Saturday, February 26, 2011

HOMILY FOR THE EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
Isaiah 49:14-15/ Psalm62 /1Corinthians 4:1-5/ Matthew 6:24-34
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: Worry no more
Last week’s Liturgy reminded us of the fact that we are to be holy just as God our Father is holy. This means that we have been set apart or consecrated to the Lord by virtue of our baptism in order to sing the praises of God who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light (cf. 1 Peter 2:9). Today, our Liturgy reminds us when we seek and walk in the righteousness of God, there is no need to worry about anything.
Life in this world is a great struggle for both the young and the old. For even those who have great riches, have troubles on their own. Rich men envy the poor man, poor men envy the rich, therefore, what is the sense in envying your neighbour so says the songster. The human being is said to be a social animal. Hidden in this animal is an insatiable desire for more. The readings for today’s liturgy invite all of us to a total dependence on God.
In the First Reading, the Prophet Isaiah reminds the Israelites of God’s faithfulness. Indeed, God cannot forsake his creatures and has never done that. We feel forsaken when our insatiable desires leads us away from Him. The Lord says “But Zion said, “the Lord has forsaken me, my God has forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14). I cannot imagine God forsaking us. If He does, we will cease to live. Rather, we have forsaken God. The Prophet Jeremiah says “ For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me the fountain of living water and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).
It is when we put our trust in ourselves, our possessions and the like that we feel forsaken or abandoned. This is because, they give us false security. Thus in our disappointments, we blame God. But God assures us that “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15).
To be content with the life God has given us is to live the richest life of all. This is the message of the Gospel Reading of today. Whenever we choose another life aside what God has given us, the result is useless worries and anxieties. This is because “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24). Therefore, Jesus warns us against the sin of idolatry.
Material things give us a sense of false security. “ … Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 5:25-26). All of nature depends on God and God never fails. Only mortal man depends on material things and they always fail. Jesus says worry is sinful. We may dignify worry by calling it names like concern, burden, or a cross to bear but the results are still the same. Instead of helping us to live longer, anxiety only makes life shorter. Worry pulls us apart. Until man interferes, everything in nature works together because all of nature trusts God. Man, however, is pulled apart because he tries to live his own life by depending on material wealth.
Worrying about tomorrow robs us of the joys of today. Therefore, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:34). It is right to plan for the future and even save for the future. But it is sin to worry about the future and permit tomorrow to rob today of its blessings. Three words in this section of the Gospel point the way to victory over worry namely faith (Matthew 6:30), Father (Matthew 6:32) and first (Matthew 6:33). Put together, it reads: if we have faith in our father and put Him first, He will meet our needs.
Psalm 23 puts it beautifully and succinctly that “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” (Psalm 23:1). Wants are things we can do without. They are the extra things that God blesses us with. We do not really need them. Needs on the other hand are things we cannot do without. Without them our life is meaningless. Yet Psalm 23 says that the Lord is our shepherd, there is nothing we shall want. This means that after providing our needs, God gives us our wants in good measure, pressing over. He fills our barns to overflowing. Most of the time, what we worry ourselves about are not really what we need but ‘wants’. But even our wants, he provides. That is why it is sinful to allow anxieties to fill our hearts because it leads you to doubt God and anyone who doubts God should not expect anything from Him (cf James 1:5-8).
The Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude are supposed to shape our life even as we go through life struggles. Prudence enables us to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. Justice disposes us to give God His due and that of our neighbor. The virtue of Fortitude ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. Above all, Temperance aids us to moderate our attraction for pleasure and provides balance in the use of material things which usually are the causes of our worry.
In sum, if the heart loves material things and puts earthly gains above heavenly investments, then the result can only be a tragic loss. The treasures of the earth may be used for God. But if we gather material things for ourselves, we will lose them and we will lose our hearts with them. Instead of spiritual enrichment, we will experience impoverishment. To worry is to build for ourselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water. When we become anxious unnecessarily, we behave like a man who goes to fetch water with a basket; a basket that cannot hold water. God is the source of living water and what a needless pain we bear when we fail to pray in our moments of anxieties; what a privilege we miss when we fail to tell God our problems.
