HOMILY FOR THURSDAY, WEEKDAY WITHIN THE CHRISTMAS TIME.
THEME: We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph.
BY: Fr. Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
HOMILY FOR JANUARY 5TH.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
1 John 3:11-21
Psalm 99
John 1:43-51
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
WHITE
*ABOUT OUR FIRST READING*
In our first reading of today, we are reminded to love one another. If us believers do not practice love and instead cause hurt and harm to each other, then we are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers. St. John is telling us that, the people of God not to follow the example of Cain who killed his brother out of jealousy, as a reminder that as Christians, all of us are brothers and sisters to one another, and we cannot look upon others with hatred or mischief in our hearts and minds, or else, we cannot call ourselves as Christians or followers and disciples of Christ.
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*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
Nathanael is a gospel character who appears only in the gospel of John. Philip had recently come to recognize Jesus as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah and he wanted to share his new-found faith with Nathanael. However, Nathanael gave him short shrift, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’ When someone responds to our faith in that kind of dismissive tone, it can be quite undermining of our faith. Yet, it seems that Philip’s faith was not undermined by Nathanael’s scepticism. He gently persisted with Nathanael, inviting him to ‘come and see’. As a result, Nathanael made his way to Jesus and went on to make a very strong confession of faith in Jesus, ‘you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel’. Nathanael had come a long way, even though he was still at the beginning stages of his faith journey.
*CONCLUSION*
The person of Philip can be an encouragement to his all. He witnessed to his faith gently but powerfully, even in the face of great resistance. His faith was rooted in his own encounter with Jesus, rather than being dependant on how others responded to his faith. Our own faith too will remain strong if it is rooted in our own personal encounter with the Lord. That encounter, that relationship, will allow us to go on believing even in an environment that is unsupportive or, perhaps, hostile to our faith. If we remain faithful and keep witnessing to our faith, we might be surprised at the ways the Lord can draw others to himself through us, even sceptical Nathanaels.
Lord increase my faith and love in You.
Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
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