HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE 28TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE I
THEME: But He Who Blasphemes Against The Holy Spirit Will Not Be Forgiven.!
BY: Fr. Deotacious Chikontwe SMA
HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OCTOBER 16 2021
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Romans: 4:13,16-18
Psalm: 104:6-9,42-43
Luke: 12:8-12
*INTRODUCTION*
Dear friends in Christ, imagine when we die and Jesus comes to meet us and shows us a video of our entire life. On the video we see all the good things we did. But there are also a number of blanks on the tape. We ask why there are such blanks on the tape of our life. Jesus tells us these were the times when we sinned and asked for God’s mercy. When God forgives He completely blanks out our sins and does not remember.
*ABOUT THE GOSPEL READING*
Jesus in today’s gospel says, “Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
*BUT WHAT IS REALLY THIS SIN THAT CAN’T BE FORGIVEN?*
This is a very difficult to answer. Maybe It is because the second book of Samuel chapter 11, gives us an example of a person being forgiven of the sins of laziness, lust, adultery, scandal and murder.
Well, all of us know that the Holy Spirit is the Advocate who always whispering to our heart, “Turn back to the God who loves you.” And so rather than any concrete sin, the unforgivable sin is our attitude of saying, “God cannot forgive me.” This grave sin of despair of saying that God cannot forgive us blocks the perception of this call of the Holy Spirit to turn back to the God. This is indeed a deep blasphemy because it denies the very core of God’s being: His love and mercy.
*AN IMPORTANT LESSON FOR TODAY*
Let us accept the knowledge that God is so merciful. He is so merciful that He shows His love to us even if we are sinners and His mercy is without end and greater than our sinfulness. And so because God is so merciful, therefore, the goal of our faith journey is the Lord Jesus and we seek to be as merciful as God is merciful. As God’s mercy showers down upon us, so we are to shower the blessings we receive on others. No one of us can ever be as merciful as is God who shows mercy in every act. We poor human beings need God’s mercy and others need ours as well. We extend our faith outward to and for others.
*CONCLUSION*
Dear Brethrens, sometimes God breaks our hearts to make us whole. He sends us pain so we can be stronger. He sends us failure so we can be humble. He sends us illness so we can take better care of ourselves. And sometimes, God takes everything away from us so we can learn the value of everything He gives us, to trust and hold on to Him.
HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND AND REMEMBER LOVES US ALL NO MATTER THE SITUATIONS YOU MAYBE FACING IN LIFE!
Fr. Deotacious Chikontwe SMA