HOMILY FOR THE 16TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A. (3)

HOMILY FOR THE 16TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.

THEME: THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT INSTANT NOODLES.

BY: Rev Fr Stephen ‘Dayo Osinkoya

Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16
Romans 8:26-27
Matthew 13:24-43
Our liturgy today reminds us that life is mixture of good and evil. We are imperfect people living in an imperfect world. There’s much in our country that is both good and bad. Our governmental officials are both good and bad. There’s much in our Churches that is good, and there are some bad things in it too. Same goes for our families and relationships. If we’re honest, we see that there is both good and bad in us individually and collectively. Everywhere we look we find this strange mixture of what’s good and what’s bad. Because of this inevitable mixture of good and bad, we need to take life easy.

Life is in stages. There was a time we were crawling as toddlers and stuttering in our speeches. And I don’t think any of us skipped those stages of human growth, but now many of us would like to skip the present stage of our lives because of the difficulties and hardships we are facing in this particular stage.

This dislike for our present stage is quite understandable because we live in an “INSTANT world” and that is why we have INSTANT noodles. When we are hungry we want “fast-food”! We have become increasingly impatient. When we go for breakfast we want INSTANT COFFEE. When we are broke we want INSTANT CASH. When we have a headache we want INSTANT RELIEF. When we send messages, most especially on social media to people we want INSTANT REPLIES. When we enter a relationship we want INSTANT PLEASURE. When we have problems we want INSTANT SOLUTIONS. When we pray we want INSTANT MIRACLES!

In the gospel text of today, Jesus reminds us that in the Kingdom of God problems will be solved at their own time. Evil may grow together with good; evil will not be uprooted instantly. We need to wait patiently until the end of time (Mt 13:24-30). The Kingdom of God grows like a mustard seed – it is not a finished product. It may seem tiny, it might grow slowly, but there will come a time when it will be big enough to attract the birds of the air (Mt 13:31-32).

The Kingdom of God affects its environment like the yeast – it will not seem dramatic. The process may be hidden, it might take time, but there will come a time when the entire dough will be leavened (Mt 13:33). We should not be quick to judge things by their appearance. We must be patient. We must believe in the law of graduality. We must believe that God is in control.

The Kingdom of God is a process, and we too are, because we are part of the unfolding process!

As followers of Jesus Christ, what do we do with the problem of evil? That’s the question raised in today’s readings. Answering the question is a big problem for all of us. This question reminds me of an interaction between officer Sarchie and Fr. Mendoza in the 2014 movie: Deliver us from Evil. Officer Sarchie claimed to be a Catholic, but had since outgrown God. He asked Fr. Mendoza where God is when they have to go out into the streets and their corners to combat evil everyday as police officers. Fr. Mendoza replied “In the heart of men like you who try to put an end to it.”

Just what do we do when it comes to ridding ourselves and our world of evil? The Scripture passages in today’s first reading and today’s gospel account suggest that we deal with evil as God deals with it, with patience and forbearance. Evil will eventually reveal itself and evil will eventually suffer the consequences it brings down upon itself. Sin brings with it its own suffering and punishment. Psalm 141:10 says: “Let the wicked fall into their own nets…” While Proverbs 5:22 says: “His own iniquities will capture the wicked, and he will be held with the cords of his sin.” Just make sure you’re not a cause of evil, then you shall be saved. Romans 6:23 assures us of this when it says “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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