SERMON/HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME 31ST JANUARY 2024

SERMON/HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME 31ST JANUARY 2024

2Sam.24:2,9-17; Ps.32; Mark 6:1-6

Be Discipline in order to receive the Lord

In the gospel reading, we see that the activities of Jesus in his country and amongst his own people did not go down well with many persons. Before the coming of Christ, they awaited and desired the coming of the Messiah but now the Christ was before them, they were not disciplined enough to remain committed to their desire to experience the Christ. They acknowledge the greatness associated with his ministry but they were distracted with over-familiarity.

For reason of this lack of discipline, Jesus could not do much works amongst them. Because they were distracted with over-familiarity, they thought less of Jesus and would have made mockery of whatever good works he would have done for them. But come to think of it, shouldn’t it have been a cause of great joy for them that it was one of their own that is the Messiah?

This teaches us the futility of tribalism. People of a tribe discriminate against people of other tribes, but within a tribe, people of a kindred will discriminate against those of other kindred. Still within a kindred, families will discriminate against one another.

If Jesus was simply a good or hardworking man, his people may not have had problem with him; but for him to be the Messiah, they were not ready to accept such. We still find such attitude amongst us today. People will pray and wish you well but will soon begin to envy and castigate you when you are progressing beyond their expectation or up to their level.

If Jesus had done much works for his people, they would have received the works with a sense of entitlement, without gratitude. In that case, the gifts of God would not have won them salvation. Beloved, let us ask the Lord to open our hearts to receive his gifts wholeheartedly irrespective of the medium he chooses to bring them to us. To be open and docile always to the promptings of the Holy Spirit is a form of discipline we should continually pray for and never loose.