Rather abide in the Giver of the Gift,(HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 28TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME 16TH 0CTOBER 2023

HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 28TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME 16TH 0CTOBER 2023

Rom.1:1-7; Ps.98; Luke 11:29-32

Rather abide in the Giver of the Gift

There is this episode of Emmanuella comedy wherein a Mathematics teacher was teaching some students (including Emmanuella) in the classroom. After a careful explanation on the syntax he wrote on the board, he asked if they understood him. He was surprised to see that virtually all the students never understood him, yet he thought he had taught wonderfully well. Needless to say that Emmanuella made the situation worse when she said that she has not understood mathematics since the previous term.

The fact is, it can be frustrating when one’s effort is not producing the desired result. No one aims at failing. This situation was responsible for Jesus calling his generation an evil generation. Jesus’ experience is worse than that of the teacher in the illustration above, in that, his generation continued to flock around him as if they were interested in his message, whereas, they were only after miracles. Probably as Jesus was teaching, they were saying to themselves: “quick talk make u do miracle for us; no time to waste abeg”.

Our generation has no moral right to judge that of Jesus’ time. In truth, we are not better off. Jesus made it clear that he is going to be a sign to the people just as Jonah was to Nineveh; which means, every act of Jesus (teaching, miracle, gesture, and so on) were geared towards drawing men into a covenantal relationship with Jesus. Jesus wants us to have faith.

See, without faith, miracles become distractions and a resort for the lukewarm. It is faith that gives meaning to every miraculous experience. Miracle is like money. Anyone can possess it but it takes a wise man to spend it judiciously. Whenever, sermons of this kind is preached, people tend to justify their unceasing quest for miracles by enlisting litany of problems beseeching them. They build the conviction that evil people are after them and their loved ones; and so, they urgently need miracles.

Come to think of it, since God is able to perform the desired miracles, is it not wiser to enter into a relationship with him so that we are ever shielded by him? The truth is, some of us know the implication of being with Jesus and we are not ready for it. We don’t want to give up our sinful habits; we just want God to understand.

When our attention on Jesus is selective, that is, focused on the material satisfaction we desire, without the desire to grow in our relationship with him through lives of holiness, we invariably attempt to reduce God to mere machine. This indeed is evil! Each time we act in such manner, we become another Judas who came to Jesus, kissed him but was actually betraying him. It is not up to us to use God; it is God who has the prerogative to use us because he has created us and first loved us.