HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE THIRTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.
MEMORIAL OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
HOMILY THEME: DOING THE WILL OF THE FATHER
BY: Fr. Benny Tuazon
HOMILY:
(Mt. 46-50)
In the day’s Gospel, the memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus was being sought by His mother and brothers. Jesus’ response was, “Here are my mother and brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father, is my brother, sister, and mother. Being blood relatives is important but it is better defined by the living of the relationship. In the case of our faith, we have become children of God by virtue of our Baptism. But we benefit from that relationship by being obedient to God’s will. Only then can we really call God as Father.
How unrelated people address each other nowadays had developed from “Manong/ Manang”, “Aling,” “Mang,” “Sir,” “Ma’am,” etc.to the more endearing “Ate,” “Kuya,” “Brod,” “Sis,” “Tito,” “Tita,” etc. This is a very good development. It seems to reflect a closer relationship among people. But we have to do more than that. There are still a lot in our society who are starved, deprived, begging, unjustly treated, abused, bullied, violated, etc. which should not be happening among “sibling” and under the Fatherhood of God. The teaching of Jesus is simply: do the will of the Father. But we know it is easier said than done. Why we prefer to disobey God’s will has become a mystery to us. Even St. Paul, himself realized this, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.” (Rom. 7:15) We know His will. We believe in Him. We know it will be good for us. But we prefer our will which, most of the time, is against the will of the Father. We had become enslaved by our physical, emotional, and psychological satisfactions. In most cases, they are against spiritual satisfaction which is in accordance with God’s will. St. Paul also gave an answer to his predicament. The Spirit, God’s Spirit is the only one who can rescue us from the mystery. The Spirit enlightens, inspires, and motivates. But then again, we need to agree and follow the Spirit.
Everyday we must invite the Spirit. God, though His Spirit, guides and invites us to Himself.The Spirit is alive and works. It is the key to the Father’s will.
