💖 HOMILY - JULY 16 💖

First Reading - Mica 2:1-5

Gospel - Matthew 12:14-21

God writes history sometimes through the crooked lines of our lives. This simply means God's ways are incomprehensible to our human minds but it requires trust in God. Today's readings invite us to persevere in our lives come what may, because God will intervene in our lives in His time.

The first reading from the book of Micah speaks about an oracle of Woe against the rich and powerful who spend their nights planning to seize the land and houses from the poor. The LORD replies that the evil designed by the people against the poor and oppressed will never go unpunished; the evil will be repaid in the same manner to them. The reading shades light on the fact that even if evil is permitted by the Lord but is never condoned by the Lord. God responds to the misery of the poor and punishes the injustice of the evil doers in the appropriate time.

The gospel presents the withdrawal of Jesus to the unknown places for the purpose of teaching, healing and preaching. The gospel of the day is a sequel of the controversy that Jesus had faced about the Sabbath observance. This dispute had led Jesus to withdraw to the unknown places, so that he could carry out his mission and avoid his premature arrest. Hence, he warned or charged those whom he healed not to make him known, lest the opposing leaders would get opportunity to accuse him for sedition and blasphemy. Jesus waited for his opportune time, so that he would accomplish his mission. The opportune time was indeed the time of God's glorification or manifestation.

My dear friends, we face different situations (bad or good) in our lives. We try to comprehend the meaning and situation (why of the bad experiences) but without avail or without use. Consequently, we become frustrated and tensed. The effort that we make to understand the situation is not bad but there are some situations that will unfold themselves over the course of time, hence we need to patiently wait for the opportune time. Jesus was faced with oppositions and accusations but he didn't get stuck but carried on with his mission, we are also invited not to get stuck with oppositions and difficulties of lives but carry on patiently till the end. As the first reading also teaches us that God responds to us in His time in His manner. Therefore, let's trust in God's fitting reply to our questions of challenges of life. Let's believe that God's time is always the fitting time for us.

May God strengthen us in our faith-journey.