Dear Audience,
366
2
0Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed: "You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. For David says of him: "I saw the Lord ever before me, with Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted; my flesh, too, will dwell in hope, because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence."
"My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day. But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption. God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured him forth, as you see and hear."
(P) The word of the Lord.Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge; I say to the Lord, "My Lord are you." O Lord, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot. (R)
I bless the Lord who counsels me; even in the night my heart exhort me. I set the Lord ever before me; with Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. (R)
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices; my body, too, abides in confidence; because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption. (R)
You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever. (R)
Beloved: If you invoke as Father Him who judges impartially according to each one's works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb.
He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
(P) The word of the Lord.That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?" They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?" And he replied to them, "What sort of things?" They said to him, "The things that had happened to Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see."
And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?"
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the Eleven and those with them, who were saying, "The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!" Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
(P) The Gospel of the Lord.The Apostle Peter is credited with writing two Letters in the New Testament. The First Letter was to offer encouragement and hope to early Christians who were facing social discrimination, alienation, persecution, and suffering for their faith and the Second Letter was to warn against false teachers, immoral lifestyles, and who were doubting the return of Christ.
In today's second reading from his first letter (1:17-21), we read a part of Peter's instructions to motivate and strengthen the early Christians. First, he says, "If you invoke as Father Him who judges impartially according to each one's works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning..." (v.17). Here, Peter describes the nature of God by highlighting His relationship with believers and then encourages them to live in a manner worthy of their calling. He says that God is their loving Father, reflecting Jesus' own teachings on divine fatherhood. Jesus taught His disciples to address God as Abba, the Aramaic term often used by children for their fathers, to emphasize the deeply personal, intimate, and trust-filled relationship believers have with God, breaking away from the formality and distance associated with traditional views of God. Calling God "Abba, Father" redefines believers' approach to God and their relationship to Him from that of slaves, or orphans, to adopted children and heirs. It fundamentally allows the believers to call upon God with confidence, trust, comfort and strength.
At the same time, Peter makes it very clear that God is also an impartial judge who evaluates all people including His own children without favouritism, echoing Jesus' teachings that the final judgment is based on deeds rather than merely on profession of faith. Jesus taught that He would return to render to everyone according to their works, not just their words, Matthew (16:27) and Revelation (20:12). Thus, Peter bridges two seemingly different roles of God - a loving Father and an impartial Judge and on this basis, he instructs the Christians to conduct themselves with reverence and fear while "sojourning" or living as "exiles", indicating that their life on earth is temporary and their permanent citizenship is in heaven.
Second, Peter says, "...realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb", (vv.18-19). Here, Peter contrasts the believers' new life in Christ with the "futile conduct" meaning the empty, aimless or meaningless way of life, inherited from their forefathers. While the phrase "futile conduct handed on by your ancestors" may refer to the inadequacy of traditional ancestral practices of both Gentile and Jewish followers of Christ, it specifically refers to the Jewish traditional practices, ceremonial rituals, and oral laws, though passed down with good intention, but are unable to provide true redemption or spiritual transformation. For instance, the Old Testament sacrificial system, Leviticus (1-7) demands that people offer "unblemished" or "spotless" animals, such as bulls, goats, lambs, or doves, to worship God, atone for sin, express gratitude, or maintain a covenant relationship with God.
While these offerings were commanded by God Himself to enable the Israelites to manage the barrier of sin and interact with Him, people perceived them as legalistic rites and burdensome rituals particularly when they lost sight of the underlying spiritual significance. They often treated the sacrificial system as a mechanical ritual or a "namesake" formality, rather than a genuine expression of thanksgiving, repentance, moral obedience, or a righteous life. Ultimately, the sacrificial system was inadequate for a permanent, internal cleansing of sin, which is why Jesus came to earth. God had designed animal sacrifices to provide a temporary covering of sins and to foreshadow the perfect and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
So, Peter urges them to remember that they were "ransomed from futile conduct", meaning they were bought back or rescued from the bondage of sin and from the empty, purposeless traditions passed down from previous generations. However, he further reminds them that this redemption was achieved not with perishable things like gold or silver, but with the "precious blood of Christ," as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the sinless Lamb. Here, Peter speaks from his profound personal experience of "being bought back" from a wasted, futile life, having witnessed the crucifixion and experienced his own failure in denying Jesus.
