Homily for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C (1)

Homily for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Theme: ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR SINFULNESS BEFORE GOD

By: Rev. Fr. Leonard Maduabuchi Okoli

Homily for Sunday February 6 2022

First reading: Isaiah 6:1-2,3-8
Psalm 137:1-5,7-8
Second reading: 1 Cor. 15:1-11
Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

Catechumens and others attend the Easter Vigil Mass in 2016 at St. Paul Church in Wilmington, Del. The U.S. church welcomes thousands of new Catholics at Easter Vigil Masses March 31. (CNS photo/Octavio Duran) See NEW-CATHOLICS-EASTER-VIGIL March 29, 2018.

Theme: ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR SINFULNESS BEFORE GOD
By: Rev. Fr. Leonard Maduabuchi Okoli
Homily for Sunday February 6 2022
First reading: Isaiah 6:1-2,3-8
Psalm 137:1-5,7-8
Second reading: 1 Cor. 15:1-11
Gospel: Luke 5:1-11
1. Acknowledge your sinfulness and receive God’s grace of transformation. Rom 3:23-24 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift”. In all three readings of today, Isaiah, St. Paul and St. Peter recognised their sinfulness before God. In the first reading, Isaiah says “woe to me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of Hosts”. In the second reading, St. Paul who is regarded as a great apostle did same. He recognised his shortcomings and said “I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle; but by God’s grace that is what I am”. In the gospel passage, Peter recognised his sinfulness before Jesus and exclaimed “depart from me Lord for I am a sinful man”. Isaiah, St. Paul and Peter had that pure disposition before God. They realised their sinfulness and were therefore rewarded with grace. Let us highlight specific lessons to reflect on.
2. To acknowledge one’s sinfulness before God and man is a rare virtue today. People hardly recognise their shortcomings before God and man. A lot of us would rather emphasize our strengths and achievements rather than acknowledge our sinfulness and shortcomings. We are often swallowed by the pride of our achievements that we fail to recognise the lessons from our failures. We are so engrossed in massaging our egos than in treating our bruises and learning from them. When we constantly project our inflated egos and deny our weaknesses, we see ourselves as perfect and blame others for our failures. We start looking for who to blame but never ourselves. We blame others for our selfishness, corruption, laziness, anger etc. It is always someone else who is at fault. We know that this is very true today. Many persons have someone else whom they suspect is responsible for their failures. If their business is not growing, someone has bewitched it. If their children are wayward, someone is responsible etc. Such an attitude or disposition can never bring about spiritual or physical development.
3. When we look inwards and acknowledge our sinfulness, we open up ourselves to receive mercy and grace from God. Proverbs 28:13 says “He who hides his sins will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion”. We must learn from Isaiah, St. Paul and St. Peter that being truly Christian lies in how we allow God’s grace transform us instead of presenting ourselves as “righteous souls”. We are not holy by ourselves, it is God himself who gives us grace to overcome sin. St. Paul hints that “God has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace” (2 Tim. 1:9). Soren Kierkegaard says that God’s ability to create saints out of sinners is greater than his power to create the world out of nothing. God’s grace makes impossibilities possible. After Isaiah acknowledged his sinfulness, he was cleansed and given the mandate of prophecy. After Peter confessed his sins, Jesus promoted him from catching fish to catching men.
4. The dispositions of Isaiah, St. Paul and St. Peter teach us the true meaning of holiness. What is holiness? What does it meanto be righteous? Often times, people think holiness is “not committing sins”; some believe holiness is being “spotless” or “unstained”. No! Holiness of life goes beyond all of that. Holiness is not solely the avoidance of sin, it is the commitment of one’s life to God. Saints are not the opposite of sinners. There are “repentant sinners” or “unrepentant sinners”. Therefore, holiness does not mean being sinless but being “set apart”, being called out of darkness into God’s wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9-10). In Christian spirituality, holiness is constantly being transformed by the grace of God; constantly being with God in love; constantly being with one’s neighbors in love. This understanding will help us sinners to constantly struggle to get up when we fall into sin. We now understand that holiness is a constant struggle and with God on our side, we can overcome sin.
In sum, let us acknowledge our sinfulness before God and receive his grace of transformation. By his power, we are able to overcome our weaknesses and sins.
Oh that today you listen to his voice, harden not your hearts.
Rev. Fr. Leonard Maduabuchi Okoli

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