Homily For Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent Year C, 14th December, 2021. The Memorial of St. John the Cross

 Homily For Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent Year C, 14th December, 2021. The Memorial of St. John the Cross

Readings Zeph. 3:1-2,9-13, Ps. 34, Matt. 21:28-32

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

GOD IS WATCHING AND WAITING FOR US CHANGE OUR MINDS IN REPENTANCE AND OBEDIENCE TO HIS COMMAND

One of the gifts that God gave to humanity is the gift of freedom. This freedom though comes with great responsibility, since we are responsible for whatever comes out with regards to how we manage our freedom. We are free to chose whatever we like but we are also responsible for the consequences of our choice. However, because of our fragile nature, we often make grievous mistakes in our choices even when God has given us all the necessary guidelines towards making right decision but out of disobedience, we frequently failed to follow this guidelines. Today we are meant to know that repentance and obedience are necessary disposition towards attaining our ultimate goal in life, which is eternal life.

This is exactly what today’s Gospel passage is addressing, when Jesus in the parable of the Two Sons said to the chief priests and elders of the people, ‘What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My Son, you go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. 

Here, we see how repentance and obedience helped this first son to make the right decision about his father’s request while the second son failed because of negligence, irresponsibility and disobedience. Thus, the second son represents those of us Christians who promised to work for God’s kingdom but have failed and so excluding ourselves from the kingdom. While the first son represents those ‘sinners’ who first chose to go their own way but now have repented and begin to follow the way of the Lord, by so doing, they have gained access to God’s kingdom. 

So in the first son we see someone who reflected on his decision, realized that he was wrong, decided to make it right by taking full responsibility for his decision. For when the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed. But if the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. This is because the righteous would perish for their sins of disobedience, while sinner would be saved by their act of repentance and obedience. This tells us the important of repentance and obedience when rooted in humility, for they are necessary disposition towards attaining eternal life.

This disposition is exactly what prophet Zephaniah is emphasizing in our first reading when he called us for repentance so that when that day comes we need feel no shame for all the misdeeds we have committed against the Lord. Thereby teaching us the right disposition that we all have been called to show in our daily lives especially in our relationship with our God and with others.

This is very obvious in the life of Saint John of the Cross whose  memorial we are celebrating today, a great doctor and mysticist of the Church who truly understands and embraced the teachings of Jesus and so inspires in our souls by his ways of life, how to continue to be in love with the Lord, he said:  What more do you want my soul and what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess all the riches, delights, satisfactions, and fullness of the kingdom of your beloved whom you desire and seek. Therefore, be joyful and glad in your interior recollection with him for you have him so close to you. Desire him deep within your soul, and there adore him. Do not go in pursuit of him outside yourself for he is deep with you. 

Dear friends, in our journey of life, have we made wrong decisions but finding it difficult to change our minds and put things right? Are we thinking of leaving the right path to follow the sinful paths because of the ugly condition we are passing through now? Are we thinking that our righteous ways of life, have not being fruitful because sinners are gaining more ground than we do? Are we living in sin now thinking that God will not punish us? Or are we thinking that it is not possible to repent now because of the gravity of our sins? 

The truth remains that God is watching and waiting for us to change our minds in repentance and obedience to his commands. He is waiting for us to decide to make things right and take responsibility for our actions. He is watching and waiting for us to repent and have the right disposition to make the right decisions, but his waiting can not be for eternity. All we need is the right disposition that is rooted in humble obeisance and repentance of our sinful and ugly ways of life.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, we have often abused the gift of freedom which you have given us and have strayed from the path you have made for us as a result of our sinfulness. Through the intercessions of St. John of the Cross, give us the grace of true repentance in humble obedience as you guide us through the right path of life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed day.