FR. BEN’S HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 10TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II (1)

FR. BEN’S HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 10TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II

THEME: BY FIRE…OR BY BREEZE….?

BY: Ben Agbo (Rev Fr)

HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY JUNE 8 2022

*1 Kg 18: 20 – 39, Matt 5: 17 – 19.

There are moments when we must leave the realm of theatricals and verbal niceties and go into practical faith battles. Elijah, the fiery Prophet of God meets such moments in today’s 1st reading and challenges the Israelites: How long will you go limping with two different theological opinions? He simply gave them a practical challenge: ‘The God that answers by fire he will be our God’. *Ekpere wee ribaibeyaelu* (Prayers began to rain helter skelter). Elijah won but soon God was to teach him another lesson that this same God that answered by fire at Carmel would later answer by a gentle wind at Horeb just to prove a point.

We need another theological/spiritual context today; But this time around it will not be at Mount Carmel but between the internal and external enemies of the Church. The internal enemies are the Christians that are limping with 2 contradictory opinions. They need to have a HOLY GHOST FIRE DUEL. Don’t ask me how but I know there are a lot of contemporary heresies within the Church today; between Orthodox and Pentecostal Churches, between Traditional and Charismatic members, between conservative and liberal members. Some Christians want it BY FIRE, others want it BY BREEZE.

Even Christians and Muslims need a duel to know which is the real God; whether ALLAH that wants the death of non Muslim infidels or YAHWEH the merciful God that Christians worship. The law and the prophets need a fulfilment in our time. Judaism, Islam and Christianity share the same historical precedents and lay claim to one God, same commandments, same Prophets (with slight permutations in understanding), so why have their adherents failed to come together to reason on one table? Instead of shedding the blood of innocent people, let’s have a duel to know who is right. It can take the form of a referendum, dialogue or diatribe or even spiritual contest like Elijah and the Prophets of Baal did rather than a cold surreptitious war full of bloodbaths, the kind we have been witnessing in Nigeria since 1966. We would be surprised that God will like to answer not by fire again but by a gentle breeze reminding us that we are all brothers and children of Abraham. May God bless you today!