REFLECTIONS/HOMILY OF 7TH MONDAY OF EASTER – YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: BE BRAVE, FOR I HAVE CONQUERED THE WORLD
BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA
Acts 19:1-8, Psalm 67:2-7, John 16:29-33
INTRODUCTION
Good morning my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate Monday of the 7th Week of Easter, Liturgical Calendar Year B. Today is also the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.
FROM OUR FIRST READING
A manifestation of the disciples’ mission to bear witness to Jesus to the ends of the earth is found in the First Reading. Paul is now on his Third Missionary Journey. He traveled through Galatia and visited the churches there for a third time. He makes his way to the coast, to Ephesus, where Apollos has been preaching about Jesus. Now, Apollos was an eloquent man, well versed in Scripture, but was familiar only with John’s baptism of repentance. Aquila and Priscilla, a married couple who became co-workers with Paul, instructed Apollos and expounded the Christian Way to him more accurately. After this, Apollos left Ephesus and headed to Corinth, to a Church founded by Paul on his Second Missionary Journey. There Apollos will help the believers and confute the Jews publicly, showing by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. When Paul arrives at Ephesus, he inquires whether or not the disciples have received the Holy Spirit. It turns out that they only received the baptism of John. John the Baptist was not the Messiah or the Prophet. He was the messenger who prepared the way for the Lord to come. He was the voice in the desert who prepared the way for the Word of God.
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Not only does Paul baptize the twelve men of Ephesus in the name of Jesus, but he also confirms them in the Spirit by laying his hands upon them. The twelve men receive the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in tongues and prophesy. It is like another Pentecost.
FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
There is a great realism about the words that Jesus speaks to his disciples in this morning’s gospel reading. He says to them on the evening of the last supper, ‘the time will come when you will all be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone’. That is precisely what happened; the disciples went their own way in the hour of Jesus’ passion and death; theylooked out for themselves. In an equally realistic vein, Jesus says to his disciples, ‘in the world you will have trouble’. Jesus was aware that his disciples would soon have to travel their own way of the cross. Jesus names the painful realities that are ahead. There is no pretence, no wishful thinking, noavoidance. Yet, having painted that somewhat negative picture of the future, Jesus goes on to say to his disciples, ‘I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me… be brave, I have conquered the world’.
CONCLUSION
In spite of the failure and the suffering ahead, Jesus wants his followers, wants all of us to be brave, because his love is stronger than sin, stronger than suffering and death. He offers us the gift of his peace, a peace the world cannot give. It is the peace of knowing that the Lord is faithful and is always at work in even the most unpromising and painful of situations.
ABOUT THE FEAST OF THE DAY
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, commemorating the Apparitions of the Blessed Mother of God, Mary most Holy at the site of Cova da Iria near the small town of Fatima in Portugal, over a century ago to young children-shepherds, namely St. Francisco Marto and St. Jacinta Marto who were siblings, and their cousin, the Venerable Lucia dos Santos. They had actually begun experiencing the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Fatima from the previous year, 1916. Historically, it was known that Mary, the Mother of God had made appearances during times and moments when wars and conflicts happened in the world, where a lot of hardships, sufferings and trials were faced by the people, and a lot of wickedness and evils were present all around everyone.
May the Holy Mother of God, Our Lady of Fatima, our loving Mother and intercessor, continue to pray for us and to guide us patiently as she has always done all these while. May we continue to seek the Lord, by focusing our attention Him through gazing upon the loving face of our beloved Mother, who has shown us the path forward in life as disciples and followers of Our Lord. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
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