HOMILY OF FRIDAY OF THE TWENTHY SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C.
3RD OCTOBER 2025.
BY REV FR. ADOLE ACHILLEUS ILE LAMPEZ CSSp.
1st reading : Baruch 1:15-22
Psalm 78:1-5,8-9
Gospel : Luke 10:13-16
THEME: HE WANTS US TO REPENT
In our gospel text today, Jesus Christ appears to be upset about something that prompted him to utter some unpleasant words directed at particular sets of people. He said, “…woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida… and as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell….”
The tone of Jesus here would make one more curious to know what has happened. And citing also from this short passage, we can draw out the reason why Jesus spoke in this manner. He said, “…if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes….”
From this statement of Jesus, it is now clear why He spoke in the manner he did. Jesus showed some signs to these people and worked some miracles too for them, but the reward He got was a continued unrepentance. And as the gospel of Matthew puts it, “… Jesus began to denounce the cities where most of his miracles had been performed because they did not repent.” (Matthew 11:20)
Jesus loves us, and the miracles he does for us are part of his gift of love to us, but he needs us to love him back by acknowledging all he has done for us, to turn a new leaf and become a changed person giving ourselves to him. However, in most cases, we wished for and accepted Christ’s gift of love through his miracles, but we failed to love him back from our hearts.
Consequently, we are someways as guilty as these cities mentioned in the gospel text of today. We have received a lot from Christ but have refused to repent. We come to him whenever we need something, and leave when we have received what we wanted.
Just like Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, as we see in the gospel text of today, if we open the ears of our hearts and listen, we would hear loudly as Jesus utters ‘woes’ on us because of our lack of repentance.
Peace be with you
