The Remnant and the Rest

WORD 2day: Wednesday, 18th week in Ordinary time

August 3, 2022: Jeremiah 31: 1-7; Matthew 15: 21-28

The Lord renews the covenant with the people inspite of their failures because the Lord had always loved them with an everlasting love. The Word today warns us that those who will finally taste the fruits of God's faithfulness are the remnant and the rest, of the people who come by and stick to the Lord.

The Remnant are those who choose to differ from the mainstream inspired by a genuine conviction and sincere effort to be integral. While the entire human race goes after and lives by a value system and the majority justifies what seems so obviously so ungodly, the remnant are those who stick out their necks and see the truth and say the truth; they decide to differ from the crowd.

The Rest are those who are least expected to be favoured in the eyes of the Lord. The world has its own criteria of judgement but the Lord has a totally different set of criteria... single minded dedication to the Lord, genuine love for God's people and authentic life after the mind of God - these are what pleases the eyes of the Lord. What certainly does not please the Lord is an outward show, popularity gimmicks, insincere lifestyle and manipulation of minds and persons. 

Don't conform to the world; instead be transformed in Christ into new beings, St. Paul would instruct! And those who refuse to conform to the world would certainly be the remnant and the rest.