HOMILY FOR TODAY; FRIDAY 29TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)
HOMILY FOR TODAY; FRIDAY 29TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)
THEME: THE SIGN BEFORE
BY; FR. KARABARI PAUL
‘I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper’
In today’s Gospel (Luke 12:54-59), the people to whom Jesus spoke could know trends in the weather, but they lacked the skill of interpreting spiritual signs that were right before their eyes. Jesus warned them that they were failing to accept what was right before their eyes.
People of Jesus’ day all knew that; “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is.” (Luke 12:54-55)
They may not have understood the science, but they knew that air coming in from the west off the Mediterranean Sea carried water which would turn to rain once it was over land. A wind from the south came from the desert and it would be hot.
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These things were common knowledge. So, they were skilled at interpreting what was happening with the weather. But they were not at all able to interpret something far more important which was right before their eyes. “Hypocrites!” Jesus said. “You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” Any knowledge that can’t help us to escape our doom days are less important.
Right in front of their eyes stood Jesus. Right in front of their eyes He had healed the sick and raised the dead. Right in front of their eyes people had gathered in their thousands to hear His teachings.
When messengers came from John the Baptist to ask Jesus if He was really the one God would send, Jesus answered; “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” (Luke 7:22)
The truth about Jesus was there to be seen. None of these things had been done in secret. The signs were there. The evidence was clear. Jesus urged them to put things right while there was still time. Jesus asked the crowds a question; “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?”
He answered his own question by urging His hearers to reconcile before getting into court, because otherwise, He said, you may find yourself before the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the jail keeper and you won’t get out of prison unless you pay all you owe.
The context there is about watchfulness before the master returns, about how the gospel divides people for Christ or against Christ, and about interpreting the signs of the times. He is telling the people. ‘Here I stand. The kingdom of God is among you. But your lives and your commitment are out of step with the kingdom. Put that right now. Delay, and you risk a judgment which you cannot escape and cannot pay.’
Jesus is urging the crowds to put things right while there is still time. He is like an attorney making his clients face reality: plead guilty now; settle the case now. That lawyer would be telling his clients: “You don’t want to take your chances. You will lose and the fine or the sentence you get will destroy everything you have.”
But, as many a defense attorney has found, people often refuse the obvious. It can be pride. It can be stubbornness. It can be a naked unwillingness to accept the truth. Let us accept Jesus and His message of salvation. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, heal our world and land, bless and protect us all through Christ Our Lord Amen. Stay safe.
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