Tuesday of the 16th week in ordinary time
Micah 7: 14-15. 18-20 Mathew 12: 46-50
Theme: The loving mercy of God
It is interesting to note that in the 1st reading of today, the people of Israel have acknowledged their unfaithfulness towards God and his love; and they are now begging for the forgiveness and mercy of God towards them. My brothers and sisters in Christ, we have something to learn, that will be useful to us from the attitude of the people of Israel who offended God. They owned up to the fact that they have offended and failed God by their actions and way of life, and then retraced their steps and went back to beg God for his forgiveness. The ability to accept our mistakes and go to ask for forgiveness from whoever we have offended is very good and a sign of humility. This is very important, because some of us out of pride cannot humble ourselves and beg for forgiveness when we offend other people. Instead, we make excuses just to exonerate ourselves from such situations.
As Catholics we are privileged people, we have the sacrament of reconciliation that gives us the opportunity to reconcile ourselves with God whenever we offend him. Even in our human relationships, we must be humble enough to accept our failings and beg for forgiveness from those that we have offended. It is not a weakness to accept your failings and beg for forgiveness from both God and our brothers and sisters whenever the need arise.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, in the gospel reading of today, Jesus makes it clear that what qualifies us to be part of his family is to put into practice the word of God that we hear and preach to others. By this definition given to us by Jesus Christ himself, it simply means that it is only an individual who can count himself or herself out of the family of God, by not putting into practice the word of God that we hear and preach to others. Dearly beloved in Christ, humanly speaking it may seem very difficult to practice all the word of God that we hear and preach. However, when there is will there is always a way; the grace of God will support our efforts and help us achieve our hearts desire to be part of the family of God. There is a place for us to be part of the family of God, just do your best and leave the rest to God.
May God 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.