DAILY HOMILIES

Avoid shallow Christianity. Be a doer of the word. Let it not be that the only reason you are a Christian faith is simply to receive miracles, breakthroughs and prosperity. If this the case, you will not be able to withstand the rains, floods and winds that would come your way. If you are simply an Amen-I-receive-it-Christian, you would soon fall away when trials and difficulties come.

Jesus wants us to be wise, to look before we leap, to realize that it is not everyone who addresses himself as a prophet that is there for our good. Some are agents of the devil sent to wreak havoc on gullible Christians. Jesus even said that on the last day many would come claiming to have worked miracles in His name but He would say: “I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!” (Luke 13:27). Shine your eyes, there are workers of iniquity out there. Watch out for their fruits.

Do you firmly believe that with prayers, we can solve the problem of insecurity bedeviling our nation? If you do, then you are among the very few still following the narrow path of salvation that Jesus spoke about in today’s Gospel passage. Sure, it is not easy to be different in a world like ours. It is not easy to genuinely let your light shine in a world so full of darkness. As Jesus would say: “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to salvation.” Don’t get tired of the difficulties you are facing in your walk with Jesus. It was never meant to be a smooth ride. Do not give up.

When next you feel a strong urge to correct someone, post a condemnatory video on social media, cry out about an act of injustice, or even gossip about someone to a friend, please examine your conscience thoroughly. Examine your heart, correct yourself, point the torchlight inwards so you can see the log, then remove the log first before you go ahead to judge or criticize. Maybe, while removing your log, you will discover why it has been so difficult for others to remove their specks. Maybe, the lessons you learn will help to refine how you condemn. Maybe, in the end, you will realize there is just no need to condemn anyone at all but to simply begin to do that which you desire to see in others.

Jesus has given us His own flesh and blood, it is because He knows that as our bodies need food to survive, our souls also need the Eucharist to survive. The more we strive to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, the more we strive to live a sinless life and the more we receive Jesus, the more we become strengthened with more grace and power to be holier Christians. Do not stay away from communion, it is your ticket to eternal life.

From the miraculous birth of children to barren women to the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea by the Nation of Israel when the Egyptians were chasing after them, to the miracles of Jesus in the New Testament such as the feeding of five thousand with just five loaves and two fish, God continues to teach us a lesson in PROVIDENCE. The problem with us humans is that we don’t want to learn, we don’t trust God.

Where is your eye? In other words, where are your treasures? What are your priorities? If your eye is on what this world has to offer, then as Jesus says, your eye is unhealthy and your body is full of darkness. This explains why people get involved in all kinds of evil and are prepared to do anything just to “make it big” in this world. If your only goal in life is to “have a lot of cars and houses that you wouldn’t know which one is which” then watch out for darkness in your thoughts, words, and deeds.

Jesus shows us that even the very life we live is part of our prayer. After praying the words, we must follow our prayers with actions. If we refuse to forgive those who sin against us, then our pleas for God’s forgiveness are not complete.

If we humans get put off by persons who simply pretend to be our friends when we get to discover their hidden agenda, how much more is God who sees everything; who knows what we do in secret? Jesus wants us to replace our people-centered worship with God-centred worship; to replace eye service with God-service; to become secretive with good deeds rather than evil deeds. We don’t have to announce goodness before people to be rated highly by them but we must ensure that the things we do in our secret places attract the loudest applause of God.

Our failure to forgive people puts a big question mark on our baptismal certificate. Our failure to be merciful to people as God was merciful to Ahab makes us no better than Jezebel. It is horrible for someone to kill another person (because of land or anything whatsoever) but it is even more horrible for a Christian to partake in jungle justice which has now become the order of the day today.

If we all go by the principle of an eye for an eye, very soon we would all go blind. As much as we need to learn to let go and forgive, we should not forget that being imperfect creatures, we also stand in need of the forgiveness and mercy of others. In our first reading today, we see how Jezebel connived to put Naboth to death simply for refusing to sell his land to King Ahab. It wasn’t the case that Ahab was a poor man, he was the king, he was the richest man in the whole nation of Israel but due to his insatiable greed, he couldn’t take his eyes off the property of poor Naboth. Greed is a very serious disease.

“Who is God? He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God. Seek no further concerning God; for those who wish to know the great deep must first review the natural world. For knowledge of the Trinity is properly likened to the depths of the Sea, according to that saying of the Sage: And the great deep, who shall fathom it? Since, just as the depth of the sea is invisible to human sight, even so, the godhead of the Trinity is found to be unknowable by human senses.” There is no way I can explain how there are three persons in just one God in a way that you will understand. So instead of attempting to explain, I can tell you why it is impossible to explain: God is greater than what our human brain can carry. Before attempting to understand God, believe first. God is one, yet He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our Psalmist today sings: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth.”