May the Lord give you peace and health in the Holy Spirit. It is 16th August 2021.
We reflect on Judges 2:11-19 and the Gospel of Matthew 19:16-22.
Leaving something evil in life and learning something new and good is always a challenge. It all depends on the way we keep positioning God in our life.
The people of Israel gave importance to something else other than God and so they repeatedly moved away so casually from the path of truth, justice, and peace. Their minds wanted to please some petty gods and distractions of life that they believed offer them strength and prosperity.
The passage from the Book of Judges brings out a vicious circle of being distracted by the elements that placed God out of their lives and consequently punished by the Lord for their choices and actions and eventually protected by the Judges.
But the longing to participate and become partakers of eternal life never dies in us. The desire to be with God brings us back to the centre of our life. In the Gospel, a young man is faced with the same challenge in his life. Letting go of what he had to the poor was indeed extremely difficult for him.
Unless and until we let go of all that makes us feel secured and safe falsely, we cannot experience the Hand of God. There is no need to do good out of fear of being punished by God. When we constantly address the issues of the poor and finding meaningful solutions for the hunger of the poor, we are equipped by the Holy Spirit to face the anger of the Lord.
St. Teresa of Avila so boldly teaches us, “Christ does not force our will, He takes only what we give Him. But He does not give Himself entirely until He sees that we yield ourselves entirely to Him.”
We too will lead a gloomy life when we are not including the poor and their concerns. To live a fruitful Christian life, we need to share the fruits of our labour with those in need. Ignoring the cry of the poor is a direct violation of the code of obedience to the Lord. Keeping the commandments alone is not enough to feel all the blessings of the Lord but by our willingness and openness to participate in the struggles of the poor. Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Mt.19:21).
May we put our relationships with the poor in an orderly way to experience the commitment to the Lord. Have a lovely day. God bless you.