Reflection for Friday, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Word

By


Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore

Mathew 10 : 22

You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.


Today's Reflection

In the 1st reading, we hear of Joseph being reunited with his father Israel and it was a deeply emotional moment for father and son.

Joseph had gone through many trials and dangers but he trusted in God and God rewarded him abundantly.

At the beginning of today’s gospel reading, Jesus makes reference to four different animals, sheep, wolves, serpents and doves.

The Twelve are being sent out to places where they will encounter great hostility.

They will be as vulnerable as sheep before wolves.

In dealing with their enemies they are to be as clever and cunning as serpents, so as to protect themselves from unnecessary hostility.

At the same time, they are to harm no one, remaining as innocent and as free of malice as doves.

The situation of hostility that Jesus describes is true to the experience of disciples today in many parts of the world.

The setting in which disciples live today is becoming more hostile, even in those countries that have been culturally supportive of Christianity in the past.

Many believers feel more and more like sheep among wolves and are becoming more aware of their need for the cunning of the serpent while remaining free of malice towards those who are hostile to them. Jesus assures his disciples that when the opposition to them is at its greatest, they will not be left to their own human resources alone.

The Holy Spirit will be given to them by God, to strengthen them for the ordeal and to enable them to witness to Jesus by what they say and do.

The Spirit is given to believers in every age to help them remain faithful when put to the test.

In the first reading, God says to the people of Israel, ‘I am like a cypress ever green, all your fruitfulness comes from me’.

Jesus says the same in different terms to us, promising us the Spirit from God who will bear the rich fruit of courage and wisdom in our lives when the wolves are at the door.


Resolution

Let's resolve to  trust in God and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as we face the twists and turns of life.

Let's also look forward with faith and hope that we will finally be reunited with God and be rewarded with eternal peace and joy.

GOD BLESS YOU 

Good morning. Have a nice safe day