Reading 1 1 Cor 11:17-26, 33
Brothers and sisters:
In giving this instruction, I do not praise the fact
that your meetings are doing more harm than good.
First of all, I hear that when you meet as a Church
there are divisions among you,
and to a degree I believe it;
there have to be factions among you
in order that also those who are approved among you
may become known.
When you meet in one place, then,
it is not to eat the Lord’s supper,
for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own supper,
and one goes hungry while another gets drunk.
Do you not have houses in which you can eat and drink?
Or do you show contempt for the Church of God
and make those who have nothing feel ashamed?
What can I say to you? Shall I praise you?
In this matter, I do not praise you.For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, “This is my Body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my Blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.Therefore, my brothers and sisters,
when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 17
- (1 Cor 11:26b) Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R. Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
R.Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
May all who seek you
exult and be glad in you
And may those who love your salvation
say ever, “The LORD be glorified.”
R. Proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.
Alleluia Jn 3:16
- Alleluia, alleluia.
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Lk 7:1-10
When Jesus had finished all his words to the people,
he entered Capernaum.
A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die,
and he was valuable to him.
When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him,
asking him to come and save the life of his slave.
They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying,
“He deserves to have you do this for him,
for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us.”
And Jesus went with them,
but when he was only a short distance from the house,
the centurion sent friends to tell him,
“Lord, do not trouble yourself,
for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof.
Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you;
but say the word and let my servant be healed.
For I too am a person subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes;
and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;
and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him
and, turning, said to the crowd following him,
“I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”
When the messengers returned to the house,
they found the slave in good health.
I guess you must have heard about the seven wonders of the world. These are records of the most impressive man-made monuments from the ancient world.
Let me quickly highlight them and add a brief note;
- The Great Pyramid of Piza:
Built by 20,000 architects for 20years, covering 13 acres of land. It was a tomb for Pharaoh Khaofu.
- Hanging garden of Babylon:
Nebuchadnezzar II built for his wife Amyitis. It was an artificial mountain with rooftop gardens in many layers. Built with gold and decorated with towers towering towards heaven.
- Temple of Artemis at Ephesus:
It was built in honour of Artemis, it is a marble temple, and it has 127 iconic columns and 60 feet statues of Artemis – the Greek goddess of fertility and hunting. Herostatus later burnt it down.
- Statue of Zeus at Olympia:
40 feet tall, made of pure gold and ivory. People go there to worship Zeus and to gamble. It was later burnt by fire.
- Mausoleum at Harlicarnassus:
This was at Turkey; it was the tomb of Mausollos of Caria. 140 feet tall, 1200 square feet, painted pure white and adorned with gold and surrounded by iconic columns. Destroyed later by an earthquake.
- Colossus of Rhodes:
It is a colossus that is 110 feet in height. In it was the bronze statue of Helios, the sun god, it was later destroyed by an earthquake.
- Lighthouse of Alexandria:
This is 400 feet tall. One of tallest structures created by man. Meant to give light in the city and guide ship to safety. It was destroyed by an earthquake.
These are amazing achievements in arts and architecture.
However, this morning, I want to talk about the seven wonders of grace. Seven things that amaze me, seven things that testify to the reality/presence of grace, seven things that make God smile. Seven signs of hope in the world
- A youth that is godly, active in Church and responsible at home.
- A family where all the members are adult and still practising Catholics.
- A couple living the ideals of marriage – mutual respect, true love and sincere fidelity or a priest who is faithful to God and true to his vows.
- A person who repents from a life of sin and embraces and perseveres in a new life of grace.
- A Church/family that is united.
- A politician who follows his conscience, who is morally upright and places his trust in God.
- A rich person who is humble and godly.
The fifth point is what we see in today’s first reading and the sixth and seventh points are what we see in today’s gospel reading.
- A United Church or family: The Church in Corinth was a divided Church with a cocktail of factions. The rich are in a caucus and discriminated against the poor even in the Lord’s Supper.
This kind of division, faction and discrimination exists in the church till today. It is part of our mission to try to break down all barriers separating people, to preach, pray and work for unity.
- Today’s gospel represents the 6th and 7th wonder of grace that I enunciated. We see in there, a rich Centurion who is godly, humble, kind and a man of great faith. We can say a politician that is pious and God-fearing.
A lesson for all of us that true greatness lies in humility and that no matter our state of life, we must be godly, humble, kind to others and have faith in God.
Do we have any evidence of these indications of grace in your life?
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Okami on September 17, 2018