HOMILY FOR TUESDAY 20TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME B
MEMORIAL OF ST. BERNARD (Abbot and Doctor)
The scriptures says in John 15, that without God, we are nothing or we can do nothing. This word is evident to us as we see God in the first reading showing us His Almighty nature. Yesterday, I told us that what we have is for God's glory, which is made manifest in our neighbors by reaching out to them in their needs. Whatever God has blessed us with, is for us to use it to elevate or put smiles on those around us and not to make people feel vulnerable. When we share our resources, God is happy with us.
The gospel is a continuation of the aftermath between Jesus and the rich man. Jesus used a vivid hyperbole or “word cartoon” to show how riches bar people from Heaven. This is not to say that riches is bad. Our wealth and possessions are meant to be given to those who are in need. At the same time, one must be careful when he or she is in great wealth.
Something severe happened when Jesus made such a statement about how hard the rich man will enter the Kingdom of God than the Carmel passing through a needle. Of course, we too can ask, who then can be saved? The thing is that, truly, it may seem to be impossible but not with God. This statement draws a lot about the personality of God. The fact that nothing is impossible for God means that God can save anyone irrespective of who you are. A story of a lady who entered prostitution due to the harshness of the country…later saved by a good person to stop prostitution. She went ahead to talk to some of her friends so that they too could be doing legal business instead of prostitution by establishing little businesses. Many people when they see these people doing such, we condemn them but we never can tell what they are going through. God is working his way into their lives and so we cannot condemn them. In any case, Jesus is saying that it is not impossible, by the grace of God, for a wealthy person to keep his spiritual integrity, but it is extremely difficult and uncommon. Why do riches prevent one from reaching God? First, the rich think that they can buy their way out of sorrow and into happiness, so they don’t need God. Second, riches shackle one to this earth, and one ignores an afterlife. taught by Scriptures (Mt 6:21). Third, riches tend to make one selfish. The Bible doesn’t say that money is the root of all evil; it says that “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tm 6:10). Jesus also challenges the Jewish belief that material wealth and prosperity are signs of God’s blessings, and poverty is the sign of His punishment. Jesus condemns a value system that makes “things” more valuable than people.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have a lot of life lessons that we can take from today’s reading most especially from the life of St. Bernard whose memorial we celebrate today. A man of great wealth but decides to leave everything in pursuit of His salvation. One area in which he was outstanding is the fact that he didn’t allow politics to interfere with the Church’s activity, especially in the monasteries. Thus, we are called just like St. Bernard to be generous in our lives. Jesus’ Infinitely generous Self-gift to us has the crucifix as “Exhibit A,” and in the Eucharist, Jesus becomes our spiritual Food and Drink. To follow Jesus, we must have a generous, self-giving heart, and we should be willing to use it by sharing our blessings with others. God does not ask us to give up our riches, but He does ask us to use them wisely in His service. How do we use our talents? What about time – do we use it for God? We each get 168 hours every week. How do we use our time? Do you use part of it to communicate to God? or Are we too busy to pray each day? How do you use your
PAX VOBIS
Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Kwara State,
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