HOMILY FOR MONDAY, TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: THE ESSENCE OF GIVING COMMANDMENTS
By: Fr. Benny Tuazon
HOMILY:
(Lk. 6:6-11)
In the day’s Gospel Jesus cures a man with a withered hand in the synagogue during Sabbath. The scribes and the Pharisees, whose ire Jesus had drawn, had been waiting for a chance to catch Jesus violating the Jewish Laws. The chance came when He did this curing. Jesus responded to them by asking them if doing good on a Sabbath is wrong. Jesus was challenging their resolve in pursuing the fulfilment of the commandments and taking the opportunity to clarify again the essence of the given commandments.
The commandments are good. They are Gods’ offer of things to do in order to be worthy of the Kingdom. However, mere doing them is not enough. They must be done with the mind, heart, strength, and soul. It means doing them in accordance with the will and intentions of God. When we pray, we must mean what we say and say what we mean. When we do acts of charity, we do not give what we do not need or to let others know we are giving. We give out of concern and love for the needy. When we make sacrifices like fasting, we do so not only for health reasons nor to show our piety but to cleanse ourselves spiritually to be disposed for the graces coming from the Lord.
Our faith is serious. Our Lord cannot be deceived. Our intentions are known to God even if we do not express them. Thus, let us always try to do things with utmost sincerity and genuine intention to be guided in order to be led to a good relationship with God.
