FR REMI HOMILIES/REFLECTIONS AND SERMONS

HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 31, 2024) 1Cor.1:26-31; Ps.33; Matthew 25:14-30 Work to make Heaven Someone once said that there are two categories of people who cannot make heaven: those who cannot love and those who cannot work. In the gospel, Jesus tells a parable about a man who entrusted different quantity of talents to his servants. I find this very striking! The master entrusted ALL servants with talents. Talents here are abilities which become productive and fruitful when put into use. God has not created anyone without a talent (an ability). It therefore means that no one is incapable of giving or contributing to the building of God’s kingdom; no one is incapable of working (at least in one way or the other). God has made us to be working agents; when we fail to work, we negate the purpose of our creation. Does this say something to those who horde things for their generations yet unborn? God will never stop creating people with a

 HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 30, 2024) 1Cor.1:17-25; Ps.33; Matthew 25:1-13 True Wisdom In today’s gospel, we are presented with another parable about the kingdom of God. This parable of the ten bridesmaids teaches us that the way we live our lives is the way we prepare for the kingdom of God. In this parable, notice that the five wise maidens were not called wise because they took extra oil, rather, it is because they were wise that was why they took extra oil. The extra oil was a consequence of their wisdom. This same analysis is applies to the foolish maidens. And so, the bridegroom says “I do not know you” to the foolish maidens not because they had no extra oil but because they lacked wisdom to guide them generally. From today's gospel, let us learn the meaning of true wisdom. Often times wisdom is misunderstood as being crafty or cunning in relating with others. It is also sometimes perceived as being able to get away with wron

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (BEHEADING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST - AUGUST 29, 2024) Jer.1:17-19; Ps.71; Mark 6:17:29 Witnessing beyond your comfort zone Today we celebrate the memorial of the passion/beheading of John the Baptist. When we remember that this John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus Christ, we may once again ask that pertinent question: “where is God when bad things happen to good people”. The answer to this question lies in understanding what Divine connection entails. If you are connected to the President, you will most likely never experience poverty. Likewise, if we are connected to Jesus, we will definitely not experience that which Jesus is opposed to: Condemnation. The beheading of John the Baptist was not a condemnation but a spring board into the glory of heaven. St. Mark puts the story of John’s martyrdom between two important events in the mission of Jesus’ disciples: their departure for mission (6:7-13) and their return fr

HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (ST. AUGUSTINE - AUGUST 28, 2024) 2Thess.3:6-10.16-18; Ps.128; Matthew 23:27-32 Every Sinner has a Future and every Saint has a Past Yesterday, while we were reflecting on the life of St. Monica, we mentioned the waywardness of her son Augustine in the earlier years of his life. The conversion of Augustine was the only prayer request of the mother; and when this was granted, Monica felt fulfilled in life. When we realized that Augustine’s conversion came when he was 33, we understand that nothing is impossible for God to do. Ordinarily at 33, people find it very difficult to change their habits, even when they may want to. Therefore, the conversion of St. Augustine consoles us in our weaknesses that “it is not over yet; God can still do something”. Take up the courage, approach the confessional and allow God’s spirit to do the rest. Augustine’s conversion also teaches us how we are to return to God. Conversion is n

HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (ST. MONICA - AUGUST 27, 2024) 1Thess.2:1-8; Ps.139; Matthew 23:23-26 Committed to improving others Today, we celebrate the memorial of a virtuous woman, St. Monica. She is virtuous because all her life was committed to improving others; first her husband and then her son (Augustine). At 20, she was married to Patricius, a pagan official at Tagaste (North Africa) who had a violent temper and dissolute pagan habits. He caused Monica great suffering and made it difficult for their three children to be given Christian education. Monica believed that he can be better and so she remained committed to prayer and admonitions. After 18 years of marriage, Patricus finally embraced the faith and died shortly. Augustine, the eldest son, was a harder nut to crack. He was ensnared by the Manichaean heresy and lived an immoral life. Monica prayerfully cried and cried for the conversion of her son. It was only after 15 years of ard

HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 26, 2024) 2Thess.1:1-5.11-12; Ps.96; Matthew 23:13-22 Hinder no one! Jesus reprimanded the Scribes and the Pharisees in today’s gospel reading for constituting a barrier to the people from authentic worship. They did this by drifting the attention of the people from what really matters to ephemeral things. This is the exact effect of every false teaching or bad advice. So, today, Jesus spells out the fate of those who cause others to do what is wrong. There seem to be this discomfort that one experiences when he/she sees someone else doing rightly what he/she does wrongly. This discomfort can be utilized in a positive way by learning from the other person how to act rightly. On the other hand, one may be tempted to lure the other person into embracing his/her misdeeds. By so doing, the deceived person will no longer be a source of discomfort since he/she has been brought to wrong too. In as much as Jesus speak

HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (ST. BARTHOLOMEW - AUGUST 24, 2024) Rev.21:9b-14; Ps.145; John 1:45-51 The Power of Testimony Today we celebrate the feast of St. Bartholomew, an apostle of Jesus Christ who is referred to as Nathanael in today’s gospel. A greater part of the first chapter of the gospel of St. John records the testimony of John the Baptist about the Messiah and how he pointed out the Messiah when He finally came. John pointed the Messiah to two of his disciples (Andrew is one of them). Andrew, in turn, testified of this discovery to Simon his brother. Phillip found the Lord and could not keep it to himself. He too testified to Nathanael, whom we celebrate today. The beginning of Bartholomew’s new life in Christ was the acceptance of the testimony of Philip despite the surprise that the expected Messiah is a Nazarene. Testimony remains a remarkable means of bringing people to Jesus. No one can grow in the Christian life if he/she does n

HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 23, 2024) Ezekiel 37:1-14; Ps.107; Matthew 22:34-40 God of Resurrection! In the first reading of today, God speaking through Ezekiel, offered hope to humanity. This hope transcends what mere mortals can give because it is one that restores from death. Death is a phenomenon that once it occurs, we live our lives bearing its stings. When one loses a love one, for instance, he/she does not live life attempting to bring back the dead to life; rather he/she is forced to learn to live without the physical presence of the loved one. This denotes some sought of helplessness. This helplessness is found in some other aspects of our lives. Some persons are experiencing death in one aspect of their lives or the other. It could be spiritual, psychological, emotional, physiological or otherwise. The common denominator of them all is that there seem to no hope of recovering and becoming whole again. In fact, such persons are le

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (QUEENSHIP OF MARY - AUGUST 22, 2024) Ezekiel 36:23-28; Ps.51; Matthew 22:1-14 Heaven is a choice Today, Jesus continues his teaching on the kingdom of God using parables. Yesterday, he taught us that heaven is God’s generosity; it’s not something that we merit. Today, he is teaching us that though heaven is prepared for us, its existence is not dependent on us. Heaven needs us but it will not cease to be heaven without us. Matthew tells the parable of the wedding feast to first assure the Jewish nations that they are the people of God. The Jewish nations, however, did not heed to God’s call through the prophets and now they even pay less heed to Jesus. But God’s plan will not fail. He will send his apostles to preach the Gospel in foreign lands so that non-Jews too may become members of the Church and candidates for heaven. What becomes clear is that for us to be participants in the heavenly banquet, we must give our

HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (ST. PIUS X - AUGUST 21, 2024) Ezekiel 34:1-11; Ps.23; Matthew 20:1-16a Heaven is God’s generosity The parable of Jesus in today’s gospel powerfully projects the generosity of God in a manner that beats man’s imagination. However, it aims at improving our understanding about the kingdom of God. In God’s kingdom, what matters is love not time or input. When we try to subject God’s kingdom to time, it ceases to be eternal. When we subject it to human effort, it becomes a merited reward. If heaven is a reward for what we have done, then heaven needs to have degrees/categories because some persons will put in more effort than others. Instead of seeing heaven as a reward, I would prefer to see it as the consequence of a deliberate choice – the choice to serve God. When we choose to be docile to the government of God, we become candidates for heaven. This is a cause-and-effect mechanism, and it is rightly just. However, not

HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (ST. BERNARD - AUGUST 20, 2024) Ezekiel 28:1-10; Deut.32; Matthew 19:23-30 God First! In the gospel reading of yesterday, the man who approached Jesus asking what more he must do to be saved, left Jesus’ presence sorrowfully having been told to sell all that he had and give to the poor. The sorrow of this man did not emanate from the difficulty in parting with the things of this world. No! So long as we are still in this world, we will always use the things of this world. In fact, these things are not evil in themselves. Where the difficulty lies is in using them in a such a manner that we are not entangled by them such that our lives is ordered by material things. In truth, this is difficult. A rich man never thinks he has gotten enough for his mind keeps telling him what more he needs to get. Aware of this truth, Jesus testified to this difficulty in today’s gospel reading: “It will be hard for a rich man to enter the

HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 19, 2024) Ezekiel 24:15-24; Deut.32; Matthew 19:16-22 Go an extra mile The experience of the unnamed person in today’s gospel reading shows to us that Christianity is not about impressing God but about trying to imitate God. When we seek to impress God, we will always fall short but when we seek emulate God, the Grace of God will complement our effort. The person in question was obviously faithful in keeping the commandments of God, yet he asked Jesus what good needs to be done to gain eternal life. His obedience of the commandments was good but he felt deep within himself that truth that something more needed to be done. It is in sharing his life with us that God saved us. Consequently, to be like God, we too need to save others by sharing our lives with them. That is what is meant by giving all that we have to the poor. The poor here signifies an act of charity as against a matter of investment. When we give to

Homily for the 20th sunday in ordinary time year B August 18, 2024 Proverb 9:1-6; Psalm 33 (34); Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6: 51-58 Oggi è la ventesima domenica del tempo ordinario. Da qualche settimana, le nostre letture, in particolare il Vangelo, continuano a dirci che Gesù è il pane della vita. Questo è semplicemente per ricordarci l'importanza della Santa Eucaristia nella nostra vita cristiana. La Santa Madre Chiesa insegna che: "L'Eucaristia è il segno efficace e la causa sublime di quella comunione nella vita divina e di quell'unità del popolo di Dio per mezzo della quale la Chiesa è mantenuta in essere" (CCC 1325). Eucaristia significa rendimento di grazie. Così, oggi, ricolmi di Spirito Santo, rendiamo grazie a Dio per questo dono prezioso. Nella nostra prima lettura di oggi, Dio, che è Sapienza, ci invita al suo banchetto. Tuttavia, solo gli umili possono apprezzare e trarre vantaggio da questo invito. Coloro che sono saggi solo secondo la misura di questo

HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 17, 2024) Ezekiel 18:1-10.13.30-32; Ps.51; Matthew 19:13-15 Be Childlike While it is true that not everyone may have the opportunity to gain knowledge from within the four walls of the classroom, it is also true that everyone gets the opportunity to be taught by life experiences. Whoever approaches life as a student gains more than he who approaches life like a teacher. In today’s gospel, Jesus’ disciples learnt something about the kingdom of God not in a classroom but with a life experience. Jesus had just finished speaking about marriage and celibacy and people were bringing children to him that he may touch and bless them. It is not in the attitude of the disciples to put away those who come to Jesus. If they did so to little children it most probably was with the mindset that Jesus is too high or busy to have time for littleness. They understood Jesus as they would the authorities of that time who associat

HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 16, 2024) Ezekiel 16:1-15,60,63; Isa.12; Matthew 19:3-12 Responding to our unique vocation “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” By this question, the Pharisees in today’s gospel, sought for an exception to the law of indissolubility of marriage such that the bond of marriage will no longer be permanent. Probably one or two difficult experiences may have informed this question of the Pharisees. In fact, today, some couples tend to regret the day they vowed to remain one for the rest of their lives. Jesus’ answer was simply to reiterate the indissolubility of marriage. When man and woman become one, we cannot talk about separation without destruction. Thus in stressing the unity of marriage, Jesus was calling for perseverance. There will be many factors and situations that will threaten the peaceful co-existence of married people. In all, they must learn to overcome. As soon as a man and woman valid

Homily for the vigil celebration of the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 14th August 2024 1 Chronicles 15:3-4,15-16;16:1-2 1Cor 15:54-57 Luke 11:27-28 Cari fratelli e sorelle in Cristo, oggi la Chiesa celebra un grande evento, la solennità dell'Assunzione della Beata Vergine Maria, Madre di Dio. In questo giorno commemoriamo il momento in cui Maria, la Madre di Dio, del Nostro Signore e Salvatore Gesù Cristo, il Figlio di Dio e il Figlio dell'Uomo, fu assunta nella gloria del Cielo in virtù della sua Divina Maternità, cioè essendo la Madre di Dio e quindi anche come l'Arca della Nuova Alleanza di Dio, Lei è stata risparmiata dalla punizione e dalle conseguenze del peccato e della morte. Questo perché è stata appositamente preparata e messa da parte dal Signore stesso con la singolare grazia di essere risparmiata dalla macchia del peccato originale che aveva corrotto tutti gli altri figli dell'umanità sin dalla caduta dei nostri primi antenati. L&#

Homily for  Wednesday of the 19th week in Ordinary time 14th of August, 2024. Memorial of St. Maximillian Kolbe (Priest and Martyr).  Ezekiel 9:1-7; 10:18-22. Psalm 113:1b-2,3-4,5-6. Matthew 18:15-20.  In the first reading, prophet Ezekiel speaks of the judgement over the people for their refusal to speak against the injustice going on in the society. This judgment was to begin from the sanctuary. Why beginning from the sanctuary? To whom much is given much is expected. It won't be different if God's judgment begins now. It will surely begin with those of us who preach God's word. Let us be very careful with the way we live our lives. Let our preaching be seen in our lives. It is rather unfortunate that some of us don't live what we preach. In today's Gospel, Christ Jesus teaches us the importance of dialogue, which is aimed at reconciliation in the Christian community. He gives three processes in resolving conflicts. The private stage, the semi-private stage, and t

HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 13, 2024) Ezekiel 2:8-3:4; Ps.119; Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14 Heaven in the Young As humans, we unconsciously develop scale of preference for persons and things in our lives. There are persons we see to be more important to us than others. When these persons invite us for celebrations, we don’t give excuses; when we miss their calls, we return it as soon as possible; when they come visiting, we give them our best, and so on. Our action will be the reverse for those who may not be too important to us. If you are important to a highly placed personality in the society, you are said to be connected. It is with this mindset that the disciples of Jesus approached him in today’s gospel asking “who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” They wanted to know what attributes in a person catches God’s attention the most such that the person will be more important to God than the others. The question about greatest is act

Homily for the the 19th sunday in ordinary time year B  11 August 2024 Omelia della XIX Domenica del Tempo Ordinario. Anno B. 11 agosto 2024. 1 Re 19:4-8. Salmi 34:2-3,4-5,6-7,8-9. Efesini 4:30-5:2. Giovanni 6:41-51. Tema: Gesù, il pane vivo. Fratelli e sorelle in Cristo, oggi è la diciannovesima domenica del tempo ordinario. Dio continua ad attirarci a Sé per salvarci, nutrirci e rafforzarci nel nostro cammino di fede. Le letture di questa domenica ci offrono un'altra occasione per continuare la nostra riflessione sul dono della Santa Eucaristia, mistero della nostra fede e vita del mondo. Nella prima lettura, il profeta Elia, in fuga da Gezabele, che minacciava di ucciderlo, lasciò Israele e si diresse verso il monte Horeb, nel Sinai. Lungo la strada, finì il cibo e desiderò di essere morto, ma un angelo lo svegliò e gli diede una pagnotta e una brocca d'acqua, dicendo: "Alzati e mangia, altrimenti il viaggio sarà troppo grande per te" (1 Re 19:7). Elia si alzò, man

HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (ST. LAWRENCE - AUGUST 10, 2024) 2Cor.9:6b-10; Ps.112; John 12:24-26 The Poor: Heaven’s treasure One interesting thing about celebrating heroic men and women of the Church is that their lives practically sheds light on the truth of the gospel. Studying the lives of saints is like studying the scripture itself because the saints were imitators of Christ. Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Lawrence whose life and death has made one of the greatest impression in the life and history of the Church. The unique story associated with him goes thus: He “was a deacon of the Church of Rome who was temporarily in charge of the Church administration. During persecution, the authorities asked him to surrender all the treasures of the Church in three days. For the next three days, St. Lawrence went around gathering the poor supported by the Church. Then he brought them before the authorities and presented them as the “treasure

HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 09, 2024) Nahum 1:15; 2:2; 3:1-3,6-7; Deut.32; Matthew 16:24-28 Only for the sake of God Life is filled with lessons. We learn by living. Lessons learnt from negative experiences in life makes one to adjust lifestyle in order to guide against such experiences in the future. It is on this note that it is usually said that experience is the best teacher. Consciously or unconsciously, we are always in the business of trying to secure our lives in one way or the other. Today, Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and follow him. He is asking us to be careful to ensure that our hearts do not grow cold to love all in a bid to avoid the hurt that comes with loving and not loved in return. One who is maligned for doing what is right may be discouraged from doing the right thing next time. Such a person is trying to save his/her live. Jesus says that he who saves his lives will lose it and he who loses his life for his s

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE II (ST. DOMINIC - AUGUST 08, 2024) Jer.31:31-34; Ps.51; Matthew 16:13-23 Pay attention to what comes out of you In the gospel reading of today, the Pharisees and the Scribes complained to Jesus about the uncleanliness of his disciples especially as regards observing the rituals of etiquette. For Jesus, this was a good opportunity to address the pretentious religiosity of the Pharisees and the Scribes. While they accused Jesus’ disciples of paying no attention to the outside, they were guiltier of paying no attention to the inside. Jesus said that a man becomes unclean on account of what emerges from him; not on the basis of what goes into him. So, if we want to be holy, we should be more mindful of what we emit. This includes our actions, behaviours, habits, words, gesticulations, body languages and so on. All of these can have moral undertone. When they are positive, they lead us to holiness; but when they are negative

HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 7, 2024 Jeremiah 31:1-7; Jer.31; Matthew 15:21-28 Faith that Grows The Jews considered themselves as the elite amongst other nations. For this reason, they had nothing to do with foreign nations such as Canaan. This explains why the disciples were surprised to see Jesus talking with a female non-Jew by the well. It is with this mentality that the disciples interpreted the silence of Jesus in today’s gospel reading. Since Jews have no dealings with the Canaanites, the disciples thought that Jesus was silent to the plea of the woman because He did not want to help her. So, instead of reiterating the plea of the woman to Jesus, they rather advised Jesus to send her away. It was as though they were saying “since you do not want to help her, send her away”. Beloved, sometimes, our minds and people around us play this same role of the disciples in our faith journey. Each time it seems as if God is not granting us a

HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD, YEAR B (AUGUST 06, 2024) Daniel 7:9-10.13-14; Ps.97; 2Peter 1:16-19; Matthew 17:1b-9 “ _This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him_ ” (Matt.17:5c) The crisis of Faith and the Transfiguration experience The transfiguration experience was meant to strengthen the faith of the apostles not just for them to belief in Jesus as the Son of God but to also be able to bring others to accept this truth. So, the transfiguration event was not just a miracle for personal benefit; it was more of a mission – a mission to tell the world that Jesus is the Son of God who alone is worthy of our attention and worship. In the second reading of today, we find the disciples (through Peter) carrying out this mission. He mentioned that the transfiguration experience enables us to shine as light in the dark until the end of time. This means that the transfiguration experience first transfigures those who participate in it so that th

HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 05, 2024) Jer.28:1-17; Ps.119; Matthew 14:13-21 God is Compassionate Pope Francis once said that the Shepherd should necessarily smell like the sheep. What this means is that we must be compassionate if we must be of help to others. It is someone who is compassionate that can dare to be sacrificial. To be compassionate is to be emphatic, which means to put yourself in the shoe of others so that you are able to feel their situation and render real help to them. In today’s gospel, Jesus needed to be alone to mourn one who was not just his forerunner but also his cousin John the Baptist who had been martyred by Herod. He returned to a lonely place. It was enough for him put everyone away since he may not have been disposed. Yet, he did not send the crowds away when they located Him. The extent of our love can be measure by the degree of sacrifice we make. In his mourning state, He still felt compassion for the peop

HOMILY FOR THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B (AUGUST 04, 2024) Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15; Ps.78; Eph.4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35  _Do not labour for the food which perishes..._ (John 6:27a) A Spirit of Contentment and a Heart of Gratitude! After the incident of the multiplication of loaves in the gospel reading of last Sunday, Jesus had to withdraw from the crowd who were wanting to forcefully crown him king. This means that the people perceived greatest in Jesus. In the gospel reading of today, the same crowd took out time to seek out Jesus; the miracle of the multiplication was just too amazing to let Jesus go like that. We may want to interpret the people’s reaction as gratitude, but it wasn’t. It is shocking to discover that the people were rather selfish than grateful. They wanted Jesus to be their king so that it becomes his legal responsibility to always miraculously provide them with loaves. In that case, Divine Provision will no longer be a gift but a right. Jesus clearl

HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 03 2024) Jer 26:11-16,24; Ps.69; Matthew 14:1-12 The Importance of Listening The ministry of John the Baptist took place during the reign of King Herod. The content of this ministry was to prepare the hearts of men for the coming of the Messiah. This preparation was basically one of repentance. But then, before the people can be moved to repent of their sins, they have to first be convinced that they have sinned. It is only the truth that has the capacity of convincing a heart of wrong doings. So, John went about preaching the truth so that men may see their need for repentance. In was in this process that he encountered Herod. Usually, the truth is hurtful to the one it addresses. People express their discomfort for the truth in different ways all in a bid to eliminate the truth. When John told Herod that it was wrong for him to take Philip’s (his brother) wife as his own, Herod expressed his discomfort for

HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (AUGUST 02, 2024) Jeremiah 26:1-9; Ps.69; Matthew 13:54-58 Every action has its consequence In the first reading of today, we see a people who are not disposed to hearing the truth about themselves. Their negative reaction to Jeremiah was quite anticipated, for at the beginning of the reading, it seems God was encouraging an unwilling Jeremiah to still make effort in preaching to the people with the hope that they may repent. The people ended up moving the motion for the death of Jeremiah for prophesying doom for the land. This was where the problem actually surfaced. The people did not see the prophecy of doom as a consequence of their evil deeds, should they choose not to repent; they rather saw it as Jeremiah’s negative wish or prayer for the land. So, the bone of contention here was not their repentance but Jeremiah’s prophecy. It means that they have so much lived a false life to the extent that they now lied to t