💖 HOMILY - OCTOBER 16 💖

First Reading - Romans 1:1-7

Gospel - Luke 11:29-32

There are many who don't believe in God nor attempt to recognize God. Some of them are called atheist, agonist, and others sceptic etc. They seem to perceive God with their senses to come to faith; in other words, they need valid proofs or perceptible proofs to believe in God. The readings of today highlight that God has already displayed His signs everywhere provided we see them with the eyes of faith.

In the first reading, St. Paul addresses his letter to Christians in Rome. The pericope stresses on his apostleship as conferred by Christ. This confirmation of his apostleship is required in order to assert his authority to teach about Christ. Paul further underlines three important aspects of Jesus in today's passage; firstly, Jesus is Christ; secondly, he is the descendent of David according to the prophecies; thirdly, he is God.

The conviction of Paul is based on his experience of Christ. He encountered Christ in a special way in a vision. This encounter increased his faith in Christ. He realized that Jesus is no human but God himself. The encounter with Jesus lead him to see the prophecies in the Scripture culminated in Him. For Paul, his encounter with Jesus was a sign to recognize Him.

The gospel passage jumps back to the controversy scene and disbelief of the Pharisees. They ask for a sign from Jesus to believe in him. Jesus does not give any immediate sign or show a miracle to win them but directs them to Jonah and Solomon who became great signs of their time to faith for gentiles. Jonah became a sign of repentance for Nenevites whereas Solomon became a sign of wisdom from God for the queen of Sheba. The commonality between both is that Nenevites came in repentance to God and the queen of Sheba praised God of Israel witnessing the wisdom of Solomon. In short, they recognised God seeing Jonah and Solomon respectively. 

Jesus, by comparing himself, tries to assert that he himself is a greater sign than Jonah and Solomon. What he does and preaches witness to him of what he is. They need the eyes of faith to perceive and recognize him.

Dear friends, do we recognize Jesus? God has embedded His signs everywhere that bacon to Him and His glory. The universe itself is a sign for those who see it with the eyes of faith. St. Francis of Assisi saw a clear imprint of God in every creation. It's because he saw everything with the eyes of faith. Mother Teresa saw every suffering person as suffering Christ. This was a sign for her to recognize Christ in them. St. Ignatius of Loyola and many other saints discovered Christ in the Bible. The Bible became a sign for them to recognize Christ. 

God has filled our lives with His imprint, we need the eyes of faith to discover Him and recognize Him. Let's ask grace of God to let us see everything with the eyes of faith to recognize Him in our lives.