CYCLE II: HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 16TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (1)

CYCLE II: HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 16TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

HOMILY THEME: THE SOIL CONDITION!

BY: Fr. Benedict Agbo

HOMILY: * Jer 1 : 1 – 10, Matt 13 : 1 – 9

The ‘habitus’ of faith is the proper condition for the reception of the Word of God. The soil must be okay in order to receive the seed. When the seeds fall on pathways, the birds came and devoured them. And so, are we surprised why so many people who claim to be Christians often hear the Word of God but are never touched at the heart for a change? This is a PATH WAY soil condition. They lack the interest, the basic foundation and motivation for the Word. They lack the basic family background inspite of their infant baptism, nobody has tried to dispose them well for things of God. They are baptized but unconverted Christians. So many Christians in Nigeria today unfortunately belong to this class : Sunday Sunday Medicine kind of Christians.

How about the seeds that fell on rocky ground? There are two classes here ; those hardened in unbelief and those hardened in fanatical belief. The former don’t want to believe at all. The latter don’t want to hear any other thing except the little they have imbibed already. But St Thomas Aquinas says “Fear the man of one book”… I add “even if that one book is the bible”. This is because any monolithic tendency in theology fossilizes us like a rock. No preacher, no parish priest, no prophet can ever change your perspective of the message of the Word of God anymore.
How about the seeds that fell on thorns? The thorns are the temptations of this world, the allurements of sexual pleasure, alcohol, materialism, human temperaments, etc. So many believers have been chocked by problems of life especially today when many churches have relegated the message of the Cross to the background. Everybody is now after prosperity. “The love of money is the root of all evils”, 1 Tim 6 : 10.

The seed that fell on good soil are the people that have the enabling environment for hearing, understanding and keeping the Word of God. We need to maintain a good soil condition in the Church of God. We need a good Word Pedagogy. Preachers should be strategic in this area to ensure a good seed condition and à good soil condition since faith comes by hearing the Word of God.

May God bless you today!