To stick till the end

WORD 2day: Friday, 14th week in Ordinary time

July 9, 2021: Genesis 46: 1-7, 28-30; Matthew 10: 16-23

 

Enduring till the end is the test of the strength of one's faith. Israel (Jacob) today expresses that great satisfaction in having endured till the end, on seeing Joseph alive..."Now let me die!" - a sense of fulfilment! As later we would hear Simeon exclaiming in the Temple of Jerusalem on seeing the child Jesus, "At last all-powerful Master, let your servant go in peace. For, my eyes have seen the salvation you have prepared for the nations!" 

Jesus teaches the same to us his followers, "the one who endures till the end shall be saved" (Mt 10:22). Endurance that Jesus demands is for two reasons - first, because all the troubles that a follower of Christ faces is for such a noble purpose, a cause so great, that anything can be given up for its sake - the Reign of God on earth. Seek first the Reign of God... even if you have to give up your home, your dear ones, your belongings or even your life, for you will be rewarded hundred percent, says the Lord, here on earth and in the eternal life! 

Secondly, because the mission entrusted to us is so vast and so immense that these troubles can measure nowhere in comparison to it. He says with a tinge of humour, even if you have to run from one town to the other due to persecutions, "you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes." Such was the determination of the early Christians and the Apostles who led them from the fore - to stick till the end, the very end.

To proclaim through our daily lives the Reign of God and if we have to face hard consequences due to it, to be prepared to endure it all the way - that is the call for me today. 

Shalom - Carrying God's message...

WORD 2day: Thursday, 14th week in Ordinary time 

July 8, 2021: Genesis 44:18-21, 23b-29, 45:1-5; Matthew 10: 7-15

 

The theme of yesterday continues still - Being sent, and sent on a mission! The Lord sends the twelve to carry his message to all the people of Israel, a message of gladness, healing, restoration, peace and joy... in short Shalom! 

As Joseph notes in the last verse of the first reading today, "it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you". It was with a mission that Jesus was sent to us and it is with a mission that Jesus sends us today - he says to each of us: "As the father sent me, so I send you"(Jn 20:21). 

Each of us is sent! Sent with the promise of Shalom; Shalom which is fullness of blessings that we wish for every brother or sister in the Lord, or for that matter that is what we wish for the whole world as sons and daughters of the Good Lord. We may wonder, why the whole world... is it not only those who are good to me; those who are my well-wishers? But the Lord and the Word today have it otherwise.

We are presented with the example of Joseph who in spite of all that they did to him tells the rest of the sons of Jacob, “I am your brother"! Isn't that the true Christian attitude expected of us? This is possible only if we look at everything from the perspective of God as did Joseph, and of course Jesus! That is shalom... not just being good to those who are good, but being good and... period - irrespective of what others are and what the world is.

Let this day be another opportunity for us to carry the Lord's message today: Shalom to you!