WORD 2day: Thursday, 31st week in Ordinary time
November 7, 2019: Romans 14:7-12; Luke 15: 1-10
God never gives up on us! Like the shepherd who lost his sheep and the woman who lost her coin, the Lord is after us, in search of us every time that we get ourselves lost. That a Christian should never lose sight of this fact, is what St.Paul wants to impress on us today.
That God never gives up on us, has two major implications: First of all, that we never give up on ourselves, because there is someone who believes in us, there is someone who loves us come what may, there is someone who is constantly present with us participating in every moment of our life - be it success or failure, joy or sadness, life or death! Sad it gets when some one easily gives up on oneself, be it in thoughts, words or decisions, thinking that it is not worth continuing whatever one is and one does.
Secondly, it implies that we give up on none of our brothers or sisters, because there is someone who loves them unfathomably and we have no right to judge them on our whims and fancies. What right do I have to judge someone worth or not, when I really don't know what is going on within that person, the person's thoughts, words and experiences. Total openness to listen to the person, empathise with the person and try my best to understand that person is what I am called to.
Hence, the Word today invites me to trust, that God believes in me more than I myself do, and that God believes in my brothers and sisters as much as God believes in me! Do I really believe in a God who never gives up?