OMELIE / Omelie EN

03 mar 2019

03/03/2019 – 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

03/03/2019 – 8^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1: SIR 27,4-7 Psalm: 91 Reading 2: 1COR 15,54-58 Gospel: LK 6,39-45

The words in the first reading are simple yet convincing. The author uses images easily understandable in order to help us to exercise our discretion: “When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one's faults when one speaks. … Praise no one before he speaks, for it is then that people are tested.” Not all of what happens inside us and not all what sparkles around us is a gift of the Father’s: we need to choose in the light of the word of God among what we see or we hear, even among what we feel within ourselves, otherwise we might fall victim of tricks and temptations. Discretion is a great gift of the Lord’s that needs to be used and cultivated.

Jesus develops the same images used in the book of Sirach and He uses them in order to be able to teach His disciples: a blind person guides another blind one, who have serious sight problems is trying to correct someone who has just a minor defect, the evil man wants to give charity lessons or introduce himself as an example for others.

Let us try to reason about it: who is “a blind person”? What the correction is about? Who really is “a good person”?

Blind is not only, or not really, someone with low sight, but above all is whoever cannot see God, who has not attended the Lord’s school and therefore does not know His will. Then I understand that the Lord’s word is addressing me, before anyone else. Jesus’ disciple needs to let himself to be helped by whoever attended His school. In order for someone to be a teacher it is not enough the fact that he wants to teach, but it is necessary for him to be ready first, that he has let himself to be taught on his turn, that he has learned beforehand! I will be careful then not to listen to whoever starts teaching: before, I will need to understand if he has studied in Jesus’ school.

We always need correction. Each one of us in fact has some difficulty to see the reality of facts as they are, as the Father sees it. If a brother is shedding a tear because a splinter entered his eye, and therefore he needs help, I will be able to and I should help him. However, first of all, I will need to make sure that I do not have a problem myself because of ignorance of the Word of God, prejudices, spirit of superiority, or intolerance or anger. And, in my need, I will let myself be helped by whoever has grown in the Lord’s school, by whoever is humble and is learning from the Gospel and wants to bring me to the point to live the Gospel. In order to correct the others, I need to accept to be corrected.

 Around us there are many people, good or evil, so to say there are men that are getting closer to Jesus and people that are driven far from Him. Which ones are the people really worth listening to? Which ones of them will be really able to help me? I know that only God is good. And that Jesus is united to Him, nay, He is one with the Father. I will therefore only listen to those that are close to Jesus: their word will be of help for me. Who is far from the Lord cannot give me either wisdom or salvation, because the only true master and savior given by the Father is Jesus.  I will not let myself be misled by appearances. Good fruit come only from good people, and good people are not necessarily those who are kind and all smiles, but the people who are Jesus’ and live united to Him and like He has taught, even if sometimes they might appear grumpy and quick-tempered! We too then, in order to help others, will try to become stronger in our faith in Jesus and we will learn his Word, we will let ourselves to be transformed by His Holy Spirit and we will live in communion with His brethren.

Our life is all a fight against our vices and defects and against our tendency to sin that is showing itself in our mortal body. Will we win or be defeated? Our distance from God, that is the strength of sin, is filling us with fear of dying. Will we win? It is the question Saint Paul is asking himself. And he himself answers: God “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”. We will not be afraid, therefore, of anything, not even of death that kills though sin that is being distant from the Father and the Son. United to the Lord we will not be afraid and we will win: death, in fact, has been defeated by Jesus’ resurrection. We will then be steadfast and firm in faith and love for the Risen Jesus, even if it needs effort, an effort that, however, is healthy and source of true wellbeing for us and our brethren. Hallelujah!