THE CONSEQUENCE OF PROPAGATING FALSEHOOD (HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 18TH (EIGHTEENTH) WEEK IN THE ORDINARY TIME (ST. ALPHONSUS MARY DE' LIGUORI) BISHOP AND DOCTOR (1st August 2022

THE CONSEQUENCE OF PROPAGATING FALSEHOOD

HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 18TH WEEK IN THE ORDINARY TIME 1ST AUGUST 2022

SAINT ALPHONSUS MARY DE' LIGUORI (BISHOP AND DOCTOR).

Jer 28:1-17; Mt 14:13-21

The frivolous quest for fame and popularity is many times the root cause of the denial of truth and the propagation of falsehood. The first reading of today from the book of prophet Jeremiah presents to us a confrontation between the prophet Jeremiah and Hananiah a false prophet who wanted to be popular and so had to cut corners by the propagation of falsehood in other to climb up the ladder of fame. He spoke what the people wanted to hear and not what God had instructed him to communicate to the people. Prophets are to speak the words of God and not their own words. 

After the first deportation to Babylon was acknowledged in 2kings 24:10-14 about the year 598, in the year 593, Hananiah prophesied: “Thus, says the Lord of hosts, with God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the lords' house, which king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Baylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon” (Jer 28:2-4). This was a false prophecy because it never emanated from God. Hananiah was deceptive in his declaration because he wanted to gain a popular vote from the people. So he told the people what they wanted to hear, which appealed to their emotions and was not following the plans of God. Hananiah certainly proved false because in the year 587 the people of Israel suffered the second deportation to Babylon (2kings 25: 8-11).

In this context, prophet Jeremiah confronted Hananiah in the following words: “Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you made these people trust in a lie. Thus says the Lord: I am going to send you off the face of the earth. Within this year you will be dead because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord” (Jer 28:16). That same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died (Jer 28:17). 

Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, Prophet Jeremiah was a man of integrity and honesty before God and humanity. He stood for the truth even when everyone was not in favour of the truth and confronted falsehood with courage. As a prophet, he prophesied the word of God following the plans of God. Whereas Hananiah suffered the consequence of propagating falsehood.

Beloved in Christ, false prophecy for the sake of fame and popularity is extremely prevalent in our times. Many of those who claim to be 'men and women of God' rather than speak the bitter truth prefer to say what the people want to hear in other to be rated high by the people as their own. Consequently, they deny the truth and promote falsehood. People of God, in whatever profession or vocation we find ourselves, let us be men and women of integrity and honesty. Let us be ministers of the truth even if the majority are not in tandem with it. Truth is truth at all times. 

In the Gospel reading, Jesus fed the five thousand men, besides women and children with five loaves and two fish. Manifestation of God's blessing of abundance,  care, benevolence, and equity upon humanity. They all, irrespective of their differences and status, ate to their fill and had 12 baskets full. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Pope JohPaulul II of blessed memory said that one of the greatest injustices in the contemporary world consists precisely in that the ones who possess much are relatively few and those who possess almost nothing are many. It is an injustice of the poor distribution of the goods and services originally intended for all.  

The miracle of the loaves clearly prefigures the Holy Eucharist and leads up to it. Jesus feeds us every day with his own body and blood. This should spur us to gratitude toward God and our neighbour. 

May God bless his words in our hearts and make us fruitful in our endeavours through Christ our Lord. Amen

Have a blessed day!

Fr Remi