SATURDAY 18TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B. By Tobe Eze

SATURDAY 18^TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B.

1^ST READING: HABAKKUK 1:12-. 2:4

GOSPEL: MATTHEW 17:14-20

THEME: MANAGE SILENCE VERY WELL.

In Igbo, we normally say, Onye gbara nkiti kwere ekwe but not in all cases. In some issues we have to keep silence not that we have accepted that but to think or that the place or the thing is not the best place or rightful place or thing to react.

In the first reading, Prophet Habakkuk is asking us, why are we keeping quiet when a wicked man is oppressing the poor and good man? If we keep quiet, we are part of the crime. We have to rebuke him in other to save the good and poor man.

In the gospel, when Jesus told his disciples men of little faith, they kept quiet till they got inside the house and they asked him in private to explain more. This is just the same with the Igbo adage that says, “Obu ichupu egbe, I gwa nwa okuko n’ onapuka. When you chase the kite away, you tell the chick that it wanders too much.

The first reading and the gospel are teaching us how to approach issues in life. When we see evil, we should not keep quiet and the gospel is teaching us how to react to many of them. When we see evil, we should be able to know the best way to follow it. Is it to keep quiet and attack it latter or to attack it now and keep quiet latter? Sometimes when things got hard for Jesus, he withdrew to the mountain and when he comes out, he addressed those challenging issues. When John the Baptist was killed, people were expecting him to talk but he withdrew into the mountain and when he came out again to face the realities, Hero said that John the Baptist was raised from the dead. When we notice that talking or acting will bring more harm, we should withdraw and look for another way but not to abandon it entirely. We must stand for justice but in a mild way. We must know how to manage issues and situations. When to keep quiet (silence) and when to take actions. Thanks.