Monday, 9th week in Ordinary Time
2 Pet 1:2-7; Mk 12:1-12
If you are truly a son or a daughter of God, Grow Up, says Jesus! If you do not grow up you get stuck!
We see Jesus trying his best to challenge the Jews who are stuck to their childish obstinacy and blind legalism. They are not able to grow up to see the truth that is so obvious right in front of their eyes! At times, we may be in that state too - not that we do not understand what God wants from us, but we refuse to understand, we refuse to see, we refuse to grow up, getting stuck to what we wish and what we are convenient with.
Peter today suggests to us eight stages of Growth, like ingredients to add, as we make of ourselves truly Persons of God. The itinerary is clear, yet difficult; well laid out yet challenging. Here are the eight: Faith, with which we begin our journey with the Lord; Goodness with which we show to ourselves and to the world the faith we have within us; Understanding with which we come to realise what is expected of us at a given instance in our lives; Self Control which helps us go beyond our wish and desire to see what is right and what is true; Patience with which we endure the struggles involved in choosing what is right; Devotion with which we do not mind any amount of suffering or struggle for the sake of the One who shows us what is right; Kindness with which we bear witness to the One to whom we are devoted; and finally, Love which is the very nature and form of the one whom we wish to reach in this life-journey!
In short, our life is one long journey. As the year passes by, just as seasons progress, we are called to keep moving, keep growing!