Homily for March 25, 2018.
“The Lord
GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I turned not backward. I gave
my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I hid
not my face from shame and spitting.” Isaiah 50:5-6.
The best
way to read the Bible and indeed the only way to read the Bible is to read
ourselves into it, putting ourselves in the shoes of the characters within the
Biblical stories thereby making the Bible become our examination of conscience.
When we try to place ourselves in the characters of today’s Passion Narrative,
we cannot but see how real the story becomes and how it contains so many
lessons for us even today.
Our people
say that it is the rat inside the house that goes to inform other rats outside
that there is food in the house. The enemy outside cannot succeed without the
permission or cooperation of the enemy inside. Again, in pidgin, there is the
saying: “na who know man nai dey kill am.” All these boils down to the person
of Judas Iscariot. But wait, before you begin to judge him, why not ask:
“Haven’t I betrayed my close friends in the past?” “Don’t I sit down to gossip
about people very close to me using the secrets I know about them against
them?”
Our people
also say: “Money talks, bullshit walks.” What was Judas’ motivation for selling
Jesus? Money. The love of money is no doubt the root of all evils. 1st
Timothy 6:10. Money by itself is good but the love of money is very bad. The
greatest commandment and indeed the summary of all the commandments is to Love
God and our neighbour as ourselves. Mark 12:30-31. Our love for money should
never greater than our love for God and neighbour otherwise we would do worse
than Judas Iscariot.
Always
remember that on the day of your birth, you brought nothing to this world and
the day you die, you would take nothing with you. Let this thought never leave
your heart. all your efforts to grab, accumulate and possess which sometimes
lead you to fight others, keep malice, insult or keep enemies are useless
because in the end, you will have to watch and see how every dime you have will
go away. Judas sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. How much of that money
did he spend?
Learn from
the woman who anointed Jesus with a very expensive ointment. She represents
those who give their very best to God; choristers who sing for free every
Sunday not minding the huge sacrifices they make to practice; men and women who
give themselves to the work of God serving in various capacities, contributing
their quota for the church to grow and so on. Of course, they never find it
easy, like this woman, you will be ridiculed for wasting, insulted and called
names but don’t stop because nothing shall go with you on the day you die.
Someone once visited the seminary and upon seeing a crop of handsome, young,
intelligent and energetic men willing to offer their lives as priests, she
exclaimed: “What a waste!”
Jesus gave
us his very body and blood in the Holy Eucharist. This was the height of his
generosity. Why am I so stingy with things that I didn’t even bring to this
world in the first place? If after reading today’s Passion Narrative, I still
find it difficult to give and share with the poor, it means something is wrong
with me. Jesus not only gave, he taught us how to live. Because he gave of
himself, he would every ground to judge us at the end of our lives for refusing
to give. “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty
and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked
and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Matthew
25:41-43.
Jesus took
the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray but instead, they started
sleeping. How deep and serious is my prayer life? Am I able to watch for one
hour with Jesus every day? By the way see how Jesus prayed: “Abba Father … remove
this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.” Mark 14:36. Doesn’t
this teach me how to pray? Why do I try to command God in my prayer? Wouldn’t
it be nice if I add this clause whenever I make a request of God; to do not as
I will but as He wills instead?
When our
prayer life is weak, we cannot withstand the enemy. Like the disciples who ran
away at the arrest of Jesus, we flee from the devil out of fear. We become so
scared that we even deny Jesus like Peter who denied Jesus after boasting. This
week is called holy. Use this week to the fullest that it may become for you a
call to a deeper prayer life. The richer our prayer life becomes, the more we
live above sin, above evil and above fear.
Pilate knew
Jesus was innocent “for he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief
priests had delivered him up.” Mark 15:10. But just like you and me, he was
more afraid of the crowd than the truth. He acted against his conscience to
please the crowd and to secure his job. If I was Pilate, what would I have done
differently?
In
conclusion, the Passion Narrative teaches us a lot about ourselves. The bitter
truth is humanity has not changed at all since the time of Jesus. We are still
ruled by money, we still betray one another, we are still stingy, we do not
pray well, and we often act to please the crowd, in short we are often crowd
people, we do things not because it is right but because everyone is doing it.
Like I once noted, if Jesus were to come back again as man, we would still kill
him again. Do not repeat history. Change today. Become a better person.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, free me from the love of money and the desire
to please people. Increase my love and devotion to you especially during this
holy week. Amen.
Happy Palm
Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God
bless you. (Palm Sunday. Year B. Bible
Study: Isaiah 50:4-7, Philippians 2:6-11 and Mark 14:1-15:47).
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