Mighty hand and Outstretched arms!

WORD 2day -  Friday, 18th week in Oridnary time

August 11, 2023: Deuteronomy 4: 32-40; Matthew 16: 24-28

‘By a mighty hand and an outstretched arm’ – that was the phrase the Israelites used to summarise the glorious care that God took of their ancestors. The readings speak to us of the ‘Glory’ of God that deserves all our obedience and allegiance! 

The covenant that Israelites had with Yahweh was not formulated on some imaginary terms, but was established on a concrete experience of a nation walking into freedom. Neither is the covenant we have with God based on an imagination – it is based on a concrete sacrifice of the Son of God, signed with the blood from the Cross and ratified with the death of the Lamb of God! At our baptism we have counter signed that covenant and it is upto us to honour it all our life. 

The terms are clear – to recognize the great deeds that God has accomplished on our behalf; to acknowledge the saving mysteries of the life, death and resurrection of the Son of God; and to behold the great gift of Resurrection that is promised us in the hope of this covenant. We can behold that resurrection in the Risen Lord, if we are ready to participate in the life of the Son of God – a life lived totally in obedience to the holy will of God. 

Carrying the daily cross – is the readiness to face the hurdles of each day and continue to feel the presence of God beside; to remain steadfast to what is true, right and just, despite the consequences that might prove to be tricky or troublesome; to be ready to lose the whole world, just in order to gain one’s soul!

The call to give - a life of fruitfulness

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 10, 2023: Remembering St. Lawrence, the Deacon-Martyr
2 Corinthians 9: 6-10; John 12: 24-26

The best of all giving, is giving of oneself! 

Giving of one’s abundance, giving of whatever little that one has and giving even if one does not have enough for oneself – these are praise worthy in their respective order. But the highest of all giving is Self-giving.

Celebrating the Deacon-martyr, St. Lawrence, we are reminded of the early Christian communities that were so much characterized by persons who were blessed with the special charism of giving of their own selves, apart from what they possessed. They were cheerful givers, and so we find their numbers kept growing unprecedentedly. The very spirit that they radiated held captive those who saw them and multitudes were drawn to emulate it. They were ready and willing to die to themselves that Christ may come alive in them! 

St.Paul’s words were true in so many of those early Christians – “I live, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20) and “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). These were not mere catchy sayings; they were true lived experiences and we witness it in great martyrs like St. Stephen, the apostles and St. Paul himself. 

St. Lawrence follows suit very closely later in the third century. After all, they had but one model who had invaded and conquered their minds, hearts and spirits - Jesus the ultimate personification of self-giving - the grain of seed that chose to fall to the ground, that it may abound in its fruits: we are the fruits and let us be worthy of the grain which has borne us.