DAILY HOMILIES #faith

The hypocrite knows the house is dirty and smelling, he goes ahead to paint the outside walls but allows the inside to decay even more. The Christian knows the house is dirty and smelling, he begins the washing from the inside gradually, cleans everywhere before painting the outside.

Regardless of what you are facing now, take courage, be cheerful, smile. Know that Jesus has conquered already. One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is joy. There is nothing spiritual about being moody, annoyed or depressed.

If it were possible to summarize the words of Jesus in last Sunday's Gospel passage, it would be John 15:12 which reads: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus wants us to continue His mission of saving the world by replicating His sacrificial love, especially for our enemies. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus prays for us. In this prayer, Jesus expresses His desires for the Church and also reveals our identity and mission further

If you do not believe that your prayers are capable of changing anything, then you are yet to understand the meaning of prayer. The deeper your confidence in the power and effectiveness of even a single line of prayer, the more you see the result in your life.

For those who do not eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus, they are missing so much. As Jesus puts it, they do not even have life in them; they are walking-dead. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53).

Like an athlete running with the pole to take the high jump, we must trust God completely even in very difficult moments knowing that when we go up so high to jump, a very soft landing awaits us. Endure! “Sorrow may last in the night but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

For instance, you crossed the street to buy a packet of sachet water and came back unhurt. You continued your daily activities in your home as usual. Little did you know that if you had crossed ten seconds earlier, you would have been hit by a stray bullet. God did something for you without you even knowing.

Jesus did not come into this world to make us materially rich or politically powerful possessing earthly kingdoms, etc. No. Jesus came to give us something far more important: His Body and Blood - His physical presence in the Holy Eucharist.

Fear is often caused by a lack of faith coupled with our ignorance of the truth. The bad news is that fear paralyses us leading us to very bad decisions. The good news however is that ninety-nine per cent of our fears would never happen

Mary is that Virgin Isaiah spoke of as a sign to the people of Israel that God has finally sent them the Saviour they have been expecting. Yet, God requested her consent. God wants to do great and wonderful things through you but He needs you to say “Yes.” Yes to righteousness, yes to the will of God.

Jesus saw a lot of people there but his attention was drawn to this man because he had been there for a very long time. The truth is that even our problems are “blessings” in disguise. I believe God will never allow us to face a difficult challenge unless He intends to bring something good out of it.

Stop complaining and look out for the silver lining in your cloud. Start thanking God instead, start expecting better. The words of Jesus “ask and you will receive…” are still true. (Matthew 7:7)