HOMILY/SERMON FOR 24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — YEAR B

HOMILY/SERMON FOR 24TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — YEAR B

HOMILY THEME: THE APTITUDE–TEST OF FAITH

BY: Fr. Justus Oruh

Isaiah 50: 5-9, Ps. 116, James 2: 14-18, Mark 8:27-35

a) Do I really know Christ personally or is my knowledge of him limited only to what people say of him and what is read from books about him? Peter said, “your are the Christ” Christ means “the anointed one”. Peter thought like the rest, that Christ is one of those political Emperors who were also anointed by their coronation, who has come to save the people from the burdens of the roman political leaders. It was a disappointment to Peter that Christ, though anointed one of God must suffer and die on the cross. Christ did many miracles in the time; feeding people with bread. Some saw him as an economic Messiah and a wonder worker. Today some people follow Christ seeking only miracles and wonders without any deep profession of Faith. Who is Christ for such people? No one is sure, how deep his/her profession of Faith on Christ is until there is a test-run on the said Faith. The level of personal knowledge one has of Christ (which is called witnessing) founds expression in the one`s Faith. That was the reason Jesus conducted the aptitude test of the profession of Faith among His disciples asking, “who do you say the Son of Man is?” And St. James made a test-run, to know whether our Faith is empty or productive.

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b) It is easier to profess and say; “I believe in God and in Christ his only begotten Son” than to live the Faith. Our Faith in God does not stop at the“ I believe”, for even the devil does it better than us. St. James puts it clear where he said; “you believe that God is one; you do well: but the demons also believe, and shudder.” (James 2:19). If the devil also says, acknowledges Christ as the anointed one of God and the Messiah,, what makes the difference between the profession of Peter of Christ as the Messiah and what the devil acknowledges of Christ?

c) When Peter could not state the difference after making a classical profession of Faith, acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah, he remained only at the stage of what devil can also do, and even do better. Little wonder Christ said to him, “get behind me Satan”. Even before Peter made his profession of Faith the devil had already identified Christ saying; “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (Lk. 4:34). We need to test-run the Faith we profess to state the difference. It is a wonder in a country where there are many believers, many churches and places of worship, yet it is fantastically corrupt; immorality and cheating on daily increase. Who do we take Jesus Christ to be, actually? A country is dead as the faith of the believers is dead. If what we profess about Jesus Christ does not show good works, does not give bread to the hungry, does not bring comfort to the saddened, does not move us to commitments for the good of our fellow, that may even land us to suffer like “the suffering Messiah”, if the faith does not move us to bring about good changes around us, such faith is dead because it cannot make anything alive. A faith that only acknowledges Jesus as a miracle worker but does not produce good works and charity is nothing short of what the devil does; for the devil believes but will never do any good work. The only thing devil cannot do is good works which is the will of God. A faith that does not produce good works and charity is satanic, To such a faith say, “get behind me Satan.”

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