HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE TWENTY- EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
By: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
*THEME OF THE HOMILY*
As Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be a sign.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Romans 1:1-7
Psalm 97:1-4
Luke 11:29-32
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
GREEN
*INTRODUCTION*
Good morning dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Monday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time, Year A.
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*FROM OUR FIRST READING*
This morning we began reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans. We will have a semi-continuous reading from this letter for the next four weeks. The letter to the Romans is one of the great documents of the New Testament. Paul wrote it towards the end of his missionary life, and it expresses the fruit of his efforts over many years to grasp what God had done for us in Christ and the implications of that for how we live. For us today, the church of Rome, the diocese of Rome is the most important church or diocese throughout the world, because the bishop of that Diocese is the Pope, who is the supreme pastor of the church. When Paul was writing to the church in Rome, the most important church was the church in Jerusalem. Rome was the capital of the Empire, but Jerusalem was the first church, the mother church of all the churches. However, Paul was very aware that without the Lord Jesus Christ there would be no church anywhere, whether in Rome, Jerusalem or anywhere else. The good news is about the Son of God, as Paul says in this morning’s reading.
*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks of himself as greater than King Solomon and greater than the prophet Jonah. Indeed, Jesus was greater than all the spiritual leaders of Israel prior to him, whether they were priests, prophets or kings. In a way, Jesus is reminding his contemporaries just how fortunate they are to have witnessed his coming. In the previous chapter of Luke’s gospel, Jesus had said to his disciples, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it, to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
*CONCLUSION*
The gospel reading challenges us never to take the wonder of our faith for granted. God became flesh in Jesus, not in Solomon or any of the prophets, and Jesus, God with us, has given us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink. Someone greater than Solomon and Jonah is ‘here’ in this Eucharist. Unlike the Queen of the South in the gospel reading, we don’t have to come from the ends of the earth to find him, because he has come from heaven to find us and to be with us where we are. The only response we can make to such a privilege is one of thanksgiving and the place where we give thanks above all is in the Eucharist. Saint Paul would remind us that such thanksgiving must flow over into our lives so that the life we live becomes an act of thanksgiving to God’s gracious love for us in Christ.
I wish everyone a Blessed New week .
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