HOMILY FOR THE 12TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A. (4)

HOMILY FOR THE 12TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.

THEME: DO NOT BE AFRAID.

BY: Fr. Uchenna Onyejiuwa.

Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion found in humans and other animals. It serves primarily as a cautionary guard against possible dangers, pain or harm but, because it can be irrational, it is also a major source of obstacle to man’s realisation of his potential. And because it seeks to have the individual always ensconced in a position of comfort and safety, it becomes a threat to one’s life and soul (e.g. people who are obese are always afraid of exercise and selfish people are always afraid of making sacrifices). Each time a person fails to correct an anomaly because of fear he or she unwittingly makes it a norm. Now and again people continue to pose the rhetorical question, especially in the instance of a particularly absurd experience, how did we get here? This, I suppose, is how we gradually came to where we are today. Because of fear, many people no longer subscribe to a life of truth and justice. Nobody wants to die, yet people are dying every day because of our conspiracy of silence.

In today’s Holy Gospel Jesus tells His disciples not to be afraid and goes ahead to stress: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” By this statement Jesus affirms that fear, though a natural and essential human emotion, can be either healthy or unhealthy, hence the need for the formula to determine who to fear and who not to fear, especially, in matters of faith and morals. The fear Jesus is warning us against here is the type of fear that stops you from doing the right thing, from testifying to justice and truth and from condemning evil. Such fear is negative or unhealthy because it springs from selfishness and ignores the well-being of others. However, not yielding to such fear comes with a heavy burden, the type that can demoralize. The type experienced by Jeremiah in today’s first reading.

The first reading of today paints a clear picture of the problems that face anyone who is committed to a life of truth and justice. In it, we could see Jeremiah, the prophet of God and a man of truth exposing the intrigue of his malevolent friends and foes. He says, “I hear so many disparaging me, ‘“Terror from every side!” Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’ All those who used to be my friends watched for my downfall, ‘Perhaps he will be seduced into error. Then we will master him and take our revenge!’” A quick look at the background of this passage will help us understand why they were plotting to bring Jeremiah down. Jeremiah’s prophetic career started in the 13th year of King Josiah’s reform and he enthusiastically and vehemently supported that reform and the then Deuteronomistic tradition. However, Jeremiah withdrew his support for the reform and tradition when he saw that it was not advancing the expected true repentance of the heart but rather promoted external piety and rebellion. They presumed God’s promises to come through without their efforts to meet the attendant obligations, many even took to the worship of other gods. Jeremiah denounced in very strong terms such idolatrous and other rebellious practices, issued prophecies predicting God’s imminent judgment and called for true repentance of the heart. But all these things fell on deaf ears. Jeremiah, therefore, announced to Judah Yahweh’s rejection of her altar, her throne and her cult. This the people perceived as blasphemy to the authorities of both the Temple and the Throne, and Jeremiah was isolated from all human relationships and comfort. He was attacked, persecuted and thrown into a cistern to die. In all these things, God appeared to be silent and to have abandoned His prophet. You can imagine the inner struggle with faith the prophet went through, because of Yahweh he became a hated man, and yet Yahweh appeared unconcerned by his ordeals. The truth is, God was never silent, for He does not abandon His own, though it may appear so.

Even though he was pained by the seeming silence of Yahweh, Jeremiah did not just stop at exposing the logic of all intrigues against the innocent in this confession of his, he went ahead to supply the innocent an antidote for withstanding such intrigues; “But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero; my opponents will stumble, mastered, confounded by their failure; everlasting, unforgettable disgrace will be theirs. But you, O Lord of Hosts, you who probe with justice, who scrutinise the loins and heart, let me see the vengeance you will take on them, for I have committed my cause to you.” Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, the road to a just life is never an easy one, it is fraught with so many trials, temptations, tribulations, disappointments, etc., just as we have seen in the story of Jeremiah above. John the Baptist whose birthday we celebrated yesterday was beheaded for speaking truth to power; needless to say that Christ suffered the same fate. It is like that in every age and it is no respecter of institutions unless such an institution is not run by human beings or there are no individuals in such institution with personal interests. Sometimes the temptation will be to go by this old cliche, if you can’t beat them you join them. At other times we may decide to simply keep quiet and allow things go wrong for fear of being attacked or killed. The question we all should ask ourselves is since we assumed such a nonchalant position has it stopped killings and persecutions of the innocent or has it emboldened and reinforced such atrocities?

Beloved friends, if we are perceptive we will be able to observe that fear is been employed by the mighty in our today’s world as a tool for cowering people into submission to a condition of enslavement. See nothing, say nothing is their maxim. But for how long shall we continue to keep quiet and watch evil ravage this planet when we can actually do something to stem the tide? Therefore, if we must arrest this ugly trend, the only solution is to heed Christ’s command in today’s Gospel that we should not be afraid. He is so particular and emphatic about it that it has to be repeated three consecutive times in that small Gospel passage. And when you merge it with the antidote given to us by Jeremiah in the first reading of today, you can be sure that evil will be given a technical knockout and truth and justice will once again assume their proper places in the affairs of men. So, if you have been denied employment for saying the truth, do not be discouraged, hope in God. If you have been denied promotion for doing the right thing, do not lose heart, hope in God. If family members or neighbours are conspiring against you for refusing to condone evil, never panic, God is in control. If your senior colleagues conspire to put a seal against your progress or academic pursuit because you spoke truth to power, don’t worry, God is not sleeping. If you are being discriminated against because you refused to be part of a plot to harm the innocent, do not be afraid, one with God is majority. May the power of this Eucharistic celebration banish the fears that have kept us from bearing authentic witness to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wishing you a blessed Sunday and a happy new week. Peace be with you. (First reading, Jer 20:10-13; second reading, Rom 5:12-15; gospel, Matt 10:26-33).

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