HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF 17TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME.
THEME: The beheading of John the Baptist.
BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Leviticus 25:1,8-17
Psalm 66:2-3,5,7-8
Matthew 14:1-12
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
GREEN
*INTRODUCTION*
Good morning dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Saturday of week 17 in Ordinary Time, Year A.
*FROM OUR FIRST READING*
Today’s first reading from the Book of Leviticus ends with the call, ‘Let none of you wrong his neighbour, but fear your God’. ‘Fear’ there is to be understood as reverence for God. We show our reverence for God by respecting our neighbour, by treating them fairly and justly.
RELATED: HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD
*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
In the gospel reading, Herod shows no respect for John the Baptist, doing him great wrong, treating him unjustly. Herod had thrown John into prison, at the insistence of his wife Herodias, because he had told Herod it was against the Jewish Law to marry her. During a celebration of Herod’s birthday, as a result of a rash promise he made to his stepdaughter, he felt pressured by his wife and his stepdaughter to have John the Baptist beheaded. Herod, Herodias and her daughter are often referred to as an unholy trinity in this story. One person can do great evil but the greater evils often spring from several people working together. All three co-operated in John’s death, thereby showing that they had no fear of God, no reverence for God, no respect for God’s prophet.
*CONCLUSION*
The way Herod, Herodias and her daughter worked together to bring about a great wrong is the antithesis of our calling to work together to bring about a great good. The Lord calls us to work together in the service of the coming of the kingdom of God. The Lord wants to work through each one of us individually, but he can work much more powerfully through us as a community of faith and love. We have each been gifted by the Spirit in a different way. It is when we work together in the Spirit, that the Lord can work most effectively to overcome the forces of evil in our world that are so clearly on display in today’s gospel reading.
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen.
Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
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