Saturday Week 16 Year A By Tobe Eze

Saturday Week 16 Year A

First Reading:

Exodus 24:3-8

Gospel:

Matthew 13:24-30

THEME: THE DEVIL AGAINST OUR EFFORTS.

Have you ever reflected on the fact that it is always when you want to make sincere effort that the devil will like to tempt you? Have you ever reflected on the fact that you will see a life changing situation and make a resolution to change and you will not even last anything and you will see yourself falling? These are facts of life.

I have had two experiences that made me to vow never to sin again but after that, I did not even last for anything and saw myself sinning again. The first one happened at UNTH Enugu. I went for blood donation there. They took our sample and we were outside waiting for them to test the sample. As we were there discussing and chatting. People were carried around on stretchers. Those who were seriously sick that were unconscious. The one that touched me most was that some groups of nurses were carrying a dead man on a stretcher chatting and laughing while the relations were crying behind them. I just asked myself, is this all we are in this world for. I sin because I am healthy, these people here who are dead, sick (unconscious for that matter) are asking God to give them this opportunity he has given me and I am here wasting it. I decided that I will not sin again from that very moment. It was few days to our break, immediately I came back home, the type of lie that I leveled to my people in order to get money from them was more than anything else. The second was one day I went to my cathedral to confess my sins in the evening. Normally, you do not search for priests in my cathedral but that day, I stayed till night before seeing a priest and it was Saturday, I needed it for the health of my soul and again because of Sunday. I made resolution that day not to sin again. Only to lie terribly on Sunday. My classmate called me that he wanted to visit me meanwhile I had already booked appointment with a friend to go somewhere and drink beer. I told him that my father said I would be taking him to somewhere and other stories to back it up.

This happened to Israelites after all these their promises in the first reading. All that the Lord said we will do. We can see the cause of this problem in the gospel, when we are asleep in our prayer lives, the enemy will plant weeds. We must wake up our prayer life in other to fight the devil that is against our efforts to be holy. Had it been that I handed those my resolutions to God through prayers, it would have lasted longer than when I violated it. Prayer is necessary in season and out of season else, the devil will plant weed in our farm and they will not be uprooted till the end of time. Thanks.