HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

The Baptism of the Lord (Year A)

Jan 12, 2020

2083

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First Reading

A reading from the Book of Prophet Isaiah (42:1-4, 6-7)

Thus says the Lord: Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the Earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement; and from the dungeon those who live in darkness.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (29:1-2, 3-4, 9-10)

(R) The Lord will bless His people with peace.

Give to the Lord, you sons of God, give to the Lord glory and praise, give to the Lord the glory due His name; adore the Lord in holy attire. (R)

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the Lord, over vast waters. The voice of the Lord is mighty; the voice of the Lord is majestic. (R)

The God of glory thunders, and in His temple all say, "Glory!" The Lord is enthroned above the flood; the Lord is enthroned as king forever. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (10:34-38)

Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered in the house of Cornelius, saying, "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears Him and acts uprightly is acceptable to Him. You know the word that He sent to the Israelites as He proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (3:13-17)

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?" Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then John allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

Today's second reading taken from the 10th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles involves two individuals with distinct cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. We shall first read the preceding verses of this chapter, to gain a better understanding of the story. The story begins with a man named Cornelius from Caesarea. Cornelius was a Roman centurion, that is, a Roman army officer in-charge of a hundred soldiers, Acts (10:1). In all, seven centurions are mentioned in the New Testament, and all of them are portrayed positively, Luke (7:1-10); Matthew (27:54); Mark (15:39) and Acts (22:25-29; 23:23; 27:1 and 42-43). The centurion in today's story was a firm believer in God, a man of prayer, of righteousness, and of many charitable works, Acts (10:2).

In fact, we are told that not just Cornelius, his entire household was devout and God-fearing. Although he believed and worshipped the One God just as Jews did, Cornelius was an outsider; he was a Gentile, not a Jew. One day, as he was praying, an angel appeared to him in a vision and told him to send messengers to fetch a man named Peter who was staying in the house of another man, named Simon, a tanner or a leather maker, in Joppa. When the vision was completed, Cornelius did exactly what he had been told to do, Acts (10:3-8).

Peter, originally known as Simon, was a Jewish fisherman from Galilee, and had been raised to follow Jewish customs and traditions. He was called to be a disciple of Jesus at the beginning of Jesus' ministry and he went on to become one of the most prominent leaders of the early church, Matthew (4:18-22) and Luke (5:1-11). He was the first person to declare his faith in the Messiahship of Jesus, the Son of God, Matthew (16:13-20) and Luke (9:20).

After the resurrection of Jesus, he and the other disciples were going about, from village to village in Galilee, preaching the gospel and healing the sick, Luke (9:1-2, 6). It was during his missionary activities, Peter happened to stay with Simon the tanner, whose house was in a coastal town called Joppa, which is today known as Jaffa in Israel. Jaffa is believed to be one of the ancient seaports in the world, with a history that goes back almost 4,500 years; and it is also thought to have been the port from which Jonah set off in the famous Biblical story of Jonah and the Whale.

Getting back to the story, it was the day after Cornelius had his vision that Peter, who was staying at Joppa, went up on the roof of the house about noon in order to pray. Now, there was nothing strange about Peter going up on the housetop to pray. It is said that the ancient houses in Israel were low and flat roofed, and the inhabitants would go up to the roofs to take a walk for pleasure or to pray and meditate.

While praying, Peter became hungry and wanted something to eat. But he fell into a trance during which he had a vision of a blanket containing all kinds of animals and crawling creatures, including those forbidden to be eaten according to Jewish food laws, lowered down from the sky; and then a voice told him to slaughter and eat them. Even though there were clean animals on the blanket, Peter, being a devout Jew, refused to eat anything that was unclean, but the voice rebuked him for calling unclean what God had cleansed. Three times the same vision came with the same command but Peter declined.

After Peter had seen the vision for the third time, the blanket disappeared leaving Peter baffled. While Peter was still trying to understand what the vision meant, the voice told him that three men had just arrived looking for him and he must go with them without hesitation. Those men, of course, were the servants of Cornelius. Peter then went downstairs and heard from the men all about Cornelius and the heavenly message that Cornelius had received. Peter invited the men to stay the night.

