DAILY HOMILIES

If God permits suffering in your life, it is not out of hatred or punishment, it is because He knows that something good can come out it. Don’t have this attitude of complaint or bitterness against God, do not seek to revenge (lest you open your mind for the devil to feed you with all kinds of evil thoughts). Just look at the unique opportunities your situation is offering to you.

In John 4:4 we read: “Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Following Jesus at all demands a certain level of letting go and breaking off from the world. As Jesus would say: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25).

Have you being a mediocre Christian? Repent! Be like Jesus who desired to fulfil all righteousness. Have you stayed away from the sacraments for a long time? Repent! Jesus believed in the outward signs that convey inward graces to our souls. Have you abandoned your baptismal promises? Repent! Ask for God’s mercy; renew your baptismal promises and start all over again.

“No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven.” (John 3:27). How often do we remember this? How often do we ministers of God remember that we must decrease and allow God to increase in the hearts of our flock? How easy it is to hear terms such as: “My ministry, my altar, my church”, “I am in charge here.” etc.

Every devotional activity requires a large dose of faith. If you must pray or obey the laws of the church (as Jesus instructed the leper to do), then you must first believe that God exists and that even if you can’t see Him physically, God is in his ministers.

Just as words are capable of creating, they are also capable of destroying so when we speak. The saying goes that fools speak just because they have to say something but wise people speak only when they have something to say. If you must speak, make say you are speaking the truth and your actions do not, later on, contradict your words. In other words, only say what you mean and mean what you say.

The truth is that we cannot avoid having to write exams and very difficult exams at that. God often allows us to go through the valley of the shadow of darkness to show us that even in thick darkness, even amid all the commotion and turbulence, He remains Lord and Ruler of the World. By walking on water, Jesus was saying: “no matter how tough your situation may be, it is not difficult for me because I am on top of it.”

Love is giving our very best to our enemies; those who have no regard for us, those who hate us. Love is giving freely and selflessly to others; not those we are attracted to and more importantly, not those we expect to receive from. So if you stopped giving just you are not appreciated or the person does not reciprocate, it means there was never any atom love in you. You were just being a merchant.

Repentance brings healing. Repentance is saying “No” to the devil so as to allow God to come into your life and where God is, sickness, disease, stagnation, demonic possession etc. cannot remain.

The wise men gave gifts to Jesus because they recognized His Divinity, His Kingship and His Sacrificial role for mankind. The question is: “what kind of gifts do I render to Jesus? And what do my gifts say about Jesus?” Indeed, the best gift we can offer to Jesus today is the gift of a righteous life, a pure heart and hands willing to do God’s commands.

We deny Christ by refusing to allow Christ’s words to govern our thoughts and actions. We deny Christ when we behave as if Jesus is not real. We deny Christ when we refuse to use our position, wealth and political influence in the society advance the cause of Christ.