HOMILY FOR THE EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
Isaiah 49:14-15/ Psalm62 /1Corinthians 4:1-5/ Matthew 6:24-34
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: Worry no more
Last week’s Liturgy reminded us of the fact that we are to be holy just as God our Father is holy. This means that we have been set apart or consecrated to the Lord by virtue of our baptism in order to sing the praises of God who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light (cf. 1 Peter 2:9). Today, our Liturgy reminds us when we seek and walk in the righteousness of God, there is no need to worry about anything.
Life in this world is a great struggle for both the young and the old. For even those who have great riches, have troubles on their own. Rich men envy the poor man, poor men envy the rich, therefore, what is the sense in envying your neighbour so says the songster. The human being is said to be a social animal. Hidden in this animal is an insatiable desire for more. The readings for today’s liturgy invite all of us to a total dependence on God.
In the First Reading, the Prophet Isaiah reminds the Israelites of God’s faithfulness. Indeed, God cannot forsake his creatures and has never done that. We feel forsaken when our insatiable desires leads us away from Him. The Lord says “But Zion said, “the Lord has forsaken me, my God has forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14). I cannot imagine God forsaking us. If He does, we will cease to live. Rather, we have forsaken God. The Prophet Jeremiah says “ For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me the fountain of living water and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).
It is when we put our trust in ourselves, our possessions and the like that we feel forsaken or abandoned. This is because, they give us false security. Thus in our disappointments, we blame God. But God assures us that “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15).
To be content with the life God has given us is to live the richest life of all. This is the message of the Gospel Reading of today. Whenever we choose another life aside what God has given us, the result is useless worries and anxieties. This is because “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24). Therefore, Jesus warns us against the sin of idolatry.
Material things give us a sense of false security. “ … Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 5:25-26). All of nature depends on God and God never fails. Only mortal man depends on material things and they always fail. Jesus says worry is sinful. We may dignify worry by calling it names like concern, burden, or a cross to bear but the results are still the same. Instead of helping us to live longer, anxiety only makes life shorter. Worry pulls us apart. Until man interferes, everything in nature works together because all of nature trusts God. Man, however, is pulled apart because he tries to live his own life by depending on material wealth.
Worrying about tomorrow robs us of the joys of today. Therefore, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:34). It is right to plan for the future and even save for the future. But it is sin to worry about the future and permit tomorrow to rob today of its blessings. Three words in this section of the Gospel point the way to victory over worry namely faith (Matthew 6:30), Father (Matthew 6:32) and first (Matthew 6:33). Put together, it reads: if we have faith in our father and put Him first, He will meet our needs.
Psalm 23 puts it beautifully and succinctly that “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” (Psalm 23:1). Wants are things we can do without. They are the extra things that God blesses us with. We do not really need them. Needs on the other hand are things we cannot do without. Without them our life is meaningless. Yet Psalm 23 says that the Lord is our shepherd, there is nothing we shall want. This means that after providing our needs, God gives us our wants in good measure, pressing over. He fills our barns to overflowing. Most of the time, what we worry ourselves about are not really what we need but ‘wants’. But even our wants, he provides. That is why it is sinful to allow anxieties to fill our hearts because it leads you to doubt God and anyone who doubts God should not expect anything from Him (cf James 1:5-8).
The Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude are supposed to shape our life even as we go through life struggles. Prudence enables us to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. Justice disposes us to give God His due and that of our neighbor. The virtue of Fortitude ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. Above all, Temperance aids us to moderate our attraction for pleasure and provides balance in the use of material things which usually are the causes of our worry.
