|
Reflections
for Sunday, January 29, 2012
It seems fairly clear now, some two thousand years after the birth of
Christ that we still don't listen very well to the word of God.
Today's first reading puts Moses before. Moses tells us that God will
raise up prophets to instruct us and that we should listen to them.
Throughout the whole of the Jewish Scriptures, the story is the same: we
don't listen very well if we listen at all.
In our Christian Scriptures, such as today's Gospel reading, Jesus is
listened too because He speaks something new, He heals someone and people
are astounded. But it does not last. Yes, there is always a following for
Jesus, a groop of people who want to listen to Hm. Many come because they
want healing, but sometimes they seem to go away, even after being healed.
Others come because they are hungry. Some of them also leave when they get
food. At the end, there are very few who stay with Him to the Cross.
Are we, His followers of today, any different? Probably not! What should
this tell us? The salvation is a gift of the Lord and not something that
we earn by listening well and always doing His will. God wants to save us.
Our part in salvation is to keep on trying, accepting our brokenness but
asking for forgiveness. We should always trust in God's Mercy.
As we have heard in today's second reading, we hear a plea to give
ourselves to God completely. The author of that letter thinks that it is
easier to do it without getting married. That may be so but what really
counts is listening to what God wants of us here and now. If we are called
to be married, let us embrace that with joy and know that it is our way to
salvation. If we are called to be single in the world, a consecrated
religious or a priest, let us give thanks for that and strive to live that
vocation well.
Neither of these ways of serving the Lord will free us from our sins.
Only God does that. Both married and single must ask help in their lives
and every day seek the Lord once more, trusting that He loves us. For all
of this, let us give thanks to the Lord.
Readings of the day:
First Reading: Deuteronomy 18.15-20
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7.17, 32-35
Gospel: Mark 1.21-28
| |
Reflections are available for the following Sundays:
|
