One who does the will of God, lives for ever!
The feast of the Holy Family is just over, but the theme lingers on in today's liturgy - the first reading addressed to various categories of persons in the family, the psalm inviting the families to offer themselves to the Lord and the Gospel referring to the holy family at the temple, to offer the first born to the Lord! The cue to the message is prophetess Anna and the last verse of the first reading which says, "one who does the will of God, lives for ever" (1 Jn 2:17). We are all called to 'grow and become strong', and to be filled with wisdom...wisdom which tells us what is God's will for us; what is acceptable and what is not, in the eyes of the Lord! Faith is not acquired once for all; every day we must grow, grow to the full into persons that God wants us to be. We have no excuse, because God's favour is upon us all as chosen children of God; if I don't grow and become strong in faith, it is me who is to be blamed, is it not?