HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 30TH WEEK IN THE ORDINARY TIME YEAR II OCTOBER 2022

Homily for Thursday of the 30th week in the Ordinary Time, year II 

Ephesians 6:10-20; Luke 13:31-35

In the First Reading, St. Paul speaks of a spiritual war: "For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph.6:12). To combat the forces of darkness, St. Paul encourages us to put on the full armour of God which are good works: truth, righteousness, Gospel of peace, God's word, faith and above all prayer.

He admonishes us to "Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication" (Eph.6:18). The devil and his agents are always at work. For us to overcome them, we must persevere in prayers and good deeds.

In today's Gospel, some Pharisees were worried concerning the safety of Jesus and wanted him to leave Galilee for fear of Herod not to kill him. Jesus was not afraid. Jesus spoke truth to power. He called Herod a fox meaning that Herod was crafty and an unprincipled man.

Though Herod was ruthless, Jesus was confident he had no power over him. He ignored the danger and continued his work of casting out devils and healing.

All the Herods of this world, past, present and future with all their scheming, cannot shorten the times of God. As God wills and while He wills and as long as He wills, we must do God's work.

The passage of Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem shows how close Jerusalem is to the heart of Jesus. Jesus is pained by our spiritual distance from him. The pain of Jesus is the the cry of a mother over his wayward child; the cry of a wife over her drunkard husband, the cry of the terminally ill patient in the hospital, and so on. When we keep things in our heart but the same thing turns out to be the cause of our pains, we are disillusioned. Some pains do not have an end; yet, they have a hope.

Today's Gospel passage ends in words of hope. With God on our side, He will help us balance our life and withstand the sufferings. May God help us to persevere in prayers and good deeds to overcome the forces of darkness through Christ our Lord. Amen.