HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF LENT

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF LENT

HOMILY THEME: A WELCOMING HEART FOR THE MESSIAH

BY: Fr. Benny Tuazon

HOMILY: (Jn. 5:31-37) Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent, Day 30th of Lent

In today’s Gospel Jesus addressed the hardness of heart of the Jews. The First Reading read the time when the Israelites preferred to trust their idolatrous acts rather than obey God’s commandments and be faithful to Him. Jesus came as a great prophet. This was not doubted by everyone. It was a different thing to accept Him as the Messiah.

If we were present during the time of JESUS, will we commit the same mistake? Will we doubt Jesus? Or would we believe Him? This is definitely a difficult question to make. To doubt will be more acceptable. Even the disciples were in the same cynical situation in spite of the fact that they had been with Jesus for years. They even occupied the front seat in His stage. They saw, heard, felt, even small JESUS. They were authentic witnesses to His life and ministry. They had to gradually come to the point of realizing JESUS as the Messiah.

Judas Iscariot was a good example of hardness of heart. So was the thief convicted with Jesus in Calvary. Many of the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, scholars of the law, Jesus’ neighbors, and Jews. They had hard hearts and closed minds. They were imprisoned by their own idea of who should be the Messiah. Jesus could not do anything to make them belie. Thus, even in His own place of Nazareth, He could not make miracles.

During this Lent, let us pray for everyone, including ourselves, who possess a hardness of heart and closed minds. God continues to reveal Himself to us everyday. Even if gradual, we must dispose ourselves to them. Patience is a great virtue in faith. Reading and listening to the Word of God, praying, fasting, doing acts of charity, no matter how brief or minute, are always an added step towards conversion and holiness. Let us not be confined with our own notion of faith and salvation. Be guided by the Church who JESUS entrusted with the deposits of faith. Invite the Holy Spirit to inspire us an give us wisdom and other gifts to be inebriated with the aroma of Christ. A soft heart is a welcoming heart. An open mind can absorb divine wisdom. Let us fill our person with the presence of the Trinity.

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