HOMILY FOR THE 7TH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR C (6)

HOMILY FOR THE 7TH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR C

THEME: SUIT JACKETS AND AGBADA TO INFLICT OR REDUCE SUFFERING

BY: Fr Andrew Ekpenyong

HOMILY FOR SUNDAY MAY 29 2022

1. Doing More. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I sincerely thank you for your amazing faith, hope and charity, public and private, including

If people knew the grace that came with giving help to the suffering, there would be no suffering people in the world.

HOMILY FOR THE 7TH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR C

THEME: SUIT JACKETS AND AGBADA TO INFLICT OR REDUCE SUFFERING

BY: Fr Andrew Ekpenyong

HOMILY FOR SUNDAY MAY 29 2022

 

1. Doing More. Dear Brothers and Sisters, I sincerely thank you for your amazing faith, hope and charity, public and private, including your continuous feeding of street children organized by our present Parish Priest, Very Rev Fr Cletus Udoh, Dr John Odok and others. These works of charity prove that indeed the Holy Spirit who filled Stephen (Acts 7:55) as we heard in today’s 1st reading (Acts 7:55-60), is also at work in you. I pray that Heaven be opened for you all as you persevere in doing good like St Stephen. I believe you are doing your part but I feel that I am not doing enough myself. In 2002, that is, 20 years ago, as a deacon, one year before my ordination as a priest, I had the privilege of addressing the National Association of Catholic Corpers during their national meeting in Calabar. It was in the Assembly Hall over there, a few meters from this Church. In that address, I accused myself and the corpers of not doing enough to feed ourselves and the hungry, to clothe ourselves and the naked, to keep ourselves healthy and heal the sick, etc, as a country. After that address, several corpers followed me to my room and we formed the Science and Technology Network for Human Advancement, SATNHA. My convictions have not changed since then and I’m back home in Nigeria to thank God for using us and some others, to provide 100% free and high-quality healthcare to the sick in rural areas for 4 years since the commissioning of the 1st Site of our Provincial Research Hospitals in June 2018 and also to commission the 2nd site in two weeks’ time, God-willing. The Scripture readings today contain words and expressions that challenge us to do more so that we all can live better lives on this planet, die with dignity and join our Lord in Heaven, whom, Stephen saw in apparition standing at God’s right hand, according to the 1st Reading (Acts 7:55-60) today.

2. Suit Jackets and Agbada. The witnesses of the martyrdom of Stephen laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul (Acts 7:58). Clearly, they were not a rag-tagged mob but respectable people who carefully put out their outer-garments in order not to soil them. It is like putting away your suit jackets and agbada in order to efficiently throw stones at Stephen, in order to inflict suffering on the innocent. And currently in Nigeria, we are facing massive corruption-induced poverty that leaves many in need of shelter and clothing, while some are in fact putting away their suit jackets and agbada as they kill the innocent with recklessness and impunity. In today’s 2nd Reading (Rev 22:12-14, 16-17,20), our Lord, who was only seen by Stephen in the 1st Reading, speaks up. He clearly states His identity: “I am the first and the last” (ego eimi ho protos kai ho eschatos), “the alpha and the omega” (to Alpha kai to Omega), “the beginning and the end”, (he arche kai to telos), Rev 22:13. Our Lord then offers salvation using imagery of the needs of this present life: “Let the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water.” Brothers and Sisters, giving drink to the thirsty, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, these are corporal works of mercy that prove that the Holy Spirit is at work in us, getting us ready for Heaven. Interestingly, while on Earth, before His passion, death, resurrection and ascension into Heaven, our Lord Jesus did not only feed the hungry or heal the sick. He did what all of us can do right now, what all of us should do, in fact what each of us, has to do, in order to have our values right, in order to achieve our goals in life or God’s goal for us. He did that simple but important thing in today’s Gospel reading (Jn 17:20-26). He prayed. He prayed for us. Praying for the living and dead is one of the spiritual works of mercy.

3. Reducing Suffering. Dear Sisters and Brothers, prayer is the action that elevates our commitment to human development to the status of a mission, an apostolate, an activity directed by the Holy Spirit, for our salvation and the salvation of the world. Prayer is the vertical dimension of our Christian life. The horizontal is focused on harnessing resources to provide our needs and those of our brothers and sisters. The vertical dimension connects us with the Divine, the source of grace and the summit of our desire. Our Lord prayed for us, that we be brought to perfection as one. I thank God for giving us the grace to gather here in prayer. Let us be sure of this, our Christian faith will not prevent us from experiencing challenges that other human beings face. But our Christian faith will enable us to overcome the challenges even when the victory appears like a defeat at first, as in the martyrdom of Stephen. Let us pray for a renewed outpouring of the Spirit of Christ in us so that we cooperate with God in reducing the sufferings of others. Instead of casting our suit jackets and agbadas in order to inflict pain, let us continue to cast off our suit jackets and agbadas to reduce the sufferings of others in our society, to the glory of God who gives the graces. Amen.

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