Bible Readings: Acts 9:31-42; Psalm 116; John 6:60-69.
In the First Reading of today, we have the account of how Peter went about bringing God’s joy and blessing to people. He brought joy to the people of Lydia and Sharon when he ministered to God’s healing to a paralytic named Aeneas.
At Jaffa, he restored life to a woman-disciple named Tabitha. Today, I want us to reflect on what the Bible says about Tabitha. We read that she was never tired of doing good or giving in charity.
This statement means a lot. We are called today to imitate not just the goodness of Tabitha but her resilience, her consistency, and her untiring dedication to doing good.
Our charity and generosity may be misunderstood and people may repay us with evil, people may be ungrateful, people may judge us wrongly, people may take advantage of us. Some may criticise us and some may be jealous of us. Many of those who need or ask for our help may be undeserving but like Tabitha, let us not be tired of doing good or giving in charity.
In the Gospel of today, some people were upset with Jesus and many left Him because He promised to give His flesh as food but Jesus wasn’t discouraged a bit by this. That is the spirit we need – a spirit of charity and goodness that doesn’t bow to discouragement.
No charity done out of true love of God and sincerity to others will ever be wasted (as we see in the case of Tabitha). There is a reward in time and there will be a reward in eternity because God doesn’t overlook any genuine acts of charity.
I leave us with the words of St. Paul to the Galatians (Galatians 6:9):
Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on May 6, 2022