HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 2NDWEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF [YEAR B]

HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF [YEAR B]

SAINT OF THE DAY: Memorial of Saint Anthony, the Abbot.

THEME: Is it against the law on the sabbath day to save life?

BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA

READINGS OF THE DAY
1 Samuel 17:32-33,37,40-51
Psalm 143:1-2,9-10
Mark 3:1-6

LITURGICAL COLOUR
WHITE

INTRODUCTION
Good morning my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time of Year B. On this day also, the Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Anthony the Abbot.

FROM OUR FIRST READING
In our first reading today, we heard about the famous story of how David, the one chosen by God to be king over all of His beloved people Israel, triumphed and won against the great and mighty champion of the Philistines, Israel’s bitter enemy, who was represented by the giant and powerful warrior Goliath. The story of David and Goliath had been well-known throughout time and history, and I am sure we are all familiar with how David, who was much smaller than Goliath, managed to overcome the much larger and more powerful Goliath, through not the force and power of arms, but through God’s guidance, and through the wisdom and knowledge that He had given to him, in protecting him from harm and in providing everything for him and the Israelites to triumph against their adversities.

FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
In today’s gospel Jesus enters again into the synagogue to attend the synagogue service during Sabbath and no doubt, to give a homily and to prove that it is lawful to do good on Sabbath day. To confirm this, He performs a miracle of healing the man with a withered hand. The patient’s case is piteous. He had a withered hand by which he is unable to work for his living and he is the most proper object of charity and help. And so let those be helped that cannot help themselves.
But the crowds, including the Pharisees, are very unkind, both to the patient and Jesus. Instead of interceding for this poor guy, they do what they can to hinder his cure. They intimidate Christ that if He will cure him during Sabbath, they will accuse Him as a Sabbath breaker. But their intimidation does not stop Jesus to do good work and to help the man restore to his health.

CONCLUSION
Both readings remind us that when we find ourselves up against impossible odds, the Lord is our greatest resource. Writing from prison with the possibility of execution facing him, Paul could say, nevertheless, ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me’. In our own lives, when our resources seem no match for the challenge, we too can experience the Lord as ‘my stronghold, my saviour’, in the words of today’s responsorial psalm. A little later in Mark’s gospel, Jesus will say to his disciples, ‘for God, all things are possible’.

ABOUT THE FEAST OF THE DAY
Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot, also known as St. Anthony of Egypt or St. Anthony the Great, who was renowned and famous for his great faith in God, his piety and dedication, holiness and actions. He was a great monk who was born to a wealthy family, but quickly found his calling as he felt the call to the ascetic and solitary lifestyle, leaving behind all forms of worldly greed and ambitions, and retreated into the desert, where he spent the rest of his life in a prayerful life, focused on the Lord. He was therefore also known as the ‘Father of Monasticism’ as his practices, while not the first among Christians then, was the beginning of the surge in the ascetic lifestyle, leading many to follow in his footsteps, in becoming closer to God and abandoning the temptations of worldly glory. St. Anthony was known for his great piety, and for the attacks that the devil made on him, which he resisted and endured with great faith. For his whole life, St. Anthony continued to lead a most worthy life, and become great inspiration for many others.
Saint Anthony the abbot, pray for Us always.

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