May the Lord give you peace.
It 01st July 2024. We reflect on Amos 2:6-10, 13-16 and Matthew 8:18-22.
Are we compassionate or complacent? Or are we so greedy to forget the needy?
A young boy asked a wise Old Man, “What is the most valuable thing in life?”
The old man replied, “It is not money, nor is it fame or power. The most valuable thing in life is time.” The boy was puzzled. “Time?” he asked. “Why time?” The old man smiled. “Because time is the one thing that we all have in equal measure, but it is also the one thing that we can never get back once it is lost. Every moment we waste is gone forever. Every moment we use wisely is a gift to ourselves and to others.”
The old man smiled again. The key to making the most of your time is to use it for the welfare of the other especially the poor and the needy. Always remember, every moment is a gift. Use it wisely.”
Charity runs dry in the well springs of our hearts when we begin to embrace greed as our pathways to lead a happy and contented life.
God makes us rich and affluent to share the wealth with the poor and the needy in our community.
Most of us change so drastically when money, wealth and material blessings come. We wilfully forget the poor and the needy.
We begin to blame them and find fault with them for their laziness and the choices they made.
Indeed, we have failed like that of the people of Israel in the first reading to forget the poor and considering them equal to a material thing filled with bodily pleasure than to have revere the holy name of God.
Whenever we have forgotten the welfare of the poor, we have forgotten God whom we worship.
The Gospel invites us to prioritize God and to live a life worthy of our vocation.
We are all called by God to serve and share, to find God and to meet God in those marginalised and the most vulnerable members of our communities.
We left our homes, families, friends and relatives to become poor to identify with the poor and to uplift the lives of them.
Let our homes, churches, the institutions have place for the poor and let our stand for the poor not just in the letters of our constitutions only.
Jesus calls us to serve and to love through the eyes of mercy and charity. May the Lord help us to be generous in service to the poor and the needy.