HOMILY by Fr. Anthony Davis

“If today you hear his voice’ harden not your Hearts….” (Resp. Ps.95:8)

January 31, 2021 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Deut. 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 7:32-35; :21-28

Out of the on Mount Horeb, God called on to guide the out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land in . God fulfilled his promise and continued to show up to Moses and the Israelites in some very remarkable ways. God sent ten plagues onto Egypt, until Pharaoh relented and let God’s people go. And for forty years, God provided from heaven, so the Israelites would have something to eat while they roamed the wilderness. Despite all these demonstrations of God’s enduring promise and love towards his people, they began to quarrel with Moses about their thirst for water. Thus, the Israelites tested God with their doubt. Today, according to the resp. Psalm, we are admonished not to do the same thing as the Israelites did: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts; as at and Massah in the desert, where your fathers tempted me, although they had seen all of my works…” Q= How often does God have to demonstrate his loyal, enduring love for us until we fully trust him? How many Burning-bush, Parting-of-the-sea-, Pillar-of-cloud, Manna-from-heaven, moments must we experience before we believe that God will deliver us from whatever problems we are facing? Do we thank him for the “MANNA” he sends our way? Life Message: Let us approach Jesus for liberation: In other words, Jesus did not use his authority and Divine power to rule and control people. He came to set people free. Hence, let us approach Jesus with trusting Faith so that he may free us from the evil spirits that keep us from praying and prevent us from loving and sharing our blessings with others, as well as from all the “evil spirits” of fear, compulsions, selfishness, anger, resentment and hostility. "I have come that they may have life, life in abundance" (Jn 10:10). So, Jesus should be a source of liberation for us. May Jesus free us from all those spirits which make us deaf, dumb, blind, lame, and paralyzed, physically and spiritually. Conclusion: Therefore, Jesus speaks to us today, calling us out of the darkness of sin, sickness, and death. Jesus is light itself. Guiding us through our own personal “Exodus”, Jesus will lead us to eternal life, if we only follow and trust in him. Jesus-“God of the flesh”- is the “NEW MOSES”, the prophet above all prophets! So, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts…” Furthermore, through Word and Sacrament, Jesus brings that power to us and says the same words to the demons in our life, "Quiet! Come out of him/her. Be gone!" -- not just once but as often as we need to hear them, until finally, we are free from these demons entirely. Christ has power over any demon, so whether those demons be addictions, heartaches, secret sins -- whatever our chains may be -- Christ can set us free and longs to do so.