Homily Sunday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael Ufok Udoekpo
· Jer 1:4-5,
17-19;
· Ps 71:1-6, 15, 17;
· 1 Cor
12:31–13:13
· Luke 4:21-30
Love,the strength for our Christian Journey
Our Christian calling is like preparing for a pilgrimage
or embarking on a long journey. It requires some homework and of course
endurance on the way.
The strength for any Christian and Spiritual journey is
Love! Of course not just any type of love. But the type Paul preaches for the
troubled Corinthians Church. For Paul, Love is patient, love is kind; love is
not jealous, love is not pompous, love is not inflated, love is not rude, love
does not seek its own interest, love is not quick-tempered, love does not brood
over injuries, love does not rejoice over wrong doings. Love rejoices with the
truth. Love bears all things, believes all things; hope all things, and endures
all things.
When Jeremiah was called centuries ago, even before Paul
to be a prophet to all the nations, to challenge faithlessness, idolatries of
his time of late pre-exilic period, his excuse was that he was too young.
Jeremiah did not know that before he was born, God had already prepared him
with his love. He makes Jeremiah as strong as fortified city and his strength
Scripture says was as strong as an iron pillar and a bronze wall. This is the
strength that will resist all attack and temptations; the strength of patient,
and endurance against oppositions.
Similarly, at the commencement of his ministry, Jesus
knew people would ridicule him. He knew he would be rejected. But he did not
blink because he knew he had the strength that only God his father can give;
the strength of love without boundary, geography, ethnicity and limits.. The
more reason he said,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go
free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to Lord….today this Scripture passage
is fulfilled in your hearing,” Christ concluded ( Luke 4).
It was this love that enabled Jeremiah to preach to
the nations of his time, even to the point of death. It was this love
that enable Christ to visit with the poor, the needy, the marginalized and the
oppressed; that ultimate love to the cross, which Pope Francis and every
successive Popes emphasize.
On our Christian journeys, on our faith journeys I have
no doubt there have been challenges; challenges in our relationship with God
and one another at homes, in our families and work places and in our nations.
Poverty is one of them, division, violent, lack of rule of law, lawlessness,
insensitivity to the poor and the needy, and ethnocentrism are top on the
list. Talk less, of lack of patriotism, lack of sense of the common good and
systemic and structural and institutional corruption that has eaten deep into
many African countries, Nigeria in particular.
In spite of all these negativeness, we want Christ's love to be our
strength. Remember, love is nothing else than, hope, faith, trust, patient,
humility, selflessness, endurance and kindness towards one another.
Reflection Questions
1.
How can each of us in our own state
relate to today’s scripture passages?
2.
What are your challenges as a
Christian? And how do you respond or handle them?
3.
In what way have we practice God’s love
heard in today’s readings in the face of adversity and disappointment?
4.
How often do we encourage our neighbors
to live by the statutes of today’s bible lessons?
Homily [2] 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year
C: Fr. Michael Ufok Udoekpo
· Jer
1:4-5, 17-19;
· Ps
71:1-6, 15, 17:
· 1
Cor 12:31–13:13
· Luke
4:21-30.
Preaching and Prophesying
with Love
“And all spoke highly of him and were amazed
at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this
the son of Joseph….and he said to them no prophet is accepted in his own native
place.”
This
passage from today’s Gospel highlights an outstanding message that runs
through today’s scripture readings- the mission of Israel’s prophets, the
mission of every Christian, the challenges they face on their mission; and how
they must respond to such challenges with Love!
In
today’s Gospel Jesus has gone to preach love and mercy in his own town of
Nazareth. He reads and preaches from the scroll of prophet Isaiah he was
familiar with. He preaches hope he preaches the coming and the fulfillment of
the Messiah. He is the savior of the world, the anointed, the source of peace,
and joy long awaited by Israel! Many who listened to him admired and believed
Christ; while many who did not “listen” rejected, and taunted him outright.
They knew his father, Joseph, they knew his mother, Mary. They knew they were
poor, not from a priestly and royal family, in worldly sense!
Importantly,
this rejection took place in his home town of Nazareth. No wonder Jesus truly
and rightly says in that passage, “no prophet is [honored,] accepted in his own
native place.” We experience this every day in our lives! How often do we
not take our own for granted? How often do we not disrespect ourselves—in our
families groups and even among colleagues? How often are we not been rejected
or persecuted simply because of our faith– as Christians? Remember, each of us
are called to be prophets in our various capacities– ready to stand up for the
truth, conscientize our communities, ready to resist evil, ready to
cherish the highest good, love, kindness, mercy, and forgiveness as Christ did!
Even
before the experiences of Christ heard in today’s Gospel, several of Israel’s
prophets particularly Jeremiah was called at a very tender age to preach and
challenge the evil of his time, in his own region of Judah, shortly before
exile! His mission as that of Christ was made with resistance and rejection.
Among Israel’s prophets, Jeremiah suffered most. He was beaten severally,
abused, imprisoned, called all kinds of names, thrown into in muddy cistern,
exiled and finally killed!
In
this challenging mission what God said to Jeremiah is important for us today.
God said to him, “Gird your loins, stand up and tell them all that I command
you. Be not crushed on their account…I have made you a fortified city, a pillar
of Iron, a wall of brass- against the princes kings.” How many of us today will
courageous like Jeremiah, and Christ and with love?
In
our daily challenges– which could come in different forms– illness, poverty,
political wrangling, hatreds, unhappiness, racism, rejections, divisions in our
various communities and families, we have to think and with love that God is
solidly behind us!
This
is the love that Paul reminds us of in that 2nd reading. Like Jeremiah and
Christ, he suffered in his missionary journeys. He met various challenges in
the Corinthian church- including rivalry, hatred, back-biting, division and
unhealthy competitions. For Paul, truly, all these challenges, including our
personal challenges, and struggles- be it illnesses, rejections, unhappiness,
threats of war and terrorisms, set-backs in life, loss of our loved ones,
modern challenges to the teachings of the church and family values- all these–
can be handled by each of us, “prophets on a mission,” with Love! And for St.
Paul,
God’s
Love is Patience in moments of trials
God’s
Love is kindness to the poor and the needy, and people we meet on our ways
God’s
Love is not Jealousy of our neighbors'- gifts and talents
God’s
Love is not pomposity in discharging our duties and ministries
God’s
Love is not inflated, but tempered with mercy
God’s
Love is not rude, crude language- even to strangers
God’s
Love is not seek its own interest- but looks out for the community
God’s
Love God is not quick tempered in the face of temptations
God’s
Love does not brood over injury, but forgives, especially in this Year of Mercy
God’s
Love does not rejoice over wrong doing- but courageously rejects evil
God’s
Love rejoices and seeks the truth
Reflection Questions
1.
How can each of us in our own state
relate to today’s scripture passages?
2.
What are your challenges as a
Christian? And how do you respond or handle them?
3.
In what way have we practice God’s love
heard in today’s readings in the face of adversity and disappointment?
4.
How often do we encourage our neighbors
to live by the statutes of today’s bible lessons?