In sum, if the heart loves material things and puts earthly gains above heavenly investments, then the result can only be a tragic loss. The treasures of the earth may be used for God. But if we gather material things for ourselves, we will lose them and we will lose our hearts with them. Instead of spiritual enrichment, we will experience impoverishment. To worry is to build for ourselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water. When we become anxious unnecessarily, we behave like a man who goes to fetch water with a basket; a basket that cannot hold water. God is the source of living water and what a needless pain we bear when we fail to pray in our moments of anxieties; what a privilege we miss when we fail to tell God our problems.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

HOMILY FOR THE SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18/ Psalm 103/1Corinthians 3:16-23/ Matthew 5:38-48
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: Holiness is not an option
To live is to change; to be holy is to have changed often says St. Thomas Aquinas. To be a Christian is a serious matter. We become Christians by virtue of our Baptism which enables us to participate in the threefold mission of Christ as Priest, Prophet and king. By our baptism, we have as it were signed a contract with Jesus to be like him. The readings of today’s Liturgy call on us to be holy. Holiness of life is a daily commitment to be like Jesus.
The word “holy” is a hard word to define. In its original sense it means “to set apart, to be different or unique”. All of these meanings can have some relevance for us as we try to become holy like God. I like to see it as being set apart, different from this world, having different values than this world, allowing that spark of divinity in each of us to shine through. Holiness of life is not a one day affair. It demands of us a daily commitment to Jesus. Unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, we shall not enter the kingdom of heaven is what Jesus is emphasizing in this whole periscope (Matthew 5:1-48).
For Jesus, to whom much is given, much is expected. We cannot settle for mediocrity; we cannot settle for the bearest minimum or the pass mark. All that Jesus is asking of us ordinarily we will not do. But because we are people of the light, he invites us to do it. Values come from God himself. Overtime, human beings decided to make it relative to suit their whims and caprices. Jesus is and has remained the standard measurement for us Christians. So Jesus says “You have heard it was said … but I say to you…” (Matthew 5:38). This is a man who speaks with authority. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
Nowhere did the law teach hatred for one’s enemies. Passages like Exodus 23:4-5 indicate just the opposite? Jesus defined our enemies as those who curse us, hate us and exploit us selfishly. So he says “You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemies. But I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44). Since Christian love is an act of the will, and not simply an emotion, he has the right to command us to love our enemies. After all, he loved us while we were his enemies (Romans 5:10).
Just as Jesus loved us while we were still his enemies because we are his siblings, we are also invited to love our enemies because they are also children of God. Sometimes, in our prayers we ask God to destroy our enemies. We forget that those enemies are God’s children too.
As Christians, we are called to sacrifice a little above the ordinary. For how different are we from those we claim to be pagans if we fail our responsibility to love. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do same… be perfect, therefore as your heavenly father is perfect” (Matthew 5:46-48).
The command to be holy is not a New Testament idea. It is embedded in the Old Testament. Therefore, if Jesus said that he came to fulfill the Old Testament, he has not said anything new. The First Reading, therefore, reminds us that this holiness of life is a condition sine qua non for a blissful life with God. In fact, righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne. It is interesting to note that Leviticus reminds us that holiness has a social dimension. It is our day to day healthy relationship with one another. For Leviticus says “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear grudge against any of your people…” (Leviticus 19:17-18). To be holy does not mean praying and fasting the whole day and not able to live at peace with one another.
St. Paul in the Second Reading reminds us that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Our holiness must, therefore exude the entire surrounding in which we live. Holiness is not a private matter alone. It has a community dimensions as well. Ordinarily, a temple is a place where people from all walks of life gather to celebrate their oneness in God. It is like a salad bowl containing the entire ingredient for a tasty salad. We are called to be that temple that does take revenge, inflict pain and curse on people; that temple that forgives taking cognizance of the fact that to err is human and to forgive is divine.
Unlike in Hebrew times when God was thought to reside in the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem, since Christ’s death and resurrection, God now resides in us. We are now the temple of God, and as such have been made holy. We are set apart, no longer of this world and we need to abandon the wisdom of this world, for the wisdom of God – even if it makes us look foolish to this world. And it will; Paul says: “You should become fools so that you may become wise” (1Corinthians 3:18-19).
