It is 4th February 2021.
The readings are from Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24; and the Gospel from Mark 6:7-13.
We have a connection with God in Jesus not mere contact through Him. The mystery and presence of God are manifested in simplicity, humility and in love.
Rabindranath Tagore noticed, “When people left his hut, he found ‘God’s footsteps on the floor’. In the same vein, William Wordsworth remarks that God depends on our “little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love”.
We are not in Sinai trembling in fear but in Zion our homeland in which we are purified through Jesus. First reading speaks about two great assemblies of people of God. People of covenant, the Israelites gathered at Mount Sinai enveloped by Mosaic law while the followers of Jesus sealed by the redeeming blood of Jesus through a new covenant of love.
A man asked the parish priest, “if I am suffering because of my mistakes, do I have the right to expect God to bless and use me.” The parish priest replied him, “yes, God’s grace is not based on your character but it is based on God’s.”
When we are in connection with God, we are mindful of our ways of life. Being in contact does not make us to feel the intimacy with God and one another. We may have innumerable contacts without connection. In our family life, we are in contact not in connection. Our contacts could make us to feel get stuck rather connection allows us to grow closer and deeper.
Jesus sends the disciples to establish connection through ministries of healing and preaching. To establish connection, we need to travel light inside and out and solely depend on God. When we believe that God is working through us, we are generous to God by establishing connections of hope, love, and peace. We do not merely revere the awesomeness of God in mount Sinai rather we come closer to God through Jesus and bringing many more with us too. To feel the connection in action we need to repent. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Cor.3:16). May the Lord help us establish long lasting connections not a load of contacts. Have a lovely day.