26^th Sunday Year B: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Theme: ‘Stop being stumbling block to yourself and others’

Readings: Num 11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mk 9:38-43,45,47-48

Dear friends in Christ, the readings of today’s liturgy caution us to guard against jealousy, intolerance and giving of scandal. In a special way, Jesus invites us to excise from us anything that will lead us or others to eternal damnation.

At the centre of the reflection of today is Jesus’ invitation to his disciples to cut off from themselves anything that will lead them or others to scandal. A little exposition of the etymology of the word ‘scandal’ will help us to understand this passage. The word ‘scandal’ comes from the Greek word ‘scandalon’, which means ‘a trap or a snare laid for an enemy’. In the New Testament Greek, it was used metaphorically to mean ‘a stumbling block’. Thus, Jesus was calling his disciples to cut off from themselves anything that will be a stumbling block to their attainment of the promised kingdom of God and anything in them that will be a stumbling block to the same goal in the life of others.

As we all know, human beings place great importance on the integrity of their bodies and, as such, nobody would like to lose any part of his body or organs. Everybody would like to carry his body intact to the grave.

However, as we have seen, it does happen that a part of the body or an organ in the body may become so bad or diseased that it becomes a threat to the life of the person who possesses it. In such a case, the recommendation of a doctor would be amputation of that body part or the excision of that organ in order to save the life of the individual. It may be the hand, leg, eye, ear, kidney, liver or the heart.

Since staying alive and healthy is a beautiful thing, hardly has any patient preferred death to the loss of any precious part of the body or an organ. This means that no matter how much we value our body parts or organs, keeping them intact when they have become bad is not as important as staying alive. People are always disposed to lose their diseased body parts or organs in order to save them from death.

It is this same analogy that Jesus paints for us in today’s gospel in reference to anything in us that is capable of threatening our eternal life or the eternal life of others; He is referring to anything in us that is capable of threatening the growth and welfare of the people around us, both physically, economically and spiritually; anything in us that is capable of being a threat to the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth.

Physical life is important and sweet, but it cannot be compared to the eternal spiritual life. No matter the extent one goes to save his physical life, he will surely die one day. So, if human beings can go to the extent of cutting off their hands and legs or plucking off their organs in order to save their physical life, Christ expects us to do same or even more at the moral and spiritual levels to save our life after here on earth. He said: if your hand, foot or eye should cause you to sin (to fall, to scandalize), cut it off. It is better for you to enter heaven without hand, foot or eye than to have them intact and be thrown into hell fire.

Dear friends, our duty today is to look into our lives and discover those things that are leading us to fall into sin. It could be our friends, our desires, activities, occasions, it could be our attitudes (jealousy, envy, gossip, anger, intolerance) or whatever. The clarion call of Christ today is that anything whose presence in your life poses a threat to your possession of eternal life should be cut off.

The readings of today also asked us not to be stumbling blocks in the growth and welfare of others. The first reading and the gospel identified envy or jealousy and intolerance as attitudes that place us against the genuine growth of the gift of God in others. By being jealous or envious of the gifts and good deeds of others, we make ourselves worthy and ready tools in the hand of the devil to disrupt or impede the growth of the gifts of God in others and, at the same time, an opposition to the building up of the kingdom of God through others. By being intolerant to those who don’t belong to us, to the weak and those who need our encouragement and fraternal correction to develop, we become a stumbling block to their little beginning.

Dear friends, rather than being intolerant, we are called to help in building others up. We should learn to give others a chance to develop. However, we must understand that being tolerant doesn’t mean condoning evil. It rather means fraternally correcting and accepting those who don’t measure up and also being patient with their slow growth.

By oppressing our workers, by denying those who depend on us their rights and just wages, as we read in St. James today, we become a stumbling block to their economic growth and welfare, and to the general welfare of those who depend on them. Sometimes, unjust treatments lead workers to sin. For example, some of the workers end up in violent reactions towards their managers or plotting and executing evil ways to get what belongs to them. The difficult situation which unjustly treated workers are exposed to can lead those who depend on them to evil lives as a way to make ends meet. The ripple effects of unjust treatment of workers cannot be overestimated. So, St James warns us today against oppression, suppression, and unjust treatment of those who depend on us.

Lastly, Jesus tells us that we can also be a stumbling block to children when we teach them bad things, when we show them bad examples, and when we fail to teach them what they are supposed to know. Failure in the good upbringing of a child will definitely expose that child to a bitter future. In that case, that person has become a stumbling block to the good future of that child. It is our duty to take good care of children in all ramifications of life. Let us be careful with what we teach them either by our actions or our omissions

Let us ask the Spirit of God in today's Holy Mass to help us to cut off those things in us which are capable of being stumbling blocks to us and to others in our quest to build up the kingdom of God on earth and to inherit the eternal life in heaven.    

Happy Sunday

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima

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

THEME: “ALLEVIATING THE BURDEN OF OTHERS”

INTRODUCTION

A soldier of Alexander the Great was driving a heavily laden mule to the royal tent. The soldier noticed that the burden was too great for the mule, and he took a bag from its back and carried it on his own shoulders. Alexander happened to see this act from his quarters, and was so pleased that he called the soldier over and said to him; “That bag which you have on your shoulders is filled with gold. Take it as a gift from me. It is yours; you deserved it.” If Alexander a mortal human being could appreciate the kindness shown to a beast/animal and rewarded the soldier so richly, what then will God the eternal king reward us for kindness shown to fellow men?

 

THE FIRST READING (NUM. 11: 25 – 29)

In the first reading, we saw that God was at the fore front in alleviating the burden and lamentations of his people in the wilderness, through the dispensation of his words, goods/food (manna and meat), and right judgments (justice) to his people. God also sensed and alleviated the burden of leadership and prophecy on his servant Moses by registering and empowering 70 Elders with the spirit of Moses to assist him. If God Himself also gets rewarded for each time he alleviates our burdens, sufferings and lamentations; if His glory increases whenever he hears our cry, no wonder He remains greater than the greatest, higher than the highest, and richer than the richest.

