24TH SUNDAY, YEAR B: HOMILY BY FR. JUSTIN ADIELE
THEME: “ON THE SIDE OF THE CROSS, ON THE SIDE OF GOD”
INTRODUCTION:
In the movie, Mother Theresa,
shows her looking over a house being prepared for the Nuns in San Francisco. A
priest narrates, “I was gently informed that the springs could go, the
mattresses could go, the carpeting could go…” A worker then was busy trying to
explain the workings of the building’s hot water heater, and the Nun lightly
tells him, “I don’t think we will be needing it. For us to be able to
understand the poor, we must know what poverty is.” My dear people of God, for
us to understand God, we must know what the Cross is; we must embrace the Cross
or the bodily sufferings that come to us for the sake of others. If we remove
every trace of the Cross, every trace of suffering, and every trace of poverty
from our lives, then we are gradually moving away from the side of God.
THE FIRST READING (IS. 50: 5 – 9)
In the first reading, Isaiah as a
prophet of God faced many oppositions and tribulations; all was never so rosy
for him. He even declared; I gave my back to those who struck me, I did not
rebel, I did not turn back, and I never lost hope in God either. Such was later
the case of Jesus as well. Here, we can deduce that your cross could be
anything you suffer or choose to suffer for the sake of God, for the sake of
preaching the gospel, for the sake of saying the truth, for the sake of justice
and right. And that cross should never make you turn back from doing the good
you are doing. The torments, ill words, the criticisms you face should not make
you stop following the path of God’s law. And you should never doubt the Lord’s
presence, his help and vindication when the time comes.
THE SECOND READING (JAM. 2: 14 – 18)
In the second reading, St. James
drew our attention to the output of our faith, which should manifest in good
works; good works in the family, good works in the society, good works in
politics, good works in leadership and good works in the Church. The volume of
corruption and evil in our country Nigeria poses a very big question mark on
the volume of Christian and Islamic faith in the country. The low volume of
good works in the Nigerian polity doesn’t correspond with the high volume of
Christianity and Islam in the land. So where did we get it all wrong?
THE GOSPEL READING (MK. 8: 27 – 35)
In the gospel reading, Jesus
denied himself and his divine powers, and insists that he would suffer many
things, criticisms, rejection and even death on a Cross. But all these would
not hinder him from doing his good works, doing all things well and carrying
out his saving mission. He called us to deny ourselves certain rights and
privileges like Mother Theresa and carry our Cross and follow him. Attempting
to avoid or avert the Cross in our lives like Peter tried amounts to not being
on the side of God but on the side of men and Satan.
CONCLUSION
What is your own cross? What can
you deny yourself for the good of others and for the good of our Country
Nigeria? What can you endure for the sake of love, peace and brotherhood? What
can you deny yourself in order to touch other lives positively? Jesus denied
himself of his powers and divinity to carry the Cross of humanity, the Cross of
our sins, death and condemnation, that we may be saved. It is only when we
understand and learn from Christ how to deny ourselves and carry our cross that
we would do more good works for humanity and more corporal works of mercy for
the salvation of our souls.
Happy Sunday!
Fr. Justin
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