THE POWER OF CHOICES
Homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch Sirach 15:15-20; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37 A teacher once told her students, “Your future is hiding inside your daily decisions.” Most of them laughed. They were waiting for something dramatic - a breakthrough, an opportunity, a miracle. But she was right. Our lives are rarely changed by one grand moment. They are shaped quietly, steadily, by choices. The First Reading from Sirach places this truth before us with striking clarity: “If you choose, you can keep the commandments.” Scripture does not speak of obedience as impossibility but as decision. “Before man are life and death… whichever he chooses shall be given him.” This is not fatalism. It is freedom. God does not manipulate us into holiness. He dignifies us with the power to choose. The Gospel reading even raises the stakes. In Matthew 5, Jesus deepens the law. “You have heard that it was said… but I say to you.” He moves from external co...
