Thursday of the 29th week in ordinary time year A
Rom. 6: 19-23 Luke 12: 49-53
Theme: The free gift of God…
In the 1st reading of today from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, he is reminding us by extension of where we are coming from and where we are now. Before Jesus came to grant us salvation on the cross of calvary, and the salvation we received after Christ won us salvation by shedding his blood for our sake. The free gift of God is eternal life, and he has given us a firm foundation to ensure that we make it at the end.
However, it is important to point out the fact that we equally have a role to play if we truly desire to make eternal life at the end of our earthly lives. We must build on the foundation of righteousness that Jesus has already won for us, by living a life that is good and pleasing to God in our daily lives. We cannot live a carefree life and still expect to possess the free gift of eternal life that God has giving us by going to the cross for our sake. Our situation is different now from what it used to be, we are now children of light and darkness should have no place in our lives anymore.
St. Paul is simply telling us to be mindful of the kind of life we lead, knowing fully well what God has done for us already. This is a call to holiness and righteousness of life, an opportunity for us to re-evaluate the kind of life we lead and make amendments were necessary, in appreciation to God for what he has done and continue to do for us. We are not perfect, but we can begin to make an honest effort to attain perfection in our daily lives. This wonderful admonition of St. Paul in his letter to the Romans, reminds us of who we are and where we are all coming from.
In the gospel reading of St. Luke, we are told that with the coming of Jesus, there will be division among loved ones. This does not mean that Jesus came to bring disunity and divide families, no, Jesus came to bring peace to the world. The division that St. Luke talks about will emanate because of differences in lifestyle and belief system between those who follow Gods ways and those who do not follow Gods ways. The ways of God can be challenging and difficult because it can bring about discomfort sometimes. So, people feel more relaxed to go along with the ways of the world that is contrary to the ways of God. At the end of the day, the choice is yours to make. May the Lord bless his words in our hearts, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.