In sum, holiness is not about doing the extraordinary things in this life but the ordinary namely love of enemies, love of neighbor, avoidance of revenge and the like. Today, our prayer should be “Remember Lord, though frail we be, by your own kind hand were we made. And help us, lest our frailty cause your great name to be betrayed.”
HOMILY FOR THE SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18/ Psalm 103/1Corinthians 3:16-23/ Matthew 5:38-48
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: Holiness is not an option
To live is to change; to be holy is to have changed often says St. Thomas Aquinas. To be a Christian is a serious matter. We become Christians by virtue of our Baptism which enables us to participate in the threefold mission of Christ as Priest, Prophet and king. By our baptism, we have as it were signed a contract with Jesus to be like him. The readings of today’s Liturgy call on us to be holy. Holiness of life is a daily commitment to be like Jesus.
The word “holy” is a hard word to define. In its original sense it means “to set apart, to be different or unique”. All of these meanings can have some relevance for us as we try to become holy like God. I like to see it as being set apart, different from this world, having different values than this world, allowing that spark of divinity in each of us to shine through. Holiness of life is not a one day affair. It demands of us a daily commitment to Jesus. Unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, we shall not enter the kingdom of heaven is what Jesus is emphasizing in this whole periscope (Matthew 5:1-48).
For Jesus, to whom much is given, much is expected. We cannot settle for mediocrity; we cannot settle for the bearest minimum or the pass mark. All that Jesus is asking of us ordinarily we will not do. But because we are people of the light, he invites us to do it. Values come from God himself. Overtime, human beings decided to make it relative to suit their whims and caprices. Jesus is and has remained the standard measurement for us Christians. So Jesus says “You have heard it was said … but I say to you…” (Matthew 5:38). This is a man who speaks with authority. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
Nowhere did the law teach hatred for one’s enemies. Passages like Exodus 23:4-5 indicate just the opposite? Jesus defined our enemies as those who curse us, hate us and exploit us selfishly. So he says “You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemies. But I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44). Since Christian love is an act of the will, and not simply an emotion, he has the right to command us to love our enemies. After all, he loved us while we were his enemies (Romans 5:10).
Just as Jesus loved us while we were still his enemies because we are his siblings, we are also invited to love our enemies because they are also children of God. Sometimes, in our prayers we ask God to destroy our enemies. We forget that those enemies are God’s children too.
As Christians, we are called to sacrifice a little above the ordinary. For how different are we from those we claim to be pagans if we fail our responsibility to love. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do same… be perfect, therefore as your heavenly father is perfect” (Matthew 5:46-48).
The command to be holy is not a New Testament idea. It is embedded in the Old Testament. Therefore, if Jesus said that he came to fulfill the Old Testament, he has not said anything new. The First Reading, therefore, reminds us that this holiness of life is a condition sine qua non for a blissful life with God. In fact, righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne. It is interesting to note that Leviticus reminds us that holiness has a social dimension. It is our day to day healthy relationship with one another. For Leviticus says “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear grudge against any of your people…” (Leviticus 19:17-18). To be holy does not mean praying and fasting the whole day and not able to live at peace with one another.
St. Paul in the Second Reading reminds us that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Our holiness must, therefore exude the entire surrounding in which we live. Holiness is not a private matter alone. It has a community dimensions as well. Ordinarily, a temple is a place where people from all walks of life gather to celebrate their oneness in God. It is like a salad bowl containing the entire ingredient for a tasty salad. We are called to be that temple that does take revenge, inflict pain and curse on people; that temple that forgives taking cognizance of the fact that to err is human and to forgive is divine.
Unlike in Hebrew times when God was thought to reside in the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem, since Christ’s death and resurrection, God now resides in us. We are now the temple of God, and as such have been made holy. We are set apart, no longer of this world and we need to abandon the wisdom of this world, for the wisdom of God – even if it makes us look foolish to this world. And it will; Paul says: “You should become fools so that you may become wise” (1Corinthians 3:18-19).
