Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Homily for 27 April 2017

27 April 2017
(School Mass)

In the psalm today, there’s kind of a strange sentence.  It says, “Many are the troubles of the just man.”  And that’s a little strange because usually if we behave well, things are easier, not harder.  You know, if you listen to your parents, or you’re just nice to your brothers and sisters, life is usually easier.  But the psalm says just the opposite: Even if we’re listening to God and doing our best to love him and our neighbors, life will still be hard.

But, you know, the Scripture is right.  And that’s because being a good disciple of Jesus is not always the popular thing to do; sometimes it means changing our habits and our behaviors.  And that’s hard—sometimes. 

For example, if you notice one of your classmates is doing something wrong, it takes courage to say something.  And that’s the right thing to do.  But it’s also a hard thing to do because you don’t want to lose your friend.  Or what if you don’t help out around the house with chores—but you’re supposed to.  Well, it’s a good thing to change that habit, but it can also be hard to do that.

It’s a great thing to be friend of God and to do what is good and just.  But that doesn’t always mean it’s going to be easy.  And that’s where the rest of the psalm comes in.  We sang, “The Lord hears the cry of the poor.”  And that’s right.  If we’re having a tough time trying to do the right thing, all we have to do is pray to Jesus for help, and he’ll help us.

The psalm today says that, “Many are the troubles of the just man.”  But that’s okay.  It’s good to do what’s right.  And when it’s hard, we have the Risen Jesus to help us.  That’s the good news today: Jesus is always there to help us do what’s right.

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