Third, Peter encourages the early Christians to place their complete faith and hope in God's Eternal plan. He said, "He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through Him believe in God who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God", (vv.20-21). Here, Peter reassures the early Christians that Jesus' sacrifice was not an afterthought but was planned by God before the world began and revealed for their sake, and that their faith and hope are placed securely in God, who raised Jesus from the dead and glorified Him. Thus, Peter ensures that the early Christians will maintain hope, love one another deeply, and stand firm, knowing that while they may suffer, it would be only for a "little while" compared to eternal glory.
What is the message for us?
St Peter's instruction reminds us of our calling "to be in the world but not of the world". That is, while we live among, work alongside, and serve others in the world, we are to resist the temptation and pressure to conform to the values, beliefs, and behaviours of the unbelieving and secular world, especially the tendency to lack fear of God. Fearing God does not mean being afraid of God but rather having a reverential awe that recognizes God's absolute holiness, power, and authority. Lack of fear or reverence for God can, much like in human relationships, lead us to a "cozy, overfamiliar, and casual attitudes often causing us to take God's grace for granted, turn our worship into routine, compromise our holiness, and ultimately fall into disobedience or sinful, careless living.
Let us, therefore, actively remind ourselves of God's omnipresence to cultivate reverence and honour for Him. In keeping with the Third Commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain", Exodus (20:7), let us refrain from using God's name in flippant, careless, or disrespectful ways, like using "Oh my God!" or "Jesus" in moments of surprise, frustration, or anger. Let us avoid phrases like "Praise the Lord" or "God bless you", unless they are appropriate and sincerely intended. Let us approach prayer and worship with humility through physical postures like kneeling or bowing or genuflecting or removing our sandals which the Lord Himself has commanded in Exodus (3:5), which calls us to recognize that any place God is present is "holy ground."
St Peter's instruction calls us to live a holy, "set apart" life on this temporary earthly life, knowing that God is both a loving Father and an impartial judge. We can address God as our "Father", and approach Him as His beloved children, and pour out our hearts - our joys, fears, and frustrations, difficulties, challenges, tests, and temptations - to Him, as we would to our human parents, with confidence and without fear. At the same time, we must live with a sense of "reverent fear" knowing that God is also our Judge who shows no partiality or favouritism and that He will judge our inner thoughts, hidden motives, prejudices, secret desires, spoken words, and outward actions.
We can be thankful for all the religious traditions and practices that have been passed down to us by our elders so to enrich our human life, foster community, morality and inner peace. We can be also thankful for the Catholic traditions and practices, such as the seven sacraments, sacramentals or little sacraments like holy water, crucifixes, incense, and rosaries, liturgical observances like daily Mass, obligation on Sundays and Holy Days, sign of the cross, and genuflection, prayers and devotions like The Rosary, Eucharistic adoration, Novenas, Stations of the Cross, Veneration of Saints and Mary, disciplines like fasting, pilgrimages, Friday abstinence, works of mercy and so on. These traditions and practices, rooted in Scripture and the life of Christ, shape our spiritual life by making the invisible divine grace a tangible, daily reality that transforms our character, actions, and relationship with God and others.
However, we must also humbly recognize and leave behind those traditions and practices that, while sometimes well-intentioned, are not explicitly mentioned in Scripture and have become rigid, meaningless, empty rituals or superstitious behaviours such as performing actions to ward off evil, avoiding specific actions on certain days, treating holy items as magical objects, mixing Christian belief with ancestral worship like praying to ancestors or performing ceremonies for them and so on. St Peter reminds us that we have been "bought" from an aimless life not with silver or gold, but with the precious, spotless blood of Christ.
This immense sacrifice demands a life of reverent, holy living while on earth, recognizing that we now belong to God and are no longer slaves to our past. Let us, therefore, develop deep reverence for the blood of Christ that was shed to set us free from those old ways. Let us understand the severity of sin by looking at the sacrifice of Jesus, who took on that sinfulness. Let us place our faith and hope in God, who brought salvation through Christ, chosen before the foundation of the world.
(P) Amen.God Bless You!
to download the audio file Sign In » or
Register ».
share this homily via:
Use the Prev or Next buttons to read or listen to the other homilies of the month.