In sum, holiness is not about doing the extraordinary things in this life but the ordinary namely love of enemies, love of neighbor, avoidance of revenge and the like. Today, our prayer should be “Remember Lord, though frail we be, by your own kind hand were we made. And help us, lest our frailty cause your great name to be betrayed.”

Saturday, February 12, 2011

HOMILY FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20/ Psalm 119/1Corinthians 2:6-10/ Matthew 5:17-37
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: In our innocence lies our strength
Viktor Frankl once said” Everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of human freedom to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances…” The Commandments of God are not oppressive. It is based on love. Yet God gives man the privilege to choose to love Him or not. The readings will remind us that it is when we fail to obey the Commandment of love that we see the law as oppressive.
In the Gospel Reading Jesus reminds us that our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees before we can inherit the kingdom of heaven. The kind of righteousness that Jesus demands of us is what he teaches in the Beatitudes.
Jesus reiterates this fact when he says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). Indeed, Jesus did not fulfill the law by fighting it. He destroyed it by fulfilling it. How can we too fulfill the law? By yielding to the Holy Spirit and allowing him to work in our lives (Romans 8:1-3). The Holy Spirit enables us to experience the “righteousness of the law” in daily life. This does not mean that we live sinlessly perfect lives, but it means that Christ lives out his life through us by the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:20). St. Paul puts it beautifully when he says “ … the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20b).
Again, when we read the Beatitudes, we see the perfect character of Jesus Christ. While Jesus never had to mourn over His sins, since He was sinless, he was still “a man of sorrow acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). He never had to hunger and thirst for righteousness since he was the only son of God, but he did delight in the Father’s will and find his satisfaction in doing it ( John 4:34). The only way we can experience the righteousness of the Beatitudes is through the power of Christ.
Furthermore, Jesus teaches us how righteousness works in daily life. Jesus took six important Old Testament laws and interpreted them for his people in the light of the New Testament namely murder, adultery, divorce, swearing, retaliation and love of enemies. But I will talk on only murder.
He first talked about murder. He says “… you shall not murder and whoever murders shall liable to judgment. But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you shall be liable to judgment…” (Matthew 5:21-22). There is, if you like, a holy anger against sin (Ephesians 4:26). But Jesus talked about an unholy anger against people. The word he uses in Matthew 5:22 means a settled anger or malice that is nursed inwardly and then it explodes into words and words leads to action. Jesus did not say that anger leads to murder; he said that anger is murder. Anger is such a foolish thing. It makes us destroyers instead of builders. It robs us of freedom and makes us prisoners. To hate someone is to commit murder in our hearts (1 John 3:15).
This does not mean that we should go ahead and murder someone we hate, since we have already sinned inwardly. Obviously, sinful feelings are not excuses for sinful deeds. Sinful anger robs us of fellowship with God as well as with our brothers, but it does not put us into jail as murderers. However, more people have become murderers because they failed to control their sinful anger. Sinful anger must be faced honestly and must be confessed to God as sin. We must settle our differences with our brothers and sisters quickly. The longer we wait, the worse the bondage becomes. It is said that the person who refuses to forgive his brother destroys the very bridge over which he himself must walk.
The first reading affirms Jesus’ stance on why our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees before we can enter the kingdom of heaven. It is replete with the issue of choice. One of the greatest gifts that God gave to humanity was the gift of free will. By his free will, man is left to his counsel. “If you choose, you can keep the commandments and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice” (Ecclesiasticus 15:15). Faithfulness to God’s commandment is an attitude of the heart not an external show. The Pharisees attitude towards the law gave the impression as if God gives us permission to sin. When Jesus says that “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20), he made a fundamental change without altering God’s Law. Rather, he dealt with the attitudes and intent of the heart and not with external actions. The Pharisees said that righteousness consisted of performing certain external actions, but Jesus emphasises that it centred on the attitude of the heart.

Yet, “For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything; his eyes are on those who fear him and he knows every human action” (Ecclesiasticus 15:18-19). This means that no human wisdom can outwit the wisdom of God because before we act, he knows.