 

THE SECOND READING (JAM. 5: 1 – 6)

In the second reading, St. James warns us that there is no gain in accumulating so much silver and gold (wealth) when there are a lot of people burdened with loads of needs around us. You cannot be so rich through the wages, salaries, pensions, gratuities, royalties and the allocations of workers, others or the people. You cannot continue to live in luxuries and pleasures at the expense of the poor or the righteous. The burden of peoples’ suffering, hardship, cries, sorrows and poverty should not be traced to your door step on account of your greed, fraud, jealousy or selfishness.

 

THE GOSPEL READING (MK. 9: 38 – 43. 47 – 48)

In the gospel reading, Jesus left us another lesson on alleviating the burden and problem of others. He did not forbid nor stopped the man “with no name” casting out demons in the name of Jesus. He did not forbid the man from helping out in the work of salvation. He did not forbid/stop the man from helping out to stop the works of Satan in the lives of others. You can be that man without a name (without a portfolio, without a party) for your brothers, for your community, for your state. You can be that man/person, through whom your community/brother gets water, gets light, gets good roads, gets food/meat, gets medical support, and gets justice. You can actually and graciously assist the government to alleviate the sufferings and burdens of people around you like St. Vincent De Paul group does. And God assures us that we will never lose our reward for he is ever watching from his heavenly quarters.

 

CONCLUSION

God sees and rewards more than Alexander the Great in the introductory story of today. We are his soldiers, his elders and the man/woman inspired by his Spirit of love and kindness to ease the burden, suffering and lamentations of the people around us. Let us remove jealousy, unhealthy competition, greed and selfishness. We can actually make the difference in our world full of pain and misery. We can actually put a smile of relief in someone’s face. We can lift just one bag of burden from our brother’s or people’s shoulder; and this act worth’s a whole lot of reward before God.

 

Happy Sunday!

Fr. Justin

 26^TH SUNDAY, YEAR B: REFLECTION BY FR JULIAN EKEH

THEME: WHAT TO ALLOW AND WHAT TO CUT OFF

(Mar 9:38-43,45,47-48)

In the Gospel of today, we saw Jesus at one time encouraging accommodation, which shows itself in the principles of "Egbe bere, ugo bere,  "Onye biri ibe ya", "Onye anwula ma ibe ya efula" " Ndu mmiri, ndu azu", "Ukwuru miaram, miara nwunye di m" ( Live and let live). At the other end, Jesus tells us the conditions that cannot be accommodated. In His teaching, today, He opposed John the beloved who wanted Him to forbid those who were casting out demons in His name. Jesus says no to condemning or discouraging good people. It is our common goal to fight Satan and to condemn evil, to live holy lives, whether as priests, religious, married people, or single men and women. To avoid giving and receiving scandals. To do these, there are things we should cut off.

 

WE'VE GOT SOMETHING TO CUT OFF

 It is very possible for us to be doing well in certain areas and forget to look into some other parts of our lives. It is common to shine with our area of strength and overlook handling our weak points. What are the weak parts of our being? They are the areas that humble us to bend our heads in shame. The Gospel of today beautifully paints it to be parts of the body. The parts of the body, while functioning according to the divine order, are good in themselves. But when any becomes cancerous and infested, it is to be subjected to either surgery or amputation to avoid further damage. When they become avenues for introducing disease, then caution is called for. Sin is cancerous. Any part that is infected can make other parts ineffective.

 I want to reflect on what happens between the period of amputation/surgery and the period of wholeness/ good health. Suffice it to say that many people even prefer to die than to be subjected to the above treatment. Why? The pain. Cutting, amputation, or surgery in the sense we are talking about here is very painful momentarily.  Granted that the part of the body in question is bad, but it is still attached to the rest of the body as an undetachable member. Thus, any effort at removing it engenders severe and even excruciating pain. Little wonder anaesthesia is employed in some cases to reduce pain. Yet the patient must have some serious pain later. For this pain, some even refuse surgery, injection, or amputation. But the doctor insists on it.

Jesus, today, is not telling his audience to go to anyone for the cut. He calls on them to do the cutting themselves. This will require an extra form of courage. It is just a pointer to the fact that we are the ones who know the weak parts of our lives. We are the ones to cut it open. Yes! We should cut it. Let the blood of its wound flow. When it is open the Lord Jesus comes in as the heavenly physician to heal with his own blood shed on the Cross. Let the pain be joined with the pain of Christ to stop you from facing the crisis of losing your whole members. You may have gotten so used to that weak part of your life that you think you can no longer do without it. You resolve to:I can't help it; there's nothing I can do. There's something you must do:  cut it off, feel the pain for a while, and God will play his part.

Cutting off is a decision. It is a courageous decision; to do without what seem to give you joy, to do away with what has been giving you some pleasures. Jesus invites us to look forward to lasting joy. What are the things holding you bound. It could be addiction to sex, drinks, smoking, drugs etc. It could be unhealthy relationship, it could be jealousy, gossip, fraud, greed and so forth. Just mention it. Yea you know them. Finally, it could be scandal against which Jesus gave the above teaching.

May God bless His word in our hearts.

LET US PRAY

Oh God, we thank You for teaching us the virtues of accommodation, accepting other people's blessings, and encouraging one another not to fall. Help us by Your grace to cut off every thread the devil has used or is using to weaken us. May no power or weakness be able to stop us from achieving our heavenly inheritance through Christ our Lord. Amen.

HAPPY Sunday (26th, Ordinary Time B)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh