Homily: August 20, 2024, Tuesday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary time (Detachment).

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 “It is I who deal death and give life.”

This is our response to the first reading today. God gave a warning to the king of Tyre, about his impending death. The king had accumulated so much wealth and power that he considered himself supreme and like a god. He felt so highly of himself that he forgot he was only a human and could never escape death. Only God could deal death and give life. Only by recognizing our own frailty can we see God’s supremacy over our life and death.

A few months ago, one of my first cousins passed away at the age of 49 after battling multiple myeloma. She was survived by her loving husband and two children. Among the cousins who are still relatively young, she was the first to pass on.

We were shocked and saddened by her passing. A few days later, I had a group call with my siblings, and we were talking about it. One of my sisters asked, “Who will be the first one among us to pass away?”

I immediately replied, “I’m not ready.”

My oldest sister then said, “If you, the priest, are not ready, then who would be?”

The conversation moved on, but that remark stayed with me. I kept thinking about it. And while preparing for this homily, the readings reminded me of that again.

One thing certain in life is death. Sooner or later, you and I will die one fine day. There is no escaping. But there should be no fear for all of us here, who are beloved children of God, because He, who loves us, is the One who deals death and gives life. So “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's”, as St. Paul said.

Because we belong to the Lord, when we die, we will inherit eternal life. Finally, we will live and never die again.

The question is, “do we truly belong to the Lord?”

In name we are Christians, but in the way we live daily, we belong more to our wealth, status, power, prestigious titles, worldly possessions, relationships, fame and name. We cling to these things so much that they have possessed us, making us afraid of losing them to failure, sickness or death.

If we truly belong to Jesus, we would not care much for these worldly attachments. The more we detach from these, the more we can attach to God. When we are attached to God, we are free.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells His disciples, “…everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.”

In two days, we celebrate the Queenship of Mary, let us ask for her intercession to pray for us, ‘now and at the hour of our death’, that we will be able to let go of the world and cling to God, He who deals death and gives life.

Amen.


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