Homily for Thursday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Cycle I
Theme: The message of peace!
By: Rev Fr Oselumhense Anetor (Uromi Diocese)
Homily for Thursday November 18 2021
Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts Peter and Paul
I Macc.2:15-29; Luke 19:41-44
Why do human beings love war so much? Weapons of mass destruction continue to be produced by many countries. Nuclear bombs, atomic bombs, rockets, machine guns… Wait a minute! Who’s the enemy? What’s this monstrous giant we’re all trying to kill? We have allowed evil to infest our very beings, all in the name of acrimony and hostility. When Jesus caught sight of Jerusalem in today’s gospel reading, he wept over it because they missed the opportunity of peace when God offered it. They rejected the message of Christ.
Friends, did you know that just as we have St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, there’s also St Paul’s Basilica in the Via Ostiense in Rome? The former was dedicated by Pope St Silvester, while the latter by Pope St. Siricius in the fourth century. Today’s celebration honours the two greatest Apostles of Christ, just as the dedication of St John Lateran expresses unity in the See of Peter, and St Mary Major celebrates the motherhood of the Virgin mother of God. These Holy Royal Houses of God should not only remind us that we’re temples of God, they should also invoke in us a sense of peace. The peace that moves us to embrace God’s message wholeheartedly.
Good morning dear. God bless your day ahead.