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The catechist's son usually played soccer with the village boys. The
boys hatched a plan one evening to mob and kill him on their way back
from the football playground. Just before the end of game that fateful
day, the ball was kicked across the road. The catechist's son ran to
retrieve the ball and was knocked down by a passing car. He sustained
multiple cuts and bruises, for which he was taken to the local hospital.
This means that the plan of the boys to mob and kill him that evening
had failed. On hearing what happened, the villagers came to sympathise
with the catechist. All that the catechist said was, , "If this did not
happen, something worse could have happened." How right he was!
But how we often behave like immature children, raising a tantrum and
running away as the divine physician visits us to administer the painful
or bitter remedy. God allows some sickness to visit us and we
immediately quit trusting Him and go shopping for any self-styled
healer. God sends us a partner to bring us to our knees and we run to file
for divorce. God allows our church to experience humiliation in order to
bring us to the right path and we immediately think of leaving the
church. If only we knew and believed that all these things work together
for our good, we might have exercised more patience in such trying
times.
Today, the word of God invites us to trust more fully and more
unconditionally in God's goodness, no matter the condition in which we
find ourselves. This does not mean that we should not make an effort to
change the bad conditions of our lives, as if everything that comes to us
was directly sent by God. No, that would be determinism. When we are
sick we should take steps to change the situation by going to a hospital.
When we are jobless we should take steps to change the situation by
looking for a job or training for one. But we must work for change not
with the belief that overcoming the bad situation is a test of whether
God is with us or not, but with a disposition of implicit confidence in
God's unconditional love for us. The prophet Habakkuk gives us an
example in this regard when he prays:
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on
the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the
stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my
Saviour. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
God's word today invites us to cooperate with God's plan for our lives.
We do this by trusting God completely and submitting our lives' plans
to God's great design for us, knowing that "all things work together
for good for those who love God" (Romans 8:28). In the face of the
contrarieties of life, may we always remind ourselves that "If this did
not happen, something worse could have happened."
SUNDAY HOMILIES FOR YEAR A
By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, cssp
Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - On the
Gospel
Home > Homilies > Year A > Sunday 17 Epistle
First she would get a large basket, lure the mother hen into the basket
and cover her up. The mother hen safely covered in the basket would
then chuck for the chickens and they would all gather around the basket.
Raise the basket a little and the chickens all rush into it to be with their
mother hen. In a couple of minutes you’ve got the mother hen with her
brood of seven chickens. In this example the baby chickens can be
compared to the many good things of life and the mother hen to
the summum bonum, the supreme good which brings in its train all other
goods.
The kingdom of God is God’s reign in our hearts, in our lives, in our
homes, in our society, and in our world. The one who finds the kingdom
of God finds everything desirable besides. That is why it is compared to
hidden treasure in a field which someone discovers, then goes and sells
all that oeverything he has and buy this one pearl. In fact, these parables
invite us not only to seekfirst the kingdom of God but to seek only the
kingdom because with the kingdom of God comes every other good
thing that we desire and long for.
If God came in your dream tonight and asked you to ask for one thing
and one thing only, what would you ask for? Would you ask for wealth
or success in business or love life? Would you have the wisdom of
Solomon to ask for the reign of God in your personal and business life?
Is the kingdom of God so important to you that you are prepared to sell
and part with all you have in order to have it? Remember, the kingdom
of God is not just one among so many other good and desirable things.
It is the summum bonum, the supreme good, the one and only good
thing we shall ever need to achieve total satisfaction and fulfilment in
life. If you have the kingdom of God you have everything and if you
don’t have the kingdom of God you have nothing.