HOMILY FOR JANUARY 5th , FRIDAY BEFORE THE FEAST OF EPIPHANY, YEAR B
THEME: DON’T LOOK DOWN ON ANYONE.
BY: FR. KARABARI PAUL
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
The world is occupied by people who naturally pass verdict on others using family, social, and economic backgrounds. Other factors like environment, education, and status are added. The Gospel of today (John 1:43-51) starts off with Christ’s call to Philip. We aren’t given many details about the call; John only tells us that Philip responded in faith and followed. Then look at what Philip did: he found Nathaniel (who is also called Bartholemew in some of the other gospels) and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth.” It means that: 1) Philip knew Nathaniel well enough to know his interest in the coming of the messiah; 2) Philip was enthusiastic about sharing his encounter with Christ. This is often the way the gospel spreads; one person passes it to another, face to face, person to person, in the context of a relationship. But there are some of us who are even stingy with spiritual grace and goods. By so doing, we stop God’s communication channels.
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Nathaniel, however, came back with a cynical reply, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Many people make this out to be a reflection on Nazareth, that Nazareth had the reputation of being full of fools. Whatever the case is, this gives a great lesson. There are people who just look at others, their family, their career, business, relationship, community, and other things, then conclude that nothing good can be associated with them.
If we are asking such a question, then we are playing God. As long as human beings are alive, God is capable of changing anything about them. He is still in the business of shocking the cynical Nathaniels in our lives. The problem is that those who already have a closed mind about you end up changing their doubt about the possibility of you attending success or growth to hatred and envy when God eventually changes the condition they had used to judge you. This is because some people can’t stand the success stories of others. We have no right to write anyone off
Philip persevered and invited Nathaniel to come and see. Notice that Philip was not put off by Nathaniel’s caustic response. Francis Schaeffer, the great apologist, once said that honest questions deserve honest answers. The key phrase there is “honest questions.” Sometimes, you don’t have to drag with anyone to prove a point. You simply allow the situation to prove itself. Nathaniel should come and encounter Jesus by himself. Most times, we don’t seem to even understand our work is only to bring them and allow them to encounter Him. We want them to encounter us rather. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. God bless you and your household. It is a great year of positive growth and blessing. Good morning.
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