THURSDAY OF THE 10TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

10th June 2021.

SEEKING RECONCILIATION THROUGH LOVE AND NOT LAW

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the word of the Lord reminds us to be faithful to Him, to His Law and commandments. We are called to be truly faithful to the Lord not just in name only but also in spirit, to appreciate and understand the meaning, intention and the purpose of the Law and the commandments of God. This means that we should not just obey the Law for the sake of obeying it, or doing so without understanding the true meaning and intention of the Law. Or else, we will end up like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, many of whom enforced a strict interpretation and obedience to the Law, its rules and regulations, and yet, failed to understand and appreciate that the Law of God was meant to lead God’s people to Him and to teach them all to love Him and to be filled with love, to know love and to practice love in their lives.

In the first reading today, we hear the words of St. Paul to the Church in the city of Corinth, reminding them and all of us that we have received the truth of the Lord from none other than Christ Himself, and through the Holy Spirit as passed down to us through the Apostles and the Church. What was unknown to the people of the past, as highlighted by the figurative ‘veil of Moses’ has been made known and revealed by the revelation of Christ, the Saviour of the world. The Lord is no longer hidden from us and He has made Himself known to us.

And therefore, all of us as Christians we have been blessed to know the Lord much more personally, to recognise His truth and to know His love, to be at the receiving end of that love. Do we realised then just how blessed and beloved we are? This is what each and every one of us need to reflect as we discern our path in life. We have to be faithful ever more in our every actions and deeds, in our every interaction with one another, that we truly embody our Christian faith and truth.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord tells the disciples to be righteous and not to be like Pharisees and teachers of the Law who did not love the Lord from their hearts. The law of the Lord is all about love, it does not kill neither does it insult. It shows and teaches us how to love one another just as we also ought to love the Lord wholeheartedly, more than we love ourselves.

Love calls for reconciliation. We should seek to be reconciled with God and with fellow brethren. God does not judge us harshly neither should we judge others. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law failed to love hence they had no place for God and others in their hearts and mind. That is why we need to get rid from ourselves the excesses of our human pride and desires, that we may come to realise God’s love and what we all need to do, to be faithful to Him.

May God bless us and help us to be faithful in loving him. May he give us grace and courage to overcome trials and challenges we are facing today and forever. Amen.

Mother Teresa says "if you judge people you have no time to love them."

I wish you a blessed day.