WORD 2day: Monday, 11th week in Ordinary time
June 19, 2023: 2 Corinthians 6: 1-10; Matthew 5: 38-42
We see that sense of 'contrast' flooding the readings today. Be it the first or the Gospel, the readings point to us the two choices we have in life always - inspiring the monumental words of Robert Frost - "two roads diverged in a yellow wood - and I took the less travelled by, and that has made all the difference". Mahatma Gandhi speaking of the Sermon on the Mount to Lord Irwin said, "when your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we shall have solved the problems not only of our countries but those of the whole world."
Let our life show if we are Christ-ians or not. Let my choices define who I am and what relationship I have with Christ. If I believe Christ is my personal saviour, the way I look at the world and all that happens around, will totally be in contrast to the way the mainstream of today thinks and calculates. St. Paul speaks of this in such powerful terms, a conviction that cost him everything - his career, his freedom and even his life! It takes courage for me today to accept, that even I have received the same saving faith, as St. Paul's, in the same Spirit!
The question to me is not whether I can justify my acts and my attitudes with the majority of the society around, but how prepared and how challenging is my life as a contrast!