HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 21ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME.
THEME: He is coming at an hour you do not expect.
BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
1 Thessalonians 3:7-13
Psalm 89:3-4,12-14,17
Matthew 24:42-51
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
GREEN
*INTRODUCTION*
Good morning dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Thursday of week 21 in Ordinary Time, Year A.
*ABOUT OUR FIRST READING*
At the beginning of our first reading, Paul says to the church he had recently established, ‘your faith has been a great comfort to us in the middle of our own troubles and sorrows’. Paul was a great preacher of the gospel, a leading figure in the early church. Yet, he needed the faith of others to sustain his own faith. In today’s first reading, the faith of his young church led him to give thanks to God for them and for all the joy their faith had brought him. We can never underestimate how our own faith and the living of our faith can be a support to other people of faith. When others support us in faith, we are drawn to supporting them in faith in turn. This is what we find happening in our first reading. In response to the church’s support of him, Paul supports them by praying for them, ‘May the Lord be generous in increasing your love… may he confirm your hearts in holiness.
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*ABOUT OUR GOSPEL READING*
In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the parable of the faithful and prudent servant, versus that of faithless, lazy and wicked servant. Each of those servants had different attitudes towards what their lord and master had told and commanded them to do, as the latter went away to a far away place. The faithful and prudent servant did everything that he could in order to fulfil all of his master’s commands, doing his duties and works faithfully and obediently, diligently and properly while the wicked and lazy servant delayed in doing what he was supposed to do, neglected his obligations and works, and abused his authority and power granted to him by his lord and master. We then heard how each of the servants were correspondingly rewarded and punished, the faithful and prudent servant rewarded greatly for all the commitment and hard work that he had made, but the lazy and wicked servant punished and faced the consequences of his disobedience and laziness.
*CONCLUSION*
Many of us have probably been idle in living our Christian faith in our lives, and we may have not realised that to be Christians is for us to be evangelising and missionary in our lives and actions, in our every works and indeed in our every moments in life. But lest we misunderstand, it does not mean that we preach the Gospels and the Scriptures to those people whom we meet, encounter and collaborate with in life. Rather, it is a genuine Christian living that each and every one of us are expected to do, so that even in the smallest and seemingly least significant things we say and do, we can truly proclaim the Lord in all the things we have, and through our exemplary lives and deeds, we may inspire many more people to come to know the Lord and to believe in Him. That is what we should be doing, brothers and sisters.
The Lord be with You.
*Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.*
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