WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS. (Homily for April 29, 2016. Friday of the 5th Week of Easter)


Bible Study: Acts 15, 22 to 31 and John 15, 12 to 17.


Finally, the question of circumcision was settled as we read in today’s first reading. The Gentiles who were not part of the old covenant do not need to bear the mark of that covenant in their bodies for accepting to be Christians. Now it had become clear that circumcision itself contributes nothing to salvation. Rather, it is because of what Christ did for us on the cross that we have the privilege of going to heaven.

In some cultures in the world, the practice of circumcision still holds sway but then, their explanation for doing this is nothing more than the maintenance of some ancient culture. Some cultures even hold certain myths regarding the practice. For instance, I have heard that females who are circumcised are more likely to be well-behaved and less immoral than those who are not. Again, there is no solid proof of this.

It is not by mutilating one’s genitals that he or she would be holy rather as Moses himself said, what is more important is to: “circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” Deuteronomy 10, 16. It is the heart itself that needs mutilation; that tendency in us to live according to our flesh as though we are ordinary animals – that is what we must cut off. 

And we mutilate our hearts not just for the fun it but because we are friends of Jesus. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus calls us his friends but as we can see, only very few people living on this planet today realize this and concretize it in their lives. As the saying goes, “Show me your friends, and I will tell you who you are.” By the way we live, it shows that Jesus is not our friend.

The first guarantee of our friendship with Jesus is our ability to love others just as Jesus himself loved us. Jesus says quite plainly: “YOU ARE MY FRIENDS ‘IF’ YOU DO WHAT I COMMAND YOU.” And what has he commanded us? To love. And what kind of love? To lay down our lives for our enemies, to not resist when we are attacked, to refuse to hate even those who are taught to hate us.

In the wake of the Fulani herdsmen menace, there is a growing tendency among Christians to hate and treat with suspicion all those from the North as well as our gatemen, our shoe-makers, our okada-riders. But then, this attitude of hate is not Christlike. Christ never thought us to hate but to love. It is our love, not our hatred that will succeed in converting the lost sheep in the end.

Today, also we remember a great saint and doctor of the church, St. Catherine of Siena. Her life was one of deep piety and love for Jesus as a best friend. When she was still very young, she was favoured with celestial visions and began to practice severe austerities. At 16, she became a Dominican tertiary and undertook the care of lepers even from her own home. At times, she would go on for days without eating anything other than the Holy Eucharist. She prayed incessantly and suffered especially for sinners who refused to pray for themselves. Many came to her to seek her advice and some received miraculous healing when she prayed for them. Although she, like Padre Pio suffered the Stigmata, she radiated so much joy that one would hardly realise how much suffering she was passing though. Catherine died on the 29th of April 1380 aged barely 33. Her famous writing is titled “Dialogue.” And for this and other spiritual writings, she was proclaimed a doctor of the church by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, may my friendship with you teach me to circumcise my heart from immorality and hate. Amen.

St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us.


God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.

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