Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C (5)

Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Theme: CURSED BE THE ONE WHO TRUSTS IN MAN AND SEEKS HIS STRENGTH IN FLESH!

By: Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara

Homily for Sunday February 13 2022 (JEREMIAH 17:5-8,1 CORINTHIANS 15:12,16-20, LUKE 6:17,20-26)

Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Theme: CURSED BE THE ONE WHO TRUSTS IN MAN AND SEEKS HIS STRENGTH IN FLESH!

By: Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara

Homily for Sunday February 13 2022

(JEREMIAH 17:5-8,1 CORINTHIANS 15:12,16-20, LUKE 6:17,20-26)

Last Sunday we were reminded that the Lord perfects us when he calls us. And today the readings and the psalm push further this ultimate point of people making themselves omnipotent. In the first reading, the prophet succinctly reminds us of the consequences of trusting solely on our abilities, on our human strength and on human beings. Through this, we are reminded that all these will fail us because, our success and survival do not depend solely on them. This is the teaching of scriptures this Sunday. Jeremiah puts a simple but radical choice before God’s people: either they put their trust in God or in themselves. It was not an easy choice for them, especially when everyone else was opting for the strongest alliance and the safest security system. With the imminent threat of invasion by the Assyrians and the ensuing chaos, the Israelites were pressured to ally themselves with the strong, the wealthy and the powerful. Jeremiah speaks the small voice of fidelity, integrity, and justice in fear, self-interest, and opportunism.

In the second reading, Paul equally makes the same point. Our hope must not be totally placed on this world or on our efforts alone, but on Christ who through his resurrection has strengthened our hope of eternity. Simply put our trust in Christ cannot only save us in this life but also in the life to come.

While our first reading began with a very strong warning against not trusting in God, today’s gospel begins with a blessing for those who are ready to do God’s will. The beatitude is a great song which calls us to a life of virtue, reflection, and total surrender to God’s will. And my dear friends that is the meaning of trusting in God. The Gospel presents us with a similar if not more decisive challenge. Jesus puts to his disciples an alternative vision of life, which is opposite to what the dominant imperial system has to offer. The beatitudes identify those who God has a special concern for. They are the hungry, the sorrowful and persecuted. Jesus echoes a world turned upside down that Mary sings in the Magnificat: the lowly raised and the mighty cast down, the hungry filled and the rich empty-handed. These are the people God notices and blesses. The beatitudes also remind us that all we do and work for here will gain us eternal life. That is, if we do them well and for the sake of God.

This is, indeed, a Gospel of reversals. Those often thought to have been forgotten by God are called blessed. In the list of “woes,” those whom we might ordinarily describe as blessed by God are warned about their peril. Riches, possessions, laughter, reputation etc. these are not things that we can depend upon as sources of eternal happiness as we have seen in the last two years. They not only fail to deliver on their promise; our misplaced trust in them will lead to our demise. The ultimate peril is in misidentifying the source of our eternal happiness.

So, my brothers and sisters, today’s reading calls us to a very deep reflection. We must ask ourselves, in who, and in what have I put my whole trust? Placing our trust in God is the best approach to life. Certainly, we must make efforts and do what we must do as humans. However, we must not forget that it is God who sustains, confirms, and blesses our ways and efforts. As I wrote in FOC Magazine Polytechnic Nekede in 2015 “success is not born out of human effort and sacrifice alone, although these can ignite the light, but the quintessential operator is the grace of God which has come to us as a gift.”

In the world in which people prioritize personal wellbeing, security, and wealth over the care of the less fortunate, Christians are called to negotiate the hard road of fraternal concern, compassion, and communion with God practicalized in our human relationship.
God bless you!

Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara

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