YEAR A: HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF LENT (1)

YEAR A: HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF LENT

HOMILY THEME: No Matter What, What You Believe is True

BY: Fr. Evaristus Abu

HOMILY: “Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was living.” (John 4:50-51)*

“No matter what they tell you, no matter what they do, no matter what they teach you, what you believe is true, and that would keep you safe and strong and sheltered from the storm.” These lines from one of my favourite songs of all time suddenly came alive to me as I reflected on today’s Gospel passage.

There was an official whose son was ill. He went to Jesus to beg him to come down and heal his son because he was at the point of death. Surprisingly, the same Jesus who was willing to go to the Centurion’s house whose servant was ill was not willing to with the official to his house. Jesus seemed to even test this man’s faith by saying: “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

The official simply said: “Sir come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him: “Go, your son will live.” At this point, the man did not push further. Why? He believed Jesus completely. And because of his Faith, his Son actually received healing.

I once read somewhere, “Faith is the evidence of things not seen and the reward of faith is to see those things you believe.”

Your life is a summary of your beliefs. Whatever you believe becomes your reality. As the song puts it, no matter what they say, your beliefs are always true. In other words, no matter how ridiculous your beliefs are, so long as you hold on to them, they come to pass; they happen! They may seem like dreams in your head right now but they soon become your history.

Maybe it is time to re-examine your beliefs. Positive beliefs are called “hopes, dreams, goals, visions.” While our negative beliefs are called “fears, anxieties or worries.” You need to identify your negative beliefs (fears) one after the other and start replacing them with more powerful positive beliefs.

At some point, this official was really scared of losing his son, his fear was written all over his face when he said to Jesus: “Sir, come down before my child dies.” He was afraid that his Son would die if Jesus did not come with him.

This was a negative belief but when Jesus told him “Go, your son will live” this man literally expelled his fear of his son’s death. He threw out his negative beliefs and replaced them with clean ones.

He stopped imagining the tears, the pains, the condolences and all that would have followed his son’s death, he started to expect life for the boy. As he walked home, he imagined his boy running towards him completely rejuvenated. And this became his reality.

Don’t die before your time! Drop your fears, forget what anyone has to say, no matter what your situation may be right now, have a positive look at it again. Stop complaining and look out for the silver lining in your cloud. Start thanking God instead, start expecting better; create a new reality altogether and just watch and see how things would begin to change.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, help me understand I can change my reality by changing my mindset. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Monday of the 4th week of Lent. Bible Study: Isaiah 65:17-21, Psalm 30 and John 4:43-54).