Homily For Thursday, Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 16th October 2025

 

Readings:  Romans 3:21-30; Ps. 130; Luke 11:47-54

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DON’T SET TRAPS AGAINST THE INNOCENT

 

In our Gospel passage today, Jesus continued with his reproach of the Scribes and the Pharisees for hardening their hearts from his teaching, therefore behaving like their ancestors. Little wonder, Jesus in his reproach said: Woe to you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! 

In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building. But the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him thereby setting traps to catch him out in something he might say.

 

Here, Jesus was speaking to the people on the ugly attitudes and wickedness of humanity, well manifested by the Scribes and Pharisees on various occasions, when we ought to obey the Lord, but preferred to live and act by our own selfish and proud attitudes. 

Hence, by reproaching us, Jesus is reminding us that this is not the right path for us to follow; instead, we should be more faithful and pay more attention to God’s words and teachings, which he had repeatedly communicated to us through the prophets, of which we often rejected and killed the prophets. Similarly, Jesus, despite all the signs and wonders he had done for humanity, we still refused to have faith in him.

 

Hence, St. Paul in our first reading tells us that God’s justice that was made known through the Law and the Prophets has now been revealed outside the Law, since it is the same justice of God that comes through faith to everyone. For a man is justified by faith and not just by doing something the Law tells him to do.

 

Dear friends, today Jesus rebuked the ugly attitude of humanity, calling us not to be like the Scribes and Pharisees, who, out of pride and selfishness, rejected the words of Jesus and sought to kill him. 

Rather, we should be more humble and disposed towards the words of God we hear every day. We should make efforts to transform our lives and faith more closely to that of Jesus. We should not be like the Pharisees and Scribes who look for the downfall of others because they tried to correct us.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as you reproach our ugly attitudes of pride and selfishness today, may we be filled with the longing for true holiness and humility, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed day.