HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
THEME : It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean.
BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA.
READINGS OF THE DAY
1 Kings 10:1-10
Psalm 36:5-6,30-31,39-40
Mark 7:14-23
LITURGICAL COLOUR
GREEN
INTRODUCTION
Good morning my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time of Year B.
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FROM OUR FIRST READING
In our first reading today we heard of the famous encounter between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Israel, when the former came to Jerusalem, to the land of Israel from her distant kingdom. Sheba is often associated with the region now known as Ethiopia, as a region and kingdom rich in gold, spices and other worldly goods, and the great riches of her kingdom was what the Queen of Sheba brought to Jerusalem with her, as she went on a journey to seek audience with Solomon, the famous King of Israel, full of Wisdom and grace of God, whose wisdom and power, glory and fame were without compare at that time.
FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
the gospel reading Jesus makes a distinction between what is on the outside of a person and what is within. The religious experts of the time were very concerned about certain external rituals that needed to be performed if a person was to be right with God. Jesus declares that what is much more important in God’s eyes is what is within the heart of the person, because what is within a person determines a person’s moral behaviour, how they speak and how they act. This is what matters to God rather than various ritual washings of one kind or another or what people eat or don’t eat.
CONCLUSION
Dear Friends in Christ, as in yesterday’s gospel reading, Jesus is saying that the religious experts of the time are not getting their priorities right. Their priorities are not God’s priorities. The most important part of a tree is its roots, which are invisible because they go down deep into the earth. Jesus is suggesting God wants us to look deeply into ourselves with a view to getting our depths right. Our inner life will determine the quality of our outer, observable life. Our underlying attitudes and values are what really matters. We need to keep working on our inner core, or, rather, allow the Lord to keep working on it, asking him to keep on renewing our heart so that it corresponds more to his heart.
I wish everyone a Blessed Wednesday. You are a blessing in your own way.
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