Homily of the Day: Sunday Reading 2ACTS 10:34-38 Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered in the house of Cornelius, saying: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. You know the word that he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” Homily: Good morning. After meditating on this passage a little bit, I was reminded of the old childrens gospel tune, Jesus Loves the Little Children. The tune, as many of you know, goes like this... Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow black and white they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world. The reason, that I was reminded of this is because of the phrase that St. Peter used among those gathered in the house of Cornelius, for Church. St. Peter, our first pope said, in truth, I see that God shows no partiality; but rather accepts every nation whoever fears Him and acts uprightly. This is a trustworthy saying. God does not take delight in the color of your skin, but He takes delight you use your heart, the heart that He gave you, to love Him and to love your neighbor. God does not necessarily take delight in your social status, or what country that you come from, but rather He takes delight when you accept the ticket to that He purchased for you to the Heavenly place that He has prepared for you, made possible by His sons precious bloodshed. God does not take delight in your sins, but rather He takes delight when you as a poor miserable sinner give your life to Him so that He can put your sin to death and bring you to the fullness of life. God does not take delight in outward appearance, like that of the Pharisees, but rather He takes delight in a sinners heart that turns towards Him for grace, for restoration, and for renewal. God takes delight in all of his children... from Protestants, to Catholics, to the Orthodox Christians, God takes delight in you, when you come to Him, even in the midst of your darkest hour and declare that you cannot do it on your own. God loves the little children of the world. Today is the day that the Church traditionally celebrates as the Baptism of our Lord. Jesus, to kick off His ministry, went out into the river Jordan, met his cousin John the Baptizer, and instead of baptizing him, as John expected, He demanded that John baptize Him. Of course, Jesus didnt need to get baptized, but this baptism was to signify that God had in human flesh came into the world to save the world through His bloodshed. This baptism was to signify that, just as water washes away dirt from the human body, He was going to perform a greater washing, a washing of the demented spirit and soul that was tormented by original sin. This baptism was used to symbolize the future descent of the Holy Spirit, because after Jesus came up out of those waters, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove to show the people that He was going to reform and make more personal the covenant that He had made with their ancestors. It was a covenant that He established in His precious bloodshed. This baptism was used to symbolize the cleansing of all future generations who would claim Christ as their own. Our Lord Jesus was baptized, and affirmed by the Holy Spirit, not for His sake, but for the sake of the public there. They common folk there that day and not the Pharisees of that day recognized Him, not only as a philosopher, a good teacher, but someone much greater God. They recognized Him as God. Someone of whom God said, this is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So today as we reflect on our Lords baptism, let us reflect on our own baptism and with our hearts, and not just with our heads reaffirm the baptismal vows that we reaffirm at the great Easter vigil. As St. Paul the apostle said, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved. (Rms. 10:9-10) With that in mind let us pray: I believe in God the Father the Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified died and was buried. He descended into Hell, the third day He rose again from the dead, He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father the Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge both the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the Body and the life everlasting. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 16:43:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015