I could not agree more with St. Paul in the second reading when underscores the fact that for those who love God everyday is a good day. It may not look like a good day, but when God is working His plan, we can be sure of the best. It is when we fail to trust Him or obey His commandments; when our love for Him grows cold, that life takes a somber hue. If we walk in God’s wisdom, we will enjoy His blessings. For he says “ What no eyes have seen no ear heard, nor the human heart conceived , what God has prepared for those who love Him- these things God has revealed to us through his Spirit…” (1Corinthians 2:9-10a).
In a nutshell, our strength lies in our innocence. Let us rediscover the purpose for which God created us namely to love Him, to serve Him, to worship and honour Him. The person who says that he lives by the Beatitudes may not realize that it is more difficult to keep than the original Ten Commandments. May everything we do be guided by love; love of God and love of neighbor.
HOMILY FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20/ Psalm 119/1Corinthians 2:6-10/ Matthew 5:17-37
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: In our innocence lies our strength
Viktor Frankl once said” Everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of human freedom to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances…” The Commandments of God are not oppressive. It is based on love. Yet God gives man the privilege to choose to love Him or not. The readings will remind us that it is when we fail to obey the Commandment of love that we see the law as oppressive.
In the Gospel Reading Jesus reminds us that our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees before we can inherit the kingdom of heaven. The kind of righteousness that Jesus demands of us is what he teaches in the Beatitudes.
Jesus reiterates this fact when he says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). Indeed, Jesus did not fulfill the law by fighting it. He destroyed it by fulfilling it. How can we too fulfill the law? By yielding to the Holy Spirit and allowing him to work in our lives (Romans 8:1-3). The Holy Spirit enables us to experience the “righteousness of the law” in daily life. This does not mean that we live sinlessly perfect lives, but it means that Christ lives out his life through us by the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:20). St. Paul puts it beautifully when he says “ … the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20b).
Again, when we read the Beatitudes, we see the perfect character of Jesus Christ. While Jesus never had to mourn over His sins, since He was sinless, he was still “a man of sorrow acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). He never had to hunger and thirst for righteousness since he was the only son of God, but he did delight in the Father’s will and find his satisfaction in doing it ( John 4:34). The only way we can experience the righteousness of the Beatitudes is through the power of Christ.
Furthermore, Jesus teaches us how righteousness works in daily life. Jesus took six important Old Testament laws and interpreted them for his people in the light of the New Testament namely murder, adultery, divorce, swearing, retaliation and love of enemies. But I will talk on only murder.
He first talked about murder. He says “… you shall not murder and whoever murders shall liable to judgment. But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you shall be liable to judgment…” (Matthew 5:21-22). There is, if you like, a holy anger against sin (Ephesians 4:26). But Jesus talked about an unholy anger against people. The word he uses in Matthew 5:22 means a settled anger or malice that is nursed inwardly and then it explodes into words and words leads to action. Jesus did not say that anger leads to murder; he said that anger is murder. Anger is such a foolish thing. It makes us destroyers instead of builders. It robs us of freedom and makes us prisoners. To hate someone is to commit murder in our hearts (1 John 3:15).
This does not mean that we should go ahead and murder someone we hate, since we have already sinned inwardly. Obviously, sinful feelings are not excuses for sinful deeds. Sinful anger robs us of fellowship with God as well as with our brothers, but it does not put us into jail as murderers. However, more people have become murderers because they failed to control their sinful anger. Sinful anger must be faced honestly and must be confessed to God as sin. We must settle our differences with our brothers and sisters quickly. The longer we wait, the worse the bondage becomes. It is said that the person who refuses to forgive his brother destroys the very bridge over which he himself must walk.
The first reading affirms Jesus’ stance on why our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees before we can enter the kingdom of heaven. It is replete with the issue of choice. One of the greatest gifts that God gave to humanity was the gift of free will. By his free will, man is left to his counsel. “If you choose, you can keep the commandments and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice” (Ecclesiasticus 15:15). Faithfulness to God’s commandment is an attitude of the heart not an external show. The Pharisees attitude towards the law gave the impression as if God gives us permission to sin. When Jesus says that “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20), he made a fundamental change without altering God’s Law. Rather, he dealt with the attitudes and intent of the heart and not with external actions. The Pharisees said that righteousness consisted of performing certain external actions, but Jesus emphasises that it centred on the attitude of the heart.

