HOMILY FOR THE 11TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A. (1)

HOMILY FOR THE 11TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.

THEME: CHURCH OF SAINTS AND SINNERS!

BY: Benedict Agbo (Rev Fr)

*Ex 19: 2 – 6, Rom 5: 6 – 11, Matt 9: 36 – 10: 8.

*A. PREAMBLE*
Christianity is a mysterious Divine – human project began several years ago. It is still in progress, not yet perfectly realized. According to G. K Chesterton, “Christianity is not yet a failure. It just hasn’t been tried”. Fr Emma Onu of blessed memory says that “It began in Jerusalem as an experience of faith but went to Rome as an institution. It came to Europe as a way of life, went to America as business (in form of Pentecostalism) and came to Africa as charity”.

We are currently dealing with the challenges of the Christian religion taking root in the shores of Africa where priests must contend with the challenges of survivalism; economic problems, ignorance, religious syncretism and most importantly the need to provide a functional leadership to our people.

*B. THE EXTRAORDINARY MIXTURE*
We are presented in today’s gospel with Christ’s original challenge of ministering to a dejected crowd – harrassed by poverty, paganism, ignorance, sicknesses, etc. His first approach was to choose ordinary men as his apostles. It was such an extraordinary mixture of different personalities:
1. Simon Peter was a primitive fish farmer together with his brother 2. Andrew, and his business partners, 3. James and 4. John, sons of Zebedee who were also his cousins.
5. Philip hailed from Bethsaida and was one of the earliest apostles to be coopted by Christ. He was a friend of Bathlomeh.
6. Bathlomeh was a scribe – a doctor of Jewish law and was also called Nathaniel.
7. Matthew was a tax collector.
8. Thomas was a melancholic.
9. Simon was a zealot. Josephus describes the zealots as the 4th party of the Jews after the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essences.
10. James the son of Alpheus – some say he is Matthew’s brother.
11. Jude Thaddeus was also said to be a brother to James the less.
12. Judas Iscariot was a zealot fanatic. Christ made him the treasurer of the apostolic college.
It was such an extraordinary mixture of personalities with different temparements and exposure.

*C. THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH*
Christ after gathering these strange mixture of apostles told them that the harvest is great but the labourers few. It was meant to be an eternal ecclesiological statement portraying the reality of the limitations of ministers working in the Lord’s vineyard; some for personal gains and some for the kingdom of God.
Christ knew that the Church was going to be a mixture of saints and sinners yet he insisted on giving the apostles this mission to go and cast out demons and heal the sick with this singular and vital instruction/warning: “You received without charge, please give without charge!”. He knew that the time shall come like we have it today, when so many ministers will see the ministry as Private Business and will try to maximize profit.

*D. THE FUNDAMENTAL OPTION FOR CHRIST*
We are told in today’s 2nd reading that the beauty of Christ’s redemptive programme is that he decided to save us even while we were still sinners. So, salvation is essentially by grace although we actualize it by our effort – through a fundamental option for the obedience of Christ. This pledge of a good conscience begins at baptism, 1 Pet 2: 21 and continues till death.

The 1st reading accentuates this fact that if we obey and hold fast to his covenant, we of all nations, shall be his very own. The new people of God, ipso facto, are people of obedience. In covenant theology, we recognize two types; the unilateral (eg God’s covenant with Abraham) and bilateral covenants (God’s covenant with the Israelites under Moses). Obedience remains a major factor in the fulfilment of God’s promises under these two covenants.

*E. CONCLUSION*
The Church begins to fail in its mission when we stop teaching our Christians how to obey God’s commandments. The Church fails in its mission when it stops providing good leadership for the people or begins to side the oppressors of the people. The mission to save our people from poverty and slavery is the true mission of the Church. It is not pursued merely through prayers and miracles but essentially through education and empowerment. Most importantly, it is achieved through prophetic intervention in the daily affairs of the people. Since the Church is a church of both saints and sinners, this challenge gets more and more problematic. As Christ spent a lot of energy training his crude apostles to become saints, the Church continues to patiently groom her priests and lay ministers in holiness and love. Happy Sunday dear friends!

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