ALL WE ARE AND ALL WE HAVE ARE GOD’S GIFTS. (Homily for September 3, 2016. Feast of St. Gregory the Great.

Saturday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time.)
Bible Study: 1st Corinthians 4, 6 to 15 and Luke 6, 1 to 5.


As we celebrate the Feast of St. Gregory the Great today, St. Paul’s words to the Corinthian church really serve as great food for thought for us. There is nothing that we have that was not given to us. Even our very life does not belong to us. And so, we have no reason to be puffed up in favour of or against one another. “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” 1 Corinthians 4, 7.

As I read this passage, I must begin today to tell myself that I am a gift and everything I have is a gift. My talents, my riches, my friends, even my career, my friends were all given to me. Even my ability to write or preach a sermon is God’s gift. That I am able to keep even the least of God’s commandments is not even by my power. It is still by God’s enabling gift called Grace.

Everything I call my own today are gifts not just because naked I came from my mother’s womb but because I cannot really take any credit for them. They do not ultimately belong to me. If I become proud and begin to push others down and cause division because of what I think I have, God can decide to take them away from me.

If I understand my life as a gift, then my top priority should be on how to best positively impact the lives of others for good. People should be happy to have me around and not look for where to hide just because they see me coming. As a gift, my primary concern should be what I can give to others, not about what I can take from them. I should be a generous giver rather than a receiver only.

Jesus perfectly understood his life as a gift to the world. He knew God had given him out of love to save the world so he wasn’t solely concerned about his welfare but the welfare of humanity as a whole. Today the Pharisees catch him doing what was not allowed according the law. He and his disciples were plucking the eating grains from a grainfield on a Sabbath day.

Why should this happen at all? It is because they were hungry. Jesus and his disciples must have been so preoccupied with preaching and moving from place to place that they forgot to make arrangement beforehand as to what they would eat on the Sabbath day. Usually to observe the Sabbath rest, Jews would prepare a whole day’s food ahead so they don’t have to do any form of work at all. But since Jesus and his disciples had no cook and nowhere to lay their heads, they had no choice but to eat the grains they say on the field while they were passing.

Do I forget myself while caring for others? Or do I forget others completely while caring for myself? Do I see myself as a gift to the world or do I simply try to get to the best out of people? What are my greatest priorities? Jesus did not see anything wrong in what he was doing not because he didn’t know the Sabbath rest was an act of worship but because he knew that only living human beings could worship God. If they had died as a result of hunger, they would not be giving honour to God. Eating food to stay alive to do God’s work is just as important as keeping holy the Sabbath day.

Knowing that my life is a gift should inspire me to maintain my health so that I may continue to be of benefit to everyone around me. St. Gregory the Great whose feast we celebrate today knew this very well. He was such a gifted person and he contributed immensely to the development of the Liturgy as we have it today. Most of the great Latin songs we still sing today were composed during his time, hence, they are called the Gregorian Chants. His Papacy was truly a great gift to the Church.

Let Us Pray:
Lord Jesus, use me to the fullest that my life as a gift may bring joy to the world. Amen.

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


Fr. Abu

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