Pride, Rebellion and Obedience!

WORD 2day: Friday, Fifth week in Ordinary time

February 9, 2024 - 1 Kings 11:4-13; Mark 7:24-30

The Word today speaks of two kingdoms... one that was ending and the other which was rising. Prophet Ahijah instructs Jeroboam about the role that he has to play in the fall of David's kingdom. And in the Gospel we see the people who rejoice at the coming of the Kingdom of God, the signs of the Reign being that "the deaf hear and the mute speak." That phrase was symbolic and indicative for the people of the Intertestamental times (the time of waiting between the Old Testament and the coming of Christ). For them it meant, the coming of the Reign of God amidst the people of Israel. 

The message is obvious - it is an invitation to turn away from a tendency of human pride and rebellion and place the absolute dominion always in the hands of God. Right from the beginning (explained by the stories of Adam and Eve, the tower of Babel and so on), the ruin of humankind has been due to human pride; the entry point of sin into humanity has been rebellion.

It is in that rebellion and pride that we make gods of ourselves and gods for ourselves - making gods of our own ego, of our successes, of our plans and projects, of our prospects and the social ladders, of our attachments and cravings. At times, only when drastic things happen we realise our folly! Then it shall be too late and there would be time only to cry over the lost opportunities.

The Lord reminds us today: I am the Lord you God, hear my voice... let us make it our habit to hear the Lord's voice and live by it everyday and in every way.