REFLECTION/HOMILY FOR 14TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: Great is our God
BY: Fr. Cyril Unachukwu CCE
HOMILY: God is infinitely bigger than what we know about Him. He is fathomlessly deeper than our understanding of Him. God is absolutely higher than all of our imaginations about Him. The closer we come to God the humbler we become because at that point we begin to recognise our emptiness and our limitations and the fact that we come to know God best on our knees. We know God on our knees because only in such a position do we empty ourselves of our emptinesses opening all our spiritual and physical senses to behold God’s revelation of Himself to us. May we steadily grow in simplicity and humility so as to steadily grow also in our knowledge and understanding of God; Amen.
The History of Salvation is also the history of how God continues to, mysteriously and graciously, transform the world through the lowly and those the society literally classify as nothing; those who empty themselves of the world that they might be filled with the things from above. Speaking prophetically about the liberation of the people of God from the tyranny of his time, the prophet Zechariah in the First Reading of today (Zechariah 9:9-10) spoke of the identity of the King that will come to liberate His people; “see now, your King comes to you; he is victorious, he is triumphant, humble and riding on a donkey.” One thing peculiar about this King is the fact of His humility despite His victory and triumph. To speak of the humility of God, the true King of the people of God, is an offshoot of His simplicity. God is three times simple, and the simpler and humbler we are, the more we grow to maturity the imageness of God in us and the more we make ourselves available and accessible to God. The simpler and humbler we become the greater share we receive of the victory and the triumph of God over all the forces of darkness. The simpler and humbler we become, the more we grow also in our knowledge and understanding of God and the things He does in our midst; the more God opens Himself to us. This was at the heart of the message of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel Reading (Mt 11:25-30), “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.”
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The truth remains that the simpler we are the more space we create for God and the more we find ourselves bended before Him in integral humility. The more space we create for God, the more He takes possession of us, making His home in us and making Himself known to us. On the contrary, the more sophisticated and complicated one becomes the farther one grows in holiness of life. This is very manifest when one makes a survey of the saints. One striking thing about the saints is the simplicity of their lives and their maturity in the virtue of humility; the simplicity and humility that inspired them to do ordinary things in extraordinary ways. Only through this simplicity of life and humility of heart can we trust God like children and respond positively to the invitation of Christ today “come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” This simplicity is borne out of the recognition of the fact that God makes Himself known to the simple of heart and this humility springs from our recognition of the fact that we are nothing without God. God is simple and those who seek Him must do so in simplicity of life. God is infinitely greater than us and only in humility can we approach the mystery of His being and existence. Approaching this mystery of God’s being and existence involves a certain level of upward movement that is not possible when one is concentrated on things that are unspiritual. It involves detachment from the things below and attachment to the things above. This upward and indispensable spiritual movement is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells only in those who are simple and humble of heart. In the words of the Second Reading (Romans 8:9, 11-13), “your interest are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of God has made His home in you.” Being empty of these unspiritual interests sharpens our spiritual and physical senses and faculties, attuning them to God and making them receptive of God’s revelation of Himself to us.
May God our Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit and by the merits of His Son Jesus Christ, make us simple and humble of heart so as to steadily grow in our knowledge of Him and to come to maturity in our love for Him and for our brothers and sisters; Amen. Happy Sunday.
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