Sunday, June 14, 2020

Fr. Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP - Homily for Monday Week 11 Ordinary time - June 15, 2020


Monday Eleventh week in ordinary time year II
1 Kings 21:1-16, Matthew 5:38-42
There are many names which have gone into extinction and no one accept to bear them again because of those who have been called the names before. People hesitate in our time to bear names like Judas and Jezebel. This is because the names seem to represent betrayal and wickedness respectively.
In the first reading of today, we see what extent wicked people can go to achieve what they want. King Ahab cannot be blamed for desiring the vineyard of Naboth for a garden, but I blame him for getting angry and depressed that poor Naboth refused to give him his land because it was his only ancestral inheritance. He must have thought that he would always get what he wanted because he was the king and he was rich. Life does not work that way.
When things are bothering us, it is very important to tell the right people who can either assist or advice us on the right thing to do. Jezebel was not the right person to have heard of the issue of land between her husband and poor Naboth; she approached the issue negatively with the mind that she can get whatever she wanted even if it meant taking the life of Naboth to achieve it.
It is very important that we respect one another and know that who we are and what we have does not make us better than the other person. That Ahab was a king and Jezebel a queen, and that they had everything in life, does not make them better or their lives more important than that of Naboth. Dialogue is the only way. Whatever we achieve in a wrong way will only bring us sadness and sorrow. May the Lord grant us the grace to treat others the way we want to be treated. Amen. God help us.
Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie MSP

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