Fr. Ben's homily for Wednesday of 1st Week in Ordinary Time Cycle II

Fr. Ben’s homily for Wednesday of 1st Week in Ordinary Time Cycle II

Theme: I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL!

By: Ben Agbo (Rev Fr)

Homily for Wednesday January 12 2022

*1 Sam 3 : 1 – 20, Mk 1 : 29 – 39.

Disconnection from the will of the Master is called disobedience, and to say the least, this is the greatest vice in the Church. ‘My sheep hear my voice’, says the Lord and I know them and they follow me ‘. That is the meaning of obedience. Without this virtue, there can be no Christian discipleship. Saul was taught this bitter lesson many years ago that ‘Obedience is better than sacrifice’. In the Church, obedience flows directly from the Master Jesus Christ, then to the Pope, Bishops, Priests, then to the Parishioners. When there is a fundamental disconnect from the will of the Master Jesus, the whole Church organization may never be different from a mere social organization. We may be busy building structures, offering sacrifices, collecting levies, etc but not doing the will of the Master.

That is why it is very necessary to pray for Church leaders, especially during the election of bishops because if care is not taken, we can easily lose connection from the real voice of the Master, as Samuel did and be going to Eli (thinking he was God). What if Eli had claimed that he was the caller? So many Church leaders today behave as if they are the ‘terminus ad quo’ (origin) of vocations. The worst thing that can happen to a diocese is to mistake the occupational preferences from parents for the vocation of their children. Many Junior Seminaries are gradually turning into ‘Seminary schools’ and sooner or later, if care is not taken, there may be no real vocations to the Seminaries but the mere wishes of privileged parents.

The concept of vocation seems to be dying down in the Church today. There is vocation to the married life, religious life, priesthood, single life, political leadership at various levels, artistry, craftsmanship, etc. What is common and essential to all forms of vocation is that God provides the grace, causes all to do his will and become holy by living out our vocation to the best of our ability. That is what they call ‘Opus Dei’ in Latin, meaning work of God. If we lose this concept, our vocation will merely be seen as an occupation (means of livelihood) or profession (our area of specialization) and the big difference between the former and the latter is that in the last two, people do their will not necessarily the will of God. We need more ‘Samuels’ who will make themselves available around the altar of God (region of grace) and more ‘Elis’ who will have the gift of discernment and the discipline of directing the young ones on how to understand the voice (will) of God and follow it.

May God bless you today!