Thursday of the 17^th week in ordinary time

Ex. 40:16-21.34-38    Mat. 13:47-53

Theme: The good and bad

Today the church celebrates the memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits S.J. A man who encountered God in a very special way and left the military and embraced the way of God. In his life the gospel reading of today is brought alive and active. The ways of God and things that concerns God became his priority and he gave up his profession as a military man and embraced the invitation of God. In the same way today, God is also inviting all of us in a very special way to embrace the things of the kingdom of God, just like St. Ignatius of Loyola did. When we begin to see the kingdom of God as our treasure and begin to do all within our power to live a life that is good and pleasing to God, we will be attracting the blessings of God to ourselves and family. This is an invitation that is too good to be ignored, as many that accepts the invitation of God, he has continued to bless in different ways.

However, accepting his invitation does not mean that we will no longer have challenges and difficulties in our lives, it simply means that God will be always with us and accompany us in all our journeys of life. This simply means that God will begin to fight our battles for us, because our ways and actions will be in line with the desire of God for us. Also, when God is fighting our battles for us, we are sure of victory. This may not necessarily be the case when we decide to fight our battles ourselves. The life and journey of St. Ignatius is an invitation to all of us as children of God today, let us accept it and build a good and lasting relationship with God in our lives. One of the good things about God is that he is always ready to accept us whenever we decide to return to him, he is waiting patiently for us to retrace our steps and come back to him like the Saint whose feast we celebrate today.

In the gospel reading of today Jesus continues to teach the people with parables, and he likens the kingdom of heaven to a net that was thrown into the sea, and it got both good and bad and they were sorted out at the end. In this parable, Jesus is admonishing us about the need for us to embrace the imperatives of the gospel and live them out in our daily life. This is very important, going by the gospel reading presented to us today from St. Mathew. We are encouraged to lead good and holy lives, so that on that last day, as the Angels sought out the good and the bad, we will not be thrown away. We are privileged people as children of God to get all these insights that should help us to be focused and be on the path that is good and pleasing in the sight of God.

May the insight given to us by Christ in todays parable continue to guide and inspire us in our daily lives, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.