SUNDAY HOMILIES FOR YEAR A

By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, cssp

Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - On the
Epistle
Home > Homilies > Year A > Sunday 17 Gospel

All Things Work Together for Good

I Kings 3:5-12 Romans 8:28-30 Matthew 13:44-52

A certain catechist in a rural African village had a favourite saying, "If

this did not happen, something worse could have happened." When a
man comes to him crying that his bicycle has been stolen, his words of
admonition were, "Take heart, if this did not happen, something worse
could have happened." When a woman loses her husband or new-born
child, his predictable admonition to her was, "God knows the best; if
this did not happen, something worse could have happened." Now this
was getting on the nerves of the villagers. They deemed the catechist
naive and insensitive. As a reality check, the rough boys of the village
decided to teach him a bitter lesson. They decided to kill the catechist's
son and see what he would say.

The catechist's son usually played soccer with the village boys. The
boys hatched a plan one evening to mob and kill him on their way back
from the football playground. Just before the end of game that fateful
day, the ball was kicked across the road. The catechist's son ran to
retrieve the ball and was knocked down by a passing car. He sustained
multiple cuts and bruises, for which he was taken to the local hospital.
This means that the plan of the boys to mob and kill him that evening
had failed. On hearing what happened, the villagers came to sympathise
with the catechist. All that the catechist said was, , "If this did not
happen, something worse could have happened." How right he was!

In today's second reading, from the Letter of Paul to the Romans, we

read that "all things work together for good for those who love God"
(Romans 8:28). This is a very important teaching that could transform
the life of every child of God into a life of peace and happiness. Having
given our lives to God, we have God's assurance that whatever He
allows to manifest in our lives, no matter how painful it might be, is
indeed for our own good. Whatever pill a mother or father gives the
child, no matter how bitter it is to swallow, is intended for the good of
the child. The bitter pill might be administered to cure a present illness
or to forestall a possible illness in the future. If children were mature
enough to realise this truth, they would not cry so much when they are
receiving their vaccinations. As mature children of God, we should
receive everything and everyone that God sends into our lives, knowing
that it is for our ultimate good.

But how we often behave like immature children, raising a tantrum and
running away as the divine physician visits us to administer the painful
or bitter remedy. God allows some sickness to visit us and we
immediately quit trusting Him and go shopping for any self-styled
healer. God sends us a partner to bring us to our knees and we run to file
for divorce. God allows our church to experience humiliation in order to
bring us to the right path and we immediately think of leaving the
church. If only we knew and believed that all these things work together
for our good, we might have exercised more patience in such trying
times.

Today, the word of God invites us to trust more fully and more
unconditionally in God's goodness, no matter the condition in which we
find ourselves. This does not mean that we should not make an effort to
change the bad conditions of our lives, as if everything that comes to us
was directly sent by God. No, that would be determinism. When we are
sick we should take steps to change the situation by going to a hospital.
When we are jobless we should take steps to change the situation by
looking for a job or training for one. But we must work for change not
with the belief that overcoming the bad situation is a test of whether
God is with us or not, but with a disposition of implicit confidence in
God's unconditional love for us. The prophet Habakkuk gives us an
example in this regard when he prays:

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on
the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the
stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my
Saviour. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

Before we conclude this reflection we must say a word about

predestination. Our passage is one of the few Bible passages that speak
of predestination. What does the Bible teach on predestination?
Predestination simply means that God has a goal for each and everyone
of us before He created us. It does not mean that we must attain that
goal, whether we like it or not. There are two ways of understanding
biblical predestination. One is to understand predestination as
tantamount to determinism. Here it is believed that whatever happens
and whatever we do in life, including whether we end up in heaven or in
hell, is already predetermined and preplanned by God. The universal
Church rejects this understanding because it effectively denies human
 free will. The other way of understanding predestination is to see it as
God's benevolent plan for all His children, although we still retain the
freedom to say yes or no to God's plan for our lives. This is a more
balanced understanding of the Bible's teaching on predestination.

God's word today invites us to cooperate with God's plan for our lives.
We do this by trusting God completely and submitting our lives' plans
to God's great design for us, knowing that "all things work together
for good for those who love God" (Romans 8:28). In the face of the
contrarieties of life, may we always remind ourselves that "If this did
not happen, something worse could have happened."
SUNDAY HOMILIES FOR YEAR A
By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, cssp
Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - On the
Gospel
Home > Homilies > Year A > Sunday 17 Epistle

The Summum Bonum

I Kings 3:5-12 Romans 8:28-30 Matthew 13:44-52

In Christian philosophy there is a something known as the summum

bonum or the supreme good. The summum bonum is believed to be not
just the best thing one could ever have but also that good which
contains in itself or brings along with it all other good and desirable
things, that which completely satisfies the otherwise insatiable desires
of the human heart. The summun bonumsounds like an abstract idea but
it can be illustrated with a childhood experience in a typical African
village.

It is not uncommon that a child be asked to round up a mother hen with

a brood of, say, seven chickens. The child, invariably, would start with
the small chickens. But as the chickens run and duck the child would
fall over so many times before catching even one chicken. Worse still
the mother hen, to defend her little ones, would come after the child
with her beak and claws. After so many falls with little result to show
for it, the child gives up the futile pursuit and it is then that the child’s
mother comes to the rescue.

First she would get a large basket, lure the mother hen into the basket
and cover her up. The mother hen safely covered in the basket would
then chuck for the chickens and they would all gather around the basket.
Raise the basket a little and the chickens all rush into it to be with their
mother hen. In a couple of minutes you’ve got the mother hen with her
brood of seven chickens. In this example the baby chickens can be
compared to the many good things of life and the mother hen to
the summum bonum, the supreme good which brings in its train all other
goods.

Today’s readings invite us to ask ourselves this important question:

Among all the things I desire in life, which are the chickens and which
one is the mother hen? What is the one desire of my life that once found
will bring all my other legitimate desires in its train? The gospel calls
this ultimate desire of the human heart “the kingdom of God.” “Seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

The kingdom of God is God’s reign in our hearts, in our lives, in our
homes, in our society, and in our world. The one who finds the kingdom
of God finds everything desirable besides. That is why it is compared to
hidden treasure in a field which someone discovers, then goes and sells
all that oeverything he has and buy this one pearl. In fact, these parables
invite us not only to seekfirst the kingdom of God but to seek only the
kingdom because with the kingdom of God comes every other good
thing that we desire and long for.

Solomon in the first reading is a good illustration of a man who went

for the mother hen rather than the chickens. As a young king Solomon
had many legitimate needs. He needed wealth, military might, fame,
security, prosperity, long life and happiness. But when God asked him
to ask for one thing, he asked for the summum bonnum, wisdom from
above. He knew that with wisdom comes every other good thing he
needed and desired. And God confirmed his choice in these words:

Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like

you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after
you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches
and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with
you. (1 Kings 3:11-13)

If God came in your dream tonight and asked you to ask for one thing
and one thing only, what would you ask for? Would you ask for wealth
or success in business or love life? Would you have the wisdom of
Solomon to ask for the reign of God in your personal and business life?
Is the kingdom of God so important to you that you are prepared to sell
and part with all you have in order to have it? Remember, the kingdom
of God is not just one among so many other good and desirable things.
It is the summum bonum, the supreme good, the one and only good
thing we shall ever need to achieve total satisfaction and fulfilment in
life. If you have the kingdom of God you have everything and if you
don’t have the kingdom of God you have nothing.