SERMON/HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR II 15TH JANUARY 2024

HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II

1Samuel 15:16-23; Ps.50; Mark 2:18-22

There is no justification for disobedience

The first reading of today ends with God’s rejection of Saul as king because Saul was not faithful to the instruction God gave him through Samuel. The attitude of Saul is so common in our present time. It is an attitude of hiding ones selfishness under the guise of a noble cause. It was clear to Saul that the Lord wanted him to destroy everything belonging to the Amalekites. However Saul tried to find his way through this instruction by claiming that he spared some animals in order to use them as sacrifice to the Lord. He obviously felt, if he puts forward God’s name as an excuse, he would have his way.

Beloved, in as much as we learn from this account that obedience is better than sacrifice, let us also learn that God cannot be blackmailed nor cajoured. Today, people continue to make effort to find a way around God’s commandments. It seems as though man is trying to use his intelligence to play the same God that gave him the intelligence. See, the morality of an action is not dependent on the evaluation of the actor but on its consonance with God’s commandment. Let this story of Saul teach us that there is never a right way or a good reason for doing the wrong thing. What is wrong is wrong no matter how hard we try to defend/paint it.

Beloved, notice that Saul represents those Christians who live double standard lives. While their hearts are far away from God, they put piety on their faces as though they were truly pious. Truly, it is not never easy to live by God’s commandments. But then, the energy that we often use to do and defend what is wrong, could be channeled into authentic struggle towards perfection.

From the psalmist today, we understand that God will not show his salvation to those whose ways are not upright. Just as the Lord rejected Saul, so does he continue to reject every attitude of disobedience towards him. So, let nothing or anyone deceive you into thinking that the mercy of God accommodates disobedience. It doesn’t at all.