💖 HOMILY - DECEMBER 14 💖

First Reading - Isaiah 41:13-20

Gospel - Matthew 11:11-15

Faith is a gift we have received. This can grow if taken care well or else can be lost as well. The readings of the day are inviting us to remain steadfast in our faith that we have received. God always accompanies us and stands by us but we need to see His redeeming actions in our lives and that will boost our faith.

Today’s first reading is the latter half of the great poem promising the ecological transformation of Israel, a sort of pledge of the return of Israel/Jacob to the land devastated by the Babylonian invaders. God promises that He will restore their land and it will be accomplished by the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, their redeemer.

The reading brings out three titles of God. These three titles all express the special closeness of God to his people which is so predominant in this chapter. ‘I am the LORD, your God’ takes us back to the revelation of the divine name to Moses at the burning-bush; the giving of a name is itself an expression of intimacy. ‘The Holy One of Israel’ is Isaiah’s special title for God, used liberally throughout all the parts of this Book; it bespeaks the awe and reverence in which the LORD must be held. Finally the ‘redeemer’ or go’el is a special family word in Israel. The go’el is the closest family member, who is bound in family love and lore to bail out his nearest family member if the latter is in dire trouble. The LORD can be relied on absolutely, just like the family member, to bail out Israel.

In the gospel, Jesus praised John first as a prophet and second as the expected Elijah. As a prophet, John had God-given wisdom in his mind, God’s truth on his lips and God-given courage in his heart. He had been heralding the Messiah with the courage of his prophetic convictions. John had lived like the Prophet Elijah who was expected to come just before the Messiah. He had spoken with the same prophetic authority and had corrected the self-righteous, attracting Jewish followers by the hundreds to receive the baptism of repentance. Jesus, however, stressed the fact that His own followers were greater than John because, while John knew only God’s judgment and punishment, we know God’s love, forgiveness and the salvation, and the gift of the Holy Spirit given through Jesus. But Jesus warned his followers that they would be persecuted for their trust in God’s Kingdom, but that shouldn't deter them in their faith.

My dear friends, we are blessed with the promise and the gift of the kingdom of heaven or God. The purpose of human life is to accomplish this goal of our lives; to be with God in heaven. The distractions and discouragements are the possible deterrences on our way but response of steadfastness can help us sail through them all. History stands as testimony that Jesus underwent persecution and so also his followers. The persecutions were there to dissuade and deter them from accepting the way shown by Jesus to the kingdom. As to us, we may or may not undergo fierce persecution like them but dissuasion and deterrence from our faith can be possible due to events of our lives (tragic events), wrong beliefs, outside influences. We need to keep watch on them so that we can overcome them and ever remain steadfast in faith.