HOMILY FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR A.
THEME: CALLED TO SAVE OTHERS!
BY: Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara.
(ISAIAH 8:23-9:3; 1 CORINTHIANS 1:10-13,17; MATTHEW 4:12-23)
Many years ago, Tourists were visiting the famous Carlsbad Cavens National Park in New Mexico here, while they were below the ground in the giant cave, the lights went out. Among those trapped in the darkness were two children an eight-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister. The situation was scary, especially for children. Suddenly the little girl began to cry. Then her eight-year-old brother was heard to say, don’t worry, Amy, there’s a man up there who knows how to turn the light on again. You see what that little boy of eight did, that is your call as a Christian.
Today Christ begins his public ministry. He called four fishman and his mandate was “I will make you fishers of men”. Yes, Christ reminds us of our call at baptism to keep the light shining not just for ourselves but for everyone. In his words “you are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestand, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So, let your light shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:14-16). Unfortunately, most of us prefer to stay in the dark. People do not care about what happens around them. No one cares about the gross injustice and persecution of Christians other places in the world. A lot of people don’t care about the sexual slavery much of which is generated by pornography industry. A lot of Christian, even Catholics prefer to remain in the dark about what happenings in the abortion clinics.
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For instance, in China alone since the 1970s (nineteen seventies), there has been more than three hundred million abortions, and this is equal to the population of the United States or the sixty million abortions in America since Roe V. Wade (1973). That is the population of the United Kingdom or France or Italy, much larger than Spain, a figure close to the population of Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, and Poland combined, still a lot of Christians hide in the cloak of everyone is doing it or it does not concern me after all it is a thing of choice. The truth is that those who have been called by Christ, all of us, must have the courage to bring the light of His Truth to those who choose darkness.
There are many people who are thrown into darkness for no fault of theirs, they are put into horrible situations. My beloved friends we can do something about it. We can love them, we can help whoever possible, we can let them know that they are not alone in the world, we can at least pray for them.
The world is beautiful for those who are in the light and horrible for those in darkness. We are in the light, and we need to bring this light to others. Like Simon, Andrew, James, and John, we need to be fishers of men. We are not followers of Jesus Christ for ourselves. We have not been called to embrace a selfish relationship with the Lord. We have been called so that we can use our own unique talent to bring others to Christ.
My brothers and sisters, you are never called by Christ for yourself but for others.http://catholicforlife.com/homily-for-the-3rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-of-the-year-a-1/
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