HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 28TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF YEAR II.
THEME: Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.’
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA.
HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OCTOBER 13 2022.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Ephesians 1:1-10
Psalm 97:1-6
Luke 11:47-54
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
GREEN
*FROM OUR FIRST READING*
This morning we began reading from the letter to the Ephesians, and we will be reading from it on weekdays for the next two weeks. We heard the beginning of the letter this morning. It is a wonderful prayer of praise to God for all the ways that God has blessed us in Christ. It speaks of ‘the richness of the grace which God has showered on us’ through the coming of Christ. In what does this richness of God’s grace consist in? According to the reading, it includes our being adopted as sons and daughters of God, sharing in Christ’s relationship with God, the forgiveness of our sins, and God’s ultimate plan to bring everything together under Christ as head. There is so much to ponder and learn from this beautiful letter.
*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
In today’s gospel reading Jesus criticizes the lawyers, the experts in Jewish religious law, for taking away the key of knowledge. Their study should have given them access to God’s truth and to the person of Jesus who was the full revelation of God’s truth. However, not only are they in the process of rejecting Jesus, they are also influencing others to do the same. In the words of the gospel reading, ‘they have not gone in themselves and have prevented others going in who wanted to’. Jesus was always very critical of those who were an obstacle to other people coming to faith in him, who prevented others from coming to discover him as God’s truth for themselves.
*CONCLUSION*
Dear brothers and sisters, like the lawyers, we do not go in ourselves, if we are not trying to come to Jesus ourselves, then we will not be able to lead others to Jesus and may well find ourselves preventing others from coming to him. The reverse is also true. As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we make it easier for others to do the same. We have an influence on each other’s faith, in one direction or another. If we are trying to grow in our faith, we won’t necessarily lead others to the Lord. However, if our faith is growing ever weaker, we certainly won’t lead others to the Lord. Our primary responsibility is to go in ourselves, in the language of the gospel reading. Having done so, we can be sure that the Lord will find a way to work through us to touch the lives of others.
May the Good Lord bless us all.