Homily
for October 17, 2017.
I guess some
of us have seen the short comedy by Emmanuella and Company. A professor tried
to prove that God does not exist simply because He could not be seen or
touched. Using his own terms, the little girl also proved to him that he has no
sense since he could neither see nor touch his sense.
The Psalmist
puts it quite plainly: “Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’ Psalm
14:1. For anyone to assume that God is only a figment of imagination, such a
person must really be very foolish and this exactly is what St. Paul teaches us
in our first reading this morning:
“For what can
be known about God is plain to them… So they are without excuse; for though
they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they
became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming
to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:19-22.
Immorality in
our world today is simply a direct reflection of the fact that people no longer
believe God exists. If I believe in God, then I would realize that God gave us
rules for living, I would be afraid of God and try as much as I can not to ever
offend God.
But when I
don’t believe that God exists, I treat my body as I like. No wonder St. Paul
says: “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity…
Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way
also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion
for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men.” Romans 1:24-27
Coming to our
Gospel passage, we hear Jesus referring to the Pharisees as fools not because
they didn’t believe that God exists, but because they offered to God mere
lip-service (notice – me), while their hearts were far from God.
“Now you
Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full
of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make
the inside also?” Luke 11:39-40.
It is not
enough that I worship God in the presence of others, even in secret, even when
I am alone, even in my innermost mind, my worship must be pure as ever.
Otherwise, I am no different from the fool that said in his heart, there is no
God.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, free me from superficial faith. Amen.
St. Ignatius
of Antioch, pray for us.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. (Tuesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary
Time. Bible Study: Romans 1:16-25 and Luke 11:37-41).
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