Homily For Friday of The Second Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 21st January, 2022. The Memorial of St. Agnes of Rome

 

Homily For Friday of The Second Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 21st January, 2022. The Memorial of St. Agnes of Rome

Readings: 1Sam.24:2-20; Ps.57; Mark 3:13-19

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

HAVING A MISSIONARY ZEAL AND PASSION IS NECESSARY FOR AUTHENTIC WITNESSING 

As Jesus continues his work of evangelization and mission towards the salvation of humanity, he needed to have people who will be entrusted with this mission. Thus, in our Gospel passage today, Jesus chose twelve apostles out of his disciples. He called and separated them from the crowd so that they will be with him. And he gave them power to preach the gospel, to heal the sick, and to cast out devils. 

Here Jesus clarifies the extreme nature of his mission which he will entrust to his apostles, so that those who would follow him must first count the cost, because they will definitely share in his sufferings in order to share in his glory. Thus, Jesus who has earlier given the disciples explicit instructions about his mission makes know to the apostles their specific mission.

Consequently, each one of us like the apostles are called by name into a deep personal and intimate relationship with Jesus in order to be sent to bear witness of him in the world. Absolute commitment is a necessary quality for this mission. Because, Jesus did not choose people because of what they were. Rather, he chose them for what they could become under his direction and power.

This is what we see in the life of David in our first reading today, where we see the magnanimity of David’s heart, for he refused to kill Saul when he had a perfect opportunity to strike Saul and claim the Kingship of Israel for himself. Although he has been chosen as the new King of Israel, but that should not have given him the justification to murder a person in the time of his weakness, and less still to do so for the pursuit of power and personal glory as most people do today. This is because David was truly filled with love for God. He did everything to serve the Lord according to his will and mission for him.

This genuine obedience and commitment to God’s mission is what we also see in the life of St. Agnes whose memorial we celebrate today. For as a noble young Roman woman, St. Agnes had many suitors and those who were interested in her, but she rejected them all for she had dedicated and consecrated her purity and virginity to God, and will not allowing any of those men to desecrate her virginity and sanctity. So out of pride and jealousy suitors became very angry at her, and reported her to the authorities as a suspected Christian, since to be a Christian was a crime punishable by death. 

On account of this, the Roman prefect, named Sempronius condemned her to death and attempted to kill her by various methods. First the attempts by several men to defile her virginity by force failed because they were immediately struck blind before they died. The attempts also to hurt her by other means such as burning on a stake also failed for the flames refused to burn the wood. But eventually she was beheaded by being stabbed in the throat and that’s how Agnes met her end through martyrdom and brought glory to God and his mission.

Dear friends, how are we responding to God's call and mission? How best are we carrying out this mission of preaching the Gospel, healing the sick and casting out devil? How are we relating with those we judge to be sinners and those we see as our enemies? What efforts are we making to convert them. Remember, as followers of Christ we are called to journey with Jesus in love and compassion towards other people even in the midst of sufferings, rejection and persecution.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, you called and chose us to be with you in order to bear witness of our salvation to humanity, through the intercessions of St. Agnes, help us to have the missionary zeal that will enable us to live with integrity, purity and detachment from the thing of this passing world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a favourable day.