Thursday of the 18th week in ordinary time
Jeremiah 31: 1-34 Mathew 16: 13-23
Theme: Openness to God
Today the church celebrates the memorial of St. Dominic, a priest and the founder of the Dominicans, also known as the order of preachers. He was docile to the Spirit of God, and this guided him to the priesthood and in the founding of the Dominican Order. His emphasis was on contemplation, study and preaching. All this was made possible because he was open to the spirit and acted according to the directives of God. As we celebrate him today, it presents us the opportunity to reflect about the level of our openness to God in our call to discipleship and in our life generally. Our openness to the spirit of God, will give us the opportunity to be a worthy instrument in the hand of God, through which he can reach out to his people; just like in the case of Saint Dominic.
In the 1st reading of today from the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord gives the people of Israel a message of hope, that gives them the strength to look towards the future with great hope and joy, for the wonderful things that awaits them, as promised by God, through his prophet Jeremiah. The Lord is promising to make a new covenant with the people, all they need to do is to accept this new covenant and the blessings of God will manifest in their lives, according to the prophecy of the prophet in todays 1st reading.
In the gospel reading of today, Jesus asks his disciples, who do men say that the son of man is? It was Peter who answered it correctly, after presenting all the speculations that people had about him. In the same way, Jesus is asking all of us today, who is he to you? Generally, Jesus is our saviour, but he means many things to different people. Most people will give you an answer according to the experience of God that they may have experienced in their life at one point or the other. Whatever our answer to this question is, it is important that it is not selfish and self centred. This is because the relationship some of us have with God is exploitative, because we only remember him when we are in need and when things are going well with us, we forget him. This should not be the type of relationship we have with God, or our understanding of him.
As we continue to strive to be true disciples of Christ, May almighty God bless you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, Amen. Peace be with you.