Homily for Thursday 13th December 2018
_“For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you, says the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.” *Isaiah 41:13-14.*_
The fear of death is our greatest weakness as humans. When threatened with the possibility of dying, we become completely different persons, we let down our guard, we try to make compromises on even our core beliefs, we expose secrets, we tell lies, we do just anything possible to avoid death.
The fear of death works both ways; it brings out the saint in a sinner, it also brings out the sinner in the saint. Let me explain, while a hardened criminal will suddenly come out with the truth when confronted with death, a rather “holier-than-thou” Christian will soon find himself or herself compromising with the truth or even denying God completely when threatened with death.
No one wants to die, yet death is necessarily part of our existence as human beings. We are not created to last forever no matter how careful, holy, wealthy, healthy or lucky we are. The very fact that we are alive is a testimony to the fact that we shall die someday but the life we live only becomes meaningful when we come to terms with the reality of our own death.
To put it in simpler terms; unless we have something to die for, we basically have nothing to live for. Until we are prepared to die for what we believe, we really have no beliefs at all. If the fear of death is capable of making you compromise your faith in God, if the fear of death will make you tell a lie or keep quiet when you should say the truth, it means you don’t believe in God.
John the Baptist knew that preaching the truth would cost him his life, he had a choice to stop, he had a choice to keep quiet when Herod committed a public scandal by marrying his own brother’s wife but John spoke out. John knew how prophets before him were treated, how they suffered violence for speaking the truth yet he went on to condemn evil right at the top. He paid dearly for this with his life but his death was not to be the end of the story. Today we hear Jesus Christ praising John the Baptist as the greatest prophet that ever lived and even comparing him with Elijah who was to come.
If we claim to believe in God, we must know that God always takes care of us and that His care extends to the life beyond. God can decide to save us from our enemies and prevent us from dying like the case of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He can also decide to receive us into paradise at the instance of our enemies. Whatever be the case, we must continue to trust in God’s protection, love and care for us. The fear of death should not be enough to make us compromise our values because the beauty of long life is nothing compared with the beauty of eternal life.
God tells us in today’s first reading: “Fear Not, I will help you.” When God says He will us helps us, it doesn’t apply only to this present life. Part of this help includes having us with him in heaven. We must never allow our fear of death or our attempt to live longer become a stumbling block to our faith. Coincidentally, today we remember a young girl who accepted martyrdom choosing to die rather than compromise her vow of virginity. Her name is Lucy.
Christianity in this part of the world sadly tends to focus on how we can meet our immediate material needs. Our Government has failed and continues to fail to provide for the common man who is hungry, unemployed and unemployable. A larger portion of our population lives in abject poverty while the Government protects and honours criminals who loot and use looted funds to recycle themselves in power. At the failure of the Government, God becomes the hope of the common man. The worse our economic situation gets, the more churches spring up every day based on the idea that God is a provider of food, money, shelter etc. No wonder most of the persons who fill up our churches are very shallow Christians. This explains why the upsurge of churches does not affect the rate of moral decadence in our society.
Don’t just be a churchgoer who is in church asking for what a failed government cannot provide. Be a true Christian who worships God and is prepared to die rather than compromise eternal values.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, deepen my trust in you. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Thursday of the 2nd Week of Advent. Bible Study: Isaiah 41:13-20, Psalm 145:1-13 and Matthew 11:11-15).
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