Homily-Tuesday of the 15th
Week of Ordinary time Yr B-Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin
(USA)-Fr. Udoekpo, M
v Isaiah
7:1-9
v Ps
48:2-3a, 3b-8
v Matt
11:20-24
God Upholds His City and
Faithful People Forever,
Throughout history the Lord
has always upheld, protected and blessed his faithful city and people forever, as
we heard in Psalm 48 today. This is true of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, a Native
American, whose life of innocence, virginity and faithfulness we celebrate
today. Born to a Mohawk warrior in (1656-1680) in the New York area. She became
impaired with eyesight at a tender age, by smallpox and was baptized at the age
20, suffered all kinds of hostility, but she remained faithful and migrated to
a new Christian Colony of Indians in Canada, where she dedicated the rest of
her to prayer, penitential practices, care of the sick and the aged. She was
faith and devoted to the Crucified Christ. The more reason we celebrate her
today. The Lord upholds his faithful city and people forever.
Besides Kateri Tekawitha, in
the time of Isaiah of Jerusalem, Ahaz and the city of Judah where he was the
king was under threats of Syro-Ephramite warriors and kings (Rezin and Pekah).
But, the Lord sent Isaiah and his son with a symbolic name SHEAR-JASHUB (the
remnant shall return) to go speak to Ahaz never to abandon the of Israel nor
trust in foreign powers (Aram, Samaria, nor Assyria) - Shear –jashub meaning,
no matter what, even if Ahaz would suffer the loss of the land it will be temporarily
and the remnant, the faithful, the humble, the obedient- exiled Judeans would
eventually return, or be restored to the city of David. Of course, this came to
a fulfillment, for the Lord upholds his city and his people forever!
Similar warning or
cautioning against unfaithfulness is heard in the Gospel of Matthew read today
(Matt 11:20-24) concerning the city of Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida (evangelical
triangle) where Jesus preached. They must not be sinful or unfaithful like the
once destroyed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah of Genesis 18:20-21 and 19, or Tyre
and Sidon who hadn’t the opportunity to witness Christ’s preaching, with
repentance!
Today’s bible readings and
the life of the saint we celebrate challenge us to reexamine where we have gone
wrong, go astray, be afraid
unnecessarily, or be unfaithful against the Lord and his teachings, as
individual, community, and as a city or nation. We should do this keeping in
mind that the Lord will always bless, uphold his faithful city and people
forever! And the faithful, prayerful, the innocent, humble remnant shall
return, shall be saved!
Reflection Questions
1.
Do we trust in the
Lord’s promise that the remnant shall return?
2.
In what ways have we
not been faithful to Christ’s teachings and values?
3.
In what ways have we
assisted strayed members of our families, or faith communities to return to the
faith?
