21ST FRIDAY HOMILY OF THE ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: WHERE ARE THE RIGHTEOUS?
BY: Fr. Benedict Agbo
Jer 1:17-19; Psalm 70(71):1-6, 15, 17; Mark 6:17-29
We are celebrating today the patron saint of monks and one of the most touching exemplaries of courageous witnessing. The story of his death reminds us of the evil effects of incestuous and adulterous living, provocative dancing, immodest dressing, and the dangerous effects of making rash promises and insisting on revenge. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ both in birth and in death. He is therefore the only Saint, apart from our Lady, whose birthday and death day is celebrated by the Church.
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It was the great Edmund Burke who warned that ‘The only reason for the triumph of evil is that good people keep quiet, say nothing and do nothing’. Till today, the whole world is at the mercy of the righteous to make it clean; Our country Nigeria is waiting for the righteous to come and sanitize its leadership; Even the Church depends on the righteous to purify it. But let me ask: Who are the righteous? Where are they? Strictly speaking, the bible says that no man is righteous but God alone, Ps 14: 3, Lk 18: 19. But the fact still remains that God gives some people the grace to remain special and uncontaminated in every generation just to manifest his holiness and the possibility of our own holiness. He continues to let us know that our greatest weapon of warfare is ‘the breastplate of righteousness’, Eph 6: 14. When Elijah thought he was the only good man left in Israel, God proved him wrong by telling him to go and anoint Jehu as king and Elisha as Prophet, 1 Kg 19: 26 who had a double portion of his anointing. When Paul was confounded in Corinth, God reassured him in a dream that there were so many people on his side in that city, Act 18: 10.
I want to think that there are different types and degrees of righteousness;
(I) The hypocritically righteous are the ones who think that they are righteous but are actually and objectively not.
(ii) The cowardly righteous are those who are actually living a very holy life but lack the courage and wisdom to confront and challenge the forces of evil around them.
(iii) The haphazardly righteous are those who make a lot of effort to be holy and are courageous enough to confront and oppose the forces of evil around them.
The price of courageous witnessing is always ‘the head of John the Baptist on a platter’. In several places round the world, people are still dying for the truth as John the Baptist did. In Cameroun a few years ago, a bishop was drowned in the sea and framed up for suicide by evil men just for standing for the truth. May God give us courageously righteous men and women especially among the clergy who can challenge the evil in our religious, educational and political system, especially here in Nigeria where we are currently facing the danger of STATE CAPTURE – a situation where a few people forcefully seize power through election malpractice and try to lobby their way through the Courts. Only courageous prophets can save this country at this critical time. May God bless you today!
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