DAILY HOMILIES #Jesus

Contentment is a decision; a decision to focus only on those things you are grateful for. It is ignoring your problems and praising God as though you had no problems. It is choosing to accept your life as it is knowing that God only permits what is best for you to happen to you.

When Jesus died, it was as though all hope was lost. It was like a confirmation that Jesus was just a man after all. Everyone went their separate ways but Mary Magdalene still returned to the tomb.

They probably assumed that if Jesus were to cure all the demoniacs in their city, there might not be any livestock left. Has it ever occurred to you that like these people, there are times we kick Jesus out of our lives all because of our pursuit of (or perceived loss of ) some material riches?

In the midst of all these, we are given an opportunity today to reflect and ponder on the Sacred Heart of Jesus; the heart that is so full of love, so full of mercy, so quick to forgive, so selfless, so heavenly minded, so trustworthy and caring. A heart from which blood and water flowed when it was pierced by the soldiers on the cross; blood symbolizing sacrifice and water symbolizing washing, renewal, baptism, rebirth.

: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” The key to greatness is to serve others.

God calls us individually to different tasks. Just as our gifts and abilities are different, our sufferings for the sake of God are never the same. Sometimes we would wonder if God is partial but all that matters is that we follow Jesus.

Today we celebrate the fact that Mary intercedes for Africa. When Herod sought to kill the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph took shelter in Africa. At a time when our continent is faced with the turmoil, suffering under the yoke of neo-colonialism, we need Mother Mary’s intercession more than ever.

All we have to do is to say “Yes” to God like the Ethiopian Eunuch who gladly accepted Philip into his chariot. In fact, his “Yes” to God began with his decision to read the Bible that day. The Ethiopian Eunuch was ready for God and God actually showed up.

Anytime we reflect on the earliest Christian communities as we have it in the Acts of Apostles, we cannot but feel sad at the situation of things in our churches today.

Jesus had the chance to totally squash to pieces all those who treated him badly yet, He did not even wait to rise from the dead before He began his campaign of forgiveness. Right on the cross, Jesus said: “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). As if this was not enough, eight days after Easter Sunday, Jesus appeared to his disciples saying: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Jesus had the power to call down fire to burn down those who were exchanging words with Him but he simply “escaped from their hands and went away across the Jordan.” Jesus did not use the power he had to fight back his enemies. Secondly, Jesus reminded them of the good he had done for them in the past.

Somehow, we tend to shut Jesus out of our homes, we refuse to allow him to enter our space. The moment we leave the church premises and return home, we pull off our Christianity along with our Church attire and change into something else; we begin to behave like strangers to the faith.