Homily for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
Theme: “THERE IS NO SOUND TREE THAT PRODUCES ROTTEN FRUIT”
By: Fr. Cajetan Anyanwu
Homily for Sunday February 27 2022
This is the 8th Sunday in ordinary time. We need to be on the alert concerning what is going on in the world today. The situation of things in the world today gives a signal as to what our leaders have in mind. Most world leaders are concerned with making and acquiring wealth. Their priority is about staying in power and enjoying their gadgets. They go on heavy security outfits, pressing buttons and reading speeches written by hired press secretaries. They forget what their citizens are passing through. In this sense, the world today is being led by the “blind” which has also made their subjects “blind” too. Jesus asked his disciples: “Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit?” (Lk. 6:39-45). Yes, our world is rotten because it is being led by the blind. No sound fruit shall come from it unless we give God a chance to lead.
In the book of Ecclesiasticus we read, “In a shaken sieve the rubbish is left behind, so too the defects of a man appear in his talk” (Eccl. 27: 4-7). Hence, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” The world leaders tell lies in almost all their speeches. Their deceptive pronouncements keep us bemused and bewildered. The fruit of their deceptive speeches is clearly seen on the face of the earth. “The orchard where the tree grows is judged on the quality of its fruit, similarly a man’s words betray what he feels.” They put God behind and terrible things happen. Invasion, wars, killings, kidnappings and all sorts of wickedness are multiplying daily.
Paul exhorts that the way out of this quagmire the world found itself is to thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He continues: “Never give in then, my dear brothers, never admit defeat; keep on working at the Lord’s work always, knowing that, in the Lord, you cannot be labouring in vain” (1Cor.15:54-58). To fight the good fight, we must try to remove the “planks” in our own eyes before we take out the splinter in the eyes of our leaders. This implies that while we criticize our leaders, let us purify ourselves and our families, for charity begins at home. Happy Sunday!
Fr. Cajetan Anyanwu