HOMILY OF 2ND FRIDAY IN THE ADVENT — YEAR A
HOMILY OF 2ND FRIDAY IN THE ADVENT — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven”
BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas
Isaiah 48 : 17 – 19, Matthew 11 : 16 – 19
Jesus said to the crowds, “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
ALSO RECOMMENDED: HOMILY OF 2ND FRIDAY IN THE ADVENT
In the Gospels, we see the special care and fondness of Jesus for little children. In fact, He extols them as models for the disciples. He teaches that the childlike virtues of humility, simplicity and innocence are prerequisites for salvation: “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3).
Being childlike, however, does not mean being childish. If there are qualities of a child that are good and praiseworthy, there are also unpleasant ones, and these are mainly due to their immaturity – such as being sometimes difficult to please, stubbornness, capriciousness and fickleness.
The last two qualities are what Jesus is referring to in the Gospel: ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ There are people who, in their selfishness, arrogance and immaturity, are simply difficult to please and are not satisfied with anything.
Such is the case with many people in Jesus’s time, most specifically the scribes and Pharisees. In the words of Jesus today, one can readily sense His frustration and exasperation towards them. John the Baptist came preaching a baptism of repentance, but they would not listen to him. Perhaps he was too radical and just brutally frank. Then came Jesus preaching love and forgiveness and doing lots of miracles. But they still rejected Him. He cannot be the Messiah according to their expectations. This, however, is not something new or unexpected in the history of Israel: all the prophets that God sent to them were rejected and killed.
This is certainly sad and unfortunate. We may wonder why they have this kind of attitude. Definitely, one reason for this is their erroneous knowledge. They have already some fixed beliefs that are actually not in accord with God’s revealed truths, and they are not willing to reconsider. Coupled with their pride, they cannot admit that they are wrong. Hence, nobody can change their beliefs and convictions. A quotation says, “Some minds are like concrete: all mixed up and permanently set.”
So, when these beliefs and convictions are challenged, they make a lot of excuses and rationalizations: “John did not eat; Jesus ate. So, John must be possessed by a demon, and Jesus is a drunkard and a glutton.” And when their excuses do not work anymore, the next alternative is to discredit and suppress the message, or silence the messenger! This explains why all the prophets, including Jesus, were killed.
One disturbing phenomena of our time is the emergence of what is called “Cafeteria Catholics.” In a fast food restaurant or cafeteria, the customer examines the food displayed on the counter. Then out of a wide variety of cooked food, he chooses only one or two for his meal. This is similar with what many Catholics do. Out of the many teachings of Christ, they just choose the ones they are comfortable with or those that are advantageous to them, and ignore or reject those that are difficult to practice or are contrary to their lifestyle or long-held beliefs.
We know of many Catholics who regularly go to Church and receive Holy Communion, but openly espouse divorce, abortion, death penalty and same sex ‘marriage. And during election time, they even actively campaign and vote for candidates whose character and track record are diametrically opposed to Christian values. This is blatant rejection of the teachings of Christ. Hence, in truth, they cannot be considered Christians or Catholics.
It is either we accept all the teachings of Christ, or we are not Christian at all. St. Therese of Lisieux said: “You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint, or no saint at all.”
FOR A SIMILAR HOMILY, CLICK HERE >>>>>
Dear friends in Christ, We have been sustained by your Charity for the past 11years. Here we are saddled with annual bills. Please, be kind to us with your donation. Click on the “Donate” button to get started. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
