Homily (Reflection) for Wednesday of
the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time (I) (30th August, 2017) on
the Gospel
1Thess 2:9-13;
Ps 138:7-12. (R.v.1);
Matt 23:27-32.
Topic: Whitewashed tombs.
Jesus likened the scribes and the Pharisees in today’s gospel
as whitewashed tombs that look beautiful outside but full of bones of the dead
and sorts of filth inside. They appeared righteous but full of hypocrisy and
lawlessness.
Considering our call as Christians properly described as salt
of the earth and light of the world. But for each to be relevant, salt must keep
its taste and light give light from its stand. Otherwise they will be useless,
cf. Matt 5:13-15).
We often forget that call to be a Christian is a call to a way
of life; a call “to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live
sober, upright, and godly lives in this world” (Tit 2:12; cf. 1Pt 4:3). Christians are not theirs because they have
been bought with a price, cf. 1Cor 6:19-20.
7:23; Rom 14:7. They have been crucified with Christ and therefore dead to sin,
cf. Rom 6:11; Gal 2:20. Christians are
created for good works, cf. Eph 2:10.
They do not repay evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and
to all, cf. 1Thess 5:15.
Christian living and non-Christian living oppose each other,
cf. Gal 5:17. Saint Paul advised in 2Corinthians 6:14, “Do not be mismatched
with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness?
Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness?” And in the Romans, we
read, “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body
might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom 6:6).
Based on these and many more, dear brothers and sisters, are we
really Christians or whitewashed tombs? May we “Seek the LORD while he may be
found, call upon him while he is near” (Is
55:6).
Bible Reading: Rom 6:1-23; 14:7-9; Jas 1:19-27.
Thought for today: ...you also must consider yourselves dead to sin (Rom 6:11).
Let us pray: Lord, help us purge entirely every sort
of filth within us – Amen.
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