DAILY HOMILIES #Jesus

Are you troubled? Is your heart restless? You can’t find sleep at night? Get down on your knees and talk to Jesus. Go to the Blessed Sacrament and sit before Jesus. Carry His Yoke – Keep doing what is right. However tough as this yoke may seem, it is lighter than the yoke of running to the devil for a solution or abandoning your faith out of annoyance.

As a child, I never doubted God. It was very easy to believe everything I was told. The biblical stories made sense to me because I could see their lessons. Even though I had no evidence, I never asked: “Did that really happen?” The stories were real to me as long as I could imagine them. We must have this attitude about God’s kingdom: a deep sense of humility, the willingness to learn, never claiming to know more than one’s teacher, and a readiness to follow instructions to the letter with a sense of trust in God.

If the people who lived in Chorazin in the time of Jesus were to visit the world today, what would they say about our latest technology? We are living in an age of miracles. We have too many signs and wonders to show that God truly loves us, but we take them for granted. How do we show appreciation to God for His uncountable blessings? Disbelief, ingratitude, greed and disobedience to God’s commands.

Do you want your prayers to be heard? God says: “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:16-17). There is no point moving from Church to Church or subjecting yourself to abuse in the hands of so-called powerful miracle workers; repent from the evil around you, and God will grant your prayers.

As ministers of God, we must preach with the examples of our lives. Until we cease to be beneficiaries of corruption like Amaziah, the priest, we cannot speak truth to power. Until we practice the detachment Jesus recommends, no one will take our sermons or communiques seriously. As St. Paul says in today’s second reading, we have been called “to be holy and spotless”, not necessarily to make it big in life. Let us repent from worshipping money, whether as ministers or laity. Let us return to practising the Gospel values and apply poverty of spirit.

Preaching may begin on the pulpit, but it must never end there. We must go out to touch the sick, feed the hungry and help the poor; we must strive to meet the people where they are. When reaching out to the people, we must avoid turning our ministry into a money-making enterprise. Jesus says: “You received without pay, give without pay, take no gold, silver, or copper. No bag, two tunics, sandals, or a staff.”

Most of us are good at identifying our problems, but we easily become overwhelmed by their magnitude. We either fail to pray or fail to act with faith. Do that which is in your power to do. It may be very small compared to the problem but do it. Let it become a mustard-seed action planted in faith. Jesus came to save the whole world, yet He chose to begin his ministry with only twelve workers.

Mankind’s problems are too many, but by failing to do the little we can, we worsen the problem. Jesus did not solve all the problems in the world, but He did His best. He touched lives. He made good use of His power and authority. Matthew tells us Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching, proclaiming the good news, and curing every disease and sickness. You, too, can do something.

What made the people hostile to Jesus? Was it that they did not recognise His superior wisdom? No. Their hostility was a result of their familiarity with Jesus. They took offence at Jesus because they knew him simply as the carpenter’s son; they did not recognise His Divinity. Unlike Jairus, who fell on his feet in worship before Jesus (while asking for his daughter’s healing), these people considered Jesus an impostor.

New wine is good. Old wine is also good. The problem is using old wineskins to store new wine or vice versa. This parable points to the importance of timing. Your plans may be perfect, but if it isn’t the right time, you will pour new wine into an old wineskin. Sometimes, God does not answer our prayers because He knows the timing is wrong. Do not lose trust in God. If the wedding guests cannot fast now, the time will come when they will have no choice but to fast.

The irony is that while Matthew willingly embraced a new life with Christ, many who openly condemned him remained in their old lives. Jesus said: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Am I the kind of ‘righteous’ person Jesus was referring to? Do I recognise (or admit) that I need a physician? If I consider myself perfect, I indirectly say I don’t need Jesus. Pride goes before a fall.

Inspired by their faith, some persons brought a paralysed man to Jesus. Matthew reports that Jesus ‘saw’ their faith. This means faith in God is visible in our actions before or after praying. A certain village experienced drought for some years. The elders met and decided the entire village would gather in the market square on a certain day to pray for rain. As they were about to begin the prayer, they noticed that only one little girl came with an umbrella. They had all come to pray for rain, but only this girl was expecting rain.