The Sign that saves!
Ezek 9: 1-7, 10, 18-22; Mt 18: 15-20
There would be hardly any of us who has not seen this symbol in the recent days...
it has come to symbolise the Christians suffering in Iraq. It is drawn or spray painted on the doors of the houses of Christians, to tell the plunderers and soldiers that those houses are accessible at will. The Christians are made to live in a constant fear and anxiety.
In the first reading today we see in the vision of Ezekiel, the angels were given a symbol on the forehead of people, by which they are spared! Jesus too gives a mark by which we will be known as people of God...the mark of loving forgiveness. "By this they will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another" (Jn 13:35). In the Gospel today, Jesus explains what this 'having love for one another' is. It is to forgive, to care for each other and above all to pray together, with one heart and mind. This is the mark that Jesus expects of us, as our identity, as a sign that saves us! It is not those who call him 'Lord Lord' who would be saved but those who do the will of the Father (Mt 7:21), Jesus would say. The sign that can save us is our life of daily forgiveness and undying love.
Today in a very special way let us pray for those brothers and sisters who are persecuted in Iraq and elsewhere for the mark that they bear, as disciples of Christ!
Today in a very special way let us pray for those brothers and sisters who are persecuted in Iraq and elsewhere for the mark that they bear, as disciples of Christ!