HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF YEAR B

HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF YEAR B

THEME: ‘Why do your disciples not fast?’

BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA

READINGS OF THE DAY
1 Samuel 15:16-23
Psalm 49:8-9,16-17,21,23
Mark 2:18-22

LITURGICAL COLOUR
GREEN

INTRODUCTION
Good morning my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time of Year B.

FROM OUR FIRST READING
In our first reading today, we heard of the story about the disobedience and sin of Saul, King of Israel was presented to us, when he did not do what the Lord had told him to do, in eliminating and destroying the Amalekites, their king and their possessions. Instead, Saul spared the king of the Amalekites, Agag, and also many of the sheep and oxen, which Saul argued to the prophet Samuel who confronted him on the matter, that those were meant to be sacrificed to God. This earned Saul a firm rebuke from God through Samuel, who told him off for his disobedience and failure to do God’s will, and for putting his own desires and judgments above that of obedience to God and His commands. Thus, that was the reason why Saul was eventually replaced as king by the more faithful David.

FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees who were questioning Him and His disciples why they were not fasting in the manner that they and the disciples of St. John the Baptist had done. The Lord then answered them that His disciples do not fast in the manner that they were asked for, because He, the Lord Himself, was with them. There would indeed be a time when they would fast and mourn, but essentially, they would not do things in the same manner as that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, or the disciples of St. John, and this was because the way that they had practiced the Law and the commandments of God by that time, had become obsolete and wayward from what the Lord had originally intended for them.

CONCLUSION
As a Jew, Jesus would have fasted. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving were three of the central Jewish practices that Jesus valued and lived by. Yet, the gospels suggest that sharing table was more important to Jesus than fasting. It was at table that he revealed the hospitality of God for all, especially for those who had been made to feel beyond God’s favour. Jesus proclaimed a gracious God who wanted to enter into communion with us and wanted us to enter into communion with him and with each other. There was something new about Jesus’ ministry in that sense. The God he revealed was not one who promoted laws and regulations but who called on people to care and provide for each other in response to God’s caring and providing for them.

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