Homily For Tuesday Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 22nd November, 2022. The Memorial of St. Cecilia

 Readings: Rev.14:14-19 , Ps.95, Luke:21:5-11

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHAT SIGNS ARE YOU SEARCHING FOR IN THIS PASSING WORLD? YOU BETTER BE PREPARED 

As we approach the season of Advent, we are reminded of the need to be well prepared for the coming of God’s kingdom. This is evident in our readings these days and more so in our Gospel passage today which presents to us warnings about the end times. Here we see how those who were listening to Jesus were anxious to know what signs to look out for concerning the End Times event. But the timing of such an event is God’s secret. 

So, today Jesus warns us not to waste our time seeking for signs, rather we should be prepared, we should remain firm in faith. He also warns us about following those who claim to know when the end is coming. We may see many of the signs written in Scripture happening already in our time and people are terrified looking for someone to show them the way. Jesus is the only Way, the Truth and the Life. For without him in our lives, we may be lost, because the future lies in his hands and nothing can destroy or hurt us as long as we remain faithful to his commands.

Dear friends, what signs are you searching for in this passing world? You better be prepared for our lives as Christians demands that we should be alert and ready, just like St. John tells us in our first reading about the harvest time for the harvest of the earth is ripe. Thus we should be prepared at all times for this world is passing away. Hence, we are called to abstain from things that will separate us from our God. We are called to look into our inner being, our interior life, in order to embrace the life of holiness and self-control that will help us to be more prepared just like St. Cecilia whose memorial we celebrate today.

St. Cecilia, who came from an extremely rich family and was given in marriage to a young man named Valerian. She wore sackcloth next to her skin, fasted, and invoked the saints, angels, and virgins, beseeching them to guard her virginity. During her wedding ceremony she was said to have sung in her heart to God and before the consummation of her marriage, she told Valerian her husband she had taken a vow of virginity and had an angel protecting her. Valerian asked to see the angel as proof, and Cecilia told him he would have eyes to see once he traveled to the third milestone on the Via Appia (Appian Way). There he was baptized by Pope Urbanus. Following his baptism, Valerian returned to his wife and found an angel at her side. The angel then crowned Cecilia with a chaplet of rose and lily. 

Cecilia was later arrested and condemned to be suffocated in the baths. And late an executioner was sent to cut off her head in the baths who struck her three times but was unable to decapitate her so he left her bleeding and she lived for three days. Crowds came to her and collected her blood while she preached to them or prayed. On the third day she died and was buried by Pope Urban and his deacons. Today St. Cecilia is regarded as the patroness of music, because she heard heavenly music in her heart when she was married, and is represented in art with an organ or organ-pipes in her hand.

LET US PRAY: Almighty God, we often failed to listen to your warnings concerning our excess desire for the things of this passing world and the need for us to prepare and be ready for your coming. Through the intercessions of St. Cecilia give us the grace and wisdom to be well prepared to stand before you whenever you call us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed day.