DAILY HOMILIES

This is heaven: loving our neighbours as ourselves, forgiving one another without counting the cost, seeing the face of Jesus in the people who have offended you like Onesimus, welcoming the earth’s rejected, the sick, the imprisoned, and the orphans, giving to these little ones as much as a cup of water without expecting anything in return. The joy we feel when we help others sincerely is a foretaste of the joy of heaven.

Like most of us, these nine lepers didn’t think it necessary to give thanks. They probably saw their cure as a new problem. If we are to be people of gratitude (or desire to live very happy lives), we must learn to force our minds to look on the brighter side of things.

To be self-controlled means saying “no” to the impulses of the flesh, no matter how strong the temptations may be. It means to act right no matter what one feels inside. Self-control or self-discipline is not something we acquire from the blues; it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit; that is to say, self-control is one of the manifestations of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. Hence, to be more self-controlled, we must pray constantly for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Like the Pharisees, who exploited the people’s devotion to God for financial gain, we often devote all our talents and gifts to our quest for riches. In a bid to acquire as much wealth as possible, we tend to forget God and even forget that God lives within us. It can become so bad that we even become hostile to God, just like those who plotted to kill Jesus because He cleansed the temple. Let us examine our hearts: “Are there things I must expunge from my life so that God can take His rightful place in the temple of my heart?”

If Jesus could accept baptism to fulfil all righteousness, it means there is no room for the mediocre Christian in heaven. We must avoid spiritual minimalism. Don’t just try to do your best; strive for sainthood. Be exceptional at everything you do. Challenge yourself each day to be better, holier and wiser. Never settle for less. As Jesus admonishes us: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

If making money stops you from your daily prayers or from attending church as you normally would, if you find yourself doing things that go against your conscience to make money, the truth is that money has become your master. If, as a minister, you only attend to members of your flock who are rich and ignore those who seem to have nothing to offer, then money is your master.

Like the steward who had to let go of what would have come to him as profit, Jesus is telling us today to make sacrifices, to let go of the vain things and fleeting pleasures of life for the greater good of making heaven. Our attachment to wealth and material possessions often obstructs the practice of our Christian virtues.

Bringing back the lost requires great discipline, courage and integrity. You cannot give what you don’t have. To be successful, you must be detached from the world. You must, like St. Paul says in today’s first reading, “count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus.”

If being a Christian does not inconvenience you, you are not behaving like Christ. If it does, carry your cross in silence. St. Paul tells us in today’s first reading: “Do all things without grumbling or questioning that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish amid a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world.” (Phil. 2:14-15).

Attaining sainthood is not impossible, but your desire for sainthood must be stronger than any worldly aspiration. You must long for it even more than you long for food or sleep. One of the beatitudes is: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” This means: “Blessed are those longing for sainthood; they shall never be disappointed.”

The moment we begin to see ourselves as better than others, the moment we begin to talk badly about others as “good-for-nothings,” God teaches us a lesson; He humiliates us before their very eyes. Like a party host, God politely asks us to step aside, and He does it in so many ways.

Love is the ability to see God in others, especially in those suffering, hungry, thirsty, homeless, sick, etc. No law is superior to the law of love. On the last day, we shall be judged by how we kept this law of love: how we helped others and how we behaved, not like the Pharisees.