HOMILY FOR 31ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

HOMILY FOR 31ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

THEME: DO I PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH?

By: Fr Andrew Ekpenyong

1. How’s My Driving? As part of the rite of ordination, I and other candidates for ordination were given the book of the Gospel. And those challenging words of exhortation were pronounced by the Bishop: “Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” Today’s Scripture readings directly challenge me and other preachers of the Word of God, in a very public way. Yes, God is our ultimate judge. Yes, the Archbishop is my immediate supervisor. Yes, there are many spiritual resources and administrative procedures to help me believe what I read, preach what I believe, and practice what I preach. But today’s Scripture readings alert you, dear Sisters, and Brothers, to expect good example from me and also tells you what to do, if I fail to give you good example. To some extent, today’s readings are like those “How is my Driving?” signs or stickers posted on the back of company vehicles, with a phone number for you to call. In our case, the question is: How is my lifestyle? Do I practice what I preach? And the first number for you to call and report, is God’s direct line: prayer. Of course, you know or should know other numbers.

2. Examples. In the first reading (Mal 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10), God, through the prophet Malachi calls the priests of the day to repent or face consequences: “And now, O priests, this commandment is for you: If you do not listen, if you do not lay it to heart…I will send a curse upon you….You have turned aside from the way, and have caused many to falter by your instruction”. It seems the priests not only gave bad example by failing to practice what they preached. They gave wrong instruction. Fortunately, we have good example in the second reading (1 Thes 2:7b-9, 13) where, the Apostle Paul presents himself as a good example of servant leadership in a serving Christian community. St Paul not only practiced what he preached, he preached that he practiced it: “Brothers and sisters: We were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children. With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well…” Wow. In today’s Gospel (Mt 23:1-12), our Lord warns His disciples against imitating the actions of Scribes and Pharisees, the learned religious leaders of his day who had been more concerned with self-promotion than with serving God. Christ-like leadership calls for integrity and humility from all those in authority, whether priests, parents, teachers, or politicians.

3. Over to me and you. So, I ask myself, I’m I pharisaic in the discharge of my duties as a priest? Do I seek the praises of people and not the glory of God? Do I practice what I preach? This self-introspection is meant to help me imitate Christ more and more, especially in His humility and servant leadership. Notice how our Lord warned His disciples to beware of Scribes and Pharisees: “Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example”. This means that bad example around me is not a sufficient excuse for not practicing what I preach, as a priest, as a parent, as a teacher, a leader anywhere. You and I, all of us, have the good example of Christ as our ideal. And so we pray to learn from our Lord: “Jesus meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto yours”.
Finally, here as a story to remind us of today’s Scripture lesson, to practice what we preach. A gentle driver was being tailgated by a stressed out driver on a busy road. Suddenly, the light turned yellow just in front of him. The gentle driver did the safest thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating driver became angry, blew the horn, and screamed in frustration for missing the chance to get through the intersection. While still fuming, a police officer tapped on his window and ordered him to exit the car, hands up. He was taken to the police station, searched, finger-printed, and photographed, and then placed in a holding cell. A few hours after, the officer came to the cell and said: “Sir, I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were angrily blowing your horn because I noticed your ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ bumper sticker, the ‘God Is Love’ sticker. So, I immediately I assumed you had stolen the car! Perhaps you could work on practicing what you preach.”

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