Homily For Wednesday Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 13th September, 2023. The Memorial of St. John Chrysostom

Readings: Col. 3:1-11 Ps.145, Luke 6:20-26

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

 

WOE TO THE RICH AND BLESSINGS FOR THE POOR, BUT WHO ARE THE POOR AND THE RICH?

 

Oftentimes when we reflect on the ups and downs of life, the struggles, the tears and the disappointments that people are passing through every day. We wonder and feel that Life is not fair to some people. But is there anybody who has it all in this world? The truth is that we all struggle every day to make a significant impact in our society. And this significant impact often brings division and separation based on class, social and political affiliation. Hence we talk about the poor and the rich in relation to what people have accomplished.

 

But this is not the same with Jesus, for today in our Gospel passage Jesus talks about the blessings of the poor and the lots of the rich in relation to the virtue of humility and pride towards the things of this passing world and the things of heaven. For he said, Blessed are you who are poor: yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now: you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now: you shall laugh. But woe to you who are rich: you are having your consolation now. Woe to you who have your fill now: you shall go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now: you shall mourn and weep.

 

Here Jesus is referring to our disposition towards the things of this passing world and the things of heaven. He wants us to realize that we are not living simply to be happy in this life, but we should be conscious of our heavenly home by constantly examining ourselves on the deeper value of our ways of life in the light of what we can bring with us to eternal life. In this teaching commonly known as the Beatitudes, Jesus gave us the qualities that make for a happy and blessed life. To be blessed means to have inner joy and happiness because of God’s favour upon us. While to be called woe is to have sorrow and pain because we have turned away from God.

 

However, the poor, the hungry and those weeping in this Gospel passage are not just referring to the regular poor and hungry people around us rather, Jesus is referring to the fundamental character of the virtue of humility that is rooted in the poverty of the spirit, that consciousness of one’s own weakness and total dependent on God, which can be found in the lives of both regular poor or rich people and can also be lacking in neither depending on one’s disposition. Now we can understand why the woe to the rich and blessings for the poor

 

Dear friends, our world is in need of more virtuous people than rich people. However, blessed are those who are virtuous and rich, but woe to those that are rich and lack virtue for they shall soon mourn and weep. Little wonder  St. Paul in our first reading says: Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god; all this is the sort of behaviour that makes God angry.

 

Therefore,  let us learn from the life of John Chrysostom, whose memorial we celebrate today. For he is known for his deep love for God and heavenly things which he well demonstrated by his excellent preaching skills and was given the name Chrysostom which means “golden mouth” as he is usually called “John of the golden mouth,” because he utilized the gifts God gave him and used them for heavenly glories.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are always engrossed with the pride of life, an ugly attitude that often separates us from you. Grant us through the intercession of St John Chrysostom the grace of humility so that in our poverty, hungry, mourning and hatred in this world, our lives may aim toward our heavenly kingdom and make us a shining splendour in our family, society and in the world at large. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.