HOMILY OF 14TH MONDAY OF ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: SACRAMENTAL FAITH!
BY: Fr. Benedict Agbo
Gen 28:10-22; Psalm 91:1-4, 14-15; Matt 9:18-26
Our relationship with God must begin with a faith experience /encounter. For Jacob, in today’s 1st reading, it began through a dream (under a crisis situation) that left Jacob with a personal experience of an awesome God. Jacob’s ladder was the theological point of contact. Every child of God has a point of contact and a kind of ‘Bethel’ – that is the place where this divine – human contact is made possible. After Jacob’s covenant prayer at Bethel, he became ‘born again’ – his life became different because he now lived and moved with God, Act 17: 28. He built a place of contact at Bethel.
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Faith normally grows when we make a home for God in our lives. God wants to be part of our lives and the most normal way in which God through Jesus enters our lives is through the sacraments. Sacramental faith is a special kind of faith that makes inward grace possible through an outward sign. Every sacrament has its matter and form eg the touching of the garment of Jesus was the material point of contact which the woman of haemorrhage used to get her inward healing. The bread and wine, for example, is the material point of contact by which we encounter Christ in the Eucharist for those who have this kind of faith.
There are two important things required for God to manifest in our lives; faith and humility. As soon as Jacob recognized God, believed in him and began a deep prayer life, the difference was clear in his life. As soon as the Ruler recognized Jesus and knelt down before him and prayed inspite of the desperate situation of the death of his only daughter, Jesus intervened. As soon as the woman of haemorrhage determined that only a touch of Jesus’ garments could heal her, it was all over. May God give us this kind of faith (sacramental faith) and the humility to bow down before the Blessed Sacrament and place our requests in moments of desperation. May God bless you today!
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