Fr. Ben’s homily for Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Easter
Theme: PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS!
By: Fr. Benedict Agbo
Homily for Wednesday April 21 2021
* Act 8 : 1 – 8, Jn 6 : 35 – 40.
Persecution against the Church has always turned out to yield a good result in the end. This is because, according to Fulton Sheen, ‘God knows how to write straight in crooked lines’. The 1st reading tells us that the persecution of Christians in Jerusalem led to the scattering of Christians which eventually led to the spreading of the gospel all over the world. Today’s gospel makes it clear that it is the will of the father that Christ should lose nothing of all that he has been given and raise them all up on the last day.
In Nigeria today, many Christians are disheartened about what is happening in the country especially about the alarming state of insecurity. Many people think that God is silent watching the ‘Sons of Uthman Dan Fodio’ take the whole nation to ransom, overuning the whole security apparachitks, kidnapping and killing people ( especially Christians) and flooding the whole nation with AK 47 riffles. But if you watch what is happening in the North today, you will also see that the God of nemesis is never asleep. The whole thing must surely turn onto good and end in praise. As the persecutions and killings continue ( as part of this administration’s next level), let the good Christians continue to pray and work hard at the purification and sanitization of the Church. Then there will be, as usual, more release of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Rom 5 : 5, 8 : 28.
Jesus assures us in today’s gospel that he who comes to him shall not hunger and he who believes in him shall never thirst. Spiritual hunger happens when there is the absence of grace and salvation. Spiritual thirst happens when there is the absence of joy and fulfillment in life. The gift of the Eucharist remains the highest gift of Christ to His Church for salvation and spiritual growth. Its bastardization leads to spiritual hunger and thirst.
And it is a tragedy for someone to be thirsty right inside a river perhaps because the water of the river is not clean or because he or she does not want to humbly bend down to collect and drink. It is fanatical for some group of Catholics to insist on not receiving the Holy Communion for up to one year now just because it is being received in the hand during this period of pandemic. We continue to pray such people to get more enlightenment.
May God bless you today!
FR BEN AGBO