HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 25TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: THE FAMILY OF JESUS.
BY: Fr. Karabari Paul
HOMILY FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 20 2022
“But he said to them, “My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it.””
“I am a man who belongs to nobody and who belongs to everybody”, these are the words of Charles de Gaulle adopted by President Buhari. While we can’t ascertain how true Charles was to his words, in the case of Mr Buhari, stream of criticism continues to question the veracity of the adopted statement especially in the face of unfolding political events and decisions from the presidency.
In the Gospel of today (Luke 8:19-21), Jesus points to those who belong to Him. It is a cultural thing to refer to those of your bloodline as brothers and sisters. We do it here in Nigeria, and so it was in the ancient world. It has still not changed. In today’s passage, Christ refers to His family as those who know and do the will of the Father.
The main point of our passage is found in Luke 8:21, which serves as a summary for the entire section that began in 8:1. Reading, receiving, researching, remembering, and reflecting on God’s Word are important, but we must respond to it and be ‘doers of the word’ (James 1:22). This is the hardest step because Satan will fight you on it. You can be so busy going to the next Mass or Church Service, that you forget to put into practice what you learned at the last one. Jesus said, ‘Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock’ (Matthew 7:24). God doesn’t bless you because you know the truth but because you obey it. ‘Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them’ (John 13:17)
You can be a part of Jesus’ true family! You can be Jesus’ brother or sister! God presented this gift to us. We are to be obedient to what God has taught us in Jesus, showing we are God’s children by our behaviour which is Jesus’ point in His statement. Jesus belongs to everybody who does the will of God. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, heal our world, bless and protect us all through Christ Our Lord Amen. Good morning.
