Homily for Thursday Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 16th September, 2021. The memorial of St. Cornelius & St. Cyprian

 Homily for Thursday Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 16th September, 2021. The memorial of St. Cornelius & St. Cyprian

Readings: 1Tim. 4: 12-16; Ps.111; Luke 7:36-50

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DO NOT JUDGE AND CONDEMN PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THEIR PAST UGLY WAYS OF LIFE

Oftentimes we are quick to judge and condemn other people, we are quick to identify their sins without looking at our own sinful ways. We find it difficult to accept that something good can come out of people we have labeled as sinners in the society. But this is not the same with Jesus in our Gospel passage today who welcomes sinner and showed them mercy and kindness. 

That is why when one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to a meal in his house, and when they are at table, a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town and brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment and begin to weep and her tears fell on the feet of Jesus, and she wiped them away with her hair; kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment as she expressed her gratitude for mercy received.

But the Pharisees, instead of rejoicing on account of this woman's repentance, they confined their thoughts to her former ugly and sinful ways of life. Then with a parable, Jesus demonstrated that the greater a sinner, the greater the love he/she ought to show to God when he/she receives mercy and pardoned. Little wonder Jesus told Simon the Pharisee, I came into your house, and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. For this reason I tell you that her many sins have been forgiven, for she loved much. 

This tells us that we all are sinners and debtors before God. Though some sinners are greater debtors; but whether our debt be more or less, it is more than we are able to pay. But God is always ready to forgive us and the more we express our sorrow for sin, the more our love for Christ grows. Thus, St. Paul in our first reading  said “do not let people disregard you because you are young, but be an example to the believers in the way you speak and behave, and in your love, your faith and your purity, do not let you spiritual gifts lie unused.  

Dear friends, how do we present ourselves before God? Are we like the Pharisees, who always talk about other people’s sins without minding our own sinfulness? Are we carried away by the things around us and so forget the right things we ought to do? Are we like the woman in our Gospel, who came before the presence of Jesus with a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving for the mercy and pardon received? Today we are called to learn how to show appreciation for mercy and pardon we receive always from our heavenly Father.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we thank you for your graces and mercy which is beyond human imagination, for it is by your grace that we are what we are today, teach  us through the intercessions of SS. Cornelius and Cyprian how to be more willing to forgive others as we recognize our own need for God's forgiveness and so learn how to love more, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.