HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 14TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA
HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY JULY 6 2022
Memorial of Saint Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Hosea 10:1-3,7-8,12
Psalm 104:2-7
Matthew 10:1-7
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
Green/Red
*ABOUT OUR FIRST READING*
In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Hosea, who came to bring forth the word of God to those people who had rejected Him for so many years, refusing to listen to the advice and words of the prophets who had been sent to them to remind them and help them on their way, in rejecting the kindness and compassion that the Lord had extended to them for a long time, all the patience that He had shown them. Hence, through Hosea and other prophets, the Lord made it known that the kingdom of Israel would be crushed and destroyed.
*ABOUT OUR GOSPEL READING*
In our Gospel passage today, we then heard the Lord Jesus and His calling of the Twelve Apostles, as He called on each one of them to be the chief ones among His disciples and followers. Each one of them were called from different places and they had different backgrounds and origins, but all of them were called with a mission, to be the ones through Whom God would perform and continue His many good works among the people, and to establish and allow His Church in this worlds to grow and flourish. They were all imperfect men and people with issues and troubles, whom God called to a new existence and holy life, and gave them the strength and guidance to do so.
*WHY TODAY IS A SPECIAL DAY*
Today all of us should heed the good examples set by St. Maria Goretti, the renowned saint and martyr, who died in her youth in the defence of her purity and faith. St. Maria Goretti was a martyr of purity and she dedicated her life to the Lord through prayer and devotions from a very young age. It was then that one of the tenants who stayed with St. Maria Goretti, whose young teenage son named Alessandro was enamoured with her and in one occasion when he was alone with her, the teenage Alessandro made advances on St. Maria Goretti and tried to rape her. St. Maria Goretti refused persistently and that made the young man angry, and he stabbed her several times before fleeing.
*CONCLUSION*
As she was dying, St. Maria Goretti told her mother and others than she forgave her assailant and prayed for him. Alessandro was arrested and imprisoned, and it was told that St. Maria Goretti appeared to him in prison in one occasion, and all that helped the young man to turn over a new leaf. Ever since henceforth, Alessandro, the one who had given in to his desires and killed St. Maria Goretti, resolved to live his life righteously and spent his life in constant penance and in striving for a more holy life and existence, seeking for forgiveness from the martyr’s mother and doing good works for the Church and the community. He eventually lived long enough to see St. Maria Goretti raised to the glory of the Altar in her canonisation as a saint.
*BLESSINGS*
May the Lord be with us all and may He give us the strength and the courage to follow Him from day to day, and to give our best in our mission as part of His Church, always and evermore. St Maria Goretti Pray For Us.
Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA