HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 6TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR I. (2

HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 6TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR I.

THEME: FAVOUR FROM GOD.

BY: Fr. Karabari Paul

‘But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.’

Let us reflect on the First Reading today (Gen.6:5-8; 7:1-5,10). The Hebrew word translated as favour is chen, which can also mean ‘grace’ or ‘acceptance’. The first time the word ‘favour’ appears in the Bible is Genesis 6:8, telling us that ‘Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD’. God had decided to destroy the inhabitants of earth because they had become so corrupted and evil. The only ones spared were Noah and his family, because Noah had God’s favour. He was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. He hadn’t allowed the world to influence and corrupt him, and instead stayed true to God, so God saved him and used him to re-establish the human race. One of the things that set Noah apart was his obedience to God. And our best example of obedience is Jesus.

So finding favour starts when we surrender our lives to Christ and accept God’s grace and love, and continues as we show our obedience to God through the way we live. And as we do that, we will notice God blessing us in all kinds of ways. He wants to favour every aspect of our lives and help us in every possible way. But first, we have got to position ourselves to receive that favour by being obedient. If God knows He will get the glory for what He is doing in our lives, He will bless us beyond our ability and beyond our resources

Imagine what life on the ark must have been like for Noah. He probably didn’t get much sleep. He was feeding, cleaning, and caring for thousands of animals around the clock. It was smelly and messy. And that’s a pretty accurate picture of what obedience to God sometimes looks like. It’s hard work, and it gets harder. Sometimes, God’s blessings can complicate our lives. But they also bring joy and fulfilment that we can’t get from any other source. No matter what vision God’s given us, it’ll take longer and be harder than we ever imagined. So we need to persevere. Noah had to build a massive ark from nothing (maybe even being ridiculed by others while he was doing it), then look after all the animals, then wait for the flood waters to go down.

As long as we rely on the approval of others, God’s limited in what He can do through us. Having faith often means we will look foolish, irrational or illogical to the world. Think of how some of the most faithful biblical characters would have appeared from the world’s perspective. Noah would have looked foolish building a boat in the middle of the desert. 90-year-old Sarah would have looked foolish believing she could have a baby. Moses would have looked foolish asking Pharaoh to let his slaves go. The Israelite army would have looked ridiculous marching round Jericho blowing trumpets. David would have looked silly attacking Goliath with just a slingshot. Peter would have looked irresponsible stepping out of a boat in the middle of a storm. And to those who didn’t understand, it made no sense for Jesus to be hanging half naked on the cross.

But the results speak for themselves. Noah survived the flood. Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Moses delivered Israel out of Egypt. The walls of Jericho were destroyed. David defeated Goliath. Peter walked on water. And Jesus rose from the dead and bought our salvation. There comes a point when we must stop listening to the world, and listen to God instead, even if it doesn’t make sense to us or makes us look ridiculous. We need to step out in faith, obeying God and acting as if He is already answered our prayers. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. God bless you and your household always through Christ Our Lord Amen. You have the assurance of my prayers.

Good morning

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