DAILY HOMILIES #sufferings

To fill their churches, many preachers say: “God loves you as you are. Come the way you are.” This is why people now dress half-naked to church, and ushers now look like ladies working in nightclubs. This is why secular artists have taken over the music departments of our churches. Darkness and light cannot coexist. We cannot have darkness within us and claim fellowship with God. Don’t come as you are – change! Change to something better; you are coming into the King’s presence! This is not a social gathering. You are not here to sell your body. You are here to worship God.

Just as a tree was the source of humanity's downfall in the Garden of Eden, a tree (the cross) was the object upon which Christ redeemed humanity. When Jesus carried the cross, he corrected the mistake of Adam. The tree, a symbol of death for Adam, has now become a symbol of life for humanity.

Hatred is deadly. The feeling of hatred makes you blind to the good in others. Hatred makes you criticise everything in everybody. Hatred blinds us. St. John warns us: “He who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” (1 John 2:11).

Our first reading today is a reminder to us that the greatest of all of God’s commandments is to love our neighbours as ourselves. Love cancels our selfishness. Love melts our hearts to live not just for ourselves but for others. Love opens our eyes to see the sufferings of others and touches our heart to offer solutions.