Homily Sunday Week 4 Year C- Fr. Michael U. Udoekpo
Readings: Jer 1:4-5, 17-19; Ps 71:1-6, 15,
17; 1 Cor 12:31–13:13 and Luke 4:21-30
The strength for our Christian
Journey is Love
Our Christian calling is like
preparing for a pilgrimage or a long journey. It requires some home work 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.
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. 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.
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.
We want Christ's love to be our
strength. And love is nothing else than, hope, faith, trust, patient, humility,
selflessness, endurance and kindness towards one another.
