Fr. Ben’s homily for Friday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Cycle I
Theme: MY WORDS WILL NEVER PASS AWAY!
By: Ben Agbo (Rev Fr)
Homily for Friday November 26 2021
*Dan 7: 2-14, Lk 21:29-33.
‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away’. That is one of Christ’s most categorical statements and I think as Christians we should learn to take him by his words. He did not write a book but implanted his words on his followers (the church). The church now wrote them down through his inspirations and remains there to give his words their correct interpretation, Eph 3:10, 2 Pet 1 :21. He is the Word incarnate. From the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and was God. That Word took flesh in Jesus and dwells among us. According to Napoleon Bonaparte, ‘The Gospel is not merely a book – It is a living power – a book surpassing all others’. Atheists in the past like the French Philosopher, Voltaire, have challenged the Bible and said that within a hundred years it will pass away from common use. Today, his house in France has been bought by the Bible Society and has been made a depot for storing bibles more than 200 years after his death. When he was dying, he cried in pains ‘O God, if there is God, save my soul if I have any’.
It is not good to challenge the Word of God or the Church of God. To do so is to challenge God himself because he dwells in his Word and in his Church. He promised to be with them till the end of time, Matt 28:20. Today’s 1st reading calls him ‘Ancient of Days’. To him was given dominion and glory and all peoples, nations and languages would serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall never pass away. We need as Christians, to develop a high reverence for and fidelity to his words without slipping into the danger of fundamentalism. Departure from the Words of Jesus makes Christianity turn into a mere social club and this is a very dangerous development.
May God bless you today!