HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 14TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: You received without charge: give without charge.
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA
HOMILY FOR THURSDAY JULY 7 2022
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Hosea 11:1-4,8-9
Psalm 79:2-3,15-16
Matthew 10:7-15
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
Green
*FROM THE FIRST READING*
There is a very motherly image of God in today’s first reading from the prophet Hosea. Speaking through the prophet, God says to Israel, ‘I was like someone who lifts an infant close against his cheek; stooping down to him I have him his food’. It is language suggestive of a mother’s care for her infant child. The quality of God’s love is such that it needs to be expressed in the imagery of both motherly and fatherly love. The best of a father’s love and the best of a mother’s love gives us a glimpse into the nature of God’s love. Jesus was the fullest revelation of God’s love possible.
*FROM THE GOSPEL READING*
In our Gospel passage today, we are encouraged to be faithful disciples and witnesses, like the ones whom the Lord Jesus Himself sent out before Him, to go forth to the many places that He Himself was to visit, and others, so that they might proclaim the Good News of truth to more and more of the people who have not yet known them. The Lord called on those disciples to do His will, and they went forth, dedicating themselves to their ministry. In the same manner, all of us are also called by God in the same way, to turn our backs against our old ways of sin, and to embrace wholeheartedly His path and righteousness.
*CONCLUSION*
The Lord has called on us all, His children and His people to follow Him and to reach out to others who have not yet known Him. And the best way for us to do it, is by living our lives faithfully to the best way we can do it. We have to lead good examples so that we may become inspiration for all others whom we encounter in life, or else, if we do not do so, or worse still, doing things that are contrary to our faith, then we may end up turning people away from God and preventing them from finding their way towards God’s salvation and grace.
Have A Blessed Beginning of the Weekend.
Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA