YEAR II: HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 6TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (1)

YEAR II: HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 6TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

HOMILY THEME: YOU ARE NOT ON THE SIDE OF GOD BUT OF MAN!

BY: Fr. Ben Agbo

HOMILY: * Jam 2 : 1 – 9, Mk 8 : 27 – 33.

‘Who do men say that I am?’ ‘But you, who do you say I am?’ This is a beautiful way Jesus summarized what is going to be the greatest problem facing the Church of today. The problem of humanism/ secularism in the Church is the problem of human beings saying what the Church should be instead of listening to Jesus himself. And when Jesus insists on knowing the opinion of the apostles (the would be theologians of the Church whom he had invested his time in training), Peter their leader got it right theoretically. Yet when Jesus went into the nitty gritty of what Christians must practically suffer, Peter bulged and was called ‘Satan’.

The problem is the same today. Theologians have, for instance continued to rationalize on strong matters of ecclesiastical discipline such is indissolubility of Christian marriage, celibate priesthood, natural family planning, etc. It is often the popular opinion to go the easier road but most times, that may not be what Christ wants.

James harps on a similar motif in the 1st reading of today. There should be no form of partiality, class distinction or favouritism in the Church. If anybody should be favoured in the Church, it should be the poor who are most times richer in faith and the real heirs of the kingdom. But what we see today is that the poor are made more and more uncomfortable in the Church by our incessant contributions, especially when levies are placed instead of freewill donations. The rich have continued to cheat on the poor in political and educational matters. The Church would therefore be failing woefully on its bounden mission and responsibility if it doesn’t bridge this gap. We pray for the grace to remain on the side of God and not be ravished by the forces of humanism and secularism.

May God bless you today!