Reflection for Monday, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Word
By
Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore
Mathew: 10:38 "He who will not take up his cross and come after Me is not worthy of Me.”
Today's Reflection
The opening saying of Jesus in this morning’s gospel reading might strike us as strange, ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth; it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword’.
Jesus recognizes that his presence on earth will be divisive; some will welcome him and others will reject him and those who reject him will persecute those who welcome him.
He goes on to elaborate on how we can welcome him.
He says to those he sends out as his ambassadors, ‘anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me’.
All of us who have been baptized are always being sent out by Jesus as his ambassadors.
In welcoming each other, we are welcoming Jesus, and in welcoming Jesus we are welcoming God the Father.
Jesus identifies himself very closely with each one of his followers, to such an extent that how we relate to each other determines how we relate to him.
Even the smallest act of kindness to another disciple of Jesus, such as the giving of a cup of cold water, will not go unnoticed by the Lord.
The Lord whom we are to prefer more than even our closest family members nonetheless comes to us in and through each other.
Resolution
Let's resolve to realize that the ground which we share with our fellow pilgrims is holy ground, sacred space, where the Lord is present.
Good Morning
Have a beautiful day and week days filled with God's bountiful blessings.