Homily for Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 7th November, 2021

 Homily for Thirty-Second  Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 7th November, 2021. 

Readings: 1 Kings  17:10-16; Ps: 146; Heb.9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LIVING A LIFE OF SACRIFICE HELPS US TO OVERCOME THE UGLY ATTITUDE OF PRIDE AND HUMAN EGO

Beginning from the time of Adam and Eve in the Gardens of Eden, Devil has been tempting mankind with the first capital sin of pride and ego, knowing how vulnerable and weak we can be in resisting our desires for knowledge and power. These are temptations for every age, however, it is more obvious in our society today, as we all want and like red carpet treatment. We all enjoy wearing a well tailored clothes and be addressed by honorific titles in different occasions and events even in the Church. 

These of course can be done innocently without any harm depending on how they affect our relationships with God and our neighbours. When it is done out of pride and ego then, it becomes harmful to others and this can lead to idolatry, where man will seek to be like God or assume the honor and glory due to God. 

This ugly attitude is what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today, when he said “Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive”.

Here, Jesus points to those entrusted with religious leadership who have turned their positions of trust into selfish interest as they focus on what they can get, rather than what they can give. So Jesus warning his disciples against such kind of behaviour, especially how they exercised and practiced their faith. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often prided themselves in their privileged and highly respected position in the community, and showed off their faith, seeking important and privileged positions. 

What Jesus is telling us all is to be careful and vigilant against the temptations of ego and pride in our lives. We must focus our attention on God and put Him first and foremost in all we do. This no doubt requires sacrifice just like the poor widow in our Gospel passage and the widow in our first reading, for they sacrifice all that they had in thanksgiving to God. In rewards for such great sacrifice, prophet Elijah made us know that our Jar of meal shall not be spent and our jug of oil shall not be emptied, before the day when the Lord shall send rain of blessings in our lives. For our Lord Jesus Christ has made his appearance once and for all, now at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself as we heard in our second reading today.

Dear friends, living a life of sacrifice helps us to overcome the ugly attitude of pride and human ego. Because, the warning of Jesus concerning our pride and ego is not only for religious leaders and ministers, but for everyone of us: fathers, mothers, teachers, lecturers, students, government officials, military leaders, business men and women, celebrities, doctors, mechanics and leaders of all works of life. We are to be on the watch in order to avoid being carried away by the titles of honour and dignity that comes with the pride of life, like some of the scribes in our Gospel passage today. Rather, we should humble ourselves in the midst of external respect and honour, for noble souls despise these kind of honour, as they offer it to God, to whom all respect and honour belongs. 

Therefore, we have to be careful for St Paul in 2Tim 4:1-8, tells us that out of pride, time is sure to come when far from being content with sound teaching, people will be avid for the latest novelty and collect themselves a whole series of teachers according to their own tastes; and then, instead of listening to the truth, they will turn to myths. Friends, let us be careful always to choose the right course; be brave under trials; make the preaching of the Good News our life’s work, in thoroughgoing service. So that we can join him to say: “I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on the last Day”.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as you warn us today to beware of the pride and ego of the human life in order to embrace the life of humble sacrifice, grant us we pray, the grace of humility in the midst of all prideful events in our lives. We as this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a grace filled Sunday celebration.