DAILY HOMILIES

Unforgiveness is like holding hot coals in your bare hands hoping to throw them at your offenders. Once a snake brushed a saw in the farmer’s tool shed and in anger the snake rolled itself around the saw hoping to crush it but the snake ended up committing suicide. Unforgiveness is suicidal. On the other hand, forgiveness is self-healing. It is releasing a prisoner only to discover you are the prisoner.

St. Lawrence did not simply give to the poor; his giving was at the risk of his own life. Jesus says unless a grain of wheat falls and dies, it remains alone but after it dies, it bears much fruit. Whenever we make sacrifices for God’s sake, it is always painful but we must bear in mind that our pain, like the death of the seed buried under the ground, would eventually yield a great harvest. Let us learn from Lawrence the need to be charitable and the willingness to let go of our life itself so that we can have a better life in heaven.

Respect Children. In fact, fear children. Jesus is saying to us, if you cannot respect the innocence and purity of children, at least, consider the fact that no child is without his or her angels sent by God to guard and guide them. Yes, there are invisible spirits around every child working all round the clock for their good. Be good to children and you will be blessed by their angels. If you want to experience the power of children, gather little children together, go down on your knees and ask them to pray for you.

There is an extent that our pursuit of justice becomes a vice. Sometimes, it is best to shift ground. What will it profit you if you destroy the whole world just to prove you are right? Be like Jesus; allow peace to reign.

If we are to understand hell as the place of the unfaithful, it follows that there is a place other than heaven and hell where souls go to receive either severe or light beating. This place is what the church calls purgatory. As the Catechism puts it: “Purgatory is the final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.” (CCC 1030-1031) This purification is done so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

When we get there, we too shall say like Peter that “it is wonderful to be here.” There is more to life than what meets the eyes. There is more to existence than what we can verify. If God were to open our eyes like He did with Peter, James, and John or even Daniel as we saw in today’s first reading, we would never for once doubt His existence again. So, let us not get discouraged by suffering, pain, and hardship now. No matter what we have to give up now for Christ’s sake, heaven is worth it.

Are you thinking of an investment that is sure to pay you huge dividends? An investment that would continue to take care of you at old age when you can no longer work? Or would you rather invest in something that is capable of taking care of you after your death and forever? Invest in eternity. The good news is that this investment does not require money – it is as easy as following Jesus.

That God is a God of the second chance is again revealed in his willingness to entrust great responsibilities to us despite his full knowledge of our human weaknesses. Jesus knew how fragile Peter’s faith was and how rash he could be in thinking, yet made him the first pope. “You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church.” (Matthew 16:18).

Jesus was impressed not just with her faith (her unwillingness to give up), He was impressed by her deep-seated humility. Jesus worked this miracle for her to teach us the need to be persistent with our prayers and to always apply the virtue of humility in our relations with others. Remember, the hand that begs is longer. Learn to be humble. Don’t interpret everything as an insult; you never can tell if the so-called insult is just a test. No matter how highly placed you think we are, there would always be someone who has something that you lack. Never look down on anyone. If suffering doesn’t teach you humility, nothing else can.

If your conscience is clear, you have no reason whatsoever to be living in fear. If it is not your time, nothing, nothing in heaven or on earth can kill you. You will walk on water and you will not sink. You will pass through fire and it will be cold. Your enemies will set different traps for you and you will scale through like breeze. Fear Not.

While growing up, we were told: “Say the truth and shame the devil.” This is a saying that does not apply to children only. Even as adults, even as grown-ups, we should remember that each time we tell a lie, we are giving credit to Satan, the father of lies. There is no justification whatsoever for telling a lie.

Money is useless without your soul. Do you feel blessed with some money? Has your business prospered? Then “give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:13-14). Do you have any extra money and you are thinking of what investment to do? Are you thinking of building a new barn? “You have it in the bellies of the poor,” says St. Basil and St. Ambrose.