Mean what you say and do what you believe
Sunday Homily for June 1, 2008
Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
By Fr. Romy Seleccion, MS (A)
SUNDAY READINGS
In our gospel today, the drama of faith and service converge.
Listen again to the gospel,
Jesus said to his disciples, “Not everyone who says to me,
‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only
the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
Service brings out the heart of faith in our Christian life;
and faith makes our service genuine, as it is from the heart.
We serve because it is the heartbeat of our goodness,
We believe because we know the God of kindness.
It is through our faith and genuine service
that Jesus will allow us to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Someone said, “When you give charity out of pity, you feel pain
parting with your money. But when you give charity because you love,
you don’t feel the pain. You only feel the joy of giving.”
There are lots of people who give donations
to many charitable institutions for the wrong reason.
They donate because they want to be popular;
and they want to be listed in the archives of donors.
Listen to this story:
There was a rich man who always boasts that his heart bleeds
whenever he sees a poor person, a homeless and a hungry
human being. One day, the director of a charitable organization
asked help from him, and the rich man gave the director a check
of one million dollars. The director was so happy, but he noticed
that the check was not signed, so he asked, “Sir, the check is
not signed”. The rich man answered, “I did not sign it because
I wanted to be an anonymous donor.”
Sometimes, we don’t have any word of honor at all.
Our service is just a lip service - without meaning;
we become clanging cymbals, so noisy, useless,
and without substance.
So, today, we have to examine our conscience,
we have to scrutinize our hearts with the words
of Moses in the first reading, when he said:
“Take these words of mine into your hearts and soul…
I set before you… this day, a blessing and a curse: a blessing
for obeying the commandments of the Lord, your God,
which I enjoin you today; a curse if you do not obey
the commandments of the Lord, your God…”
A BLESSING is everlasting life!
A CURSE is eternal punishment!
A BLESSING is your passport to life everlasting!
A CURSE is your visa to eternal punishment!
The blessings of God help us to develop an inner desire
to be a blessing to others, and not a curse.
The blessings feed our soul in order to bring out
the goodness in us that produces love that reconciles,
and a heart that heals.
With the overflowing blessings of Jesus for us today,
let our hearts be the habitat of a commitment
that will cultivate the spirit of genuine service;
that will nurture a faith that works miracles.
As you go on living your Christian life today,
take this advice of St. James as a guiding light
on how you live your faith proactively, when he said:
“My friends, what good is it for one of you to say
that you have faith if your actions do not prove it?
Can that faith save you? Suppose there are brothers
or sisters who need clothes and don’t have enough
to eat. What good is there in your saying to them,
“God bless you! Keep warm and eat well! – if you don’t
give them the necessities of life? So it is with faith:
if it is alone and includes no action, then it is dead.”
Remember, “God made you a giver. Your hands
are born open and so is your heart. There maybe time
when your hands are empty but your heart is always full!”
So, today, fill your heart with overflowing life;
and be a life-giver and not a death-giver.
Mean what you say, and do what you believe.
God bless you all!
Fr. Romy Seleccion, MS
