HOMILY FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A. (5)

HOMILY FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.

THEME: Trusting in God

BY: Fr. Luke Ijezie

 

Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13
Resp.Psalm 146:6-10
1Corinthians 1:26-31
Matthew 5:1-12a

This 4th Sunday of the year presents to us the true path to happiness in life. It involves total trust in God. This can be understood in the light of the use of three significant terms in the readings of today. These include: seek, happy and rejoice.

1. Seek: The first concept that strikes one is the term seek. It is used three times in the first reading from Zeph 2:3; 3:12-13. The three statements include: seek the Lord O you humble of the earth; seek justice; seek humility! All these are unified in the fact that all who seek the Lord are those who recognise God as their refuge. They tell no lies; they are honest and do no harm to others. So they are the ones who seek justice and humility. Their boast is only about the Lord, as Paul says in the second reading from 1Cor 1:26-31. They know that everything they are and possess comes from God. So they seek God with all their heart and and treat all God’s creatures with great respect.

2. Happy: The second signficant term is “happy”. What really makes us happy, one may ask? Is it the amount of wealth we possess or the fame and applause we get? All these can raise our ego but they do not necessarily guarantee happiness. Jesus gives the recipe for happiness in the Gospel of today from Matt 5:1-12. Ironically, the happy ones, for Jesus, are the poor in spirit, the gentle, those who mourn, those who seek justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted in the cause of right and those abused for Christ’s sake. These nine groups of persons are unified by one thing: they see God as their portion and defender. They depend totally on God and trust him with all their heart. So they are tranquil and happy. Despite their condition of fragility and deprivation, they are contented because they believe God defends them, as the Psalmist of today’s Psalm 146:6-10 affirms.

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3. Rejoice: The third significant term is “rejoice”. This is a great feeling of joy and delight. Those who seek the Lord are asked in the Gospel of today to rejoice and be glad because of a great future heavenly reward. Once again, one needs great trust in God’s promises in order to rejoice.
Our daily search for happiness often hits a rock because we search it in the wrong places and in the wrong ways. The word of God today urges us to trust in God and seek him with humility in order to find genuine happiness. May we never tire in putting all our trust in Him!

 

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