HOMILY FOR THE 22ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A. (3)

4TH SUNDAY HOMILY IN ORDINARY TIME / YEAR B



HOMILY FOR THE 22ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.

THEME: SUBMITTING TO THE WILL OF GOD.

BY: Rev Fr Stephen ‘Dayo Osinkoya.

Jeremiah 20:7-9;
Psalm 62
Romans 12:1-2;
Matthew 16:21-27

The theme that ties the readings of today together is “Submitting to the will of God.” There are difficult choices to make if we are to be followers of Christ. Many people are deceived into thinking that following Christ and serving God is a rollercoaster affairs, with fun all the way. That was exactly the case of the prophet, Jeremiah in the first reading we heard today. He was convinced that serving God would lead him to success and an easy untroubled life. But while he grumbled for the difficulties, challenges and persecutions and the seemingly failure he faced, he eventually acknowledged that the Lord and His will had him in the best interest, and that God continued to help and support him amidst all the challenges, and thus Jeremiah continued on to preach the word of God to the people of Judah. Serving God actually involves submitting to the will of God.

The gospel reminds us today that sometimes we can get it wrong. Jeremiah got it wrong. Peter also got it wrong. Peter is scolded by Jesus and told how wrong he is to try to avoid the cross. Getting it wrong is no excuse for us to give up on our faith.

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The Cross (suffering) is often that difficult ‘choices’ we are to make, to keep holding onto faith, and the values that underpin it. But when we do, the joy we receive is immeasurable.

From Jesus advice about being his follower. Two things stand out. He says a follower has to deny  himself or herself and secondly, to take up the cross. The denying of oneself is basically what the prophet Jeremiah talks about when he talks about God burning within him so much that he just has to give up and let it out. When we deny ourselves, we are simply submitting to God’s will as we pray every day: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. By denying ourselves we leave ourselves open to possibilities, to creativity, to hearing God inside us.

The second part of being a follower is to take up our cross. The cross is supposed to be a violent image, as violent as the one of Jeremiah at the beginning of his reading today, but it is rather sad that the cross as become a cute symbol and object of fashion, a household sight and a cute symbol of Christ, but in actuality it is a symbol of one of the most cruel of ways to be murdered.

Accepting and carrying our own cross then means an acceptance of all things life can throw at us – the good and the bad. It is succumbing to the idea that God has something better in store for us because of it, and we don’t second guess what God’s will is.

As a matter of fact, presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice- in humble submission to the will of God is the only sure way of quenching the thirst of our soul and satisfying our human longings

That we accept our sufferings for the sake of bearing witness to Christ doesn’t mean we don’t pray for help with our crosses, with our temptations, with our sins, but we know that Jesus has said we will never be tempted beyond our ability to deal with it. When we can do this, we are a follower of Jesus, and to follow means that you are right behind the person being followed, right behind Jesus. And we shall truly follow him if we are truly seduced and have allowed ourselves to be seduced. Christ hasn’t promised us a roller-coaster, easy life, but a ‘cross-full’ life. Because only the way of the cross leads to eternal glory.

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