Decide, Grow in Integrity
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Jeremiah 23: 5-8; Matthew 1: 18-24
Living the Reign here and now is deciding to grow in total integrity! The Word today brings home this message to us through one name that is common to both the first reading and the Gospel... David!
David was such a loved person to the Lord, even after the blunders that he made and after having received the deserved punishment! What was so special about David? Obviously, he was not the perfect of the people available. But he was the most integral of all, because when he made a mistake and that mistake was pointed out, he accepted it and repented.
When we talk of integrity, we are not speaking of a spotless perfection in a person, but of the capacity to look at reality and accept it for what it is. Even Joseph had his own plans of keeping Mary away, but when Lord God revealed his plan, he was able to look at the divine plan and accept it, and carry out the task entrusted to him.
Not just the Messiah coming in the line of David, but the Lord wishes that each of us fall in line with David, in his humility, in his docility, in his availability, in short, in his integrity. When we begin to grow in our integrity, we would be earning more and more critiques or even hate mongers.
What is going to be our response - find fault with these critiques, lament at the injustice done to us, refrain from being just and good for the fear of suffering, play it safe and feign compliance with the crowd, or the worst of it all - accept their value system and live according to their standards or decide to grow more and more in our personal and collective integrity: as a child of God and as people of God! That is already living the Reign here and now.
David was such a loved person to the Lord, even after the blunders that he made and after having received the deserved punishment! What was so special about David? Obviously, he was not the perfect of the people available. But he was the most integral of all, because when he made a mistake and that mistake was pointed out, he accepted it and repented.
When we talk of integrity, we are not speaking of a spotless perfection in a person, but of the capacity to look at reality and accept it for what it is. Even Joseph had his own plans of keeping Mary away, but when Lord God revealed his plan, he was able to look at the divine plan and accept it, and carry out the task entrusted to him.
What is going to be our response - find fault with these critiques, lament at the injustice done to us, refrain from being just and good for the fear of suffering, play it safe and feign compliance with the crowd, or the worst of it all - accept their value system and live according to their standards or decide to grow more and more in our personal and collective integrity: as a child of God and as people of God! That is already living the Reign here and now.