HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 21ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: He is coming at an hour you do not expect.
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA
HOMILY FOR THURSDAY AUGUST 25 2022
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Psalm 144:2-7
Matthew 24:42-51
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
GREEN
*FROM OUR FIRST READING*
In the first reading, Saint Paul reminds the church in Corinth, and us, of other ways that the Lord comes to us. He comes to us through what St Paul calls there, ‘the gifts of the Holy Spirit’. Paul declares, ‘you will not be without any of the gifts of the Holy Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed’. We are all waiting for the Lord to be revealed at the end of time and at the end of our personal lives, but in the meantime the Lord comes to us through the various gifts of the Holy Spirit that we all keep receiving. Paul says to the church in that reading, ‘I thank God that you have been enriched is so many ways’.
*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
In the gospel reading, Jesus calls on us to stay awake, to stand ready, for the coming of the Son of Man, his own coming. When does the Lord come to us? There is a sense in which the Lord comes to us every day of our lives. He comes to us in a special way at every Eucharist. He comes to us in and through each other.
*CONCLUSION*
Dear brethren, the Lord is always enriching us in and through the Holy Spirit. To stay awake, or to stand ready, is to recognize the ways the Lord is enriching us through his various gifts of the Holy Spirit and to live out of those gifts. The Lord is always gracing us and gifting us to give us the strength we need to bear witness to him in our lives. We are called to stand ready to receive those gifts, so that we can become all the Lord is calling us to be.
The Lord be with You!
Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA