DAILY HOMILIES

After killing John the Baptist for preaching the truth, Herod was hungry again for the head of Jesus. What did Jesus do to Herod? Believe it or not, your goodness is a threat to certain persons and if they cannot bring you down by destroying your name and reputation, they would try to attack you physically. St. Paul tells us that in this battle, we must be fully dressed for action and our attire should consist of the following:

No matter how difficult it may be to love and honour your parents (and elders), bear in mind that it is part of what it means to follow the narrow door that leads to eternal salvation.

Whenever you consciously do something to hurt your spouse deliberately, it always backfires. On the day of your marriage, you were no longer two people, but one person. Treat your spouse with all the love and respect you can muster just as you would treat your leg or hand that is wounded. You don’t cut off a hand or leg because it is injured, you treat it.

Some of us have been Christians for more than 18 years yet we are still bent over spiritually. Darkness (sin and evil) still rules in our lives. It is not about how often we attend Church; it is about whether we worship God in spirit and in truth. Let us pray today for Divine healing from whatever is preventing us from standing upright before God.

(Image: Courtesy of stock.adobe.com) As we celebrate World Mission Sunday today, we are reminded that missionary work is not the exclusive reserve of the ordained but something to which we all are called. In his message for world mission Sunday 2022, Pope Francis tells us: “The essence of the mission is to bear witness to Christ, that is, to his life, passion, death, and resurrection for the love of the Father and of humanity.” (para. 5).

God wants us to win in the game of life; to bear fruits, and to fulfill our calling. A football player who doesn’t play well, who continues to pass the ball to the opponent, who even scores his own side will soon be removed and replaced. A cook who consistently misses the mark in the kitchen will produce food that he cannot even eat.

HEAVEN HAS NO BRANCHES. Heaven is one place, there are no separate departments in heaven, there are no branches in heaven, and there is no such thing as Catholic Heaven, Pentecostal Heaven, or Redeemed Heaven. It is the same Jesus Christ that we serve; there is no Catholic Jesus as separate from Pentecostal Jesus.

But the day you decide to make God your number one, you are faced with a tough choice, either to break loose of your family bonds or to remain there unable to grow spiritually. This is the division Christ is speaking about. It is a division from the world but at the same time, it will bring Peace to your soul, a peace that the world itself does not understand.

It would be shameful if after preaching to you to live your best life today and be prepared for death (which can come at any time), I fail to prepare for my own death. The sad truth today is that a lot of us, preachers, know the bible but we do not know God.

Luke was a doctor yet he served in the vineyard. Let me ask you: What skills do you have? Do you know you don’t need to be a pastor to serve in God’s vineyard? Luke was not an ordained priest but look what he did for the history of Christianity! You too can do something!

What does it mean to be rich towards God? It is refusing to live according to the passions of our flesh or following the desires of the flesh and the senses. To be rich towards God is to place priority on the things that pertain to God over and above the things that bring about our material comfort. It is taking care of our souls rather than our flesh only.