KEEP HANGING ON

REFLECTION  FOR 20TH SUNDAY OF YEAR A

Theme: KEEP HANGING ON

Matthew 15:21-28_

Son of David, "Have mercy on me. My daughter tormented by the devil." This was the request of the Canaanite woman to Jesus, but Jesus kept quiet. She kept shouting, Lord, help me. This made His disciples  to say to  Him, please grant this woman what she has asked that she may stop disturbing us. Jesus retorted, it is not good to throw children's food to dogs.  And the woman said, even the dogs under the table can feed from the scraps that fall from their master's table. This faith led Jesus to grant her wish. 

The story of this woman has three strong and important lessons for every Christian:

1. PERSISTENCE: We all, like the woman have our reasons for following Jesus. The woman needed her daughter to be healed and we need the greatest healing which is salvation. This is the primary reason of our followership. Understand that nothing good comes easy. Sometimes it may be as if God is silent,  in such moments our thoughts are not to conclude that GOD IS DEAD, it should push us further to keep disturbing Him, saying,  "Lord help me." Keep disturbing Him, keep pushing until something happens. 

2. FOCUS: Always remember that salvation is what prompts our followership, do not be distracted by other things by the side. The woman was focus on the healing of her daughter hence, she didn't allow herself to be distracted by the comments of people, friends and even the silence of Jesus. Usain Bolt, the Jamican athlete was asked how we could finish a 100 meter race under 10 seconds, he said, "while on the race, remembered the voice of my coach who said to me 'Stay focused', so I didn't look back, so I won." Hence, never allow yourself to be distracted by any obstacle. Salvation is personal.

3. COURAGE: Not minding that the woman wasn't a Jew and the segregation that was observed between Jews and foreigners, the woman summoned courage and moved because of what she wanted. It takes courage to remain a Christian. It takes courage to follow God, do not be deceived, have your eyes fixed on the price and move on courageously. 

Overly, when it is difficult ask for the help of others,  ask people to pray for you, pray through the saints. The disciples intervened when it became difficult for the woman and her wish was granted.

Homily by:

Fr Chukwuemeka Livinus, SMMM.

GOD IN SILENCE

REFLECTION FOR 19TH SUNDAY OF YEAR A

Readings: 1 Kings 19:9.11-13, Rom 9:1-5, Mt 14:22-33

Theme: God in Silence

The first reading presents us with the story of prophet Elijah, who was hiding in a cave. Why was he hiding in a cave, has he committed anything, was anyone after him? Yes, Jezebel, was after him because he had killed the prophets of Baal, after winning them in a battle and exposing their powerlessness and the emptiness of Baal. 

In order to save his life, Elijah ran to hide in a cave, and there he longed to see (his) God, this God who made him win the battle against the prophets of baal. His expectation was to see this mighty in battle (God) manifest himself in a very mighty way, thus he expected God to be in the very violent wind that broke the rocks, but God was not there. A mighty earthquake came, he expected to see God but He was not there. When a very cool and gentle breeze came, God was there.

This communicates the very nature of God which most times we fail to understand. Most of us have a wrong orientation and notion of God, we expect God to be that person who destroys our enemies or who acts in a violent manner for us to feel his presence. When this does not happen we feel there is no God. This kind of expectation is likened to that of the Israelites whose notion of the messiah was the one who would come and lead them to battle and destroy their enemies, no wonder most of them till this day see no reason in believing in Jesus as God. To such people, Jesus, would say, this is a wicked generation, they are asking for a sign (Mt 14:4). 

Our wrong understanding and explanations have made many lose sight of the daily presence of God who speaks to us in silence. We have failed to know and be in touch with Him, hence the problem of feeling the absence of God is not from God himself but from us. Our problem is within, we and the world  are too noisy and we expect that of God as well. He is very close to us, He is near us, He speaks to us. For us  to hear Him, we must avoid getting distracted by our noisy environment which makes us not pay attention to the silent inner voice through which God speaks to us. We must create a silent moment for God to hear him speak.

Like Peter  in the gospel, when the wave of the world blows us around, when we are troubled, let us look up, we shall see Jesus who is not far from us. To do this, we must be in contact with our inner selves, train ourselves to listen to silence, for in silence, God speaks. Silence heals. Silence is power, it brings out the reality of who and what we are. 

Silence is that time we bring out and  set apart to commune with God. It is that particular time we are able to lift up our hands and say, “Save me, Lord.” In silence, God responds, in silence He saves us  from getting drawn.

Therefore, we must create time for silence if we want to hear God. God is not noisy. He speaks in silence. He answers in silence. If we become too noisy or influenced by the noise of our environment, we may miss Him when he answers, we may miss the opportunity of getting hold of him.

Homily by 

Rev.  Fr. Chukwuemeka Vincent Livinus, SMMM.*