HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE 14TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA
HOMILY FOR SATURDAY JULY 9 2022
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 92:1-2,5
Matthew 10:24-33
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
Green
*ABOUT THE FIRST READING OF TODAY*
You may have recognized a line in today’s first reading as very similar to one of our responses at Mass, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. His glory fills the whole earth’. Many of our responses at Mass are taken from the Scriptures. In a vision, Isaiah heard the angels acclaim God with these words in the Temple in Jerusalem. Isaiah’s sense of the holiness of God brought home to him his own sinfulness, ‘I am a man of unclean lips’. The closer he came to God, the more aware of how unlike God he was. Isaiah was giving expression to a sense of reverence and awe in God’s presence, what is sometimes referred to as ‘fear of the Lord.
*ABOUT OUR GOSPEL READING*
Twice in the course of today’s gospel reading Jesus says to his disciples, ‘Do not be afraid’. He was sending them out on mission. He had just been very honest with them about the hostility they were likely to encounter. As Jesus says in the gospel reading, if they have called the master of the household, Jesus, Beelzebul, accusing him of being in league with Satan, what will they not say of the members of his household, Jesus’ followers. When it comes to witnessing publicly to our faith in the Lord, we can all be held back by fear. Yet, it is striking how many times in the gospels Jesus calls on his disciples not to be afraid.
*CONCLUSION*
On one occasion, he said to his disciples in the boat in the midst of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, ‘Why are you afraid, you of little faith?’ Jesus identifies fear as a sign of little faith. So often in the gospels the opposite of faith is not doubt but fear. Genuine faith is always a courageous faith. In the gospel reading today, Jesus gives us a reason why we can be courageous in witnessing to our faith in him. God who cares for the humble sparrow cares for us even more, we who are worth ‘more than hundreds of sparrows’. God holds us in the palm of his hand, especially when we witness publicly to our faith in his Son, when, in the words of Jesus at the end of the gospel reading, we declare ourselves publicly for him before others. It is above all at such times that God is our refuge and our strength, in the language of one of the Psalms.
*PRAYER REQUEST*
Today we pray for Oness and Dialogue among the people of different religion. We ask for Dialogue among Christian and Muslims. May God guide us all.
*Prayer Request*
We pray for those who have lost faith in God, due to many difficulties in thier life. Those who feel God has abandoned them. May God strengthen you.
Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA