DAILY HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 23RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: THE BLESSED.
BY: Fr. Karabari Paul
HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 7 2022
‘Rejoice and leap for joy, says the Lord, for behold, your reward is great in heaven’
When we think of blessings, we think of things we are given now. It might be our family, friends, a relationship, recovery, a financial gift – or just a feeling of everything working out and falling into place. The reality for most of us, is that a lot of our blessings are unseen. We experience pain, suffering, loss, illness, poverty, persecution and challenging times. We can think ‘Where is the blessing in that?’ When we look at the Sermon on the Mount as presented in the Gospel of today (Luke 6:20-26), we see a different thing. This is a whole list of people who are blessed.
These aren’t the usual kind of blessings. They show the upside down nature of God’s kingdom. It is the people who are poor, hunger now, weep now, facing persecution and under trial who are called blessed, not the successful, famous and rich. These blessings aren’t material things, or even about other people. They are about us and God. God loves to bless us because He loves us. But sometimes these blessings are conditional. It is about our attitude. It is be-attitude. That means we have to obey His commands before we receive the blessing.
Moses gave the Israelites a list of the ways God was going to bless them (you can read that in Deuteronomy 28:3-13). But this list was preceded by these words: ‘All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.’ The word ‘if’ is really important here. It shows that the Israelites would only get the blessings if they obeyed God. It also shows that they had a choice. So that if we are poor, we have the choice to work hard to receive God’s blessing or we bless ourselves by engaging in what we shouldn’t. When we choose to obey God, we open ourselves up to receive more of His blessings. How much do we desire God’s blessings? How willing are we to obey His commands? Sometimes we can expect blessings without putting any effort in, but it is clear that obedience is necessary. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, heal our world, bless and protect us all through Christ Our Lord Amen. Please, stay safe. Good morning