Homily For Thursday Second Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 19th January, 2023

Readings: Heb. 7:25-8:6, Ps.39, Mark 3:7-12

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

LET US LEARN TO SOMETIMES WITHDRAW FROM THE CROWD OF THIS WORLD

 

There is no doubt in my mind that the work of evangelization can be so demanding and can weigh us down if we do not create time to draw strength from the Lord. This is so, because, a lot of people are in need of God’s loving care, healings and direction especially in the midst of the ugly situation in our world today. Thus, in our Gospel passage today, St. Mark gave us a summary of the activities of Jesus and how he was able to manage the pressure from the crowd who came from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea and even from the pagan region of Tyre and Sidon as they were almost about to crush him and his disciples.

 

So, as Jesus healed the people and performed great works, most people wish to see him and to touch him. The people are so numerous that Jesus himself was concerned with the danger of being crushed by the multitude. Thus he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him so that the crowd would not crush him. And from the boat he spoke to them and heal the sick, and set free those possessed especially the excluded and the marginalized who came to him with their ailments. For those who were not accepted in the society at that time were accepted by Jesus. This tells us that Jesus is really concerned about the struggles of humanity and wishes to set us free from the shackles of the devil.

 

Dear friends, we are told in our first reading that the power of Jesus to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him. For Jesus wishes to set us free from sickness and the forces and manipulations of the evil ones. And the power of evil which causes great fear in people have been overcome by Jesus, so that we do not need to be afraid of Satan anymore.

 

Thus, we should not be afraid to stand firm against the manipulations of the devil, because Jesus will not abandon us in this battle of life. He desires to be with us as we struggle everyday to overcome the forces of evil in our families, society and the world at large. However, as we carryout our mission of evangelization we are called to always be careful about the pressure that comes from the crowd for this can crush and consume us if we do not create time to be with the Lord. So, we have to learn to sometimes withdraw from the crowd of this world.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we struggle everyday to do your will in the mission entrusted to us. May we never been consumed or crushed by the pressure that comes from the crowd, rather let the power of your presence be felt in our midst, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed day.