Homily For Tuesday Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 10th September, 2024

 

Readings: 1Cor. 6:1-11; Ps. 149; Luke 6:12-19

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

 

WHY WE MUST LEARN  TO PRAY  ALWAYS LIKE JESUS

 

This year, on the 21st of January, the Holy Father Pope Francis declared the Year of Prayer in preparation for the 2025 jubilee Year to draw our attention to the importance of prayer. We often say prayer is a master key; Jesus started with prayers and ended with prayer. He does nothing without praying. This is evident in our Gospel passage today where we heard how Jesus, after deep prayers, called from among his disciples twelve apostles, whom he called and chosen to continue his work of evangelization and mission towards the salvation of humanity, for he needed to have people who will be entrusted with this mission.

 

So, each one of us, like the apostles, is 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. Prayers and absolute commitment are necessary qualities for this mission. That is why Jesus did not choose people because of what they were. Rather, he chose them for what they could become under his direction through prayers.

 

But one of the greatest problems is that we don’t often surrender our plan and mission to God’s will through prayers. So the question that comes to mind is, Will I pray? Will I stop praying? Will I care? Will I risk it? Will I let the Lord to lead me in prayer? These are questions of great demands which every true disciple must constantly reflect throughout his life in order to be aware of the seriousness of the commitment required of every one of us as disciples of Jesus. Little wonder St. Paul, in our first reading today, while referring to commitment and discernment in prayer, said: it is the saints who are to ‘judge the world’; and if the world is to be judged by you, how can you be unfit to judge trifling cases?

 

Dear friends,  we must learn to begin all our important events with prayers, especially as regards our mission as Christians. Prayers are the key to evangelization, and evangelization is the very nature and essence of the Church. And Jesus gives us the mandate and the commission to evangelize, that is, to announce the Good News to all the nations and to spread the Gospel to every creature.

 

This commission is shared by all those who are baptized both priests and lay faithful. Everyone has a particular responsibility to share in the work of proclamation of the Gospel. Today, we should ask ourselves, how have we proclaimed the Gospel to the world? What efforts are we making to ensure that the mandate Christ entrusted to us is carried out effectively in our generation?

 

Therefore, prayer is essential, especially at this moment when the world is confused because we have removed God from our daily lives. Prayer is the key at this time when we have placed our hope in the activities of the human person who seems to have taken the place of God. Prayer is the key at this time when our governments, scientists, doctors, lawyers, professors and even pastors have assumed the place of God, which, of course, has brought about the ugly situation we are facing in our societies today.

 

Hence, we are reminded once again about our very mission which is rooted in prayers, for it is time to take this mandate very seriously because it is our responsibility to fulfil our promises to God and ensure that the Christian faith is preached and sustained in the world and by so doing save humanity once again from sin, death and destruction.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God,  without prayers in our lives we are lost in this world, for a lot of us are confused because we have cut ourselves off from You our cornerstone, as we come back to You once again in prayers, may we learn from the prayer life of Jesus and his teaching and by so doing draw humanity back to You once again. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a favourable day.