{"id":1638,"date":"2015-07-05T12:13:52","date_gmt":"2015-07-05T16:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1638"},"modified":"2015-07-05T12:13:52","modified_gmt":"2015-07-05T16:13:52","slug":"14th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/14th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

14th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\nEzekiel 2:2-5
\n2 Corinthians 12:7-10
\nMark 6:1-6
\nJuly 5, 2015<\/p>\n

This weekend is, of course, our national holiday remembering the signing of The Declaration of Independence<\/em> and how we came to be a free nation.<\/p>\n

So this weekend we celebrate freedom.\u00a0 In 1776, it was freedom from an oppressive government that was not concerned about the colonists.<\/p>\n

We are entitled to our freedom.\u00a0 It is the way things are meant to be.\u00a0 The Declaration of Independence<\/em> actually refers to what God entitles us to.\u00a0 It speaks of how God, as our creator, gives us the right to life, liberty, and happiness.<\/p>\n

With this comes must come freedom to choose.\u00a0 God gives us free will to choose whatever we want.\u00a0 Our society is taking that freedom for all its worth now, saying we cannot limit people\u2019s right to freedom and hence to live however they want.<\/p>\n

I think we need to ask ourselves, \u201cdo we make good use of our freedom\u201d.<\/p>\n

Leading up to the days of the Prophet Ezekiel, the people embraced the free will that God had given them to do whatever they wanted.\u00a0 God let them.\u00a0 It was their choice but in choosing not to live as God had taught them, they lost God\u2019s divine protection and were defeated by their enemies.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel was among taken into exile.\u00a0 It was while Ezekiel was in exile that God calls him to be a prophet.\u00a0 God described the people as rebels but yet God still sent them Ezekiel to once again offer God\u2019s message to His people.<\/p>\n

Some believe that all the freedom we have today points to society at the pinnacle of its existence.\u00a0 That\u2019s their view but I wonder if, instead of improving life, we are slipping away from God.<\/p>\n

Look at what is happening.\u00a0 I just saw a headline on Friday that said there is now a \u201cmass killings\u201d in the United States about once every two weeks with a school shooting about once a month.\u00a0 I hope we all agree this is bad.\u00a0 I hope there is no one who would argue that the people have the right to commit these shootings.<\/p>\n

God does not want these things to happen but God allows them as consequences of our choices.\u00a0 We indeed are free but we must realize there are consequences to the actions we commit in freedom.<\/p>\n

Realizing how many bad things happen in the world on a regular basis, it should lead us to realize we don\u2019t always realize make good choices.\u00a0 How are we to make better choices?<\/p>\n

The bad things should make us realize we are human and imperfect.\u00a0 We are weak and it is in our weakness that Paul speaks of how we come to realize how much we need God.\u00a0 We need God to help us make good choices and then to actually do what is good.<\/p>\n

We need to let God in.\u00a0 Today we hear how Jesus visited His hometown but did not perform mighty deeds there because the people thought they knew all about Him and did not faith to let Him into their lives.<\/p>\n

The struggle with what to do with our freedom is not new.\u00a0 The Bible contains numerous stories of people who did not follow God\u2019s ways and what happened to them.\u00a0 The Bible always contains God\u2019s instructions on how we might live.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t always easy.\u00a0 What the Bible teaches us about marriage, loving our enemies, and many others things is not popular today but it is what is best for us.\u00a0 It is the divine order.\u00a0 May we always choose to use our freedom to follow God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Ezekiel 2:2-5 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Mark 6:1-6 July 5, 2015 This weekend is, of course, our national holiday remembering the signing of The Declaration of Independence and how we came to be a free nation. So this weekend we celebrate freedom.\u00a0 In 1776, it was freedom from an …<\/p>\n

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