DAILY HOMILIES #faith

In our Gospel passage, Jesus is unhappy with his people due to their over-familiarity. Have I become too familiar with God? Do I still have the fear of God in me? Do I value the Bible or treat it as just one of those books?

Do not assume your righteousness exempts you from testing. As St. Paul says: “We rejoice in our sufferings (testing, temptations etc.), knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.” (Romans 5:3-5) Going through a tough time? Remain steadfast. Don’t give in to sin. Don’t give up on God.

Do not be pessimistic in life. Believe in God, and let your faith be so big that you only expect positive outcomes in whatever situation you face. Cast away your wrong fears and have a relaxed mind like Jesus sleeping in the boat.

Abraham was kind to strangers when he had no reason to be; in return, he received a concrete assurance of God’s promise of a son. Avoid practising selective kindness. Be good to people even though they don’t deserve it. Show hospitality to strangers not in expectation of anything in return, not because they deserve it but because you are a Christian. Show hospitality to strangers; they could be Angels sent from God to test you. (Cf. Hebrew 13:2)

While the leper believed God could do anything, Abraham fell on his face and laughed when God told him that his wife Sarai would have a child. Abraham thought that God had already done his best with Ishmael. Like Abraham, we sometimes look at our external condition and assume what we have now is the best God can ever do. As long as we believe it, there is no limit to what we can achieve. Never doubt the power of God.

A tree may appear very nice outside, but it is bad if it bears rotten fruits or fails to produce any fruits. It is easy to pretend. It is easy to deceive others. It is easy to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but then, no matter how much we pretend to be who we are not, our fruits will sell us out.

Above all, the message of the book of Tobit is that God answers prayers. God cares for His children. God is not pleased with our tears, deprivation, injustice, and suffering. God is ready to go to any extent to save us. Whatever you are experiencing now, don’t give up on God. Continue to pray, and one day, your miracle will happen.

Unlike the fig tree, Jesus did not curse the temple; instead, he restored its original purpose by driving out those buying, selling, and scattering their tables. If we must bear fruits, we must constantly look inwards and cleanse ourselves of those things within us that God hates. At the end of each day, take some moments to examine your conscience and find out if there are things to be thrown away or built upon.

Prayer is powerful, but it is not magic. When we pray, we do not exercise power and authority over God; we beg from Him. We may not always get a “yes” from God, but our prayers are never wasted. Jesus heard Bartimaeus calling, but to test him, Jesus continued to walk along. Many told Bartimaeus to keep quiet, but he shouted all the more. He would not allow the crowd to discourage him.

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. Make sure you reflect on every word you utter during prayer, know that whatever you say is heard by God; know that prayer works, prayer changes things.

Everything must not be perfect before you can give yourself permission to be happy. To worry is to attempt to use your mind to solve your problem; if you keep doing this, you may run out of your mind. Just pray about it, take it off your mind, and let God handle the rest.

There are some so-called Christians who believe strongly in the power of the gods of African Traditional Religion. Some say that the Christian God is too slow, too lenient, and too forgiving so when they need things done quickly and effectively, they know where to go. If that is what you believe also, just know that you do not belong to Christ.