11Th Sunday in the ordinary time year A
Exodus 19: 2-6a Romans 5: 5-11 Mathew 9: 36-10:8
Theme: The mercy and love of God
The readings we have on this 11th Sunday of the year, reminds us about our responsibility as children of God in our own time. In the 1st reading from the Book of Exodus, we see God giving a message to Moses for the Israelites. He has chosen them as his own people and told them what to do, for this their bond to remain and they will continue to enjoy the blessings of God. The request of God from the Israelites is that they should obey his voice and keep his covenant. If the people continue to obey God, they will continue to enjoy the blessings of God. However, the question today is, “did the Israelites continue to obey the voice of the Lord and keep his covenant”. We all know the answer to that question.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, God is the same yesterday, today and forever, he does not change. In our own time, obedience to the word of God and its practice in our daily life is also very important. Let us all learn from the experiences of the Israelites, and do the right thing, as Children of God that we are and true ambassadors for Christ. The more we keep the word of God by practicing it, the more we appreciate Gods love and mercy for all of us.
In the 2nd reading of today from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, he gives us more reasons why we must strive to obey the word of God in our daily lives. God sent his son Jesus Christ to come and die for us while we were sinners, an action that we do not merit in any way. But because of God’s love and mercy for all of us, he sent his son to come and die for us. With the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, we are all justified. By so doing God reconciled us to himself and gave us a new life that we are not worthy to enjoy. Dear friends in Christ, a friend that went this far for our redemption, is not asking for too much by requesting that we obey his word and keep his covenant. One thing that is very clear and certain is the fact that God loves us so much and will never lead us astray. Rather he will guide us through the right path that will lead us to eternal life at the end of our earthly pilgrimage. The grace of God is always at our disposal, each time we make honest effort to live a life that is good and pleasing to God. We are never on our own, God is always accompanying us. Let us always draw strength from this fact, each time the journey becomes difficult for us.
The gospel reading from St. Mathew, also points us to us, the wonderful God that we are privileged to be serving. When he saw the crowd, he took pity on them; this is the compassionate loving, merciful and compassionate God that we serve. As a result of what he saw, he commissioned the twelve Apostles to go out and attend to the pastoral needs of the people. This is because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Things have not changed much in our own time, the vineyard is big, but the labourers are few; more labourers are needed in the vineyard. This is an invitation to the priesthood and religious life; you can decide today to serve God in this way of life. You can also decide to work in the vineyard of the Lord as a lay person, there so much you can do.
May God grant us the grace to continue to contribute towards the growth of the vineyard of God, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.