💖 HOMILY - OCTOBER 16 💖

First Reading - Romans 3:21-30

Gospel - Luke 11:47-54

Have you ever met someone who seems to do everything right outwardly — follows the rules, keeps up appearances — but whose heart seems closed to compassion or truth? It’s easy to hide behind good deeds or traditions, but God looks deeper. Today’s readings invite us to embrace a faith that is sincere, humble, and rooted in God’s grace rather than self-righteousness.

In the first reading, St. Paul proclaims a powerful truth: salvation does not come through the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” he writes, “but they are justified freely by His grace.” This is the heart of the Gospel — we are not saved by our achievements or religious observances, but by God’s mercy and love poured out in Christ. Paul reminds us that no one can boast before God; our righteousness is not earned but received through faith.

In the Gospel, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and scribes who built monuments to the prophets but lived in contradiction to their message. They honored the prophets of the past while rejecting the truth being spoken in their own time. Their faith had become a matter of outward ceremony rather than genuine openness to God’s voice. Jesus challenges them — and us — to move beyond appearances and live in truth.

Dear friends, true faith is not about looking righteous, but about being transformed by God’s mercy. When we truly understand that we are saved by grace, we can no longer look down on others or close our hearts to correction. Instead, we become more humble, compassionate, and willing to change.

This means living with gratitude and sincerity. It means letting God’s grace renew us daily — in how we treat others, how we pray, how we forgive. It means avoiding the trap of religious pride, where faith becomes a tool for comparison rather than communion. True faith always bears the fruits of mercy, understanding, and humility.

Our call today is to let God’s grace shape our hearts more than our habits. The Pharisees knew the law, but they missed the heart of God. May we not make the same mistake. Let us open our hearts to His transforming love, allowing our faith to be more than words — a living witness of God’s mercy in a world that desperately needs it.

Let us pray for the grace to live humbly, love sincerely, and believe deeply — for only a faith rooted in grace can make us truly righteous before God.