Readings: Sirach 27:407; Psalm 92; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-45
Grace and peace to you dear family of God’s people.
The readings we have are really rich. I would like to divide my reflection into three themes across the Masses.
I. A call to an honest self-examination
II. A call to examine the state of our hearts
III. A call to examine the fruits of our lips.
1. Self-examination (Myself- Autofocus).
The Gospel challenges us to do something we all don’t like to do. It calls us to ‘auto-focus’. It is easier to focus on the mistakes of others, their faults, weaknesses, problems and scandals. It is easier to criticise, correct, blame and accuse others while we justify, exonerate or look away from ourselves.
The Lord invites us to an honest self-examination – today, our prayer is a powerful one that we can’t pray unless we are really ready. It is Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Three important questions that we want to ask ourselves today:
I. Who am I before you Lord? I know what you said about Abraham, David, Noah, Job, Moses, John the Baptist but Lord, who do you say that I am?
II. Where do I need to change my ways, improve or repent?
III. What influence am I having on others? What example am I showing the world?
We need to be honest and humble in order to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us on this journey of self-discovery and self-awareness and be willing to accept the truth and open ourselves to be inwardly transformed.
2. The State of Our Heart
The Gospel of today calls us to examine the state of our hearts. The state of our hearts will determine the fruits that we bear- that is, the words we speak, the actions we perform, our character and how we relate to the world.
Is our heart transformed by the Holy Spirit or is it depraved?
Five kinds of heart that are not yet renewed and repaired by the Holy Spirit are:
I. A wicked or evil heart
II. An impure or corrupt heart
III. A deceitful heart
IV. A hard and unrepentant heart
V. An unforgiving heart.
What is the state of your heart? Let us pray with the Psalmist in Psalm 51:10:
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
A clean heart is a pure, forgiving, sincere, kind, merciful and contrite heart.
While people look at appearances, God judges us according to our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).
3. Examine your words
The First Reading of today tells us that the expression of a thought discloses the cultivation of a person’s mind.
The Gospel tells us that, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.’ “
In other words, our words, i.e. the fruits of our lips, disclose our hearts and reveal who we truly are. They testify to our wisdom, spiritual and emotional maturity, modesty, integrity and the contents of the heart.
The question is, what kind of words do we speak? What is the state of our tongue? Some people’s tongues are poisonous, some are cancerous and some are healthy and sanctified. We discern which it is by the kind of words that proceed. A healthy tongue speaks:
I. Words that encourage, edify and inspire
II. Blessing and peace, not curses, abuse or insults.
III. Modest words that pass the purity test, even in jokes.
IV. True and sincere words
V. Wise, sensible and gracious words.
I leave us with these four Bible verses for meditation:
James 1:26
Ephesians 4:29
James 3:2
Matthew 12:36-37
Come Holy Spirit, search me and bring me to a place of awareness, repentance and newness. Repair my heart and make it whole; heal my tongue and make the fruit of my lips life-giving. Amen.
Sermon preached by Fr Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on March 2, 2025