FR. BEN’S HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 26TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II.
THEME: THE FRUSTRATIONS OF A CHILD OF GOD!
BY: Benedict Agbo (Rev Fr).
HOMILY FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27 2022.
* Job 3: 1 – 23, Lk 9: 51 – 56
Part of the theological import of the book of job is the message of calmness in the midst of suffering and frustrations. It is important for every child of God to realize that sometimes our good efforts and sincere intentions may be twarted by the hands of destiny or the evil machinations of men. “Man proposes but God disposes ” is a popular ancient adage. We therefore see in today’s first reading that Job’s misfortunes actually frustrated him. Yet the frustrations of Job did not negatively affect his faith yet it affected his mood. He lamented his miseries and cursed the day of his birth but didn’t curse God himself directly.
Crying and lamentation is our right as bona fide children of God but we should not disown or curse God in the middle of our miseries. The book of Lamentations is an interesting read here: “I am familiar with misery under the rod of his fury…I have forgotten what happiness is…But this is what I shall keep in my mind and so regain my hope: Surely Yahweh’s mercies are not over; his deeds of faithful love never exhausted. They are new every morning” – Lam 3: 1 – 22. Hope is a theological virtue that oils the engine of faith in moments of pain and frustrations.
Frustration is not a time for impropriety in relation to God and neighbour. Part of the disciplines of a godly man is to maintain his trust in God and equanimity with men in moments of frustration. This is one glaring quality we see in Peter Obi the current Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in Nigeria. ‘Two wrongs’ they say, ‘will never make one right’. Never retaliate an offence or commit an offence because an offence was meted against you. In today’s gospel, Jesus maintained his calm even in the midst of frustration coming from the Samaritans and the pressure from his disciples for a retaliation fight. Holy Ghost fire has its uses and abuses. The Holy Ghost fire is not meant to be used against our human enemies but can however be used against our spiritual enemies, since our God is also a consuming fire, Heb 12: 29. May God bless you today!