HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF LENT

YEAR A: HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF LENT

HOMILY THEME: AS LENT CONTINUES; FAST FROM LUST, EMBRACE PURITY, FIDELITY TO GOD AND POSITIVE TEMERITY

BY: Rev. Fr. Jacob Aondover ATSU

 

HOMILY: READINGS: DANIEL 13:1-9.15-17.19-30.33-62, PSALM 23, JOHN 8:1-11

We are presented with the needful today as regards truth, justice, fairness, wisdom, and positive temerity; important features of a just society. We consider the characters in today’s liturgy with Jesus and Daniel as the heroes while Susanna our undisputed heroine.

Susanna was beauty personified; SHE FEARED GOD and had a sound teaching according to the law from her RIGHTEOUS PARENTS. Joakim her husband was very rich and well honoured, he must have been a good man. Imagine a world with children like Susanna, beautiful/handsome yet God fearing and upright. Imagine a world with parents like Susanna’s, righteous before God and committed to their parental responsibilities. Also imagine a world with spouses like Susanna’s – Joakim, who no matter how rich and highly placed would remain noble and good hence well respected. What a world that would be!

Imagine a world without elders such as the belligerent two in our first reading: sources of iniquity, who instead ruling God’s people aright, turn to corruption and ill desires. Imagine a world devoid of men and women who work for the devil, go about scheming devious plots and orchestrating blackmail against the innocent. What if the world was without people who are easily fooled like the assembly held and addressed by the mischievous elders? What if we stopped believing the testimonies of the elders, rich, powerful, bosses, parents, guardians and the powers that be blindly and made effort to listen to the weak, poor, less fortunate, children, employees, etc. hence discerned rightly? Injustice and the marginalization of the weak would be attenuated.

More so, imagine a world with Christians who’d rather offend man and be at right with God like Susanna did. Imagine a world where people never feared the wickedness of men so long as they were good with their God. What would the world be like if men and women stood up against cheap blackmail like the lady Susanna did damning all the ensuing consequences? Imagine a world where people feared and honoured God who destroys both body and soul more than they do men who at most would only temper with their bodies (Matt. 10:28, Lk. 12:5). What if people believed in God until the very last minute like the lady Susanna did, what if people prayed like she did; trustingly and hopefully too? God would most definitely answer like he did in Susanna’s case, for he never forsakes his own (Ps. 94:14).

Furthermore, what if the world had men and women with temerity or effrontery like the boy Daniel to stand alone and against falsehood? That’s not all, what if the world had compassionate and merciful people like our Lord Jesus Christ who rather than condemn, saved the woman caught in the act of adultery? What if we looked at sinners like Christ would? What if our court rooms, council of elders, traditional rulers, political rulers, teachers, and directors, chose wisdom, discernment, conviction and right judgment based on fair trial other than evidence from single schemed stories?

We pray today for more of Jesus, more of Daniel, more of Susanna and less of the many dubious and ill-driven elders and Pharisees in our morally decaying world today. Amen.
FEED AND EDUCATE ONE

 

FOR A SIMILAR HOMILY, CLICK HERE>>>>

Discover more from Catholic For Life

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading