Reading 1 Is 48:17-19
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:
I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,
and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
- (see John 8:12)Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R.Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Gospel Mt 11:16-19
Jesus said to the crowds:
“To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is joy or happiness.
Happiness is something every human person should ordinarily desire. According to Aristotle, it is the goal of life. One would imagine that with the level of technological innovations, people’s quest for happiness will be satiated but we all know this is not the case.
People are still so much in search of happiness today perhaps more than ever before. It is like there are more sad people in the world than we have happy people. We have more grumpy, depressed and miserable people, people whose predicaments are imprinted on their countenance, we see people who have allowed the troubles of life to suck the oxygen out of them, people who complain about everything and see faults in everything, they are like those Jesus referred to in today’s gospel. They criticized the asceticism of John and tagged him a conservative and accused Jesus of impious liberalism.
Sometimes, people ask me my challenges in the UK, I will confess one to you today.
One of the most draining challenges I have is having to celebrate mass for people whose happiness are not evident, to put it as it is, I feel so uninspired when I look at people’s faces at mass and they look jaded and downcast.
This morning, I just want to use the two readings we have to touch on five secrets of happiness.
- Happiness consists in obedience to God.
In the first reading, the Lord told Israel,
I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go. If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river.
When we disobey God, we feel guilty and sad. A life lived in obedience to God gives joy. This is what the first stanza of today’s Psalm proclaims.
- Making other people happy increases one’s happiness, when we are self-absorbed, it drains us, when we look outside ourselves and put smiles on people’s faces, we increase our joy too.
- Faith is happiness: Faith in God gives happiness, knowing that God loves me and He is looking after me is enough reason to be happy. Psalm 4:7 says, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.”
- Do not subject yourself to the judgement of bitter persons.
There are some people who are fundamentally bitter and pessimistic, they try to judge, criticize, define and negatively assess people. Do not allow sad people to ruin your joy by what they say or think of you.
- Pray for the gift of joy.
Galatians 5:22 mentions joy as the second fruit of the Holy Spirit, desire it and pray for it with faith and you will receive it.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Okami on December 13, 2019.