DAILY HOMILIES #sin

The day you can handle a microphone and confess your sins in public (as St. Paul did in today’s first reading) is the day you will be free. As long as we keep pretending to be saints in public while indulging in evil behind closed doors, repentance continues to elude us.

Jesus says: “Follow Me.” Follow me, and I will take care of you; follow me, and I will make you fishers of men; follow me, and I will take you to a higher level of prosperity and success; follow you, and I will give you true peace. Follow me, and your life will never remain the same again.

Our celebration today brings our Christmas celebration to an end. Jesus is no longer a baby but a fully grown man. From tomorrow, we enter the season of Ordinary Time. Like Jesus, our baptism should be a necessary launch pad for great things in God’s kingdom. We shouldn’t be content with possessing a baptismal certificate. We must put it to work.

To win any battle, one must approach it with an attitude of victory. That is, we must first tell ourselves it is possible to win; otherwise, we would die of fear even before we receive the first strike. Believe that you can do away with sin. Trust that you can completely overcome your bad habits with God on your side and with continuous efforts. God wants to see your efforts.

Christmas is a reminder that God has not yet given up on humanity. If God could choose to take our flesh despite our collective sinfulness, it means that regardless of your past, God can still work great and mighty works through you. Do not despair. Do not assume your sins are too much. Return to God today; He will fill your heart with supernatural peace.

The valleys to be lifted represent the good things we ought to do that we have failed to do. The mountains and hills to be made low are our bad habits, sinful inclinations and evil deeds that must be removed to allow the baby Jesus to enter our lives.

If I want to invite an important visitor to my house, I first ensure my house is clean and has the necessary facilities to make the person comfortable. Right? We have a very, very, very important visitor; the greatest of the greatest is coming. What are you doing to prepare for Him?

Imagine coming home one day to meet your children scrubbing the floor diligently with your most expensive clothing. This was the sin of King Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar, in today’s first reading.

One of the ways we bury our gifts is by looking for excuses to avoid work. When you don’t want to do something, you would always have an excuse (a valid reason) for not doing it. According to this foolish servant, the Master was a hard man reaping where he had not sown, meaning that, for him, his Master did not deserve the profit. For this reason, the Master referred to this servant as a wicked person. It is a sign of wickedness if we fail to use the talents, gifts and abilities that God has given us.

No matter how we try to escape death, it follows us like our shadow. The more we run from it, the more it sticks to us. Today, the Book of Wisdom teaches us that the death cure is not in trying to avoid death but in living a virtuous life: “The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment will ever touch them… they are at peace.”

Today, Jesus warns that even if I did not sin, I would be punished for leading others into sin. This is serious. It is not enough that I avoid sin; I must go the extra mile to ensure that I am not a source of another person’s downfall.

St. Paul says, “If you live according to the flesh, you will die.” This was the same warning God gave to Adam and Eve, but the devil convinced them that they would not die. Many Christians still do not believe they would die if they gratify the desires of their flesh at the expense of obeying God.