CYCLE II: HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 13TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
HOMILY THEME: THE HERDSMEN BUSINESS!
BY: Fr. Ben Agbo
HOMILY: * Amos 5: 14 -24, Matt 8: 28 – 34.
I can still hear God speaking through the Prophet Amos to the Church in Nigeria: ‘I hate and despise your feasts, and I take no pleasure in your solemn assemblies’. Chai! It’s a terrible situation – So much religiousity, less spirituality! More Christians, more pagans; More prayers, more injustice! In fact, the Church as a corporate entity is becoming one of the strongest organs of exploitation and avenues for societal classification and marginalization of the poor. Look at the mission schools, for example and know whether they are still what they were during the time of Bishop Shanahan and other missionaries. Look at the big crusade gatherings and know whether they were as repentance – oriented as they were during the early days of charismatic evangelism. Look at the crowd of people following our Odo, Omabe and Akatakpa traditional masquerades and ask yourself whether Christianity is actually taking root in our land or the opposite.
And when you talk about demoniacs as we see in today’s gospel, they are all over our Churches and the so – called ‘men of God’ instead of casting them into the sea like Jesus did, are busy trying to harvest them like casualties for sensational display. The herdsmen are getting angry and asking us to leave their neighborhood. Don’t ask me whether they are Pig/ Cow herdsmen ; whether they are Gadarenes or Fulani herdsmen. The fact remains that everybody seems to be more interested in his business than the issue of salvation. Human beings ( usually the poor) are being butchered like cows and pigs. Jesus had to sacrifice the lives of 5000 pigs to save a single soul. Today it is the opposite. 5000 human lives are lost in Nigeria to protect 50 cattles. Those who should talk are keeping quiet. Those who are talking are not listened to. And life goes on as we pretend that we are still one Nigeria preparing for election come 2023. May God send us more of the Amos like prophets!
