DATE :20/9/2020
EVENT : 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
COLOUR: GREEN
READINGS : Isaiah 55:6-9 Responsorial Psalm 145:2-3.8-9.17-18; Phil. 1:20-24.27; Gospel Accl. Acts 16:14; Matthew 20:1-16.
THEME: THE JUSTICE OF GOD'S PARTIALITY
INTRODUCTION :
Greetings beloved people of God and fellow pilgrims. I welcome you to the 25th Sunday in the Ordinary time of the Church. (An Ordinary time is the season when the Church has no particular celebration). On this Sunday, beloved friends, I wish to reflect with you on the theme, "The Justice of God's Partiality". Has it ever crossed your mind to think that God is partial in the way He acts and distributes talents, resources and opportunities? Have you ever wondered why some pe…
MY CATHOLIC HOMILY DIGEST
DATE : 21/9/2020, Monday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time (A)
EVENT : St. Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist (Feast)
COLOUR : RED
READINGS : Eph.4:1-7.11-13; Resp. Psalm 19:2-3.4-5; Matt. 9:9-13.
THEME: HOW CAN A RICH MAN LIKE MATTHEW FOLLOW A POOR JESUS
Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". As this new working week begins dear friends, I want to reflect with you on the theme, "How can a Rich Man like Matthew follow a poor Jesus". Today, the Church celebrates the feast and conversion of Matthew, who was a republican, a tax collector, a rich guy, a perceived enemy/traitor and a public sinner. His call and subsequent conversion leaves us with a great lesson.
One question that has often stayed with me is this: What is it that makes the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate, the saint, the sinner, men and women, young and old to tremble at the presence of the divine? When I was still a seminarian, we use to make a joke that, "Anointing and the Soutane bring attraction much more than money and fame". In the Gospel reading of today, When Jesus cited Matthew sitting at his duty post, collecting taxes and making money, he called him, and Scripture recorded that Immediately, "he stood, left everything and followed him". Beloved, there is power and force in the spoken "WORD" of Jesus. Recall that it is this same "WORD" that caused things to come into being in Genesis (Gen. 1:3). The "WORD" of God carries grace to transform whatever it touches and the grace to effect the desired change. The WORD of God according to Heb. 4:12 "is quick, powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart". Who dares to resist the power of the "WORD"? Me and you today.
Given the above efficacy of the grace filled "WORD" of God, there is no reason for surprise that the tax collector abandoned earthly wealth as soon as the Lord commanded him. However, the question for us today is: How prompt are we to respond to the spoken "WORD" of God, which we hear each day? Has the "WORD" of God lost its transforming power today, or has our hearts become even stronger than stones, impenetrable (Ezek. 36:26). Like I would always say at the end of my homilies, give the "WORD" a chance to change your life as Matthew did today and you would experience the transforming power of the "WORD" in your life this week. God bless you
Oh that today you would listen to his voice harden not your hearts (Ps.95:7-8)
LET US PRAY : Lord Jesus, help me by your grace to make your Word the standard for my life hat I may follow your faithfully.....Amen
HAPPY NEW WEEK (BARKA DA SABUWAR MAKO)
@ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪
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