Homily For Friday Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 26th July, 2024. The Memorial of SS Joachim and Anne

 

Readings: Jer. 31:14-17, Ps. Jer. 31:10-13; Matt. 13:18-23

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

 

HOW ARE WE RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD IN OUR HEARTS? 

A critical observation of the structure of our society, one will easily notice how people are struggling with the things of this life; our passion, determination and willingness are deep-rooted in worldly things. For we work so hard to fill our hearts with the rocks and thorns of life that we have no room for the Word of God to blossom in our hearts.

 

This unhealthy and ugly attitude is what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today as he explains the parable of the sower, pointing out our different dispositions towards the Word of God in relation to our interior life. Here, Jesus describes different kinds of obstacles to God's Word, obstacles such as shallow-mindedness, hardened heart, worldly desires and finally, trials and persecutions.

 

Today, because of our uncontrolled desire for things in this world, most people fall into some, if not all, of these obstacles. For a lot of people do hear and talk about the Word of God, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth will always choke the word we hear, and it yields nothing because it has no root to sustain it in our hearts.

 

Also, we often hardened our hearts by following the dictates of our stubborn attitude, thereby making our hearts a rocky ground where God’s Word does not bear much fruit. Thus, we are called to examine whether our soul is like the dry, rocky ground or has been choked by the thorns of this life. For it is time to regularly seek to nourish our soul and prepare it to receive the Holy Word of God So that we can create a fertile disposition within our heart in order to let the Word bear fruit in our soul.

 

Dear friends, how are we receiving God’s Word and applying it in our daily lives? Today we heard the Lord saying in our first reading that no one will ever say again: Where is the ark of the covenant of the Lord? For when that time comes, Jerusalem shall be called: The Throne of the Lord; all the nations will gather there in the name of the Lord and will no longer follow the dictates of their own stubborn hearts.

 

Remember, our hearts are the fields in which the Word of God is spread today. But to which do our hearts belong: the pathway, the rocky ground, the thorns or the good soil of faith and hope? Whichever one, we are called to dispose our hearts more so that God’s Word may find root in us just like SS. Joachim and Anne the parents of the blessed virgin Mary, whose memorial we celebrate today. For they were entrusted with the task of nurturing and bringing up Mary as a great instrument for God’s salvation for humanity.

 

Thus, today we celebrate these two great saints for their dedication and commitment towards the Word of God by nurturing and bringing up Mary to be Immaculate and pure, worthy to be the vessel of our salvation in Christ. They played their role as the guardians and parents of Mary and she grew in faith and love for the Lord. Similarly, we are also entrusted with different responsibilities and are called to fulfil them.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, the world is full of hidden rocks and thorns which are seriously making your Holy Word unfruitful in our hearts, give us the grace to truly detach ourselves from them in order to faithfully embrace your Word in our souls and bear great fruits of love, peace, joy and fulfilment. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.