Take Courage and Change from your Bad Habits

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY FIFTH WEEK IN THE ORDINARY TIME YEAR C,
BY REV FR EKESHIRI JUDE EMEKA CSSP.
(Haggai 1:1-8, Psalm 149:1-6,9, Luke 9:7-9).

Beloved, our decisions and actions of the past sometimes comes back to hunt us, especially when we have not fully repented from our faults. To be free from them, we ought to make peace with ourselves and to those we have hurt.

In the gospel of today, “Herod the tetrarch had heard about all that was being done by Jesus; and he was puzzled, because some people were saying that John had risen from the dead, others that Elijah had reappeared, still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. ‘John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?’ And he was anxious to see Jesus” (Luke 9:7-9).

Herod was living an immoral life. He was known to be a cruel leader and also an unrepentant adulterer. He loved his power and was quite jealous of it. Herod most likely knew, at least in the back of his mind, that if he were to listen to Jesus, he would have to change. And he most likely didn’t want to change.

Some of us are like Herod, we are at home with our ways of life, even if we are aware that it would only lead us to hurt and destruction. Very often, We are unwilling to change because of the lure of sin. Today, the readings calls us to re-examine ourselves and listen to the good news, which calls us to repent and believe in Jesus. It calls us to take courage to change from things that takes us away from God.

God is speaking to us all day long, every day of our lives. He is constantly offering us His message of the full Gospel. And though we may be open to much of what God says, there are most likely parts of His divine message that we either knowingly or unknowingly do not listen to. The key to being able to hear everything that God wants to speak to us is to be disposed to completely change in any and every way that God wants us to.

Let us be aware that, Our good decisions and actions will follow us all through life, bringing us peace and joy. Our bad decisions and action will haunt us all through life, taking away our peace and joy. Peace be with you.