev. Fr. Jacob Aondover ATSU
HOMILY: READINGS: 1CORINTHIANS 15:35-37,42-49, PSALM 56, LUKE 8:4-15
Beloved friends in Christ, St. Paul tries so hard to answer the question, ‘to what body do people rise again?’ Using human words, he tries to “express the inexpressible and describe the indescribable”, the reality of our resurrection and the spiritual form our body will assume (1Cor.15:42-44).
Our bodies like the seed planted in good soil which yield good fruit will be DISSOLVED BY DEATH, CHANGED BY THE RESURRECTION, and LEFT AS NEW BEINGS BUT THE SAME SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD. This new nature, incorruptible, honourable, glorious, powerful and spiritual is guaranteed not by the first Adam a product of dust (Gen. 2:7), but by the new Adam, the incarnation of the very Spirit of God, the word made flesh (Jn. 1:14). It is true that we have the physical body from the old man to begin with; but it is also very true that we shall have a spiritual body if we are the good ground onto which the word of God is planted and a bountiful harvest is made (Lk. 8:8).
The good ground in Jesus’ parable stands for the good listener who: LISTENS ATTENTIVELY, KEEPS WHAT HE OR SHE HEARS IN HER MIND PONDERING THE MEANING, AND TRANSLATES IT INTO ACTION. This ground is not the hard path where the mind is shut and Christ’s message does not permeate. It is not the shallow ground that does not meditate on the consequences of the message of God thereby occasioning its collapse. This ground is far from thorny, for thorny grounds represent hearts that are too crowded and busy leaving no space for the word of God (Lk. 8:4-15).
Everything in this world is subject to change and decay: ‘THE BEAUTY OF OUR YOUTH FADES, AND THE GLORY OF MANHOOD WITHERS’ said Sophocles. AT THE RESURRECTION HOWEVER, PERMANENCE WILL BE CHARACTERISTIC AND BEAUTY WILL NEVER LOSE ITS SPLENDOUR. Also, in the life to come, all dishonourable acts associated with our transient bodies will be lost and all about us will be geared towards the service of God. This is the greatest honour there could ever be. More so, Paul holds that this present body is weak but the resurrected one will be clothed with power. In heaven, our limitations and weak nature will be gone and we shall be clothed in power. Indeed, we shall be pure spirit.
There is no other transformation my brothers and sisters greater than that of the resurrection. We are called today more than ever to aim at being part of this amazing transformation by leading worthy lives today. The Church offers needful requisites for the nourishment of our advancement towards this transformation. Just as the seed, nourished by water and soil and energized by the sun undergo an amazing transformation; so too, nourished by God’s life giving Spirit at baptism, energized by the body and blood of the Lord at the Eucharist, we are able to rise completely transformed.
My dearly beloved in Christ, indeed eternity is admirable, and all of us should earnestly work towards it. May we embrace these requisites even as we await the resurrection; when our mortality will be covered with immortality, our corruptible and dishonourable nature would assume incorruptibility and honour, and with our weak bodies overwhelmed by the power and glory of Christ, our natural self will become spiritual. May we all someday walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living (Ps. 14). Amen.
FEED THE POOR