Be Ready At All Times

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Mary of Assumption Church, Whittier, Ca

Sunday, August 7, 2016

The people of Jesus’ time expected the heavenly kingdom soon. The Early Church also expected it soon. From time to time, certain individuals have also “prophesied” the exact day and time, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, will come and bring the world and all other earthly existence to a closure. But in the gospel of Matthew 24:36, Jesus says: “But concerning the day or hour (when the Son of God will come), no one knows, not even the angels of heaven...” Since no one knows when the end will come, since no one knows the day or the hour when eternity will invade time and accountability is demanded of us, we have to be ready at all times. We have to ensure that the Lord’s work is being accomplished in us, by us and with us. In John 17:4, Jesus himself said to his Father: “I have accomplished the work which you gave me to do.” So, we should not let any good work be left undone. As we clean up our houses and rid our garages of junks, let’s do the same in our lives. Let’s get rid of those junks in our lives that make us take one step towards God and then three steps away from him. Such a faith journey will never get us to our destination. And God is our Destination. Let’s strive to get rid of jealousy, malice, hate, bad talk, lies, and every enjoyment of sin. Let’s also strive to live in peace with our fellow men and women. It’s a tormenting experience to pass through this world being bitter with someone. St. Paul, in Ephesians 4:26 warns us not to let the sun goes down on our anger. Certainly, we would like God to also find us at peace with him. To be at peace with God is heaven and heavenly.

To stress the importance of being ready, Jesus used the example of a master who had servants- some of them were wise, while some were foolish. As soon as the master left the house to attend a wedding celebration, the unwise servant said to himself: “I will do what I like while my master is away.” But he forgot that the day of reckoning would come. Do you sometimes see yourself in this unwise servant? If you don’t, I do! There are times in my life that I think of God, that I am aware of his presence, that I know that he is present. There’s a part of me that reminds me that God is watching me from a distance. But there is also a part of me that tries to rationalize and explain my wrong actions away. This part of me tries to make me to forget God, and when I wrestle with it, it tries to tell me that “God understands and he will understand my foolishness and wrongdoing.” Surely, God understands how weak and vulnerable we are. But he also understands how powerful and effective we could be in doing his will when we lean and cling onto him. If we really know what Christianity is all about we would know that there is no part of life where God, the Master, is away. Even when it seems that God is distant, he is very much around. He is present at all times.  

The part of us that tries to justify our wrongdoings, tries to convince us to think less of God, and make us to think that he is away or distant is the part that drove the unwise servant to say: “My master is delayed in coming...” He allowed that part of him to convince him that he has plenty of time to put things right before the master returns. This is the fatal mistake that many people, especially young people make today. They keep postponing active relationship with God to later years of their lives. They convince themselves that going to church on Sunday and being active witnesses of Jesus Christ are old folks things. But there is nothing so fatal as to think that one has plenty of time. There is nothing absolutely wrong in serving God from youth. St. Augustine of Hippo had great enthusiasm for the created things of this world and it held him back from having a lively relationship with God. But in his thirties, he finally yielded to baptism and faith in God. And having inhaled the fragrance of God’s Truth and Beauty, having found the peace he so desperately sought, St. Augustine exclaimed: “Late have I loved you, Beauty so Ancient and so New!” After he allowed God to find him, and then experience a great deal of satisfaction, fulfillment and peace, he wished he had found God earlier in his life. 

In the gospel of John 9:4, Jesus says: “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming when no one can work.” I have often said that one of the most dangerous suggestions a believer can hear in his or her mind is: “You are doing too much in the church; you have done enough for God and for the Church.” Such thoughts do not come from the Holy Spirit. When you hear such thoughts, resist it. The Evil One is trying to slow you down and ultimately overtake your life. When a child of God begins to give flimsy excuses why he or she cannot go to church on Sunday or why he or she cannot be active member of the church, something has gone wrong spiritually. One of the most dangerous days in a believer’s life is when he or she begins to use the word “tomorrow” and constantly apply it in matters of God. Remember, tomorrow never comes!