February 2011

My dear sisters and brothers,

All the readings for today’s Sunday are about trusting our Heavenly Father. Trust in the Lord! That is the strong message of the readings that we have heard today.

In God’s few words from the Book of Isaiah we learn of His Fatherhood. “I will not forget you” says the Lord God.

We have a heavenly Father. Not only is He our Creator, but He also wants to be our Father. While we struggle here on earth, awaiting the day when we will be united with the Heavenly Father, we are told in different words that God is watching over us. He has not forgotten us. If we think that He has forgotten us, it is all in our minds.

The second Reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians concerns the ministry of the Apostles. We heard the author say, “Brothers and sisters: ‘Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.’”

In today’s Gospel Jesus said, to His disciples “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Disciples, followers of Christ, cannot have a divided loyalty.

Changing the subject, Jesus said in today’s Gospel, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Today, Jesus reminds us who follow Him that we are more important than flowers, than the grass, than swallows. His promise to us is that He will take care of us even more than He does of the plants and birds. This teaching of Jesus reminds us that we are called to a distinct way of life, not a worldly way but a spiritual way. We are called to trust in God who knows what we need and to believe that God will give it to us. Blessed is he who places his trust in the Lord Jesus!

We are called can pray for a deeper commitment to God for ourselves and for others. This week my brothers and sisters in Christ let us pray for each other, that we may receive the gift of faith that is necessary to trust in our Heavenly Father so we may not worry about tomorrow.

My sisters and brothers in Christ,

Today we celebrate 7th Sunday of Ordinary time.

If we remember last passages from the gospels, they concern Jesus` evocation to be a good person, a good disciple. He never said to us it will be easy but He said it is possible. He invites us to make a choice.

To be His disciple required follow Him and realize in our life His teaching.

Jesus invites us to follow Him in a very radical kind of way. Today’s first reading from the Book of Leviticus invites us to be holy as God is holy. The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.

An invitation from the Lord needs to be taken seriously. We humans often take our time responding to God, even when we have the best of will. For example St Francis of Assisi and many Saints respond to God in right way made their lives holy and has taken it seriously. Most of us say yes to God and then take our time giving our whole self. We give in bit by bit. Perhaps that is why Jesus in today’s Gospel presents His teaching so simply. He does not want us to misunderstand what it means to follow Him.

We must be willing to give up everything.
We are called to be holy and called to be perfect.
When we pray to God every day –- we follow Him.
When we help our neighbors –- we are His disciples.
And when we work honestly –- we also are heavenly Father’s children. Because, because Jesus says to us:” Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust”.

Holiness is simply living for God in every aspect of our lives.

My dear brothers and sisters

The First Letter to the Corinthians, from which we get today’s second reading, is really clear that all that is good in us comes from the Lord. It is really clear if we are to be wise, it can only be as God is wise.

Let us give thanks to God today that we have been given the gift of faith. Let us ask that our faith may be lively and draw us deeper and deeper into the mysteries of God. Let us become radical in our living and gentle in our loving.