10^TH SUNDAY, YEAR B: HOMILY BY REV. FR. JUSTIN ADIELE

THEME: “BROTHERS/PARTNERS IN DOING GOD’S WILL”

INTRODUCTION:

Today, Jesus extended the boundaries of his brothers, sisters and mother to all those who do the will of God, granting them equal rights, time, attention and affection. Even mere hunger for the word of God is enough to make Jesus give you his whole time, attention, healing and compassion. In a similar way, all who do God’s will deserves our time, attention, charity and brotherhood/partnership. Brothers or partners in crime shouldn’t be more united, cooperative and supportive to one another than brothers or partners in Christ. We must see our fellow Christians and even non-Christians who do good (God’s will) as brothers and partners worthy of our love and support.

THE FIRST READING (GEN. 3: 9 – 15)

The first reading revealed to us one factor that distinguishes those who do God’s will from those who do not; and that is, obedience or disobedience to God’s commands. After creation, God partnered with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. But after disobeying God’s express command, they were sent out of the garden planted by God, to till their own soil and do their own planting. Their disobedience cost them their close brotherhood or partnership with God. They also incurred some curse, suffering and hardship on account of not doing the will of God. Before you take anyone as your brother or partner, first ascertain if the person really obeys God’s commandments.

THE SECOND READING (2 COR. 4: 13 – 5: 1)

In the second reading, St. Paul sees and calls all those who share the same spirit of faith with him, “Brethren”. He believes and teaches that they will all be raised together with Jesus; and grace and eternal glory would equally be extended to them. For this reason, St. Paul was never tired or ashamed of suffering, ministering and teaching his brethren in faith, whether Jew or Gentile.

THE GOSPEL READING (MK. 3: 20 – 35)

In the gospel reading, Jesus made the famous statement; “Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister and mother.” From the context of the passage, we saw Jesus attending to the crowds who were ready to listen to the word of God. He even forgot to eat or to go home; for home is wherever Jesus finds people or souls longing to hear or know the word and will of God. Jesus’ ‘actual’ brothers and sisters out of jealousy even began to see him as having a mental issue.

Two factors in the gospel destroy our brotherhood with Christ or with one another; first is jealousy, and the second is denial of the good, wonderful and loving works of God and others. This is where the Scribes and Pharisees fit in. For our brotherhood in Christ to flourish, we must remove every jealousy amongst us and learn to appreciate and acknowledge the good done by others, lest our brotherhood will not stand and crashes along the line.

CONCLUSION

Oscar Wilde told a story about the devil once crossing the Libyan Desert and found a group of people trying to tempt a holy Hermit to sin but they failed time and again. The devil came and told them that they are using a wrong method and wasting their time. So, he asked them to observe while he plays his evil trick on the monk. The devil whispered to the hermit, “Your brother has just been made a bishop”. A scowl of evil jealousy at once clouded the face of the hermit, which later set in motion other evil thoughts. If we can handle our jealousy, we can preserve our brotherhood/partnership in Christ or in doing God’s will.

Happy Sunday!

Fr. Justin

 10^th Sunday, Year B: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Theme: What we shouldn’t do after falling into sin

Readings: Gen. 3:9-15; 2Cor. 4:13-5:1; Mk 3:20-25

Dear friends in Christ, on this 10^th Sunday, the Church wishes to call our attention to what a person who has committed a sin should not do. Often, when people commit sin, their reactions range from running away from God to refusing to acknowledge that they did anything wrong and to blaming others for their sins. Today, the Church is telling us that the proper response after committing a sin should not be refusal to admit our sins, nor blaming others for our sins, nor hiding from God, because these actions will not restore peace between us and God, nor between us and our fellow human beings.

Today’s first reading highlights some of the harms sin causes and some wrong reactions after committing sins. The first damage highlighted here is that sin wounds the nature of man. Man was innocent by nature before the fall, not knowing what is evil. But, as we saw in this reading, after the fall, man lost his innocence, realized that he was naked and covered himself with leaves; He became a slave to concupiscence, not only knowing evil but also yearning for it or suffering the attraction of it in everything he does. Sin steals our resemblance of God and gives us the nature of the devil.

The second damage mentioned in this reading is that sin ruptures our relationship with God because every sin is a violation of God’s commandment and, therefore, it distances us from God. In this reading, when Adam and Eve heard the sound of God's footsteps, they fled and hid themselves instead of running to embrace and kiss Him. They lost their friendship with God and, consequently, instead of receiving warm greetings and blessings from their Father, they received curses. Man’s loving relationship with God was destroyed by sin and has continued to be destroyed by sin.

The third damage is that sin weakens human solidarity by rupturing our relationship with one another and causing disharmony or disorder in the social realm. Sin causes a breach of peace, love and harmony, and breeds suspicion, hatred and discord. In this first reading, the relationship of mutual love between Adam and Eve was weakened. The snake that once had a conversation with human beings became the enemy of human beings and now inspires revulsion in them because enmity has been put between it and the offspring of Eve. There was also enmity between man and other animals. Let us say that creation lost its harmony with the entrance of sin.

This reading also highlighted the wrong reaction most people make when they fall into sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, their reaction after covering themselves was to hide from God out of shame and fear. When most people commit sins, they hide themselves from God and from anything that will remind them that what they did was wrong. In some cases, some people will stop coming to Church, so that they will not hear homilies that will condemn their actions, their choices or their lifestyles. Most times when people fall into error, they typically isolate themselves, refuse to listen to voices that prick their consciences and only open up to those that condone what they have done. Some people go to the extent of attacking those that tell them to repent.

In the gospel reading, the latter was the main point of contention between Jesus and the scribes. Rather than acknowledging their mistakes as exposed and corrected by Jesus, the scribes took to denying the authority of Jesus and rejecting his teachings and healings. Dear friends, we are reminded that hiding from God or from his words does not restore the relationship between us and God that has been weakened by our sins, it rather turns us into God’s enemies.   

The second wrong reaction we saw in this reading was the refusal of Adam and Eve to admit responsibility for what they did. Adam blamed Eve and God for what he did; Eve, on the other hand, blamed the serpent. There was no admission of the sin committed, there was no apology. Dear friends, refusing to admit our wrongdoings does not absolve us of our guilt before God and man, rather it causes us to refuse God’s freely offered forgiveness and restoration. 

Dear friends in Christ, the damages which sin causes to our nature, to our relationship with God and to solidarity among God’s creatures cannot be undone or restored by running away from God’s presence nor by denying our responsibilities for our wrong actions. Our healing and restoration can only come from sincere acceptance of our wrong actions, genuine repentance and confession in Christ.

Peace be with you

Fr Isaac Chima   

 10^th Sunday, Year B: Reflection by Fr Julian Ekeh

THEME: WHO POSSESSED YOU?

(Mark 3:20-35)

God created us for Himself.  He made us, and we belong to Him. He wishes that we share in His life. Our well-being gives Him joy. He wants to possess us. He owns us. We are marked by his image that we carry. Unfortunately, the enemy also wants to destroy the will of God for man. He feeds man with poison and opens his eyes to see evil as good and to always stretch out his hand to make the wrong choices in life. The enemy targets the moments man moves away from God. As an opportunist, he strikes to steal, kill, and destroy.

The same God who came to know where Adam and Eve were, to know their spiritual, physical, and moral condition comes again and again in Christ.(God with us).

God in Christ feels for us.  He refuses to eat because of the crowd the enemy wants to possess. He started the work of liberation, He teaches, He feeds, and He heals them, manifesting His possession and their belongingness to Him.

Seeing the things Jesus was doing, the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said of Jesus "He is possessed..." Yes, Jesus was possessed, but they did not know who possessed Him. Their jealousy did not allow them to know it. The father of all lies, the devil must have possessed them to see the Truth as a lie, to see the Way as no way and to see the Life as death. They even dared to ascribe the glory of God to the devil.

The truth remains that we, at every point in time, are possessed either by the Spirit of God (Finger of God as Jesus puts it) or the evil spirit. Who do you make yourself available to for possession? The things you do show the spirit operating in you. There is a power that should work in us as Christians, that power gets hold of us and drives us to do good always, that power helps us to avoid evil and sins especially the sins against the Holy Spirit. It opens our eyes to acknowledge the good in others and the good we ought to do. It is the power that gives us spiritual fortification. It is the grace to live for the kingdom of heaven and make our hearts temples of the Holy Spirit.

Which Spirit have you allowed to possess you all these while? If it is not the Spirit of God, then know that something is wrong. Do you recognise the things God wants you to do for Him to take absolute possession of your soul and yet decide otherwise? Then you're far from the kingdom of God. A very clear sign to know those who are not possessed by the Spirit of God is that they call evil good and call good evil. They detest the good and embrace the evil.

Dear child of God, be possessed by the Spirit of the living God, and may your heart become a true abode of the Most High

May God bless His word in your heart.

LET US PRAY

Oh God, we thank You for the gift of today. Help us to recognise You and Your work in us, deliver us from every evil possession and manipulation, grant that we may be possessed by Your Spirit all the days of our lives through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Happy Sunday to you (10th Sunday, Ordinary Time Yr B)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh