8th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Eccles (Sir) 27:4-7, Psalm 91, 1 Cor 15:54-58, Luke 6:39-45
The 1st Reading today sends shivers up the spine of anyone who has to preach a homily! The Book of Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) does not hold back in warning all of us about hypocrisy, insincerity or temerity when proclaiming the Word of God; “The defects of people appear in their talk”; “The test of people is in their conversation”; “A man’s words betray what he feels”; “Do not praise people before they have spoken”. We can be like “Shaken sieves” all that is left in us may be our “defects”
Liturgical laws and practices mean that the preacher (usually a priest) must give a homily each Sunday. The preacher has to say something and sometimes he may feel that he has nothing to say. The homily is given in order to ‘break open’ the Scripture Reading of the day and to bring the light and the fruit of the Scriptures to the daily lives of those who listen.
But what if the preacher has an empty heart
Faith belongs to the heart as much as to the mind. The preacher can study and explain the Word of God very well but it is only with a heart which listens in prayer that one meets the Lord, and so, if the heart is empty there is nothing to draw upon.
But the Word of God today is directed not only at preachers. The greatest call of all disciples of the Lord is that of proclaiming the Good News. And we know that the Good News is proclaimed not only by the words we speak but also by our way of life: “if you abide in (live in) my word you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31)
We proclaim the Word by our words and our actions, by our love, by our compassion, by our forgiveness and by our mercy. And, like the fruit that comes from a healthy and well-nourished tree, we need the nourishment and goodness that comes from the ‘tree’ of prayer which is fertilised by familiarity with the Sacred Scriptures.
It is not possible for a preacher to know if his mere words are effective. It is not necessary to have that knowledge. It is God’s grace which opens the ears of those who will hear. But it is important that preachers take care of their own spiritual growth and make sure that there are no ‘planks’ in their own eyes!
When disciples are on intimate terms with the Lord, through prayer, and are familiar with God’s word through reading the Scriptures it will show in the way they speak and in the manner of their lives. They will, as the Psalm says today “flourish like the palm-tree and grow like a Lebanon cedar” They will be “still bearing fruit when they are old, still full of sap, still green, to proclaim that the Lord is just.” (Psalm 91)
So, while the words of Ecclesiasticus and of the Gospel are challenging we are encouraged by St Paul; “Never give in then, never admit defeat … knowing that, in the Lord, you cannot be labouring in vain”. (1 Cor 15:58)