HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE TWENTY- SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
THEME OF THE HOMILY: Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ But he replied, ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’
By: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA
READINGS OF THE DAY
Joel 4:12-21
Psalm 96:1-2,5-6,11-12
Luke 11:27-28
LITURGICAL COLOUR: GREEN
INTRODUCTION
Good morning dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Saturday of week 27 in Ordinary Time, Year A.
FROM OUR FIRST READING
In our first reading today, we heard how the Lord promised all of His people that they would no longer be despondent or afflicted, and that they would once again enjoy the favour of His love and compassion, as He has always intended them to be. God has always loved all of the ones that are precious to Him, and He does not want any of them to fall into their fallen state due to their unwillingness to obey His Law and commandments, and by their abandonment of His tenets and precepts, in favour of following and worshipping pagan idols and false gods, that had brought about ruin upon themselves, and which they had ben chastised for. God reminded all of His beloved ones that in the end, His love for them will triumph, and if they side with Him, then they all shall share in His most wonderful love.
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FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
This must be one of the shortest gospels in the Lectionary. Jesus and a woman from the crowd exchange beatitudes. The woman declares blessed the mother of Jesus, the womb that bore him and the breasts he sucked. Jesus, in reply, declares more blessed those who hear the word of God and keep it. Jesus’ mother is of course included among those who hear the word of God and keep it. Indeed, Luke’s gospel, from whom this short gospel reading is taken, portrays Mary as the one supremely heard the word of God and kept it. Towards the beginning of Luke’s gospel she declares to the angel Gabriel, ‘Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be to be according to your word’, with ‘your word’ referring not just to the word of Gabriel but to the word of God which Gabriel proclaims.
CONCLUSION
Mary’s whole life was according to God’s word. She pondered that word and it shaped her life. Luke tells us that when the shepherds made known to Mary what had been told to them about Mary’s child, she treasured all their words and pondered them in her heart. While Jesus’ beatitude embraces Mary in a special way, it has the potential to include us all. We are all called like Mary to live our lives according to God’s word, to treasure that word and ponder it in our hearts, so that it shapes our lives. Dear brethrens, we are all called to hear the word of God as proclaimed by Jesus and then to keep that word, to live by it. Insofar as we allow our lives to be shaped by God’s word, we too will be declared blessed by Jesus, as Mary was.
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