HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF EASTER (4)

HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF EASTER

THEME: HATERS

BY: Fr. Paul Karabari

HOMILY FOR MONDAY MAY 2 2022

“Then they secretly instigated men, who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

People show hatred towards others for three possible reasons. 1) For perceived wrong deeds. It could be true you are guilty of an offence or a mere false thinking about your actions. 2) For your inaction. Some people intentionally forget about your numerous good actions and hate you for what they feel you should have done but have failed to do. 3) For no reasons. Those who hate you for just no reasons are very dangerous set of people because they have no reason to forgive you too. It is simply about the way you walk on the road, the way you ‘shine’ each time you come out, the way you talk (not insulting though) but there is this particular thing about you. You dont drag space or anything of interest with them.

Only God alone can guarantee your safety in the hands of these enemies. In the First Reading (Acts 6:8-15), the Scripture says, ‘But they could not withstand the wisdom and spirit with which he (Stephen) spoke… And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council’. Sometimes, the power to choose our environment is absolutely beyond us. And it becomes so dangerous to live where people can’t handle your success story and happiness; where people are not just happy that you are happy. The world around us is often ready to test us to our limits.

Many of the people that we meet don’t share our faith, can’t understand it, refuse to listen, and may even take delight in criticising and tearing us down because of it. And that can be extremely difficult to deal with. We need to apply caution when dealing with people who don’t understand what we understand or share the same vision with us. They may misunderstand our standpoint and turn against us.

Jesus faced exactly the same problems in His ministry. Even though He was perfect, He came up against constant criticism. His enemies called Him a ‘glutton and a drunkard’ (Matthew 11:19). They even accused Him of being possessed by a demon (see John 8:48). But He never let discouragement defeat Him. He saw every obstacle and every bit of opposition as an opportunity to demonstrate grace. His heart was broken by those He loved, but He never allowed bitterness to enter it. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: ‘You are familiar with the old written law, “Love your friend,” and its unwritten companion, “Hate your enemy.” I am challenging that. I am telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst…Live generously and graciously towards others’ (Matthew 5:43-48). That is how Jesus lived, and that is how He wants us to live.

When we take Jesus as our role model, our perspective should change. We will see sickness as an opportunity for healing, hatred as an opportunity to love, temptation as an opportunity to overcome ungodly impulses, and offences against us as an opportunity to forgive. When we allow Jesus to enter our hearts and become our example for living, we see haters as friends. And we will allow grace to permeate our lives like Stephen ‘And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel’ (Acts 6:15). GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God heal our world, bless and protect us all through Christ Our Lord Amen. Good morning

Fr. Paul Karabari