💖 HOMILY - JULY 12 💖

First Reading - Isaiah 7:1-9

Gospel - Matthew 11:20-24

Freedom inheres responsibility. God bestows His graces upon us everyday. He gives us freedom to respond to His benevolent love as we want. The readings of today remind us that we are responsible to respond to God for His mercy and love.

The first reading is a beautiful passage that appears as a reminder for the kingdom of Judah to stand firm and trust in God when it was facing threat from the kingdom of Samaria and Aram. Isaiah assures the king of divine assistance in such a situation, provided the king is ready to trust in God. The kingdom of Judah enjoyed the privilege from God in such threatening situation but that privilege was needed to be responded in trust and faith in God. We do enjoy God's favours in our lives, they too need a response or rather they inhere a responsibility on our part.

In the gospel, Jesus reminds the three cities that they deserve God’s punishment because they have forgotten the responsibilities which their numerous meetings with the Messiah in their midst have laid upon them. They should have listened to his message, put it into practice, and born witness to the miracles he had worked for them.

Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum: Nothing is mentioned in any of the Gospels about the “wonders” Jesus worked in these cities. Bethsaida was a fishing village on the west bank of Jordan at the northern end of the lake. Chorazin was a town one hour’s walking distance north of Capernaum. Jesus expresses his holy anger and sorrowful pity from a broken heart at the irresponsible disregard and indifference these three ungrateful cities have shown to the Good News. Jesus warns them, “it shall be more tolerable on the Day of Judgment for Tyre and Sidon .. [and] the land of Sodom” than for them, because Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom were not fortunate enough to hear Jesus and to receive the opportunity for conversion given to Bethsaida, Chorazin, and Capernaum.

Dear friends, privileges always carry responsibilities. We are privileged to have the holy Bible, so we have the responsibility of making use of it. We have the Eucharistic celebration every day in our Churches, so we have the responsibility of participating in it when we are able to do so. We have the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so we have the responsibility of using it to be reconciled with Jesus and his Church. We are blessed with having the Holy Spirit to guide the teaching authority in the Church, so we have the responsibility of studying and following the Church’s directives and teachings. We have Mary, the mother of Jesus, and numerous saints as our role models, so we have the responsibility of following Jesus in their footsteps.