MONDAY HOMILY FOR 31ST WEEK IN THE ORDINARY TIME YEAR A

MONDAY HOMILY FOR 31ST WEEK IN THE ORDINARY TIME YEAR A

THEME: TOO BUSY FOR GOD?

By Benedict Agbo (Rev Fr)

Why do you stay away from the joyful celebration going on in the Lord’s house every Sunday? Why do you stay away from the sacraments of the Church – especially the Eucharistic banquet of the Lord’s table? Why do you stay away from the Word of God reverberating in your fellowship groups every now and then? Or, are you too busy for the things of God?

I recently confronted a group of young boys in my parish who regularly meet at 8am every Sunday to play football while we are at mass with these questions. Some had similar excuses as we find in today’s gospel: Business, Wife, Girlfriend, Football, Alcohol, Political meetings, Meeting of Umunna (kindred), Phone chatting (Internet), etc. Jesus summarized all that in today’s gospel parable with the images of BUYING A FIELD ( business), YOKE OF OXEN ( technology) and MARRYING A NEW WIFE ( pleasure).

Mhhh! Beloved friend of God! Be careful with the excuses you give for things of God because according to Vima Dasan, ‘An excuse is worse than a lie; an excuse is a guarded lie’. Find out what you can do in order to be more relevant in the house of God. The 1st reading says that we all have different gifts according to God’s grace; for service, teaching, exhortation, contribution, charity works, acts of mercy, advertisement of Church programmes, etc.

Why do you refuse God’s invitation for salvation for a flimsy reason? Why do you keep yourself too busy for God’s work? Be careful not to reject God’s invitation for salvation. As Mattew Henry put it: ‘Grace despised is grace forfeited’. St Paul says: ‘Let your love for God be sincere and genuine. Stop making unnecessary excuses and end up rejecting God’s invitation now before it is too late.

Are you married but yet to wed? Stop postponing that wedding. It may soon be too late. Do you belong to any Christian association that will bury you when you die? If you don’t, stop postponing it. Go now and register in your zone before it is too late. Is something keeping you from receiving Holy Communion? You better resolve it now before it is too late. You can’t just afford to be too busy for the things of God. May God bless you today!

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