DAILY HOMILIES #Jesus

Prayer brings joy; it is both spiritual and therapeutic. Prayer helps to offload your burdens, calm your nerves and relieve your fears. Appreciate prayer because it can bring you the things you desire and because prayer (itself) is good for you. If a problem shared is a problem half-solved, prayer is sharing your problems with the only person who can truly solve them.

As long as we let our light shine as God’s children, we cannot escape moments of persecution. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus likens these persecutions to the pains a woman feels when she is about to give birth. When a woman is in travail, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world.

You cannot have the Holy Spirit in you and still tell lies. This is because telling lies is not one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Never trust anyone who tells lies; they don’t know God. If someone knows the truth and decides to twist it, that person can easily work for the devil.

You cannot be a true Christian without bearing fruits. You cannot be light, yet fail to shine on at least one person – bringing them out of the darkness of sin and ignorance. You cannot be salt without anyone ever getting to taste your sweetness. As Christians, we are influencers – we always attract people by our words and lifestyle, not to ourselves but to Jesus Christ.

The world prefers darkness to light. Evil is always more attractive than good. If you are not experiencing opposition from the world, it means there is nothing about you that points to Christ; you are not a threat to the kingdom of darkness because they see you as one of theirs.

We are used to hearing: “Love your neighbour as yourself” or “Do to others what you want done to you”, but in this case, Jesus wants us to love others as He loved us; he wants us to offer our lives for one another as He did on the Cross of Calvary. This is the basis of abiding by Jesus – sacrificial love.

As a worker in any field, pay attention to your spiritual life and do not depend solely on your human efforts and skills. Jesus tells us today: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.” Listen to Jesus daily. Obey God’s commandments. Do not worship money.

Today, we celebrate the fact that Mary intercedes for Africa. When Herod sought to kill the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph took shelter in Africa. At a time when our continent is faced with turmoil and suffering under the yoke of neo-colonialism, we need Mother Mary’s intercession more than ever.

How on earth did Paul and Barnabas cure the cripple? First, they began by preaching the Word. As they preached, Paul looked at the cripple and “seeing he (the cripple) had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice: ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ He sprang up and walked.” (Acts 14:9-10). The cripple contributed to his miracle because he had faith.

Life is all about connection. No human being can survive entirely on their own. No one is an island. Just as we need to remain connected to Jesus to stay alive spiritually, we also need to be connected to our fellow human beings to remain alive.

Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14). These words of Jesus underscore the importance of faith in our prayers. Before you start praying, read these verses again and again. If possible, memorise them and repeat them in your heart daily

To have faith is to be assured of God’s protection even when all you see with your eyes is danger. To believe in God is to be convinced that God sees and knows what to do regardless of your present circumstances. A good athlete exercises faith to win a race by visualising themselves holding the medal even before the race starts. To have faith is to pray and work, trusting that God will bless your work and make it fruitful.