HOMILY FOR THE 6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.

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Sirach 15:15-20; Psalm 119:1-2,4-5, 17-18,33-34; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37.

“CHOOSE YOUR CHOICE!”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·      Today the church celebrates the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. On this Sunday, we pray in a special way for our dear country Nigeria that as we draw closer to the general elections, God will grant us a peaceful election, the wisdom to choose credible leaders, and set our country on the path of greatness again.

·      On this sixth Sunday of the year, the Lord invites us to make choices that will guarantee us eternal life. The God who called us to be Christians does not impose himself and his ways upon us. God lays out the different options available to us and invites us to choose our choice.

·      Dearly beloved in Christ, it is most likely true that most of us were baptised as infants and at that time, we did not even have what it takes to make choices. Our faith was chosen for us. Our baptismal name was also chosen for us. 

·      Today, the Lord presents us with a golden opportunity to take ownership of our faith. He presents us with the option to choose him again now as an informed choice and not as an imposed choice. The Lord calls us today to choose our choice.

·      In the first reading (Sirach 15:15-20), notice that the author of the book of Sirach does not employ the language of force, rather he uses the language of free will. This conditional language – “if you will, you can keep the commandments, they will save you…”.

·      Friends in Christ, in the first reading, we learn that every choice has its corresponding reward or consequence. The choices we choose determine both our present situation and our eternal destiny.

·      We have both life and death set before us. Those who choose God choose life. The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him. He notes their every action. In fact, their destinies are in his hands.

·      Dearly beloved, God is always on the lookout for us. Our joys are his joys, and our anxieties are his anxieties. Why then will we not choose the God who told us that even before we were born, he knew us and has called each of us by his name.

·      In the gospel reading (Matthew 5:17-37), we learn that to choose God comes with making certain decisions that may never align with the decisions of the world. The world might condone adultery, but God calls us to chastity. The world might tolerate senseless anger, but God calls us to meekness.

·      Jesus in the gospel reading tells us that he has not come to abolish the law and the prophet but to improve it. He has not come to destroy the law but to invite us to also consider the spirit behind every commandment of God.

·      The spirit of the law is the virtue behind every law. It is that which God intends to achieve through the law. How can you choose God and yet slander with your tongue? How can you choose God and still bear false witness against your brothers and sisters? How can you choose God and still bear malice with people? How can you choose God and go about committing adultery, fornication, and all sorts of impurity?

·      To choose God is to cut off from anything that is not of God. It is to deliberately choose to enter righteousness. That righteousness is where we find joy, peace, and fulfilment because we are doing what God expects us to do.

·      Saint Paul in the second reading (1 Corinthians 2:6-10), invites us to pray for the wisdom to make the right choices – the choices that lead to our salvation. It is that wisdom that makes us go beyond the standard of the world to choose “the things that no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

·      Friends in Christ, choose God today, and obey his commandments. The Psalmists can testify to this when he says in the response to the Psalm today, “Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord!” (Ps. 119:1)

·      May the good Lord bless his words in our hearts, through Christ our Lord, Amen!

·      Happy Sunday!!!

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