DATE : 30/9/2020, Wednesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time (A)
EVENT : St. Jerome (Memorial)
COLOUR : WHITE
READINGS :Job 9:1-13,14-16;
Resp. Psalm 87:10-15; Luke 9:57-62.
THEME: DO NOT TRY TO PLAY GOD
Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". Today, the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Jerome, a proficient Scriptural scholar and commentator. Beloved, just like the theme of today's reflection reads, many of us Christians want to play God and religion. And like the proverbial saying, "you can not eat your cake and have it". Many of us want to enjoy the dividends of Christianity, but we are not ready to experience the blunt aspect of the faith. Like spoilt rich kids, we like to call God our Father and want Him to always bless and answer our prayers whenever we come knocking at His doors, yet we do not try as much to obey His precepts in our actions, but merely profess lips service worship to Him.
Child of God, Scriptures tells us in Ephesians 5:5-6, "do not let anyone deceive you, God cannot be mocked, no one who refuses to obey Him will be saved". God knows our hearts, he alone can read the secret intentions behind our every act, so you cannot play God. In the Gospel readings of today, we read about three disciples who expressed the desire to follow Christ, but to each, Christ, who is also God, looked at their intentions and answered each one accordingly. To him who wanted to follow Him because of fame, he said, 'the son of man has no where to lay His head'. To him who sincerely desired to follow him, but with little distractions, Christ said, 'no one who puts hands on the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom'. And to the indecisive one, Christ gave the command to follow Him.
Beloved, the question we need to ask ourselves today is, where do I belong among these groups of 'would be followers of Christ?' Did Christ call me to follow Him, or was I the one who decided to follow Him? If I was the one who decided, what were my reasons for choosing to follow Christ? And finally, how faithful have I been to my decision to follow Christ? Beloved, most of us follow Christ for the wrong reasons, and like the good shepherd who knows the sheep, Christ knows our intentions for following Him, yet He still allows His blessings to reach us. So, conscious of this fact, let us purify our sordid intentions and stop thinking that we can deceive or play God with our external show of religiosity or lips services. God bless you
Oh that today you would listen to his voice harden not your hearts (Ps.95:7-8)
LET US PRAY : Lord Jesus, you know everything including my secret thoughts and intentions, help me to purify my heart of all selfish desires and sincerely follow you.....Amen
@ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪
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