YEAR A: HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 21ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (2)

YEAR A: HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 21ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

HOMILY THEME: WHAT GOD WANTS FROM US

BY: Rev. Fr. Jacob Aondover ATSU

HOMILY: READINGS: 1THESSALONIANS 4:1-8, PSALM 97, MATTHEW 25:1-13
What is the will of God for us today in a world where immorality, vice, indecency, sin, evil and ungodly living thrives? What would God want us to do whilst living in a world governed by modernism, materialism, where right and wrong is judged as relative? Friends in the Lord what does God desire of his children who are fully human, frail and prone to concupiscence? Beloved in Christ, what is God’s will for his sons and daughters whose eyes behold evil, whose mouths speak evil and whose hearts ponder evil almost always? For Jesus, God expects us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:48). How can we be perfect as our heavenly Father is, given the many challenges there are?

Paul would support Jesus’ assertion by saying that: “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1Thess. 4:3). Is this not God demanding too much from us? No, he wouldn’t ask us for what we won’t be able to do. This is God reminding us that we should return to our root – we were made in his image and likeness (Gen. 1:26,27). This is God telling us ‘You have it in you, you can transcend sin and ascend to virtue’.

Sanctification entails purging ourselves of everything that corrupts us; it involves a transformation, a movement from bad to good; immorality to morality, vice to virtue and sin to righteousness. We can do this in the most ordinary events of our lives. We may care to do our work rightly, be faithful to our assigned tasks; loving in our dealings with man and God. It means being like Jesus who said in John 4:34 that his food is to do God’s will who sent him and to complete it as well. We must be like Mary who submitted completely to God’s will: “Let it be done to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38). We ought to allow God’s will prevail in our lives by denying ourselves, taking up our crosses daily and following his Son (Lk. 9:23). It is a struggle to let God’s will prevail in our lives; it is a continuous strive, it is a way of life, our way of life, we may do well to live the life.

Jesus would want us to be Christians who are wise, allowing God’s will to take center stage in their lives hence living a fulfilled and ever burning brightly. Lamps without oil are forms Christian life that are without depth or say spirituality. They are empty lives, caricatures of Christianity; lives without goodness, without love, no charity, simply put they are lives with no credentials for heaven. Lamps with oil are the Christian lives that are animated by love, charity, good works, virtue and all the needful credentials for eternity. We may take care to be ready at all times, doing what’s right and allowing God’s will to prevail in our lives. Remember, at judgment there will be no transfer of spiritual merits or reserves. No borrowing is allowed then; the time for getting our merits in place is now not after our death.

May we take care not to harden our hearts whenever we hear God’s voice (Ps. 94:7-8). What credentials do you have?

FEED ONE, EDUCATE ANOTHER…