Hoping in God till the end.
It is 7th June 2017. The readings are from Tobit 3:1-11, 16-17; and the Gospel from Mark 12:18-27. The first reading is the prayerful hymn of lamentation at the time of sorrow and distress. Prayers are answered in God’s time. No tears of ours will go unnoticed in times with God. Prayer is the solution for all what we go through hopelessly and without any human support. If we have unshakable trust in God and confidently asking God, God would send the necessary help to us somehow someday. Without profound prayers to God, marriages and families cannot sail amidst the mercilessly brutal winds of the living. Life of Tobit and Sarah are only a reminder for all those who are in great distress, and in terminal illness with no way out to hold on in this life. Even the most intimate relationships are fragile in times of sickness and sorrow. Unless hope is injected constantly from a meaningful and nourishing connections of divine and human origin, one will be buried alive day by day due to the indifference and lack of support. Mostly, it is the human insensitive attitudes and behaviours towards the suffering person kills him/her speedily than the actual sickness. Hope and meaning-making through a sustaining spiritual stamina prolongs the longevity of a person. In today’s narration of Tobit’s life, he was unceasingly praying until he got what he asked for. “This time the prayer of each of them found favour before the glory of God, and Raphael was sent to bring remedy to them both.” (Tobit 3:17). The responsorial Psalm prays, “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” (Ps.24:1). In the Gospel, Jesus infuses hope beyond the life after. Everyone is so curious about what is going to be after this life. Eternal life is for all those who have put their trust in God and lived a loving and caring life here on earth. We need to give the benefit to God to deal with our life after death. Our relationship with God does not end here and we cannot limit God within the trajectories of this world. Let us not get exhausted in living the life here on earth without giving a due thought about the life after. This present life is indeed a gift from God preparing and continuing to experience the eternal happiness in Heaven. May you remine blessed to experience God in all situations.