Choice... the choice of God!

WORD 2day: Saturday, 15th week in Ordinary time

July 18, 2026: Micah 2: 1-5; Matthew 12: 14-21

Jesus was living dangerously. But he chose to do so, for the sake of the Reign of God. He stuck his neck out for the poor, for the oppressed, the marginalised, the ostracised, the exploited, the forgotten in the society. He believed that the Reign of God belonged precisely to them. His life was a hope to the least, the last and the lost.

In this choice Jesus was making present the God of the Old Testament who sided the oppressed, who stood by the just in their struggles and who kept watch over the persons who strove to live according to God's will. The first reading points out the choice of God, the choice for the poor and the suffering. This predilection on God's part distinguished Jesus and the choices he made. His choice was, the choice of God.

There were apparent and real dangers, and Jesus knew it well. Nothing could stop him from proclaiming the Reign of God for he knew he had come precisely for that, to establish the Reign of the God of Truth, the God of the suffering, the Lord of the least, the protector of the lost, the hope of the last.

If we look at the world today - the poor are the last to be thought of, if at all they are considered. The weaker sections are totally forgotten when it comes to economic development and national identities. A nation can execute decisions that would affect entire life of people, in hours' time and nothing is thought about what the homeless and helpless will do! They are almost non entities. What can we do for that, we may ask. If we remain silent we become equally culpable and our choices do not truly reveal our identity as people of God or people of the Reign.

Our identity has to be our Choices... may they be forever in keeping with the choices of God!