WORD 2day: Thursday, 11th week in Ordinary time
June 17, 2021: 2 Corinthians 11: 1-11; Matthew 6: 7-15
A Christian vision of God would refer to God in terms of the relationship that believers have with the Divine, rather than in terms of a power or an impersonal being. Be it the marital covenant or the parental commitment, the Word abounds with metaphors that call for a personal relationship with God, as God's beloved children.
But let us go a step deeper in analysing this relationship that is characteristic of our faith - this relationship should be characterised by two indispensable elements: Cordiality and Difference.
Cordiality would be the closeness a person feels with the Divine according to one's experience and need. This is the Bhakti tradition that the Indian religious mind so well comprehends - a deep seated personal love for God, as a result of a similar love experienced from God. However, cordiality or this closeness alone would not suffice. At times it becomes so personal and subjective that it can be suspected! And that is where the second characteristic comes in.
Difference would refer to the difference that the relationship makes in one's life - in one's thinking, choices, attitudes, priorities and in decisions. Because a genuine cordiality has to necessarily lead one to a concrete difference in one's life and in those around. This balances the subjectivity that is seen in cordiality and leaves a person committed to testimony, witness and example. Look at St. Paul who is able to say with such audacity, 'be imitators of me, as I am of Christ!'
A truly Christian life would be filled with meaningful relationships as we carry within us, in our core, we are images of a God who relates!