DAILY HOMILIES #Christian

When you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence. The believers understood this saying and achieved a family united in one heart and soul. Don’t be afraid to share what you have; the more you give, the more it increases.

Just as Jesus was hated by so many, anyone who wants to follow Christ’s footsteps should prepare to have a lot of enemies. If you are a people-pleaser, you would end up trying to please the devil and, thereby, compromise your Christian values. Love your neighbour as yourself, but at the same time, don’t be afraid of losing friends who want you to disobey God.

You may not like those who hurt you, but at least be kind to them if you are in a position to help them. Be like David, who spared the life of Saul when he had a chance to kill him in his sleep. The good you do to your enemies will come back to you as a reward from God.

You cannot claim to be a Christian with a bad attitude. You risk losing your Christian Faith and even your very life itself. Again, you cannot be a Christian and still live a life of pretence or show-off, as the case may be. Otherwise, one day your “skin” will burst, and the whole world know you have just been deceiving yourself.

Abraham was kind to strangers when he had no reason to be; in return, he received a concrete assurance of God’s promise of a son. Avoid practising selective kindness. Be good to people even though they don’t deserve it. Show hospitality to strangers not in expectation of anything in return, not because they deserve it but because you are a Christian. Show hospitality to strangers; they could be Angels sent from God to test you. (Cf. Hebrew 13:2)

All these arguments about the Blessed Virgin Mary, the use of images in the church, the number of books in the Bible, etc. etc., what good has it done? You ask if I have given my life to Christ, and I tell you I am a Catholic, the next thing, you start trying to convince me that I will go to hell. You don’t believe in my doctrines, does that stop you from loving me as your fellow Christian? Why this hatred and animosity in our hearts?

Striving for Christian perfection surely sounds like foolishness to the world. The world we live in today has lost its moral values. Saying the truth at all times, refusing to tell a lie, staying away from sex before marriage, remaining faithful to your spouse even in tough times, keeping one’s heart pure, forgiving others freely and continuously, and staying away from secret sins may not command the respect of people but these are the characteristics of truly wise people.

Have I fully received Christ? Am I a wolf in sheep's clothing? Do I outwardly claim to be for Christ yet act against him in private? And finally, as a child of God, what are my New Year's resolutions?

Like Jesus Christ, we all have two names; one which appears on our certificates and one which defines who we are. Although the names we bear may vary, the kind of life we live must reflect our real identity - Christianity. People should not only call us Christians; they must also see Christ in us.

To say holiness is impossible or that it is not easy to live differently from the world is to act like the proverbial beggar sitting on a stool of pure gold, yet asking for crumbs from passers-by.

We cannot follow the narrow door if we cannot dare to stand out from the world and be different. To enter by the narrow door is to love God’s commandments regardless of what the world thinks about them.

If you know a Christian who steals, develop a hatred for stealing yourself. If you know a cleric who is unfaithful to his vows, become the Christian who is faithful to his or her spouse. You cheat yourself if you walk out of the church because of something that Jesus Christ already warned us before now.