Monday of the 8th week in the ordinary time year 2
Theme: A message of hope
In the 1st reading of today, the prophet Isaiah extols the greatness of God and by so doing points out Gods love for his people. He also encourages us in a very special way to hold onto our faith in times of challenges and difficulties, because it is a process of purification that will prepare us for the plans of God for us in the future. This simply points out the fact that it is not every challenge in our life that has come to break us; some may come to strengthen our resolve and faith in God; in preparation for what God has for us in the future. Simply put, let us continually beg for God’s grace in times of challenges and difficulties that we encounter at different times in our journey of faith. At such moments, let us trust God and hold onto his assertion that his grace is sufficient for us. He will never fail or disappoint all those who trust in him. Our steadfastness in faith will win for us eternal life at the end.
In the gospel reading of today, Jesus gives us an insight of what we can do if we want to attain salvation. He tells the rich man, go and sell everything you have, give the money to the poor and come and follow me. Jesus is simply encouraging us to a life of selflessness and charity. He is simply saying that our wealth should not serve as a barrier for us to enter heaven. He has nothing against the rich and wealthy, his major concern is about how the wealth they possess is spent. Generosity has nothing to do with whether you are poor or wealthy. Someone can be poor and very generous and another can be rich and also generous; and some can also be poor and not generous, and be rich and not generous. It depends on every individual, not whether one is poor or rich. It is for you and I to decide today, which side of the divide we want to belong to. Nobody is too poor that he or she has nothing to share with someone else. We are all encouraged in a very special way today to trust in God and remain steadfast in faith. May the Lord bless his words in our hearts. Amen.