Homily: March 16, 2024, Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

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 "Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?”

Do you firmly believe in Jesus? Why?

If someone in authority comes and questions you, “Why do you believe in Jesus? Have you been deceived?”

Would you be shaken? Would you know how to answer?

In today’s Gospel, we see many people believing in Jesus, even the temple guards were inspired, because “never before has anyone spoken like this man”, they say.

They believe because they have seen and heard Jesus for themselves. What about us? Who brought you into this faith?

For me, it was my parents. They were believers and their parents were believers too. And so, generations in my family all believe in Jesus because someone whom we trust introduced us to the faith. And I do not for one moment think they have deceived me.

Most of us would have started our faith life the same way. We come to believe because someone we trust believes in God first, and we followed them.

They are not people of authority; they might not even be people who are knowledgeable or powerful. 

Often, they could be people as simple as our parents who may have had little formal education, but we can see from the way they live how powerfully God works in them and through them, how their faith gave them strength, courage, wisdom, patience, joy, love.

And we ourselves, over time, would have also experienced the power of this faith in our own lives, and encountered the love of Jesus personally.

In Matthew 11:25, we read, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to the childlike.”

Logically, people who are intelligent do not get deceived easily, but amazingly, it is the childlike people who receive faith firmly.

I am eternally grateful to my parents, simple as they were, for passing on the faith to me, for leading me to believe in Jesus. And I thank God for allowing me to childlike so that I trust them and the mystery of the faith was revealed to me.

Let us all thank God for this precious gift of faith, and for the people who brought us to Jesus. Simple or not, we thank God we trusted and followed them. Now, let us continue to pass it on to others.

Amen.


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