Homily For The 16th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 85:5-6, 9-10, 15-16; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13:24-43.

“THE LORD STILL CARES!”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·       I hear many Nigerians refer to themselves as their own government. This statement is borne out by the fact that many Nigerians provide for themselves most of the basic social amenities that should ordinarily be provided by the government. The extreme of this practice is that many people now live for themselves alone, charting their own course and doing their own thing because they feel that the Lord has been distant from them. He does not care nor partake in their affairs, so what's the point of paying allegiance to God?

·       If we are in this category, we ought to realise that God is still very much involved in our affairs. “Cut off from me you can do nothing.” (Jn.15:5) He created the world in goodness and therefore he will not abandon it to be overrun by evil forces.

·       Our readings today come to emphatically tell us that the Lord still cares about us greatly, irrespective of the hard times we have to endure. One thing is sure: “Tough times don't last, but tough people do”, so why give up? God is more involved in your affairs than ever before because “he is close to the broken-hearted” (Ps. 34:18) and “this poor man called, and the Lord heard him” (Ps. 34:6).

·       Today’s first reading (Wisdom 12:13, 16-19) challenges us to know that the Lord specially cares for us because no god can compete or be compared to Him. God is the mighty man in battle, the Rose of Sharon, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the God of the eleventh hour.

·       Dear friends in Christ, our present difficulties might be because of our negligence of God, our sins, or our failed promises to God. One thing that should give us hope is that things will surely turn around. The fact that he promised to take care of us and that he will pardon our iniquity because he is “mild in judging us and lenient in condemning us”.

·       Dearly beloved, some of us have given up hope in God because we think that our sins and transgressions are unforgivable. We must remember that it was for our Salvation that Christ died in the first place. And the Psalmist today supports that fact by telling us that “O Lord, you are good and forgiving” (Ps. 85:6).

·       The second reading (Romans 8:26-27), on the other hand, is asking us to hang in there. Not to lose faith nor lose heart. When we are low-spirited, the Spirit of God comes to give us hope and the assurance of God’s love for us to continue to live.

·       Friends in Christ, there is nothing more reassuring than knowing so well that the Spirit of God has got our back no matter what. His “Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God” (Romans 8:26).

·       The gospel reading (Matthew 13:24-43) also encourages us that rather than give up on God, we must place great value on the worship and service of God. We must not take his patience and mercy for granted but continually live a life of gratitude by living aright with firm and solid faith in God even when he seems absent.

·       Beloved in Christ, Jesus continues to warn us to be wary of the plans of the evil one who continues to sow evil and faithlessness in our hearts to distract us from the worship of God in spirit and truth.

·       Jesus deliberately allows the wheat and weeds to grow together to give us the opportunity for true repentance and revival; hence, we must “think of the Lord's patience as our opportunity to be saved” (2 Peter 3:15).

·       Dear friends in Christ, the Lord truly cares for us; he loves us so much and provides for us; he journeys with us through the rocky and stormy parts of our lives even when he seems invincible. Today the Lord has spoken to us and reminded us that he still cares and loves us, so “he who has ears let him hear” (Matt. 15:11).

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

·       Happy Sunday!!!

 

 


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