HOMILY OF TUESDAY 11TH WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: LOVING IN GOD’S WAY
BY: Fr. Karabari Paul
‘If you are good only to your friends, you are no better than other people.’
Matthew 5:47
We have the natural disposition to love only family members, friends, and those we are comfortable with; the ones who are most like us and the ones that we think are easy to love. But if we are trying to become more like Jesus, we need to stop thinking about people the way that the world thinks about them.
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God’s love doesn’t change depending on what we do or don’t do. In the Gospel of today (Matthew 5:43-48), Jesus said, ‘Your Father in heaven…causes the sun to rise on good people and…evil people…he sends rain to those who do right and…those who do wrong. If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that. And if you are good only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don’t know God [do that]…you must be perfect [mature] just as your Father in heaven is.’ God’s love towards us is ‘perfect’ because it is unconditional and non-judgmental.
The Bible says when we were His enemies, ‘He showed his great love…by sending Christ to die for us’ (Romans 5:8). And we need to make sure that we love others without judging them, too. The Bible says: ‘Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love…if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another’ (1 John 4:8,11). It couldn’t be clearer. We are called to love others as God loves us.
So let us try and show His love to everyone, not just those we find easy to love. It can be difficult to pray for our enemies, but Christ Himself prayed for those who made themselves His enemies. We can do the same. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, heal our world, bless and protect us all through Christ Our Lord Amen.
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