HOMILY OF WEDNESDAY OF THE OCTAVE OF EASTER YEAR A
Acts 3:1-10, Luke 24:13-35
THEME: ACTIVE POWER OF GOD
We live in a world where people are in search for a functional God. The confusion in the world cannot only be managed by theological thesis and antithesis. People wants to experience the active power of God. When we lose grasp of the active power of God in us, we may result only to dishing out what we think the people want to know in form of knowledge. The moment the church can no longer make a difference, she loses her identity.
Though the church is a home of charity, aside providing what other non-governmental organizations can provide, she needs to manifest concretely and in deep faith the healing touch of God. Though our daily life is a miracle, if in our lives we do not demonstrate the miraculous power of God, we tend to give the impression that there is no point giving a special focus on the worship of God.
Peter told the crippled man at the beautiful gate,
“Look at us.’ He turned to them expectantly, hoping to get something from them, but Peter said, ‘I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!’ Peter then took him by the hand and helped him to stand up. Instantly his feet and ankles became firm, he jumped up, stood, and began to walk, and he went with them into the Temple, walking and jumping and praising God.”
Having received his healing, he went into the temple, walking and jumping praising God. If we leave people to live only on the gospel of believe without seeing, we should be expecting empty pews. We cannot substantiate our inability to tap into the active power of God by a teaching that only resonates with our own level of spiritual growth. Miracles still happen. To fill the church pew, we must relive the Christ who walked in the street of Jerusalem and through whom miracles were wrought by his countless disciples and adherents.
Moreover, Jesus took the disciples on the way to Emmaus through the scriptures, and their hearts were burning within them. There is no way we can use the longing of the people and their expectations to interpret the word of God, simply because we want to make the church appealing to the world. At the breaking of the bread the eyes of the disciples were opened, and they recognized Jesus. Hrmce, if we put Jesus in the light of the new world order, by the time we approach the Holy Eucharist, we can no longer recognize him there. Because, in the bid to make his scripture acceptable, we must have stripped him of his real identity.
May our limited understanding never deprived us of God’s active power ever at work in and among us. Amen.
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