31^st Sunday, Year B: Homily by Fr. Justin Adiele

THEME: “BE RULED BY THE LOVE OF GOD”

INTRODUCTION

In interpreting the Decalogue (Ten Commandments of God), the Old Testament Jewish Rabbis ended up listing 613 precepts of the law. They went further to classify them into 248 commands and 365 prohibitions. These were further classified into light and grave laws. It became a big debate among the Jews to determine which laws are light or grave; which ones have more binding force or less; which ones should rule us. Jesus in the gospel reading of today grappled with the same problem; which is the first or greatest of all the laws? His answer was very simple; love of God and neighbor! Every other law is centered on Love.

THE FIRST READING (DEUT. 6: 2 – 6)

In the first reading, Moses invited Israel and all of us today: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” This love is not just professed with the mouth but with our actions which bulges down to fearing the Lord by keeping all his statutes and his commandments as we know them. Be careful to do them; that it may go well with you; Moses explained!

THE SECOND READING (HEB. 7: 23 – 28)

The second reading talked about the priestly role and office of Christ which he has done and continued permanently to do for our sake out of love. He is able at all times to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. The love of God and the love of Christ for us has made him to continue to play a permanent role in our sanctification not just by mere words; he is our constant and inter-generational victim, carrier and expiator of our weaknesses and sins. Let us make it easier for Jesus by repenting and reducing the amount and weight of our sins on Him.

THE GOSPEL READING (MK. 12: 28 – 34)

In the gospel reading, when a Scribe asked Jesus the first (greatest) of all the commandments, Jesus cited the first reading of today: “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Jesus also cited the second of all: “you shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” If you can live up to these two commandments, you are not far from the kingdom of God, said Jesus. What then does true love of God and neighbor imply? True love of God/neighbor will prompt you to do tremendous things for God and neighbor. It will prompt you to perform virtuous actions and not wicked actions. It will prompt you to put your own convenience and pleasures behind to please God. True love will prompt you to give preference to whatever will promote God’s honor, name and glory.

 

CONCLUSION:

Love of God entails doing whatever is within our power to secure the honour and glory of God and good of men. Christ himself gave us a clue when he said; “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Hence, to love God is to live life free from sin and to keep his commandments. An artist who was painting Lincoln’s portrait in the White House, asked him about his religion and Lincoln replied: I have no religion, I never joined any Church. But any Church that inscribes over its altar as its sole qualification for membership, the words of the Saviour; “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself”, that church I will join with all my heart and all my soul. Our religion, our code/law, our goal is Love!

Happy Sunday!

Fr. Justin

 31^st Sunday, Year B: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima

Theme: Obedience to God by loving Him and our neighbour.

Readings: Deut. 6:2-6; Heb. 7:23-28; Mk 12:28b-34

Dear friends in Christ, one of the challenges Christians face today is total obedience to God in the face of the strong forces that promise to make their lives better if they compromise their faith in God and their moral standard. The hardships in our world are making the proposals of these strong forces highly appealing and difficult to resist for many people. These powerful forces are increasing in number on a daily basis and are getting the support and promotion of many governments in our world. What should Christians do?

When the Israelites were making their way through the desert towards the promised land, they encountered numerous challenges such as hunger, sickness, poverty, and attacks from powerful nations. One of the temptations they faced was to renounce their faith in the living God and embrace the gods of the other nations for solutions to their immediate problems in the desert. Of course, they heard how powerful those gods were in for providing the needs of their own people and in protecting them from harm. On many occasions, many Israelites bowed to those gods and, consequently, received harsh punishments from God.

In today’s first reading, Moses gathered the Israelites and told them that for them to survive and prosper, the God of their fathers was the only option they had; that they must fear Him alone and obey only His statutes and commandments. Such obedience and reverential fear were to be made concrete by their love and worship of Him with all their heart, soul, and might. He reminded them that only obedience, love, and worship of this God would bring them and their children blessings and protections in the land they were about to enter, rather than turning to the gods of the nations around them.

Dear friends, the hardships we face in this world often push us to think that renouncing our faith in Christ and living our lives according to the standards of the world or bowing down to some deities will solve our numerous problems. Those who promote anti-Christian ideas, atheistic doctrines, and idolatrous practices often present them as a solution to the challenges we face in this world. Some even claim that the Christian God cannot help us.

