MEET THE EMPATHISING LORD ON YOUR WAY

The Lord - like us, likes us, likens us

30th Sunday in Ordinary time: October 24, 2021
Jeremiah 31: 7-9; Hebrews 5: 1-6; Mark 10: 46-52

"God"...How do you understand that term... the Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Mighty One? ... you are still short of arriving at the God whom Jesus introduced to us. In and through Jesus we have a God who is all these but more than all these, a God who is close to us, a Father who loves us, a mother who cares for us, a beloved who longs for us, a friend who stays close to us and a Saviour who came down to save us... in short, an Empathising God!

How do we understand an Empathising Lord?

LIKE US: the Lord who is like us!

We have a Lord who is like us... like us in every way except in our sins. A Lord who came among us, ate, drank, laughed, cried, enjoyed, celebrated, loved, worked, faced hardships and temptations... He was like any of us, just like us and therefore, when we suffer, when we are troubled, when we have problems and temptations, the Lord perfectly knows what we are through. He is not someone who would judge us from afar or look down on our weaknesses but some one who would put His hands around our shoulders and comfort us, someone who would sit by our side and say, 'it's okay! I have been there too'! The second reading brings this out strongly.

When we say that the Lord made us in God's own image, it means we bear the image and likeness of God. In the mystery of incarnation the Lord has reconfirmed this likeness, when the Lord assumed our nature in body and spirit. It is a call that we have to become one with those in need, those in suffering, those who are in agony and those who are struggling with their everyday life. Apart from the fact that we cannot be passive onlookers, we cannot even be disinterested benefactors or well wishers...we need to become like them, one with them. Only then are we truly what we are called to be, disciples of the incarnate Lord.

LIKES US: the Lord absolutely likes us!

We have a Lord who likes us... who loves us, who feels for us, who wishes that we were happy, who wants to heal us, who wants to give us all that we need, who wants to walk us to prosperity and fullness, who wants to give sight to us, who wants to listen to us, who wants to reach out to us! God, our Father and Mother, who spared no effort, giving up even the only Son; the Son who keeps back nothing, not even his own life- his body and his blood; the Spirit who comes down to dwell within us, within our poor bodies, in our lowly conditions, in our daily toils. This is the Lord who loves us, likes us so much that he is ready to do any thing for our sake. In the first reading and the Gospel we have an exposition of the Lord who is merciful and kind, who is in love with us. The Gospel in a special way speaks of a Lord who listens to a lone cry amidst the large crowd, and has mercy on that person and heals the person in love!

This is precisely what Pope Francis wants the entire humanity to understand about God and about being Godly - God is merciful; God is abundant Mercy; being Godly is to first recognise the mercy of God and to live the same mercy with each other. God is not someone who keeps a distance or goes about with impregnable layers of security and innumerable guards. God is with us and God connects with us all the time, because God loves us!

LIKENS US: The Lord wishes to liken us to Godself.

The Lord who came down to be like us, the Lord who dies to show how much he likes us, does not stop with that... God wants to liken us to Godself. The first and the second readings present to us a God who wants to make us God's sons and daughters, God's children, God's beloved ones, God's favourites. God invites us constantly towards this fullness of becoming God's own. We become God's own by opening our eyes of faith. We become God's own by crying out with faith. We become God's own by trusting in faith that God can do and will do everything for us! Thus becoming God's children we will be with God, close to God and like God, for we will see God face to face, as says St. Paul.

All that we need to do is cry out from our hearts to God, and not bother about the crowd and the noise around, because the Lord shall single out our cry! And what a privileged moment it shall be when we hear the Lord tell us today: "Your faith has made you whole! Go in peace!"

Let us never forget the great truth that we have an Empathising Lord who chose to be like us, who likes us and who longs to liken us to Himself. Let us be prepared to meet this Lord on the roads of our daily life!