Yet, “For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything; his eyes are on those who fear him and he knows every human action” (Ecclesiasticus 15:18-19). This means that no human wisdom can outwit the wisdom of God because before we act, he knows.
I could not agree more with St. Paul in the second reading when underscores the fact that for those who love God everyday is a good day. It may not look like a good day, but when God is working His plan, we can be sure of the best. It is when we fail to trust Him or obey His commandments; when our love for Him grows cold, that life takes a somber hue. If we walk in God’s wisdom, we will enjoy His blessings. For he says “ What no eyes have seen no ear heard, nor the human heart conceived , what God has prepared for those who love Him- these things God has revealed to us through his Spirit…” (1Corinthians 2:9-10a).
In a nutshell, our strength lies in our innocence. Let us rediscover the purpose for which God created us namely to love Him, to serve Him, to worship and honour Him. The person who says that he lives by the Beatitudes may not realize that it is more difficult to keep than the original Ten Commandments. May everything we do be guided by love; love of God and love of neighbor.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

HOMILY FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
Isaiah 58:7-10/ Psalm 112/1Corinthians 2:1-5/ Matthew 5:13-16
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: Be true witnesses
Is this generation a lost venture? Is there any hope for our generation in the midst of the moral decadence we see all around us? Do Christians still stand the chance of imparting the right values to our generation? Can we provide the leadership that our society needs? Today’s readings challenge us to be real witnesses to our faith. It is only this which can offer hope to our generation. We, therefore, reflect on how our inability to be true witnesses of the Gospel has brought about the decadence we are experiencing in all sectors of our world today. However, there is hope for our generation because unlike salt and light that are perishable, we are the true salt and light that Jesus relies on today.
The Gospel reading of today challenges every Christian to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. No matter how dark a place is, a strike of a match will dispel that darkness. This means that we do not need a big light to dispel darkness. No matter how evil exists in the world, we in the minority can represent that strike of matches to dispel the darkness of sin and evil.
We are called to be that light and salt in our families, work places, community and the like to dispel the darkness of injustice, corruption, greed and so on in our society. “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt loses its saltiness how can it be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot” (Matthew 5:13). The point Matthew stresses is how useless we become when we fail to positively affect our society with Christ. The same is true for being the light of the world.
The words of Pope John Paul II comes alive when he once said “Christianity is not an opinion or words, it is Christ.” Indeed, the solution to the yearnings or problems of humanity is Christ. It is we who are called to be that light and salt that will give meaning to human existence. Do not say that everybody is doing the bad thing and so the situation is hopeless. Be that light the offers hope to the deepest darkness.
Indeed, our world is in dire need of witnesses and not teachers. If they are teachers, then they themselves must be witnesses. We have too many teachers in our world today who are not witnessing. How do we witness.
The first reading of today gives us practical ways by which we are called to witness. “ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your homes; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin” ( Isaiah 58:7). To be the light of the world and the salt of the earth demands of us Love of God and love of neighbor. We are called to witness to those who are vulnerable and susceptible. We cannot claim to be Christians and fail our family responsibilities. We are called to be that light and salt in our families.
Unlike real salt and real light which are dead, material things, we are living salt and living light. We can change. We can regain our flavour and we can rekindle our light. This is the hope we have. So you see there is no hopeless situation at all when it comes to witnessing. It does not matter how our past has been like. Indeed, we are a present to this generation.
That is why we should all take consolation in the second reading. Paul acknowledges that to be real witnesses is by the grace of God. He is, therefore, humbled by this experience. He reminds that to be true witnesses of Jesus, we must acknowledge Jesus as the owner of the harvest. Paul says “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1Corinthians 2:2). Paul is aware of the fact that he is like a fisherman in the work of witnessing. He is just to cast the net wide not knowing the type of fish he will catch. He recognizes that the harvest master will do his work.
Like Paul, we too must recognize that we are only instruments in the work of witnessing. It is our availability and submission to God that matters. Interestingly, when we submit to his will, He says “Then you shall call and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help and he will say, here I am” (Isaiah 58:9). It is like saying that true witnessing summons God and He responds swiftly to our request.
In sum, the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi is still relevant today “Lord make me an instrument of your peace… where there is darkness, light…” This is my deepest wish for every Catholic community: that we may rediscover the things that make us salt for the world and that we may regain our brightness as Catholics.
HOMILY FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
Isaiah 58:7-10/ Psalm 112/1Corinthians 2:1-5/ Matthew 5:13-16
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: Be true witnesses
Is this generation a lost venture? Is there any hope for our generation in the midst of the moral decadence we see all around us? Do Christians still stand the chance of imparting the right values to our generation? Can we provide the leadership that our society needs? Today’s readings challenge us to be real witnesses to our faith. It is only this which can offer hope to our generation. We, therefore, reflect on how our inability to be true witnesses of the Gospel has brought about the decadence we are experiencing in all sectors of our world today. However, there is hope for our generation because unlike salt and light that are perishable, we are the true salt and light that Jesus relies on today.
The Gospel reading of today challenges every Christian to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. No matter how dark a place is, a strike of a match will dispel that darkness. This means that we do not need a big light to dispel darkness. No matter how evil exists in the world, we in the minority can represent that strike of matches to dispel the darkness of sin and evil.
We are called to be that light and salt in our families, work places, community and the like to dispel the darkness of injustice, corruption, greed and so on in our society. “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt loses its saltiness how can it be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot” (Matthew 5:13). The point Matthew stresses is how useless we become when we fail to positively affect our society with Christ. The same is true for being the light of the world.
The words of Pope John Paul II comes alive when he once said “Christianity is not an opinion or words, it is Christ.” Indeed, the solution to the yearnings or problems of humanity is Christ. It is we who are called to be that light and salt that will give meaning to human existence. Do not say that everybody is doing the bad thing and so the situation is hopeless. Be that light the offers hope to the deepest darkness.
Indeed, our world is in dire need of witnesses and not teachers. If they are teachers, then they themselves must be witnesses. We have too many teachers in our world today who are not witnessing. How do we witness.
The first reading of today gives us practical ways by which we are called to witness. “ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your homes; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin” ( Isaiah 58:7). To be the light of the world and the salt of the earth demands of us Love of God and love of neighbor. We are called to witness to those who are vulnerable and susceptible. We cannot claim to be Christians and fail our family responsibilities. We are called to be that light and salt in our families.
Unlike real salt and real light which are dead, material things, we are living salt and living light. We can change. We can regain our flavour and we can rekindle our light. This is the hope we have. So you see there is no hopeless situation at all when it comes to witnessing. It does not matter how our past has been like. Indeed, we are a present to this generation.
That is why we should all take consolation in the second reading. Paul acknowledges that to be real witnesses is by the grace of God. He is, therefore, humbled by this experience. He reminds that to be true witnesses of Jesus, we must acknowledge Jesus as the owner of the harvest. Paul says “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1Corinthians 2:2). Paul is aware of the fact that he is like a fisherman in the work of witnessing. He is just to cast the net wide not knowing the type of fish he will catch. He recognizes that the harvest master will do his work.
Like Paul, we too must recognize that we are only instruments in the work of witnessing. It is our availability and submission to God that matters. Interestingly, when we submit to his will, He says “Then you shall call and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help and he will say, here I am” (Isaiah 58:9). It is like saying that true witnessing summons God and He responds swiftly to our request.
In sum, the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi is still relevant today “Lord make me an instrument of your peace… where there is darkness, light…” This is my deepest wish for every Catholic community: that we may rediscover the things that make us salt for the world and that we may regain our brightness as Catholics.