Through this first reading, the Church reminds us today that we are to worship only God Almighty, obey Him alone, and love Him with all of our hearts, no matter the challenges we face. She also reminds us, just as Moses did for his people, that it is only faith and worship of the true God that will guarantee us true peace, protection, and prosperity in everything we do. The things that the other gods promise and give are ephemeral and will only lead people into more problems; other gods cannot give us anything good.

With His answer to the scribe who questioned Him about the greatest of all commandments, Jesus reiterated the position of Moses that obeying, loving, and worshipping God Almighty with everything in us and in everything we do is sacrosanct for us; it is the first and greatest of all commandments and must be observed strictly. However, Jesus went on to tell that scribe and all of us that our worship and love for God Almighty cannot be complete and real if we don’t extend it to our fellow humans. In fact, it is in loving our fellow humans that love and obedience to God are made concrete, for “If anyone says, ‘I love God,‘ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (I John 4: 20). God created every human being in His own image and likeness, and God manifests Himself in each of us. If we are blind to the manifestation of God in the faces of our fellow humans, especially in the poor, the sick, the persecuted, the abandoned, and the dying, then we do not know who God really is. By loving God and our neighbour also, we not only demonstrate that we know who God really is, we also obey all His commandments.

The amazing response of the scribe after hearing how beautifully Jesus summarized the Ten Commandments gives us some food for thought. He said, “to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” This simply tells us that all our duties to God and all our donations to the Church would be in vain in God’s eyes if we fail to do the same for our neighbour. May God open our eyes to see Him in our neighbour. Amen

Peace be with you.

Fr. Isaac C. Chima

 31^st SUNDAY, YEAR B: REFLECTION BY FR JULIAN EKEH

THEME: YOU'RE NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD IF YOU LOVE

(Mark 12:28-34)

 The scribes and the Pharisees remain the chief opposers to everything taught by Christ. They tried to refute Jesus' viewpoints. They often came with conflicting issues. But today, we see a scribe who is exceptional. He may have taken good time to know more about the commandments of God. He humbled himself, realising the limitations of his intelligence and inquiry. He dares to ask, asking to know, asking to become a better person. He must have believed that knowledge is power. He must have known that Jesus is capable of clearing his doubts. His sincerity opened to him the path to greatness. He   got the first-hand information about the first of all the commandments from Jesus the first and last. Where do you go for true knowledge?

He wanted a summary of all the commandments. Jesus simply told him: Love God, Love Man with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. At this, the scribe immediately subscribed to what Jesus answered. And Jesus assured him of his nearness to the kingdom of God.

Love keeps us close to the kingdom of God. Many of us are very far away from the kingdom of God because we have failed to love both God and man. Some of us claim to love God. They seem to say if I do what pleases God, say my prayers, pay my tithe, go for Sunday and weekday masses, do my devotions, and fast, then my heart is at peace. Others claim that when they show love to their neighbours, pay the orphan's school fees, pay hospital bills for a poor man, construct a road for my people, then goers are wasting time. This is good, but it may just be philanthropical. Jesus emphasises both the love of God and man. The type of love that draws us nearer to God is that type that is flying with two wings, one divine the other human. I remember one spiritual book with a title: Be Human be Holy.

Unfortunately, love is often misunderstood. Love that is not for the sake of God may not be heaven oriented. The many good things we do for selfish gains without bearing God in mind may not merit us heaven. The money you give to a lady in the name of love for lust cannot take you close to heaven. The road you built just to win an election cannot take you to heaven. The donation you made just to be seen and applauded cannot be called love for God and can never take you near heaven's gate. You can merit heaven by the praxis of love when you love God and man for God's own sake.

May God destroy whatever barrier that keeps us far from the kingdom of God. May God draw us nearer to his love and help us to show true love to our brothers and sisters, for God's sake.

May we receive love just as we give love. May God be happy to tell us: You are not far from the kingdom. May we never be far from the joy, peace, and glory of the kingdom of God through Christ our Lord. Amen

Happy/lovely Sunday to you (31st Sunday in Ordinary Time B)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh