HOMILY FOR THE 18TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C.
THEME: Seek First the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and the rest will be given to you.
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA
HOMILY FOR SUNDAY JULY 31 2022
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Ecclesiastes 1:2,2:21-23
Colossians 3:1-5,9-11
Luke 12:13-21
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
Green
*INTRODUCTION*
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time of Year C.
*FROM OUR FIRST READING*
In our first reading today from the Book of Ecclesiastes or Qoheleth, we heard the exhorting of the people that all of their pursuits of knowledge, of worldly matter and desires, of wealth and riches, all of those were ultimately nothing and meaningless. He pointed out how all the efforts that we put into accumulating and amassing all of them for ourselves would not last in the end, and they were really superficial at best. All of the hard work and the busy actions of the people, seeking for more profits, money, for more glory and fame, for more achievements and other worldly matters, in the end, they would not have peace.
*FROM OUR SECOND READING*
In our second reading today, we heard from the letter that St. Paul wrote to the Colossians, we heard of the reminder that we should put our focus and attention on things that are above, and not on worldly things and matter. St. Paul exhorted the faithful to get rid from themselves the immoral and improper attachments to worldly desires and vices, all the things that have always kept us all back from finding our way to God. All that made us to continue to be stubborn in refusing to listen to God and His calling, which He had repeatedly made for us. We are all reminded and called to holiness, and to be rid of excessive attachments to worldly desires and pursuits.
*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
In today’s Godpel Jesus gives a lesson on greed. He told a disturbing story of one who tried to insure his future by storing instead of sharing his bountiful produce. He received the bad news on the night that he thought he had secured himself that he would die and thus not able to savor what he saved.
*WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM TODAYS LITURGY?*
The Gospel today refers to food, drinks, and possessions, which are necessities of life, but Jesus invites us to “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and the rest will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33). There are many delightful and decent things in creation for our enjoyment and well-being. We should not shun them but put them to good use as long as they bring us to God and not away from him. Detachment is not about rejecting possessions but prioritizing our lives so that God and eternal salvation always come first.
*CONCLUSION*
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all live our lives from now on as faithful and genuine Christians, no longer enslaved or burdened by our many unhealthy attachments to worldly desires and temptations. All of us should do our best to focus on the right things in life, and not to be distracted by all those things that can lead us down the wrong path.
Have a Blessed Everyone!
Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA
