Homily- Tuesday of the 21st Week In Ord. Time
of Year B. Fr. Udoekpo, Michael
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2 Thes 2:1-3a, 14-17
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Ps 96:10,11-12,13
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Mtt 23:23-26
Steadfastness in Faith and in what are Important in
Christ
Sometimes we are being pulled down or discouraged by the
daily vicissitudes and challenges life that would resemble that of the ancient Thessalonian
church community of. Paul’s time, and of the complexities that the Pharisees
displayed during the time of Jesus. Today’s readings as we heard summed up in
the Alleluia verse, Hebrews 4:12, are God’s words (verbum domini). They
are “living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the
hearts.” They exhort us to be steadfast
in faith and always do those things that are essentials in matters of faith, no matter the challenges we face in life.
The first reading, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3a, 14-14, like
the entire 1 Thessalonians is a letter of encouragement by St. Paul to a community
that was facing challenges concerning, faith, love and hope, and the coming of
the day of the Lord (yom adonay). St. Paul and his community encourages the disillusioned
church in Thessalonica not to engage in unnecessary apocalyptic enthusiasm (as
some of us would do today), but suggest instead an indefinite interim period
before the end of time or of the coming of the Lord.
Unlike the 1 Thessalonians that teaches that the coming
of Christ will be a surprise to everyone, and will happen soon (1 Thess 5:1-11),
2 Thessalonians exhorts the community that the day of the Lord will not only be
delayed, but it will not come at once. There will be a struggle between good
and evil. This, of course, prepares the church and us to brace with hope, and
endurance the challenges that we face each day.
You and I, it does
not matter where you are, or which continent you are located, know that such
challenges are many today; including division, racism, threats of war and
terrorism, gossiping, back-biting, corruption in many places and political capitals, jealous,
ethnocentrism, secularism and inordinate anthropocentrism to the detriment of
the weak, the poor and other God’s creatures- in fact, not to talk of those
painful, and hurtful challenges, that this ongoing covid-19 pandemic has
brought humanity.
Similar genre of exhortation of call to pursing those
values which strengthen faith, hope and love dominates the Gospel of Matthew
23:23-26, just heard. Jesus denounces much of the externalism of the Pharisees. Though pursuing laws and legality pertaining
to even payment of tithes, the Pharisees
neglected what really matters in life, such as social justice, mishpat, mercy,
righteousness, chesed, kindness, emeth, truth, reaching out to
the poor, “smelling the sheep” if I may borrow Pope Francis’s expression in his
Evangelii Gaudium (when stressing the responsibility of leaders and good
citizens!). Such negligence by the Pharisees of Jesus time, was like “cleaning
the outside of cup and dish, but leaving the inside full of plunder, dirt, and
self-indulgence” (Matt 23:23-26).
I want to believe that these layers of exhortation, denunciation
by Paul and by Christ, just heard, should encourage us to rethink and reexamine
our state of steadfastness in matters of faith, as taught by scripture
traditions and the church. They should challenge us to re-evaluate how often we do pay attention to those things that are
essential in preserving our faith, our Christian commitments, our covenant with
the Lord and with one another, keeping our vows, teaching the faith, and reaching
out, with love, and mercy to those who are in need. In other words, remaining
steadfast to truth and our faith traditions are what we daily pray for,
especially at this mass and worship.
Reflection Questions
1.
Do we keep the faith tradition or
are we often carried away by unfounded apocalyptic enthusiasm?
2.
How often do we pay attention to the
inside, those things that foster peace, faith, love, unity and Christian values
than all that would represent hypocrisy and externalism of the Pharisees of
today’s gospel?
3.
In what ways or how often do we
exhort or encourage our next door neighbors in matters of faith, hope and love?
