DAILY HOMILIES #sacrifice

Let us resolve this week to be new in thoughts, new in words, and new in actions. Let us strive to put sin aside, trust God more by obeying his voice to the latter and rise above human pressure. Let us move away from being people-pleasers to God-pleasers.

Love is kindness to others – a kindness that gives them the freedom to accept or reject; to reciprocate or to hate in return and more importantly, this kindness continues even when the other party responds with hatred.

In a moment of temptation, don’t negotiate with the devil; act immediately. Secondly, be prepared. No one engages in a battle with bare hands. Like Mattathias who gathered an army in preparation for King Antiochus, we must prepare our spiritual arsenal through daily prayers and meditation and the practice of holiness.

Love is empty if it doesn’t require anything from you. True love requires sacrificing for others especially for the old. Just as loving God demands our wholehearted worship, loving our neighbours also demands sacrifice on our part.

Just as no one forced Jephthah to make a vow, no one forced this man into the marriage feast. He came on his own. He was supposed to do just one thing; put on a wedding garment like all the others who were invited freely. But in the end, he got what his actions deserved.

Take away faithfulness marriage/religious life becomes a caricature. An unfaithful spouse does great damage to his/her family just as an unfaithful celibate does great damage to their flock.

There is an extent to which our worship of God becomes reduced to the mere observation of rules. This was the problem of the Pharisees.

Abraham went to the extent of tying Isaac on the pile of wood because he believed that God was capable of giving him more sons. Four men opened the roof of the house where Jesus was to bring in their paralytic friend because they believed that an audience with Jesus was all he needed to be healed. The question is: “What do your actions say about your faith?”

“Do not appear before the Lord empty-handed… glorify the Lord generously… with every gift show a cheerful face, and dedicate your tithe with gladness. Give to the Most High as he has given, and as generously as your hand has found. For the Lord is the one who repays, and he will repay you sevenfold.” (Sirach 35:4-11).

Although friendship with God comes at a cost, there is a great prize/reward for it. Jesus says: “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16).

Washing one’s feet was a task allotted to slaves in the Jewish culture, it was the most humiliating task anyone would do for another. The disciples were shocked. Peter even tried to protest Jesus’ action but Jesus explained: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.”

As the scribe said: “to love our neighbour as ourselves is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” If the love of God is not in our hearts, if there is hatred against others in our hearts, then our singing and dancing in church, our rolling up and down, our speaking in tongues and so on, are all useless.