Bible
Study: Isaiah 53, 10 to 11. Hebrews 4, 14 to 16. And Mark
10, 35 to 45.
Just yesterday
in our Gospel passage, Jesus addressed us saying: “Everyone who acknowledges me
before men, the Son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but
he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” Luke 12,
8 to 9. This is the summary of today’s homily.
As we
celebrate the World Mission Sunday today, we are reminded of our primary duty
as Christians which is: witnessing to the truth that Christ lives by first and
foremost, the standard of our lives, our good example and by our words. A great
man once said: “Preach Christ, but use words only when necessary.”
According
to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, in his message for this year’s world mission
Sunday, “being a missionary is not about proselytizing or mere strategy;
mission is part of the ‘grammar’ of faith, something essential for those who
listen to the voice of the Spirit who whispers ‘Come’ and ‘Go forth.’ Those who
follow Christ cannot fail to be missionaries, for they know that Jesus ‘walks
with them, speaks to them, and breathes with them.”
This means
that, no one can say he is a Christian and not a missionary at the same time. Whatever
makes you a Christian also makes you a missionary by that very fact. We all
became missionaries the day we became Christians and as long as we live, we
continue to witness to Christ on a continuous basis. By whatever we do or
refuse to do, by whatever we say or refuse to say, by whatever we wear or
refuse to wear, by the way we talk or refuse to talk, we are witnessing! It is either
we are proclaiming Christ or denying him but whichever way, we continue to
witness.
Being a
missionary is not about going about with a Bible in one hand and a bell in the
other hand, yes, being a missionary does not exclude such activities, but it is
not restricted to those. Mission work is the very air we breathe. Even after
going about from house to house and finally coming home to rest, the missionary
activity continues and even in a more powerful way. Most of the time, we
Christians by our very life give Christ highly negative publicity as every sin
we indulge in is an act of mission and a proclamation of what we truly believe.
A man once
asked a woman out and she said, “Sir, can’t you see I am married?” And the man
responded, “Am I not also married?,” then she continued, “I can’t do this, I hold
a position in the church” but the man laughed and said, “I am also holding a
high position in my own church as well.” Do you realise that by the action of
this man, he is preaching? What is he preaching? I will tell you. He is saying,
“I serve a God who is blind, deaf and dumb, I am a Christian because Christ
died for me but Christ no longer exists at least he is no longer physically
present so I do whatever I like, I attend a church and I even hold a position,
but really for me, it is just a social gathering, I have a Bible but the rules
it contains are not meant for humans. So come, let us enjoy. Life is short.” As
strange as this may sound, many people are unconsciously preaching this very
message and converting millions by the day with it. That is why despite the
ever increasing number of Christians and churches in our world today, evil
continues to reign.
Yes,
mission work is not something we do, it is the very life we live. The story has
been told of a young man who went about preaching a whole day only to return
home to meet that his wife had not prepared food, he was so hungry and angry
that he raised his voice against her attracting the neighbours who ran to his
wife’s rescue and surprised to see that she was about to receive a beating of
her life. All they said was, “Hmmmmm, Pastor!!! We didn’t expect this from you
oh.” And some others said, “So, is this how you molest your wife at home and
yet every morning, you will not let anybody rest, what nonsense?”
We do not
need to answer “Pastor,” or “Evangelist” to witness for Christ. All we need is
to know that by the very life we live, we are constantly witnessing. You may be
working in a bank for instance yet your very life may convert more souls for
God than one who went to the seminary for ten years. You may even be a staff of
a night club or work in an environment not considered as holy but with your very
understanding of your identity as a bearer of Christ, you succeed in touching
souls. Remember that the people who brought the message of Christ to us were
not the Pharisees, not the Scribes, not those who were ordained priests or
trained to preach, the people who brought the message of Christ to us and
transformed the world with his powerful message were ordinary fishermen, tax
collectors, accountants, zealots. Where the priests who were supposed to be
professionals failed, these non-professionals succeeded.
So even
today, many only come to church on a Sunday like this, listen to the message
and go back, they say to themselves, “Father is able to preach because he is
different from us, I swear, if father is in my shoes, he would understand how
difficult it is to do the right thing.” Or they may say, “Father, all these
things you preach about is true oh, but they are easier said than done.” In
other words, the homily at mass for some reason does not make as much impact. Dear
friends, true conversion begins when you, despite not being a priest decide to
live out fully the demands of your faith as a Christian. Then, those who
believe that “Father is an angel” or that “Father is different” would be
seriously challenged and re-think their ways. Those who feel that the homily
contains ideals easier said than done will be so surprised and reflect when
they see you as a layperson living them out. This is how we perform our duty as
missionaries.
Dear
friends, from our readings today, we can decipher a very important ingredient
that would go a long way to determine whether or not, we would ever succeed in
our duty as missionaries for God. What is this ingredient? It is a WILLINGNESS to
SUFFER, it is DYING TO THE SELF to the extent that nothing else is left. It is
accepting to be bruised, accepting to follow the narrow path of grief, it is
making and offering of our very selves for the sake of the good of others as
the Prophet Isaiah proclaims in the first reading. It is a LETTING GO of things
we consider most precious to us, it is selling everything we have to purchase
that field on which we have found true treasure, treasures that no moth and
rust can destroy, treasures that thieves cannot break in and steal, treasures
that no earthly banker can keep.
What is
this ingredient? It is drinking the CUP of PERSECUTION to which Jesus invited
James and John when they asked for seats at his right and left hand. It is for
us to know that we cannot get to heaven unless we are determined to do
everything possible to get there. James and John were willing and I praise their
willingness and courage for walking up to Jesus to put up a bold request at
this. Many of us because we are afraid of drinking this cup of suffering are so
timid when it comes to things of heaven, we would rather wait for heaven to
come to us than for us to walk up to Jesus to ask for it.
You cannot
succeed in your primary task as a missionary unless you die to the self. Remember,
in your bid to proclaim Christ by your life, your greatest temptations would
come through the things or the people you love most, the things you hold most
precious, the things you believe you cannot do without. And when such
temptations come, you have only two choices; negative proclamation or positive
proclamation. Satan did not tempt Christ with food when he was beginning his fasting,
he waited till he had completed it and just when he knew Christ was hungry.
Satan will not tempt you with money if you are contented with what you have, he
will tempt you when you are down to nothing and he will tempt you in such a way
that you wouldn’t even know you are being tempted till you have sinned.
Most of
the time we sin, we often tell ourselves or others that we had “no choice” but
the truth is that if a hungry Jesus could say “No!”, we too have what it takes
to say “No!.” But this No will come out of our mouths ONLY when you die inwardly
to the self. Yes, we are weak creatures but this is all the more reason why the
book of Hebrews says, we are not alone! We have a high priest who went through
every single temptation any human can go through and he came out victorious. So
therefore, he understands us better than we think, Let us therefore approach
his throne of grace with Confidence and ask for the grace, that is, the STRENGTH
we need to continue proclaiming our faith positively as his missionaries.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, I come before your throne of grace today. Forgive me for my past life of
not representing you well. Help me to begin afresh today. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Mission Sunday.
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