Tuesday of the 20th week in ordinary time year A
Judges 6:11-24a Mat. 19:23-30
Theme: …for God everything is possible
Today the church celebrates the memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our mother and the mother of the church. This feast was established in 1954 by Pope pius X11 at the end of the Marian year. This celebration presents us an opportunity to reflect on the spiritual role of our mother Mary as our Queen. This is seen clearly in the way she lived her life and supported Jesus in his ministry. Each time we celebrate our mother Mary, it gives us the opportunity to also remind ourselves about the need for us to emulate her way of life, like our Queen and mother.
In the 1st reading of today from the Book of Judges, God chose the most unexpected person, ‘so to say’ to lead the Israelites against the Midianites. Gideon was chosen to carry out this great task, and he feels he is not capable of leading the people, because his clan Manasseh is said to be the weakest amongst the clans, and he is the youngest from his family. He feels he is not good enough to carry out the task God is giving him to execute. This goes to show us that God decides to use whoever he desires to carry out his mission.
Most times he will choose individuals that are not reckoned as ‘good enough’. But they will never fail at the end because he chooses the weak and makes them strong and victory is assured. It is important to always remember that when we are embarking on a mission for God, we are not alone, God is always with us, and the success of our work is greatly dependent on God who has chosen us for the mission. Whenever he chooses us, he will always give us all that is needed for our success. Like the letter to the Hebrews would say, no man takes this honour upon himself. The most important thing at such times is to look beyond your strength and capability to God, he will provide you with the graces you need for the task he has given you.
We pray that through the intercession of our mother Mary, God will continue to strengthen our faith at such moments, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.