THE WORD AND THE SAINT
July 6, 2022: Celebrating Maria GorettiHosea 10: 1-3,7-8,12; Matthew 10: 1-7
The Word continues from where we left yesterday... the discussion on a commitment devoid of all compromises. There is an added illustration today with Maria Goretti proposed as a model for it. Her's was one life of determined focus on the Lord and the ways of the Lord. There is yet another saint whose shadow passes us by as we discuss this -Dominic Savio whose feast we celebrated precisely two months back - one who decided he would die rather than sin.
The compromises of Israel were way too high but still the Lord stood by them because the Lord is in no way a person who would compromise. The Lord is the Lord of promises! It is on this faithfulness we are called to build our life.
Maria Goretti was firm in her focus and today that firmness is dubbed as conservatism or dominant moralism. It is enough to look at the kind of rights that are claimed today and the way that the Church is always looked at as and accused to be an enemy of these so called personal rights! But are personal rights absolute? Then what happens to the social wellbeing and common good; what happens to the solidarity; what happens to integrity?
One thing we realise: the world stands in need of liberation, true liberation, a liberation that arises from truth and integrity