From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2013
My homily today is given at Ukarimu Centre in Molo, Nakuru Diocese to the Blessed John Paul II Parish Evangelizing Team. Next Sunday August 25, 2013 Bishop John Oballa Owaa of Ngong Catholic Diocese will come at Magadi Soda, St Thomas Catholic church for confirmation rite. It means I shall not have my homily.
The first reading of today is taken from Jer 38:4-6, 8-10. It narrates how prophet Jeremiah was maltreated and imprisoned, but being a man of God full of faith he endured suffering all his life for the sake of the true religion.
Jeremiah was called to prophetic ministry in c. 626 BC. The Lord had Jeremiah speak against false prophets. After Jeremiah prophesied that Jerusalem would be handed over to the Babylonian army, the king’s officials, including Pashur the priest, tried to convince King Zedekiah that Jeremiah should be put to death because he was discouraging the soldiers as well as the people.
The second reading from Heb 12:1-4 and the Gospel from Lk 12:49-53 are similar. They narrate how our Lord Jesus Christ endured the cross for the sake of the joy which lay before him. Jesus came not to bring peace but to set the earth on fire.
Household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of Jesus, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Whoever acknowledges Jesus before others he will also acknowledge before his Father in heaven- But whoever disowns Jesus before others, he will disown before his Father in heaven.
He warns scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy-For they cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Jesus wants us first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish that the outside of them may be clean also.
His first condemnation is in 23:13, related to the fact that they did all they could to shut out others. False religion and pretense are always the worst enemies of the truth and are far more dangerous than immorality or indifference. As the religious leaders of the Jews, they were held guilty before God of blocking the way for others seeking to enter into the kingdom of God.
Yet, Jerusalem, which means “city of peace,” was the scene where the blood of the prophets was spilled, and stones were cast at those who brought a message of love.
Again and again, prophets had been killed and stoned, and the end was not yet.
They taught about God but did not love God. They preached God but converted people to dead religion. They taught the law but did not practice some of the most important parts of the law — justice, mercy, faithfulness to God.
They exhibited themselves as righteous on account of being scrupulous keepers of the law, but were in fact not righteous: their mask of righteousness hid a secret inner world of ungodly thoughts and feelings. They were full of wickedness.
They professed a high regard for the dead prophets of old, and claimed that they would never have persecuted and murdered prophets, when in fact they were cut from the same cloth as the persecutors and murderers: they too had murderous blood in their veins.
Jesus message was clear, that all of us are sinners. John says: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves”. One may say that “I have no sin” with reference to his standing in Christ Jesus as a forgiven sinner.
In 1 John 1:10, the apostle said: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar.” Before the all-searching God, are we without sin? If there is no sinner, no Saviour is needed. Let us not make our God a liar by our self-justification.
Those who deny the existence of sin within them are rejecting the infallible testimony of God’s Word, which says that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23; cf. Jeremiah 17:9).
By prescribing their own doctrines, traditions and creeds, the Pharisees were actually hindering others from truly accepting God’s rule in their lives. They had formulated their own standards of right and wrong.
Jesus summarizes his point thus far by saying, They will treat you this way because of my name. So he concludes that the reason they reject him is their ignorance of the One who sent me. The conflict his disciples experience is a part of something much bigger than themselves.
Even today Christians today are being persecuted for the sake of God. They are being rejected merely because they are obnoxious. Jesus gives his disciples the larger perspective, helping them understand that what they are going through is part of the world’s rejection of the Father and the Son.
Thus Jesus is giving the disciples two grounds for assurance, himself and the Scriptures. They should look to him for his example and for what he has said to them. The Scriptures in general and the Gospels in particular, continue to play such a role in the lives of faithful disciples today.
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
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Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ UN Disarmament Conference, 2002