Homily for Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time - 5th February 2023

Homily for 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

5th February 2023

I am reading a book called “Everyday with Jesus”, which provides an Old Testament reading, a psalm, a proverb and a New Testament reading for each day so that you can read the Bible in a year. I was struck by the theme in today’s reading about how by follow Jesus, having faith and doing the good asked of us we can be the light in the darkness to help guide others.

Ezekiel talks about the word of God coming to him to say “The end has come on the four corners of the Earth”. God is angry with what humans are doing. The people were practising various evil rites in secret, assuming God didn’t know. They were in the darkness, but the light reveals all. God says humans deceive themselves into thinking they can get away with praying and worshiping other gods. Everything God had done for them, they had turned away from, and rebelled to things God considered to be perverse and profane.

Time and time again, God had tried to bring them what is good, but many turned away and did what was bad by going their own way. Doing their will, not God’s will. When we humans go our own way, we always get it wrong and become destructive.

However, even when God’s patience has run out, and it takes a lot for his patience to run out and he becomes angry, he is still prepared to save those who struggle with what they see as detestable to God. So, before God sent out his punishment to those who have abandoned him, he sent a “the man clothed in linen carrying writing equipment (CSV) to pass through the city of Jerusalem … and to put a mark on the foreheads of the people who sighed and groaned over all the detestable practises being committed in the city”.

Then when God orders those standing by to punish the rebels, he told them to spare those with the mark, so they could be saved. This reminds me of Passover, when the Israelites painted their door frames with the blood of lamb so that God would Passover those houses when he punished the Egyptians as described in the Book of Exodus. Both in Exodus and Ezekiel the people who put their faith and trust in God had nothing to fear. They were saved.

In St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, he encourages us to endure and be confident that by following God’s will, we will receive what has been promised. Paul tells us that Enoch was taken up into heaven because he pleased God, so Enoch did not suffer death. As Catholics we also believe Our Lady, who was full of grace, was rewarded the same as Enoch and did not die.

Through faith Noah built an ark that saved a chosen few. Abraham was promised a nation would be born from his line and his wife, Sarah, though old and barren, received God’s gift to conceive a child. Abraham and Sarah’s children would, through the generations produce offspring as numerous as the stars.

Through our own actions, Isaiah tells us, that the light within us will shine through the darkness, especially when we share with struggling strangers, our food, and provide them with shelter and clothing. This is how we glorify the Lord with our loves. This is echoed in this week’s psalm.

St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians encourages us not to rely on human philosophy but to be guided by the Holy Spirit in all we do. By learning about Jesus’s life, his death on the cross and resurrection, we have all we need to defend ourselves against the persecution of this world. We can proclaim the mystery of our faith, by saying “Save us, Saviour of the World, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free”.

Jesus tells us in Matthew’s Gospel, we are the salt of the Earth, but must not lose our faith otherwise we become tasteless, good for nothing and can only be thrown away. He also reminds us we are the light of the world, and nothing can be hidden. When we turn our lights on at home at night-time, we do so to see everything around us. It would be nonsense to cover the light because then no-one could see. No, we are to be the light of the world so that other people can see what good works are. Through our faith in the Lord and how this motivates us to work for the good of others, we are giving praise to our Father in Heaven.

Through our actions we proclaim our faith in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Through Baptism we have been given God’s indelible mark of salvation and we are encouraged to keep the light within us bright. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ we have been born again. What the scriptures tell us is that because of our faith and trust in God we have been saved. We have nothing to worry about when the day of Judgment comes.

If your mind is in doubt and you have questions put your trust in Jesus as he says repent and be saved. Go to him and tell him your troubles. Know that where two or more are gathered in his name, he will be there with you. So, in confession by talking to a priest you are guaranteed that Jesus is there with you, and we have a forgiving God who loves us. He will keep you safe.

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