Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Third (23rd) Sunday of the Year C (September 8 2013)

Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Third (23rd) Sunday of the Year C (September 8 2013)

Theme: Requirements for Discipleship 

In today’s gospel reading (Luke 14:25-33), Jesus quickly made known to the large crowd walking along with him the requirements for following him. This indicated that it was not enough to walk along with Jesus, but we should make effort to follow him. In walking along with Jesus, we could find ourselves at a destination other than that of Jesus but following Jesus makes us true disciples who are ready to learn from him and be with him. Reflecting over the gospel, I was able to identify four requirements Jesus sets out for his would-be disciples.

The first requirement is the readiness to sacrifice our love for our family members and loved ones. When Jesus speaks of hating our father, mother, etc, he wasn’t advocating a feeling of enmity between a would-be disciple and his family. Instead, Jesus was advocating for a sense of priority in the love we have for him to the extent that no love for any other person, place or thing could be compared with it. At the moment, there could be relationships you value so much. This is the time to review such relationships in other to find out if any conflicts with our love for God. There could be people we love so much (family members, friends, colleagues, etc), places we enjoy going (bars, cinema, clubs, etc) or things we love doing (drinking, sports, etc), do they increase our love for God or prevent us from being true disciples?

Reflection/Homily: Fourth (4th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C (February 3 2013)

Reflection/Homily: Fourth (4^th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C (February 3 2013)

Theme: Courage in Christian Discipleship

The call to Christian discipleship is a call that requires a lot of courage. Courage is required in responding positively to this call and in carrying out the tasks required of one. Peter was a good apostle because he had the courage to keep moving even when the circumstances were unfavourable. Stephen became the first Christian martyr because he had the courage to face a heroic death. St. Paul was successful in bringing the Good News to the gentile world because he had the courage to confront the difficulties he met on the way. Courage therefore means the ability to face difficulties and uncertainties without being overcome by the fear of the tribulations one might encounter.

In the first reading (Jer. 1:4-5, 17-19), we see the call of the prophet Jeremiah. God called him from the womb to be a prophet to the nations and immediately, God disposed his mind to encounter difficulties. He said to him: “They will fight against you, but shall not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you”. Today, we speak of Jeremiah’s success as a prophet because he was courageous enough to answer this call despite the difficulties and God did not let him down. Thus, courage is the ability to confront challenges believing not in your own power but in the power of God to save you from every danger.

In the gospel reading (Luke 4:21-30), we see in Jesus, the fulfillment of an ideal prophet to the nations. He also spoke with great courage to the synagogue audience despite all odds even aware of their tendency to kill him. He made them to understand that despite the familiarity and contempt with which they treated him, that he could still tell them the truth to their faces. Unfortunately, they were embittered and in an attempt to attack him Jesus escaped.