SERMON/HOMILY FOR TUESDAY SECOND WEEK OF LENT 27TH FEBRUARY 2024

SERMON/HOMILY FOR TUESDAY SECOND WEEK OF LENT 27TH FEBRUARY 2024

Isaiah 1:10, 16-20; Ps.50; Matthew 23:1-12

Leaders too are Pilgrims!

It is our duty to help one another to make heaven. By so doing, we will be learning how to live in heaven while on earth. In heaven, we shall collaborate not compete. It is on this note that ensuring that our neigbhour obeys the commandment becomes our concern too. However, no matter how strong we may think we are in striving towards attaining eternal life, we should not forget that we are fellow pilgrims with the weak. We are not helping others to achieve what we have achieved already; we are rather helping others to join us in the race to heaven.

In the gospel reading of today, it is obvious that the Scribes and the Pharisees did not understand this fact. Being custodians of the law, they melted it out to the people as if they were the lawgiver themselves. They forgot that the law applied to them too and that they too were pilgrims to heaven. The pride that made them see themselves as lawgivers also prevented them from being candidates of heaven.

Jesus is likewise asking us to be careful not to be like the Scribes and the Pharisees especially in this season of lent. It is not enough to know what is right, or talk about what is right, we must also be busy doing what it right. No matter the level of authority we may enjoy in directing others, it does not suggest that we are perfect; the leader is struggling too.

This explains why Jesus discouraged his disciples from being called rabbi, Father or Master. Not that there was a problem with these nomenclatures but that it could make a leader forget that he is also a follower of Christ; not Christ himself.

Consequently, today’s gospel admonishes us not to use our positions of authority for selfish gains. The true test of your power is not shown when you make things difficult for others but when you better the lives of those who come in contact with you you. When you lead by example, you will never miss out.