DAILY HOMILIES #God

Jesus tells us today: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:10-12)

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus says to us twice: “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it… if you ask anything in my name, I will do it…” By saying “I will do it,” Jesus is telling us that He is both God and mediator at the same time. This is not easy to explain but just know that when we pray to God in Jesus’ name, it doesn’t mean that Jesus is in any way less than God. Jesus is God.

It is not possible for us to understand everything about God. Like the Holy Eucharist, there are still so many things about God that remain mysterious to us. No matter how high the temptation may be for you to walk away from God, let us remember that the best is yet to come. God has not changed and will never change a bit. Just hold on. Don’t quit on God.

Know this, no matter what your fears may be, never neglect Prayer and Bible Study. You may have to get down to work but no matter how much work you do, never assume you are busier than God. He knows what you are going through and He is more than capable of rescuing you.

Very often, we complain about our unanswered prayers forgetting that most of the time, God provides the things we need without us asking. These are blessings we take for granted.

Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Peter and John were ready to face whatever comes their way in their proclamation of the Good News. Are you still scared of what people can do to you? Are you scared of letting your light shine? Ask yourself – If I am so scared of dying, is it possible to preserve my life for another hundred years?

Child of God, repent from the worship of idols. Repent from the worship of pleasure. Flee from sexual immorality. Each time we indulge in the sins of the flesh, we are not different from the children of Israel and by so doing we attract the wrath of God.

Trust God and obey His word. Trust your parents (your elders, your teachers, etc.) and keep to their instructions. It might seem hard for you to just be good but I tell you, this is the shortest cut to success in life. This is what Moses teaches us in today’s first reading. Give heed to the statutes and the ordinances… that you may live and take possession of the land… God means well by giving us the commandments.

The journey to anything excellent and beautiful is usually marred with a lot of obstacles and pot-holes. Even serving God is not easy. No one, not even Jesus Christ the Son of God was spared suffering, pain, and sorrow. Like gold which has to experience fire, you would face a lot of fires that would remove impurities from you. Don’t give up on God. Don’t think that your prayers are in vain. Things would not always be like this. Don’t worry – after the story comes the glory.

Can you change your feelings toward your enemies? What if you decide no longer to talk about them in a negative light? What if decide to remember only those good things they did to you and not the painful ones? What if you start praying for their conversion and deliverance rather than for God to destroy them?

The story of the Tower of Babel can be likened to the story of the Titanic. It was said about that great ship that “nothing can sink it, not even God.” In the end, the ship sank. Another way we challenge God is by living in total disregard for God’s commandments. I have heard many who argue that Christianity only exists to put fear in our minds and prevent us from using our brains. This was the exact same thing the serpent said to Eve while tempting her to eat the forbidden fruit.

One of the ways we resemble God is our capacity to will something into existence, that is, to create out of nothing. Just as God imagined the world before creation and then spoke it into existence, we have the power to imagine things and speak them into existence.