HOMILY OF THURSDAY 11TH WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

HOMILY OF THURSDAY 11TH WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

HOMILY THEME: “OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN…”

BY: Bishop Anthony Ewherido 

Ecclesiasticus 48:1-15; Psalm 96(97): 1-7; Matt 6: 7 – 15

Today’s first reading celebrates the manifestation of God’s power in Elijah’s ministry. He became synonymous with Old Testament prophecy; a prophet like Moses in many ways. While Moses represented the Law, Elijah represented the Prophets. These two represented the old dispensation in the encounter with Jesus at the Transfiguration. In the gospel, Jesus teaches us the most important words of prayer in Christian tradition, The Lord’s Prayer. In it, he invites us to pray as children, who intimately and trustingly address their needs to a loving Father. His Father is Our Father, and so Jesus also joins us in our prayer.

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The prayer is short but complete: blessing and praising God, and petitioning for daily need, forgiveness and reconciliation, protection and deliverance from the evil one. The wish for God’s will to prevail on earth is realized only through our obedience and surrender. Jesus reinforces the commitment to forgive other children of God as God has forgiven us, and he told another parable to emphasize it in Matt 18:22-35. Christians and children of God must be people with forgiving hearts, since they were born out of and continue to live through God’s mercy. We must pray the words that Jesus gave us (that is, the Lord’s Prayer) with greater devotion and attention. Quite often, we just recite them unconsciously and we lose the sense and power of prayer by rushing through them several times daily.

Lord, forgive us our trespasses and deliver us from every evil. Amen.

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