DAILY HOMILIES #faith

The journey to anything excellent and beautiful is usually marred with a lot of obstacles and pot-holes. Even serving God is not easy. No one, not even Jesus Christ the Son of God was spared suffering, pain, and sorrow. Like gold which has to experience fire, you would face a lot of fires that would remove impurities from you. Don’t give up on God. Don’t think that your prayers are in vain. Things would not always be like this. Don’t worry – after the story comes the glory.

Do not rush in prayer. First, recollect yourself, then place yourself in the presence of God and remember that God is first your Father. This is why Jesus begins with the words: “Our Father who art in heaven.” Jesus presents an important principle of life: You cannot take without giving. Prayer is not just about asking, it also involves doing. Jesus makes clear the point: “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Jesus said: “All things are possible to him who believes.” What is clear from this encounter is that even though the disciples were commanding the demon, deep down within them, they were not expecting the demon to obey. Everything is possible if you believe. The question is: “Do you believe?”

In the Transfiguration event, Jesus opened the eyes of Peter, James, and John and they were able to see His Glory. The transfiguration goes to show that there is more to reality than what meets the ordinary eye. We need faith to see beyond our present circumstances; to get a full picture of where God is leading us.

Faith is praying to God for item A and getting item B (the opposite), yet you still find the courage to say “Thank you, God.” Jesus cured a demoniac but in the process, the villagers lost their entire herd of swine. The size of their economic loss was too huge to notice that a man had been set free from demon possession. All they could see was the loss of their source of livelihood. So they begged Jesus to go away.

The disciples of Jesus had every reason to be afraid because they faced a great storm but instead of declaring faith in God, they expected the worst to happen. They were so frightened that they almost forgot God was physically present with them in the boat. The moment they remembered Jesus, He woke up and rebuked the sea. Never forget that God is with you. No matter what you face, call on God first and keep reminding yourself of what God has done in the past. You may not delete fear from your mind completely but you have to allow your faith overpower that negative voice within you. Use your faith to cure your fear.

To be merciful is to have a heart of pity for others, a heart that feels the pain of others, a heart that wants to see them well again, strong, healthy and back to the light. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus, “moved with pity” stretched out his hand and touched a leper. Jesus didn’t have a hardened heart. The book of Hebrews admonishes us: “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts… take care; brethren lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart.” (Hebrews 3:8-13).

Rise above the world; do not be conditioned by it. Yes, we all are victims of poverty, we are all struggling to survive harsh conditions but it doesn’t mean we can be bought. Be that person who would not move even if he or she was offered all the money in the world. Let your faith in Jesus go beyond lips service.

If you truly desire to rid yourself of your sins, you need to improve your relationship with Jesus, that is, spend more time with Jesus – deepen your prayer life. Occupy your mind with the things of God; read books, and seek to know God better. Pray for an increase in faith that God may open your eyes to see why sin is evil, and that God may strengthen your desire to live above sin.

Life is hard. Nothing good comes easy. Bad things happen without warning. Life will always give you reasons to complain. Problems are never exhausted. But how are we to stay alive and win? Faith! Believe and keep believing. Prayer works. God cares.

The Centurion’s action teaches us an important lesson in caring for our workers. The Centurion was in charge of a hundred soldiers yet he found time to come looking for Jesus because of one servant; not even his son or a soldier. How lucky this servant was to have had such a good master. Can those working for me say the same about me?

The sea of glass mingled with fire represents the torture, pains, hardships, sacrifices, sweat, tears, and blood of Christians who were being slaughtered under the reign of Emperor Diocletian (the beast). John was assuring his readers of eventual redemption and glory if only they remained steadfast in the faith.