YEAR A: HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF LENT (1)
YEAR A: HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF LENTHOMILY THEME: LET GOD TAKE CONTROLBY: Fr. Benny TuazonHOMILY: (Lk. 11:14-23) Thursday of the Third Week
YEAR A: HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF LENT
HOMILY THEME: LET GOD TAKE CONTROL
BY: Fr. Benny Tuazon
HOMILY: (Lk. 11:14-23) Thursday of the Third Week of Lent, Day Twenty-Three (23) of Lent
In today’s Gospel Jesus tells the disciples the story of the strong man who remained in control of his household until a stronger enemy enters and steals his weapons. It seeks to remind us that we are given control of ourselves. We fortify ourselves with our God-given strengths and faith in Him. These are what keep the devil out of our lives. Remember that the devil dreads God. Thus, once we relinquish our relationship with God and reject His ways, we become vulnerable and bound to be defeated and conquered.
The First Reading from the prophet Jeremiah reveals a people who had been told what to do and recognized it to be good and from God. Yet they were so obsessed with rebelling against the laws thus disobeying them. In the process, they never get to enter into the spirit of the laws. The result was a weakening of their person. Worse, they resorted to other powers and became unfaithful to their covenant with God.
Our relationship with God is defined by our love for Him. That love is expressed in doing what He commanded us to do. Obedience strengthens us against evil. We need to stick it out with God no matter what happens. The Good News is we know all of these. The weakness comes in when we fail to live what we believe. It is believed that when we know it is good, we do it. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Cigarettes have warnings in their packs ad from doctors yet people continue to buy and smoke them. We know that extra-marital affairs destroy families, yet we know a lot who are guilty. The observation of St. Paul again comes to mind. “For I do not do the good I want to do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” (Rom. 7:19) Worse, we know it is evil, yet we continue to do it. It would have been less evil if we avoid doing what we know to be evil.
Lent puts us in the above situations. We can listen to a lot of homilies, attend recollections, go on a retreat, and read about fasting, etc., but most of our battles can only be won by our desire and active resistance to evil. We should never relinquish our control of our selves. And we must recognize God’s presence and inspiration in His Spirit. Temptations abound and come in different ways and different strengths. God gave us all the gifts to withstand them. Only when we give in will they become sins and defeat us. Let us hold on to God.
