HOMILY FOR THE 3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C.

-




 Nehemiah 8:2-6. 8-10; Psalm 19:8-10. R/. Jn. 6:63; 1Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21.

“THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·      “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness, and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew”. These are the opening words of the foremost Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium of Pope Francis.

·       In today’s liturgy, the theme of ‘Joy’ is central. The joy that comes from a total surrendering to the will of God. The joy comes from the consciousness that our sins are completely remitted. The joy that comes from accomplishing the mission of God.

·      This Sunday the readings tell us about remembering the Word of God.  The first reading, from the Prophet Nehemiah, talks about when the whole text of the Law of the Jewish Scriptures had been lost, and then found.  The people wept as they heard it read aloud to them.  We must remember that these people had been conquered and taken into exile. 

·      Exile here represents a total loss of contact with God, wondering helplessly in sin and complete disobedience to the commandments of God. The pain of being in exile is indescribable and the joy of the return from that exile is unquantifiable. This, exactly, if not more is the joy the people felt at their return from exile, at their return to the obedience of the divine will; because henceforth, the joy of the Lord shall be their strength.

·       There are so many displaced people today who have had the experience of losing everything.  When something is found that draws them closer to their origins, there is understandably a lot of emotions.

·      We hear this first reading echoed in the Gospel today from Saint Luke.  Saint Luke tells us that he is writing down his memories so that they will not be lost, and so that people can better understand Jesus.  This account helps us understand how people in the time of Jesus or shortly after the time of Jesus understood Him.  Jesus reads aloud in the Synagogue from the Prophet Isaiah—and then tells the people that this Scripture passage is fulfilled in their hearing.  Surely the people must have wondered what He meant!

·      For us today, we must decide in our hearts what the Scriptures mean to us.  If we are truly believing Catholics, the Scriptures are the Word of God, given for our salvation.  We must take time to read them and to try to understand them as the Church wants them understood.  So many people today have only a handed down religion which has not become a personal religion, lived out of complete faith.  But that is what the Lord is asking of us:  believe in the Gospel!

·      Believing in the Gospel comes with a great prize and a great expectation, because for every gain there must be a pain! The pain of denouncing evil, the pain of rejecting sin and temptation, the pain of swimming against the currents of the world, etc.

·      The second reading, which is very long today, tells us that we are now Christ’s body and individually parts of it.  That can only make sense to those who believe.  We must be those people who can hear the Prophet Nehemiah and want to live our faith because it is the very centre of our life.  We must be those people who can listen to the Lord Jesus and know that He is truly God; and that all prophecy is fulfilled in Him.  We must recognize that together we form the body of Christ.  We are Christ’s present in our world today:  bringing God to others because God has come into our lives.

·      In Christ Jesus, there is no individualism, no selfishness, we must all contribute our quarter into spreading that joy of Christ wherever we find ourselves.

·      The joy of the Lord can only be our strength when we carry on the mission of Christ in our world. Since by our baptism we are all anointed, we must therefore carry on and bring the good news to the ends of the earth especially to the poor and those at the fringes of society. This good news must go beyond just preaching the word but also helping them better their situation. We must fight to liberate people from various forms of captivity, restore sight to those who have been blinded by sin and corruption, uplift the downtrodden, and announce the Lord’s year of favour.

·      The joy of the Lord can only be our strength if we allow and carry on this mission of Christ. If we allow it to be fulfilled in the lives of those who encounter us daily wherever we may be.

·      The words of God are spirit, and they are life, we must therefore let the living word of God bear fruits in our lives, fruits that will last.

·      May the Joy of the Lord continue to renew our strength. May the message of Christ continue to be fulfilled in our lives and our world even as we listen, Amen!

·      Happy Sunday!!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Homily For The 8th Sunday In Ordinary Time Year C.

-
Image
Ecclesiasticus 27:5-8; Psalm 91:2-3,13-16; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-45. “ BE LIKE YOUR TEACHER! ” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today’s readings throw a personal challenge of introspection to every Christian who desires to grow in faith and holiness. The model for that introspection is no man but God, through his son, who is a good teacher. ·        The theme for our reflection this Sunday is “Be like your teacher.” The temptation is to think that the priest or your classroom teacher is the “teacher” here. No! The teacher here is the teacher par excellence – Jesus Christ, the son of God.  ·        The reason your priest or your classroom teacher cannot be your excellent guide is due to human weakness. They may desire to lead you to perfection, but they will often fail due to human limitations and weaknesses. This is not to say that we should never aspire to perfection....
Read more

Homily For The 2nd Sunday Of Lent, Year C.

-
Image
  Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Psalm 27:1, 7-9, 13-14; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36. “LENT: A TIME TO DISFIGURE TO TRANSFIGURE AND TO CONFIGURE!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide ·        Like a joke, dear friends in Christ, our Lenten experience is more than a week spent. I hope we are using this opportunity of grace and renewal to tame our excesses, discipline our bodies, and train them to be transfigured into the glorified body of Christ. ·        Apart from being a time for fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, the Lenten season is a special reminder that we are citizens of a special place, and all we do and say should be geared toward granting us admission into that special place. These 40 days of grace become a special opportunity to prepare adequately. ·        When we disfigure our mortal bodies through bodily discipline and mortification, then our eyes will open enough to s...
Read more

Homily For The 5th Sunday In Ordinary Time Year C.

-
Image
  Isaiah 6:1-2,3-8; Psalm 137:1-5,7-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11. “ THE AWESOME CALL FROM AN AWESOME GOD! ”   By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Reflecting on today's readings fills me with awe about the awesome God we serve! The readings bring back nostalgic memories of being ‘called and sent’ by God together with 15 other classmates of mine. This month of February precisely on the 7 th  of February, will be 10 years of accepting the profound vocation and privilege to SERVE as PRIESTS of the Most High God. ·        It is an opportunity for me today, to reflect deeply on this call handed on to me, how much I have felt, the high and the low moments, but in all, the confidence that has kept me going is that in ALL THINGS the grace of God is sufficient for me! ·        The truth is that God continues to elect men and women in all works of life for service in his vine...
Read more