FRIDAY HOMILY OF 12TH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: THE DESIRE TO BE WHOLE!
BY: Fr Oselumhense Anetor
2 Kings 25:1-12/Psalm 137:1-6/Matthew 8:1-4
Leprosy was no small disease in Jesus’ day. Think about that deadly Ebola virus. Or even COVID-19, perhaps then you’ll understand just how serious leprosy used to be. It was so contagious that anyone with the disease was to be separated from the community, and made to announce his or her ‘unclean’ presence whenever he or she was to approach a public place. The leprous man in today’s gospel reading must have been quite bold, and full of faith. He came straight to Jesus and expressed a simple desire: “if you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus broke all the laws of Jewish ‘purity’ when He ‘touched’ him and healed him.
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Friends, St. Irenaeus, whose memorial we celebrate today, was born in Smyrna, in Asia Minor (now Izmir in Turkey) and emigrated to Lyons, in France, where he eventually became the bishop. He made the decision to follow Jesus quite early, and expended his entire life sorting and making sense of the canon of the Bible as we have it today. Irenaeus not only committed his entire life to a good cause, but fought against, and corrected the erroneous Scriptural views of the Agnostics and Valentians. We owe our three pillars of Orthodoxy – Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium, to St Irenaeus. We pray for the grace to follow in his footsteps. Like the leprous man, we too are called to approach Jesus with deep faith and be cleansed of our sins. We’re called to feel His touch and be healed. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Good morning dear. God bless your weekend ahead. St Irenaeus, pray for us!
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