HOLINESS BEGINS FROM THE INSIDE. (Homily for August 23, 2016. Tuesday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time.)

Bible Study: 2ND Thessalonians 2, 1 to 17 and Matthew 23, 23 to 26.


How would you feel walking through the streets of the best neighbourhood in your city admiring the beautiful houses you see wishing you live there? Then one day, a friend invites you over to one of those houses you had been admiring so much from the outside only to get inside and be greeted with a repulsive smell, the whole place untidy, the walls not even painted, pictures scattered all over the place and not even a place to sit down. You are admiring the building from the outside but you cannot breathe inside. You cannot even drink a cup of water because you see maggots, flies and huge chunky rats dragging for territory inside. How would you feel?

I recall while growing up in this city. We didn’t have a car back then so we trekked to and from school every day. Actually, cars were scarce those days. To own a car was to earn the title of “big man.” I recall how we used to play on the streets because we were almost sure there would be no car coming at least within a ten minute interval. Most of the cars we knew of were the 504 and 505 Peugeot. But we had a neighbour who had a Toyota Jeep. Whenever we see this jeep, we would stop whatever we were doing to wave to it as if the jeep itself were some personality. We also did that when we saw an airplane passing. Having admired this jeep so much, the best day of my early life came one day when on my way from school I was soaked in the rain and the owner recognised me and pulled over to take me home. To cut the long story short, that day I lost my admiration for Jeeps. I wished I never saw the inside. It was so bad that I started avoiding been seen by our neighbour on the street so as not to enter his jeep.

Again, there is another experience I had. While in the seminary, I had pimples in my face and there was a particular type of soap recommended for me. Based on my pocket money then, this soap was very expensive for me but I had no choice to stick to it since it was helping me clear my oily face. But instead of buying the quantity I would need for a semester, I would rather buy just one at a time promising myself that I would minimise my usage so it can carry me for long. One day, I ran out and I went to the market to look for it. To my greatest surprise I couldn’t find it in the regular shops so I kept walking across the entire market from shop to shop praying I would find it. All I could hear is that the company had stopped producing the soap, suggestions were made for alternatives. After walking and walking I finally saw a shop that still had the old stock. The shop keeper took some time to dig out the soap for me and I felt a deep relief when he shouted from inside, “Wow, thank God oh, I still get am oh.” But upon bringing it, I felt disgusted at the carton. It was looking like he picked up the soap from a seven story pack of debris. I couldn’t even hold it. but when I complained about the look of the carton, the shopkeeper said something that got me thinking: “Oga, na wetin dey inside you dey buy oh.”

Dear friends, it is what is inside that matters. God is not interested in our external display of holiness if in fact our minds are full of impurity, immorality and all sorts of evil machinations, hatred and bitterness. Let us not be like the hypocrites Jesus strongly condemns in our Gospel passage. Clean the inside of the cup first before proceeding to clean the outside.

Never the less, when we say holiness begins on the inside, we mean to say it should not be restricted to the inside only. It should spread from the inside like a tree whose roots are firmly set deep within the ground and then come out. Don’t dress half naked and begin to walk on the street saying after all, holiness is a matter of the heart. Of course, holiness is a matter of the heart but the mere fact that you are comfortable walking around in that dress shows your heart is really very dirty. Normal people will find it difficult to step an inch out of their rooms in that same dress.

Even though Jesus is emphasising purity of heart, he is not saying that we should neglect the external. Take a look at his words: “First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, THAT the outside may also be clean.” If the inside is actually clean, there is no way the outside can be dirty. It is possible to clean the outside without cleaning the inside but it is not possible to clean the inside without affecting the outside.

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, make me clean, inside first, and then out. Amen. 

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


Fr. Abu

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