THE BLESSINGS AND GIFTS OF GOD ARE NOT ALWAYS MATERIAL (HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 13TH WEEK IN THE ORDINARY TIME June 2022

THE BLESSINGS AND GIFTS OF GOD ARE NOT ALWAYS MATERIAL

Matthew 9:1-8

Good morning dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Holy Mother Church enjoins us to reflect in the liturgy of the word, the truism that the blessings and gifts of God upon us are not always material. They are in certainty mostly spiritual. This is designated even in the cure of the paralytic. We are told in the Gospel of Matthew 9:2, that “when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven”. For Jesus, the curation of the human person is holistic: both spiritual and physical healing. But first, it proceeds from the spiritual and then to the physical. Often than not, people stereotype the blessings of God to mean only material manifestations and little if any at all is said of the spiritual benefits we receive from God. It is important to note that the primal mission of Jesus is to free humanity from the slavery of spiritual evil which is sin. To save humanity from that which threatens the immortal soul and the vocation of man being in union with God. Sin is that principal evil that separates humanity from God and impedes salvation. Consequently, Jesus heals the whole person and does not neglect either the spiritual or the physical affairs.

Friends in Christ, after having healed the Paralytic spiritually, Jesus went head to heal him of his physical ailments. We are told that Jesus, “to prove that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sin, he said to the paralytic - get up, pick up your bed and go home, and the man got up and went home”. This confirms that Jesus has the divine power over and above both the spiritual and physical affairs of man. The total healing of man is within the power and authority of Jesus. Thus, we have a saviour in whom and through whom our salvation is accomplished. 

Beloved in Christ, it will be wrong to limit the blessings and gifts of God simply to the physical affairs of man alone. God cares for us spiritually as well. No wonder Jesus left us the sacrament of healing (forgiveness, penance, confession) so that we may always receive now and then his divine blessings spiritually. Often we tend to ignore the abundance of spiritual blessings enshrined in the sacraments. We are tempted to recount the blessings and gifts of God only when we see the physical manifestations. Little do we pay attention to the fact that the spiritual blessings and gifts of God upon us are immeasurable and cannot be limited only to what we see with naked eyes alone. It outrightly goes beyond the physical into the spiritual. 

Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, we are also  told that “the crowd praised God for giving such power to men”. Praise, thanksgiving, adoration, etc should be our expression to God after having realized his graciousness upon us through the effects of the sacraments and the miracles he performs in our day-to-day lives. May we never lose sight of his spiritual blessings upon us. May all glory and adoration belong to God both now and forever more. Amen

Have a lovely day!

Fr Remi osj