The next day, he then followed them back to Caesarea. At this point in the narrative, Cornelius had called together his relatives and close friends and waited for Peter's arrival. When Peter arrived, Cornelius fell at his feet in reverence and welcomed him into his house. But Peter reminded Cornelius that he was also a man and was not to be worshipped. He further made the first public declaration in the presence of others that he had breached the Jewish law by coming to the home of a gentile, against whom like all Jews in his time had strong prejudices, yet he did so only because the voice in his vision told him that what God had made clean, he should not consider impure. On his part, Cornelius recounted his vision for the sake of Peter and his guests in some detail and, on behalf of all those gathered there, he expressed eagerness to hear what God had to say through Peter, Acts (10:9-33).

Today's text is a part of Peter's preaching in Cornelius' house. First, he told them the special lesson he learned from God. He said, "In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to Him", Acts (10:34-35). That is, God has no favourites and does not discriminate against people on the basis of race, colour, gender, or economics. He would rather accept anyone who fears Him and does what is right. Here, Peter clearly understood the universal application of Christ's work on the cross and the subsequent universal offer of the gospel; and he made clear to Cornelius and the others regarding the equality of all believers before God.

Secondly, Peter summarized the whole message that he brought to Cornelius and others. He said, "You know the word that he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all, what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him", Acts (10:36-38).

Assuming that, as devout people, Cornelius and the others had been familiar with the Jewish Scriptures, which spoke of a coming of the Messiah for all people and the events relating to Jesus as the Messiah, such as his birth, baptism, teachings, miracles, suffering and death. Peter proceeded to give one of the briefest and most beautiful presentations of the Gospel that is recorded in all of the New Testament:

Jesus Christ came as the proclaimer of God's peace.
He is the Lord of all.
He was anointed and equipped by God with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went around doing good works and healing sick people, "for God was with him". With this teaching, today's text ends. However, Peter went on to tell them that he and others had been witnesses to the ministry of Jesus, including his death and resurrection, Acts (10:39-43). In many ways, Cornelius and his family were prepared for what Peter was telling them.

What is the message for us?

Many lesssons can be learned from this story:

Even if we think ourselves as devout, good, upright, generous and God-fearing as Cornelius was, we still need to hear the gospel, repent, and believe in Jesus Christ. Because we are saved by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ and not by our own works or righteousness, Ephesians (2:8). We are all sinners and fall short of God's standards, Romans (3:23).
We should, like Cornelius and his household, utilize God-given opportunities to read and hear His teachings in faith, thankfulness and anticipation of the many good things that come from Him.
Without dispute or delay, Cornelius obeyed his vision and the voice of the angel so he and all his household could be saved. Like Cornelius, we also, without objection or frustration, must follow God's instructions with obedient faith so that we can also be saved.
Like Peter, we may not fully understand the reasons behind God's specific instructions, and why certain things happen or why God allows certain things to happen, like meeting another person in life. But when we do what God asks us to do, God Himself will do what is necessary to accomplish His plans and will lead us to ultimate victory.
As far as judgment and instruction with regard to salvation and condenmnation are concerned, God does not show partiality. He does not choose us on the basis of our status in life. He does not save us according to our economic, physical racial, or social condition. God rather works in the hearts of all around us just as He was working in Cornelius's heart, Deuteronomy (7:6-8; 10:17); 2 Chronicles (19:7) and Job (33:12-30). Therefore, we must have Peter's courage to break down walls of separation and cross barriers of race, culture, gender, social class and ethnicity and deliver God's message to all the people He puts in our path.
Cornelius and his household were already believers in God. Yet they needed to hear and accept the preaching of Peter about Jesus Christ that led to salvation. In the same way, we need to go beyond merely believing in God to truly accepting the testimony of Peter and other apostles who said that:
- Jesus preached and brought peace with God.
- Jesus is the Lord of all.
- Jesus was anointed and equipped by God with the Holy Spirit and power.
- Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were sick and under the power of the devil.
- Jesus was crucified and died on the cross.
- Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples on numerous occasions.
- Jesus ascended into heaven but, to this very day, continues to minister by the power of the Holy Sprit.
- Jesus will continue to be with us always, to the end of time.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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