Homily (Reflection) for Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (I) (08th July, 2021) on the Gospel
Gen 44:18-21.23-29; 45:1-5;
Ps 104:16-21. (R. v. 5);
Matt 10:7-15.
Topic: Preaching the gospel.
Preaching the gospel in the words of Saint Paul is preaching the crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, cf. 1Cor 1:23. Preachers of the true gospel preach Jesus Christ as Lord, and themselves as mere servants for Jesus’ sake, cf. 2Cor 4:5.
The work of preaching is God’s. He does not approve of any
addition or subtraction, cf. Prov 30:6.
Saint Paul rightly prophesied, “For the time is coming when people will not
endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for
themselves teachers to suit their own likings” (2Tim 4:3). However, mutilating the gospel for whatever reason does
nobody good; the preacher places curse on him/herself (cf. Gal 1:8) and also deprived the people of the means of salvation,
cf. 1Cor 1:21.
Although God preaches through human instruments, it is solely
in God’s hand what will come out of it, cf. 1Cor 3:6. If a preacher is rejected, it is He who does His work
through him/her that is rejected, cf. Lk
10:16. And Jesus warned in today’s gospel, “Truly I tell you, it will be
more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than
for that town” (Matt 10:15).
Dearest fellow servants, let us stick to preaching Christ and
leave the rest for the Lord of the harvest. Doing anything contrary as we have
seen is very dangerous for both the preachers and the hearers. And finally most
cherished people of God, thirst for the true gospel of Christ and nothing else
for that alone is the message (word) of life, cf. Jn 6:68; Phil 2:16; 1Jn 1:1.
Bible Reading: 2Tim 4:1-8.
Thought for today: Preaching is solely God’s.
Let us pray: Lord, grant us the grace to stick to
the gospel no matter how stupid it might appear to be – Amen.
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