Homily of Wednesday in the 29th Week of the Ordinary Time, Year C.
Ref: Rom6:12-18; Lk 12:39-48.
By: Rev Fr. Felix Olátúnjí Yayi, C.S.Sp.
Dear friends, it is undoubtedly true that we should always care for our souls, but this does not mean we should neglect our mortal bodies or do with them whatever we like, since it is the soul of a person that leaves the body when the body expires.
Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, reminds us to keep our whole being – body, soul, and spirit – free from all faults. This means that caring for the body is just as important as caring for the soul. In today’s first reading, Paul reminds us again not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies. Let us not turn our bodies into unholy weapons fighting on the side of sin. Let us always remember that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and not dwellings of sin.
The body and the soul should cooperate to be on God’s side, doing what is holy. Whatever sinful thing we engage the body in will definitely affect the soul.
It was Pope St. John Paul II, whose optional memorial we celebrate today, who catechized us in his theology of the body on the dignity of the human body. The body is not only a shell to be escaped from; the body is not useless. If it were, we would not look forward to the resurrection of the body and life in the world to come.
John Paul II believed that the body is not just biological; it is theological – a visible sign of the invisible. Pope John Paul believed that the body is a gift, meant for communion, love, and reflection of divine life.
Dear friends, let us continue to live by grace, serving only one Master, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us submit ourselves to obedience and righteousness with our whole being – spirit, soul, and body. Shalom.
