Thursday, June 28, 2018
TODAY'S REFLECTION - THURSDAY-12TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
St. Irenaeus, bishop martyr, Apostolic Father of the Church
2 Kings 24:8-17/ Psalm 78:1-5,8-9/ Matthew 7:21-29
WHAT A DESTRUCTION!
Beloved, today, Holy Mother Church celebrates the memorial of St. Irenaeus. His name means "lover of peace". He brought peace into the Church. He was a disciple of St. Polycarp. He succeeded in gaining many new converts to the faith. He rebuilt many Churches. He wrote a lot to defend the Church, especially, against Gnosticism. He died a martyr's death under the persecution of Septimus Severus.
In the history of the people of Israel, there were times some of the rulers/leaders, helped the people to get closer to God. Other times, they lived lives displeasing to God. If we take the kingdom of Judah, king Hezekiah relied on God during his reign ( 2 Kings Chapters 18 to 20). King Manasseh was an apostate (2 Kings 21:1-18). King Josiah made some good reforms ( 2 Kings 22:1-23:25). During the reign of King Jehoiachin, they persistently and knowingly/deliberately disobeyed God. This led to a tragic defeat and deportation by King Nebuchadnezzar, to Babylon. How am I living my life now? How am I leading the people under me? Will that lead to a blessing from God or a destruction?
Friends, Jesus continues to teach us many important things. He says: ' It is not those who say to me, ' "Lord, Lord", who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven' (Matthew 7:21). He encourages us to be wise enough and build our house/faith/ life/ business/marriage/education, etc solidly on rock (the Word of God, the Sacraments, kingdom values, etc),for it to stand strongly compact, no matter what. We should not be foolish to build on sand (corruption, materialism, money, power, idolatry, etc). In order to avoid destruction, we need to listen to the word of God and do what the word of God tells us. We should not only be readers/hearers/listeners/preachers, of the word of God, we should be DOERS of the word of God.
May we live lives pleasing to God, in order not to be destroyed. May we live/do/put into practice, the word of God. May we have a very strong and an unshakable faith in God. BE BLESSED.
Fr. Gaa (0206854323/0240308878)