YEAR II: HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (2)

YEAR II: HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

HOMILY THEME: His mercy is great; it is enough, now stay your hand.

BY: Rev. Fr. Callistus Emenyonu, cmf

HOMILY: READINGS: Sam 24: 2. 9-17, Ps. 32, Mark 6: 1-6 (St Agatha V&M)

Many times we do certain things believing that they are right especially those in authority but either we discover that we are wrong or God gets annoyed with us. It is better we recognize our mistakes and regret of it and then ask for the mercy of God as David did in the first reading. David gives us good lessons because he depicts the weakness of humanity in committing sins great and small and he teaches us as well the virtues of humility, penitence and asking for forgiveness and mercy of God.

When David sinned and Prophet Gad came to inform him of God’s anger and laid before him three punishments for him to make a choice. He accepted his mistake and asked God for his mercy. When he refused to make choice from the options he relied on the mercy of God by saying: I am in great distress; let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man. David believed in the acts of God on humans which are of love and mercy; his anger lasts a moment but his favour all through life. The belief he has in and about God as a merciful God did not fail him. God knows he believes in his mercy and no one who sincerely asks for God’s mercy and who desires it from a repentant heart that asks for forgives will be denied of it. Blessed are the merciful for mercy shall be shown them. David was a man of mercy towards others. David qualified for all these conditions of mercy and cannot be denied of it from a just and good God. This is why when the three days pestilence God unleashed on the people due to David’s sin was not yet over, God commanded the angel to stop because the true son David desires mercy and merits it. God said to the angel of destruction: It is enough; now stay your hand. The mercy of God brings to an end all our distress, punishment, pain, curse and consequences of sin. With the mercy of God all our bad conditions are rectified. We live by mercy and that is why the Church dedicated a year in the past as the Special Jubilee Year of Mercy. This way God shows mercy on us and removes our guilt in his mercy he expects us to show same mercy to each other.

What happened in the first reading tells us of the communal consequences of sin. Sin has effect not only on the offender but others who have something in common with the offender. The leader or head of a community represents the spirit of the people and whatever evil he commits can affect the entire community. This is why leaders must be extremely careful as well as those who work with them and advice them. It is also a lesson to the public or the electorates because when we are to elect leaders, we must choose those who are spiritually and morally sound so that they would not in their frailty lead us into trouble and the anger of God. David’s sin brought pestilence not only to him and his house but the entire house of Israel. This is why the Igbo proverb says that whoever sees the hen scattering the shit with its legs should pursue it because no one knows who will eat the leg. This is complemented by the adage that one finger soils the rest fingers.

Let us pray to God to forgive the guilt of our sins and may we be counted among the blessed whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are remitted and may the Lord input no guilt on us or hold any guile against us. Lord, surround us with cries of deliverance, and may your angel of peace calm down your anger and plead for us in your mercy,Amen.

Rev. Fr. Callistus Emenyonu, cmf