Authenticity Homily for Thursday of the 10th week in ordinary time JUNE 2023

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 10TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

2Cor.3:15-4:1.3-6; Ps.85; Matthew 5:20-26

Authenticity

In the gospel reading of today, Jesus invites us to a higher level of spirituality; not like that of the Scribes and the Pharisees. We have often times read of how Jesus reprimanded the Scribes and the Pharisees principally for their hypocrisy. By reprimanding them, Jesus was not condemning them but inviting them to repentance. But the one who tries to put the homes of other in order, should first put his/her own home in order. This is what Jesus set out to do in the gospel of today by specifically warning his disciples not to be hypocritical like the Scribes and the Pharisees. Sycophancy is a sure path to failure; so, if Jesus does not save his disciples from it, his mission will surely fail when comes to rest in their hands.

Now, it was very easy for people to attach the sentiments of holiness and good works they had of Jesus to his disciples, since the disciples were always with him. But then, we cannot deny that mere association is not sufficient ground to assume likeness. It is possible for a bad man to be close to a good man without being converted by the goodness of the good man. So, the fact that the people were beginning to see the disciples in positive light does not make it exactly so. Jesus warned the disciples to make sure that they don’t just look righteous; they must truly be righteous. This is clarion call not to relax on the admiration we get from men whose perspective of us, most likely, we influenced. We must go deeper to admit the truth about ourselves. The question now is: are we living up to the responsibility of the office we occupy, the name we bear, or the association we belong to? Are we just enjoying the glory of the office/name/association without fulfilling what it demands?

Beloved, no man is entirely immune from deception. So, what men think and say about us is always based on their limited knowledge. To a great extent, we limit this knowledge. But we cannot limit what God knows about us; we cannot deceive God. Therefore, in all that we do, let our principal guide not be the voices of men but the voice of a godly conscience. If you cannot be true to the demands of an office, kindly leave; if you cannot be as responsible as the name you bear, be charitable enough to drop the name; if you will not fulfil the obligations of belonging to a worthy association, then stop belonging. In the final analysis, we will be judged by what we truly are not by what people think of us.