Thursday of the 18th week in ordinary time

Numbers 20: 1-13      Mathew 16: 13-23

Theme: The mercy of God

The 1st reading of today from the Book of Numbers, presents to us a lot of lessons that will be useful to all of us as children of God.  The action of the Israelites can easily be described as that of an ungrateful person. This stems from the fact that with all God has done for them from their journey from Egypt, they still did not have faith and trust in God. This is clearly seen each time they encounter any difficulty on their journey to the promised land. They forget where they are coming from and begin to complain and grumble against Moses and Aron. They forget that the God that brought them out of Egypt and have journeyed with them so far, can take care of them. One would expect that with the way God brought them out of Egypt and have journeyed with them so far, their faith in God will be strong, knowing that he will not desert them on their journey to the promised land. As we reflect on the lack of faith of the Israelites today, it also presents us an opportunity to reflect on our personal faith in God too. Ask yourself, has there been moments in your life when you forget where God is bringing you from, and you begin to complain and grumble because things are not going your way? This is the same thing that the Israelites did in the 1st reading of today. Let us be mindful of this fact and always appreciate God and trust in his process, even when things are not going the way we want it.

Dear friends in Christ, another point I would like to reflect on from our 1st reading is the fact that we serve a very loving and merciful God. Each time the Israelites show their lack of faith, God will always listen to the pleading of Moses and come to their aid. He did not allow their ungratefulness to make him cut short his promise to the people. He remained faithful to the end. The 1st reading of today should strengthen our faith in God, knowing fully well that God will never desert us when things get difficult. This is because the difficulty that is encountered is all part of God’s process that will lead us to where he wants us to be. The most important thing is that we must have faith in God’s process, even when things are not very clear to us.

It is also very important that we are mindful of our actions, lest we allow other peoples mistake to deny us of the blessings of God. This was exactly the situation Moses found himself in the 1st reading of today. Because of the pressure from the Israelites, he was angry and that was how he lost the opportunity to be among those who will enter the promised land, and God made it known to him. These are lessons that should guide us in our daily lives, so that we don’t repeat the same mistake. We pray that God will always grant us a grateful heart, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, Amen. Peace be with you.