How prepared are you for the Lord's coming? The efficacy of the cross (HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 21ST WEEK IN THE ORDINARY TIME 25TH AUGUST 2022

Homily for Friday of the 21st week in the ordinary time

Theme: How prepared are you for the Lord's coming?

The efficacy of the cross

1Cor 1:17-25; Mathew 25:1-13

In today's liturgy of the word, St. Paul reminds us of the essence of the proclamation of the Gospel. He declared in his first letter to the Corinthians: “Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the Gospel” (1Cor 1:17). Literally, one may think that St. Paul meant that baptism was insignificant, No! St. Paul was simply alluding to the precedence of preaching the Gospel as the starting point of the conversion process. For St. Paul, baptism presupposes faith and faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the preaching of the word of God. (Tim 10:17) St. Paul, besides, dedicated a good part of his letter to the Romans to the discourse on Baptism (Romans 6:1-11). Hence, did not diminish the importance of the sacrament of baptism. 

In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul acknowledged the focal point of the preaching ministry: we must preach about the cross of Christ Jesus. “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are saved it is the power of God” (1cor1:18). Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, the cross of Christ Jesus is the hallmark of Christian salvation. The cross is the pulpit of God's love par excellence. “No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13), God did not withhold his Son but gave him up for us all (Roman 8:32). “You could hardly find anyone ready to die even for someone upright, though it is just possible that, for a good person, someone might undertake to die. So it is proof of God's love for us, that Christ died for us upon the cross, while we were still sinners” ( Romans 5:7-8). Friends in Christ, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is a clear expression of the wisdom of God over the foolishness of human wisdom. In human wisdom and language, the cross may appear illogical and unphilosophical, it may portend an expression of slavery, crime, shame and weakness, however, through God, it is the strength and salvation of those who have faith. The cross, St. Paul wrote is a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles (1cor1:23). Stumbling block because of the disappointment it caused the Jews who expected a warrior for a Messiah but got a crucified Messiah. Mark of the foolishness of the Gentiles because the Gentiles loved power, beauty and pleasure, which the cross does not depict. 

Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, it is no news to say that there is a glaring attempt to diminish the efficacy and place of the cross in our church and world of today. In an attempt to foster prosperity and wealth, many preachers had thwarted the essentialities of the Gospel, and rather than preach the crucified Christ, they preach a “Crossless-Christ”. Even many Churches as at now, no longer hang the cross of Christ Jesus on the wall of the sanctuary or on the respective altar in the church.  Thereby, undermining the death of Christ upon the cross which brought us salvation. Friends in Christ, St. Paul reminds us that as Christians we cannot be separated from the crucified Christ and the Gospel of the cross should be the focal point of our preaching ministry. 

The Gospel reading of today warns us of the danger of unpreparedness, following the parable of the ten maidens in comparison to the kingdom of God. In this parable, the bridegroom is Jesus Christ, and the ten maidens are representatives of all the followers of Jesus. The ten maidens can also be said to represent the church since she is the bride of Christ (Eph 5:21-32), it is a representation of all the members of the church who will encounter the Lord at the parousia. 

We are told that five maiden were foolish and five were wise. While the foolish ones took their lamps, they took no oil, but the wise ones took their lamps, alongside their oil (Mt 25:2-4). At the late arrival of the brigeroom, the foolish ones ran out of oil whereas the wise ones with an extra oil went into the wedding hall with the bridegroom.

Friends in Christ, the foolish maidens are representatives of those Christians who live a life without the substance of Christianity, those who live a life without good works or charity or love. They are Christians in name but not in practice. They lack the oil that gives life and true meaning to Christianity, they are empty.  However, the five wise virgins are representatives of those Christians whose lives are full of good works, charity and love. They are those who stand ready to meet the Jesus Christ our Lord (Bridegroom) at his second coming. Beloved in Christ, the question remains: how prepared are you to meet the Lord? Is your life empty as a Christian or full of good works? Of what good is it to leave the life-jacket at home when the ship is about to sink in the sea? The refusal of the wise to offer oil to the foolish maidens is a reminder to us that at the end of age, no one leans on the merit of another, it is wholly an individual preparation.

May God bless his words in our hearts, now and always. Amen

Have a lovely day!

Fr Remi osj