HOMILY OF 21ST WEDNESDAY IN ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we urge you, brothers, to keep away from any of the brothers who refuses to work or to live according to the tradition we passed on to you.”
BY: Bishop Anthony Ewherido
St. Paul continues his plea for fidelity, loyalty and orthodoxy in our lives as followers of Christ. He cautions against idleness and laziness, as he repeats the old maxim about not allowing anyone have any food if s/he refuses to work. There is no room for fruitless busy-bodies, whose main focus is other peoples’ business. We must focus on being able to bring Christ into our daily activities and encounters. In doing that, we must shun hypocrisy. Matthew 23 is known for Jesus’ very blunt invectives against the scribes and the Pharisees because of the lack of agreement between their confession of faith and their actions.
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Jesus demonstrates zero tolerance for hypocritical living by Christians. It is wrong to believe or teach one thing and do another. Our actions must match our confession of faith. The goal is that we must be Christlike in word, thought, and deed. Bringing Christ into our daily preoccupations, discussions, encounters and actions, and allowing him and the word of God to give direction to our lives, must be primary. Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Augustine, son of St. Monica, whose feast day was yesterday. These two African saints represent the success story of a recalcitrant son and a faith-filled mother. St. Monica prayed for over 30yrs for the conversion of her son, who was a maverick philosopher and socialite with little or no care about religion. Unlike the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, Monica used the keys of prayer to open the doors of conversion into God’s kingdom for her dear son. He later became a priest, a bishop, and one of the greatest doctors of the Christian tradition. While St. Monica is venerated as the patron of mothers, wives and abuse victims, St. Augustine is the “the patron of brewers because of his conversion from a former life of loose living, which included parties, entertainment, and worldly ambitions.” He is also particularly helpful to discerning young people who are struggling with getting a sense of direction in life. He is also one of the grand patrons of Christian theology and theologians. Don’t underestimate the power of prayer.
Lord, give us the courage to live our faith; order the steps of our youth and children in your way. Amen.
St. Augustine; Pray for Us and for our children and youths.
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