YEAR A: HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 23RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (2)
HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 23RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
HOMILY THEME: PRAY AND BE STEADFAST IN FAITH
BY: Rev. Fr. Jacob Aondover ATSU
HOMILY: READINGS:
YEAR A: HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 23RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
HOMILY THEME: PRAY AND BE STEADFAST IN FAITH
BY: Rev. Fr. Jacob Aondover ATSU
HOMILY: READINGS: COLOSSIANS 2:6-15, PSALM 145, LUKE 6:12-19
Dear friends in Christ, welcome to this day made and gifted us by the Lord. Let me be quick to admonish us in the words Robert H. Schuller to ‘believe in the God who believes in us’ so much that there’s no room left for the deceit of this world or human tradition to corrupt us. May I challenge us to live in Christ, rooted and firmly built in him and solidly established in our faith (Col. 2:6ff), the Catholic faith. That so, no false teaching, persuasive yet fake philosophies and false prophecies can sway us from the truth. We may do well to remember that Jesus is the head and source of creation; in him were all things made (Jn. 1:3). We may never forget that it is in him that we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28) and apart from him we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5b). We may take care rather to extol God our king, bless his name always and never cease praising him (Ps. 145:1-2).
Beloved, we live in a world of divergent ideologies, some true, others false. Ours is a world crowded by varying belief systems, different worldviews and many ‘faiths’ with their accompanying prophets and ministers. It is in the midst of these that Paul exhorts us to remain steadfast in the faith handed to us by Jesus through his chosen apostles (Peter and his friends). The deposit of faith is indelibly implanted on our hearts through the sacraments and the intermittent nourishing of our souls by God’s word; we are supposedly firmly rooted in the faith. Nothing therefore, no matter how persuasive should make us drift from our life in Christ.
Prayer remains the one veritable tool that is capable of sustaining us as we undertake this venture – holding fast to the faith we received. Today we see the author of life and prayer itself retreating to pray all night to his almighty Father, an example for all of us to follow. Living in Christ could be challenging and tasking, with prayer however, we can. Besides before we embark on any venture or make any life changing decision, it is only appropriate that we commit it to God in serious prayer. Prayer has a way of bringing God near us hence (humanly speaking) making him attend to our needs. Today is an invitation to committed prayer for every task and venture we want to begin.
Do we pray? How do we pray? Where do we pray? When do we pray? These questions bother on the efficacy of our prayers: whilst many of us pray, we do it carelessly and sometimes hurriedly. Jesus calls us to SUSTAINED prayer, CONTINUED prayer, and PERSISTENT prayer (Lk. 6:12). In truth, where we pray and when we pray sometimes matters greatly. Jesus retreated to the hills to pray; we too ought to withdraw from the hustle and bustle of daily life to places of quiet and calm to pray. In such places, distractions are not much and focused prayer is possible. For the grace to pray well always we ask through Christ our Lord…
FEED AND EDUCATE THE POOR…
