The Gain of Service! (HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF LENT
Homily for Friday of the 3rd week of Lent 1Peter 4:7b-11; Ps.96; Luke 5:1-11 Theme: The Gain of Service! In the gospel reading of today, Simon offered Jesus his boat and also helped Jesus set it for the purpose of evangelization. The boat was Simon’s work instrument with which he earned money. But in this encounter with Jesus, Simon is not giving out his boat for economic gain but as charity. It was not the case that Jesus was a friend to Simon before now. Most probably Simon saw Jesus as a religious teacher; and so, he helped just for the sake of God. This is what made his help noble and evangelistic. The readings of today invite us to purify our intentions underlying our actions. No other intention is as noble as “for the sake of God”. So after Simon had experienced the fruits and benefits of acting only for the sake of God, he asked us in the first reading to use our gifts to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace. This means that we should have the consciousness t...