HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF YEAR B

HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF YEAR B

THEME: ‘Even the wind and the sea obey him’

BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA

READINGS OF THE DAY
2 Samuel 12:1-7,10-17
Psalm 50:12-17.
Mark 4:35-41

LITURGICAL COLOUR
GREEN

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

FROM OUR FIRST READING
In our first reading today, we heard the failing of David because of his lust for the wife of his own army commander, Uriah, whose wife, Bathsheba, was truly beautiful and attractive. David saw Bathsheba and was tempted by the temptation of lust and worldly desires, and hence, he ended up plotting the death of Uriah by his machinations, and took Bathsheba as his own wife.
This was a truly wicked action on David’s part, and was a grievous sin against God. For in order to obtain for himself a beautiful woman as a wife, and despite the fact that this woman was already married, David caused the death of another person, and seized that woman for himself. Therefore, God punished David and told him of the consequences of his actions through the prophet Nathan, who guided David at that time.
In the end, David genuinely repented and regretted his sinful ways, such as the one he experienced with Bathsheba. God forgave David and continued to bless and guide him as the King of Israel, and not only that, but one of David’s sons by Bathsheba, Solomon, was made the rightful heir and King after David, as a clear sign that God has forgiven David and blessed his reign and that of his house. This is in fact a good reminder that the Lord did not hate any one of us or despise us, but rather, what He despises is our disobedience, wickedness and sins. By his repentance and genuine regret of his sins, David had been redeemed and returned to the state of grace.

FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
Jesus in today’s gospel is sleeping while their boat is tossed by the storm in the sea. His disciples are afraid of the situation. They are afraid for their lives even though their Lord Jesus is with them in the boat. This situation reveals to us that His disciples have sleeping faith in Him. They are asleep to Christ while He is present to them in their hour of need. Nowadays, the Lord is ever present to us. And in our time of testing He asks the same question: Why are you afraid? Have you no faith? Do we recognize the Lord’s presence in us, especially when we meet the storms of adversity, sorrow and temptation.

CONCLUSION
Today we have also a dead faith (James 2:20) and not only sleeping faith. Our faith does not preserve us from the storms of life, no more than it preserved Jesus, but it can enable us to remain at peace in the midst of the storm. Jesus rebuked his disciples for their lack of faith in God, their lack of trust. Jesus was with them; that should have been enough for them, even as the storm howled. Jesus is with us too as risen Lord, as we battle with our own storms in life. If we keep our focus on him at such times, we will come to share in his own peace and rest. It is a peace the world cannot give and the world cannot take away. It is a gift which empowers to be peacemakers for others.
May God help us always to have faith and trust in Him, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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