Saturday, October 22, 2022

PUTTING UP THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARDS GOD

HOMILY FOR 30TH SUNDAY IN YEAR C

WORLD MISSION SUNDAY

THEME: PUTTING UP THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARDS GOD

R1: Ecclesiasticus 35: 12-14. 16-19, 

R2: 1 Tim 4: 6-8. 16-18, 

Gospel: Luke 18: 9-14_

The gospel reading is the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who went to pray in the temple. The Pharisee, standing in front, boasting of himself for observing the Jewish law of fasting, praying and tithing faithfully and for not being like the tax collector  who knelt at a distance, feeling sorry for his sins and employing God’s mercy. The tax collector's prayer, according to the gospel reading, was answered. The prayers of these two persons prepare us for the right attitude towards having our prayers answered by God.

The Pharisee and his prayer: We may be too quick to say that the Pharisee in today’s gospel is a hypocrite. Was he? No. This man was actually an honest man. He was faithful to the prescription of the law and even more. For example, the law prescribes fasting once a week but this man fasted twice a week. However, his fault is his prayer. In his prayer, he was too boastful of his honesty and effort and he neglected and condemned the poor. 

The tax collector and his prayer: We may also be too quick to conclude that this man was a very humble person, but let us not forget that as a tax collector, he was a thief. Not that he stole from the rich rather he exploited the poor and peasants through the collection of high tax. However, in his prayer, he emptied himself before God, thus, he had his prayers answered. 

It is surprising that the man who was well-behaved (the Pharisee) was condemned while the sinner; the unworthy tax collector was considered just. How can we explain this?

Dear friends, it is important to know that even though the prayer of the sinner was accepted, Jesus never approved of his sins or his actions. His prayer was accepted because he emptied himself before God, he gave God all he had; his misery, his interior poverty and his sins. By emptying himself before God, he had submitted everything to God so that God may fill him, so that God will possess him and thus transform him. He gave God his miserable state, that God may heal him and grant him the almighty gift of healing and salvation. This is the right attitude to God; self-emptying.

The Pharisee, not minding the prestige of his moral life, thought he could win God’s admiration by telling Him how rich, how just he was and never asked for what he never had. His prayer was full of pride. In fact, he never prayed, he only gave God an information of himself so that God would applaud him. He gave God an edited version of himself; the righteous one, forgetting that no one is perfect except. He never realised the need of God. He faked himself before God (the perfect man).

Are we not like this Pharisee when we tell God how good and faithful we have been to Him, how we have served Him, how true we are to our neighbours and question Him for delays in answering us. Don’t we think that justifying ourselves before God and parading our good works before Him could be part of His delay in responding to our prayers? 

Let us understand that no matter how good or faithful we think we are, we are not without sin. It is dangerous to praise ourselves and condemn others. On our own and by our own effort alone we cannot gain salvation or win God’s admiration. Like saint Paul, after each work, we should consider ourselves as servants always who are only waiting for the crown of glory.  Our effort should be accompanied by a proper disposition of self-emptying before God, knowing that we are nothing and have nothing without him. With self-emptying, we would not be giving God an edited version of ourselves, rather, we shall be giving God a room to fill in and a proper attitude like the poor man who called, and the Lord heard him.

Homily by

Rev. Fr. Chukwuemeka VINCENT Livinus, SMMM


WORLD MISSION SUNDAY

Today, the celebration of World Mission Sunday, reminds us that the mission of Christ is for everyone both clergy and laity alike.

The Holy Father Pope Francis in his message for The world Mission Sunday 2022, tells us "the essence of mission is to bear witness to Christ, that is, to his life, passion, death and resurrection for the love of the Father and of humanity" (cf. Paragraph 5)

The Holy Father thus reflects on " the three foundations of the life and mission of every disciple".  These are:

"You shall be my witnesses"

"to the ends of the Earth"

"you shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit"

It therefore means that to be the witness of Christ is to live just like Christ. Our witness to Christ should not be restricted. For as Pope Francis rightly tells us, there are still areas in which missionary witnesses of Christ have not arrived to bring the Good News of his love (cf. paragraph 11).

So let us continue to press on with our mission of witnessing to Christ everywhere as we remain open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit without whom there can be no evangelization.

HAPPY WORD MISSION SUDAY

HAVE A GREAT DAY

Rev. Fr. Kingsley Nonso Ogbu,SMMM

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