Homily for April 4, 2017.
Every sin
is an act of rebellion and rebellion begins with dissatisfaction. To rebel is
to challenge authority and demand for certain privileges or benefits which one
feels deprived of.
When Adam
and Eve were tempted, Satan said certain things to them that made them
unsatisfied with God such that they started feeling God was keeping certain
privileges away from them and that God was not allowing them enjoy their full
potentials.
Look at
the words of the serpent: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will
be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” “So when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and
that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and
ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.” Genesis 3, 5 to 6.
The
dissatisfaction of Adam and Eve is the same dissatisfaction we often feel that
leads us to rebel against God. This is the same dissatisfaction the people of
Israel felt during their journey in the desert as captured by our first reading
this morning:
“And the
people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of
Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we
loathe this worthless food.” Numbers 21:5. Imagine calling the manna God fed
them with a worthless food?
Check out
any country where you hear of rebels fighting the authority. Why are they
fighting? They want more! They feel something precious is kept from them and
they want to demand for it by all means.
For
instance, when God says: “thou shall not commit adultery”, a commandment that
demands chastity, we get to a certain age and we begin to regard purity as
“worthless food,” we become dissatisfied.
We feel
cheated, we feel God must be so unfair in restricting us and keeping away
“pleasures of life” from us. This is why we rebel against God and indulge
ourselves in unchaste acts.
We steal,
we covert, we tell lies and so on just because we are never satisfied. Just as
rebellion led to the death of many in Israel, sin destroys us. The fiery
serpents God sent on the people represents what we incur on ourselves by being
dissatisfied God and his commandments!
By accusing
God of depriving us of certain things we think we should have, we question his
love, we question his wisdom and even his ability to give us the best. And our dissatisfaction
brings sorrow.
But then,
that is not the end of the story. There is Good news. The people came to their
senses and repented. They said to Moses: “We have sinned…!” When they realized
their faults, they cried to God for mercy and he pitied them by asking Moses to
make that bronze serpent to be a SIGN.
As
powerful as the bronze serpent was, it remained only a sign. Years later, we
would realize the power behind that sign when Jesus came in the flesh. As he
said in the Gospel passage “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you
will know that I am he.” John 8:28.
In other
words, Jesus was the power behind the curative effects of the bronze serpent. This
is why we have crucifixes in our places of worship, in our cars, on our desks,
on our walls at home, even on our necks. We put the cross everywhere to remind
ourselves, to lift up Jesus and constantly look upon him throughout the day.
Each time
you look at the cross of Jesus, don’t just stare. Look with faith, look up and
receive healing. We have so many fiery serpents biting us on every side,
serpents we have brought on ourselves because of our sinfulness. We must look
at the cross for healing, we must keep looking for direction, for wisdom and
for freedom from the spirit of dissatisfaction.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, teach me to trust you by finding inner
satisfaction. Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Tuesday of the 5th Week of Lent. Bible
Study: Numbers 21:4-9 and John 8:21-30).
Fr. Abu.
No comments:
Post a Comment