YEAR A: HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF ADVENT (2)

YEAR A: HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF ADVENT

HOMILY THEME: HEAVEN IS SO GOOD; IT IS WORTH OUR ‘ALL’

BY: Rev. Fr. Evaristus Abu

HOMILY: READINGS: ISAIAH 25:6-10, PSALM 23, MATTHEW 15:29-37

Let me welcome you to this new day even as I encourage you in the words of St. Paul to continue your wait on God without wavering; for “The Lord will come and he will not delay. He will illumine what is hidden in darkness, and reveal himself to all nations” (1Cor. 4:5). And to all those who eagerly await his coming, he, the just judge will bestow a crown of righteousness (2Tim. 4:8). Let me therefore encourage you my most beloved friends in Christ never to waver in our patient ‘wait’ for the revealing of Christ. May I challenge all of us to stubbornly wait on God with great enthusiasm so that his crown of righteousness and glory may rest on us hence gain us spots in eternity. May I also pray that he, the light of the world, manifests himself to us this season dispelling all darkness and shinning his saving face on us.

Beloved friends, waiting for the Lord always pays. Trusting in his saving power is advantageous to us. The prophecy of Isaiah 25:6-10 captures nicely the benefits accruing from waiting for the Lord. Taken ordinarily, this prophecy assures us of succulent meals and choicest wines; it promises us a life free from sorrow and gloom, distress and pain. A deeper look shows that when we wait for the Lord with patient hope having prepared ourselves well; we qualify to ascend the mountain of the Lord (Heaven) where life is all glory. When we live righteously as we await God’s coming, death eludes us, slavery to sin becomes alien and salvation is enthroned.

Moreover, when we wait for the Lord, faithfully observing his dictates; he takes our sicknesses and infirmities away. He comes into our hearts to ward off the blindness of sin, of hate and evil; he delivers us from the muteness occasioned by bribery and corruption, the paralysis of hunger, marginalization, oppression, embezzlement etc. That’s not all, when Christ notices how prepared we are to welcome him and how patient we had been as we awaited his coming; he satisfies our hunger spiritually and otherwise. He doesn’t wait for for us to tender any request seeking help before he acts; out of his love and compassion for us, he comes to us as a saviour.

I pray for us today that Christ whose coming as Emmanuel we await visit with his healing those who are sickened by one ailment or the other. Amen. I pray too that he satisfies all our ‘hungers’: hunger for justice in our unjust society, hunger for peace, love, happiness, equity and fairness, etc. To the physically challenged and hungry as a result of our impoverished state, may Christ our saviour bless and favour. Amen.

KINDLY FEED AND EDUCATE ONE