Reflection for FRIDAY, 1st Week, Ordinary Time.
By
Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore
Today's Gospel verses
Mark 2:9-12
Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Todays Reflection
It is so true that human beings stand at the apex of creation.
Human beings are indeed above all other creatures in terms of intelligence, rationality and creativity.
But over and above everything else, each human being has a free will.
A person's free will is the most powerful attribute that is bestowed by God.
Hence a person can choose to love or hate, to be kind or to be cruel, to be generous or to be selfish.
Whatever a person's choice, only that person can decide and no one can ever take away a person's free will and the choice he makes.
The First reading is this account of the people of Israel demanding for a “king”…
… in order to ‘identify themselves with all the surrounding nations’ and thus gaining in popularity and reputation
“…Now appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations.” (1 Sam 8:5)
Israel was called “to be holy!”
“You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” (Lev 20:26)
The word for “Holy” in Hebrew is “Qadosh”
“Qadosh” literally means “to be set apart for a special purpose!”
Thus, the people of Israel were to have a distinct identity among all the nations of Israel, with the Lord God as their Only King (“The Lord will reign for ever and ever” – Exo 15:18)…
… and they His Chosen People – set apart to walk in His Paths!
“And I will take you for my people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Exo 6:7)
But the people failed to hold on this “right” perspective of their calling…
… and sought after “popularity” and identification as the other nations!
“No! but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations…
… and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles!” (1 Sam 8:19-20)
What about our lives?
Do we allow “right things and right deeds” to have priority…
… do we give greater preference to the “popular ones” even if they are not right?
As Christians, we are called “to be different from the world” and not allow ourselves to be diluted and corrupted by the wrong influences of the world
… “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (Jn 17:16)
Do we allow the Lord to be the Sole and Sovereign King of our lives?
The Israelites by demanding for a king were rejecting God – “…they have rejected me from being king over them.” (1 Sam 8:7)
Every time, we run after things which may be popular, but not right in the eyes of the Lord…
… we are rejecting the Kingship of God!
Every time, we go against the Virtues of the Kingdom in order to “please others or to fulfil our selfish desires”…
… we fail to allow God to reign over us!
Every time, we disobey the commands and wishes of the Lord in order “to remain in good stead and in the well-liked and trendy books of others”…
… we end up dethroning God, as the King of our lives!
In the gospel, the paralytic and his friends were determined to get to Jesus, and though it was almost impossible to get in by the front door, their determination, and their choice, was to go by way of the roof.
And Jesus saw their faith and rewarded them for their faith by healing the paralytic.
We have the power of choice that is rooted in our free will.
May we exercise our free will with faith so that we will always do the will of God.
Let us hold on – firmly and with conviction – to the philosophy: ‘What is right need not be popular always, and what is popular need not be right always!’…
… and allow the Lord to always be the King of our hearts, so that “we can sing forever of the Love of the Lord!” (Ps 89:1)
GOD BLESS YOU
Good morning. Have a nice safe day