HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-EIGHT WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.
HOMILY THEME: THE LAW KILLS; THE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE
BY: Fr. Benny Tuazon
HOMILY:
(Lk. 11:47-54)
In the day’ Gospel Jesus continues His admonition of the pharisees and teachers of the law. Their knowledge of the law is unquestionable. However, their witnessing is very much wanting. Worse, they either do otherwise or exempt themselves from them.
Mere knowledge is just the beginning of change and utility of that knowledge. It should be lived and believed. The trust comes not in the words or ideas but in the source, the giver who is the Lord. Whatever and however it is said, what matters is who said it. It is a mastery which we must have in order not to be deceived for the devil is also very good in delivering beautiful and comforting words only to be duped in the end to commit disobedience to God.
That was the sin of the pharisee. They were guilty of having presented the law in the most detailed and beautiful way. Yet, they were not doing them and were not being a model of those laws. Worse, too, they lost the spirit of those laws.
Personal relationship is necessary to be aware of the spirit of laws. This is what born again Christians are proclaiming. They are right in the sense that the Lord must be real to us and not merely up there or in our minds. As in human experience, a personal relation speaks a lot and does a lot. Thus, it generates a meaningful experience and a deeper relationship with God.
