THURSDAY HOMILY OF 13TH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME –YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: “Go, prophesy to my people, Israel.” “Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven.”
BY: Bishop Anthony Ewherido
Amos 7:10-17, Ps. 19:8-11, Matthew 9:1-8
In today’s reading, the priest aligns with the palace against the prophet, because the prophetic word indicted them for their corrupt practices and wrong doing. The incident prompted the prophet to reveal the genesis of his vocation, God’s summons that took him from being a shepherd and a farmer to being a minister of God’s word, that must be uttered without compromise, in and out of season. Unhealthy alliances between religion, Church and politics can be devastating and counter-productive, robbing ministers of God’s word and making them incapable of speaking truth to power because of unbecoming compromises. Sooner or later, the negligence and corruption of such governments are canonized and defended by religious institutions inadvertently. Such a failure on the part of priests and ministers is negligence of their very vocations as bearers of God’s word. Again, we learn that the Lord chooses whomever he wills for his work. The only qualifications needed are disposition, willingness and obedience.
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In today’s gospel, the scribes berated Jesus and accused him of blasphemy for doing what only God could do, forgive sins. Moving from the verifiable to the unverifiable, Jesus used the healing of the paralytic to prove God’s presence amongst them: the Son of Man does, indeed, have “authority on earth to forgive sins.” No doubt people continue to question issues regarding the forgiveness of sins to date, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Jesus did not only forgive sins, he gave power (authority) to the Church to forgive sins (Matt 16:19-20; 18:18), and after the resurrection commissioned his disciples to do the same (John 20:21-23). That practice was upheld by the Church through the ages and is now what is celebrated as the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Let us avail ourselves of that special gift and not allow pride and sin enslave us.
Lord, forgive us our sins; make us whole. Amen.
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