Reflection on Today's Readings, Saturday, 29th Week in Ordinary Time Year II, October 24th, 2020
Texts: Eph. 4:7-16; Ps. 122:1-5; Luke 13: 1-9
Jesus Christ, in today's gospel reading, reminds us that we are alive by God's grace; we are not better than those that are no more. Jesus Christ mentions two groups of people who suffered ill fate: one group, the Galileans, used for sacrifice by Pilate, and the other the tower of Siloam fell on them and died. Jesus Christ tells us that those who might have suffered ill fate of that kind were not worse sinners than us. We are alive today by God's grace, not because of our holiness; he is offering us another opportunity to repent from our evil ways. He says, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." Every moment of one's life is an opportunity to make heaven.
Jesus tells a parable to remind us that God always do his own part to work out our salvation and that whether we are saved or not depends on our acceptance of God's grace. In the parable we are the fig trees and the Church is the vineyard. God is the owner of the vineyard while the ministers are the vinedressers. God does not keep us alive alone but also enables us to bear fruits of righteousness and justice. All we need is to cooperate with his grace that we might bear the fruits expected of us.
St. Paul, in today's first reading, tells us that Jesus Christ cares and grooms us by creating ministries in his Church. He says, "Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift." The grace, here, means divine enablement or special ability while the gift means ministry or service. Jesus Christ gives grace in accordance with the service he has entrusted to us. To the teachers he gives the grace to teach; to pastors the grace to care for souls; to the prophets the grace to know God's will etc. The grace becomes a pointer to one's gift. If I have an ability to teach, then I am called to be a teacher, the teacher of the faith. It is now my duty to study the faith deeper, that is, more than just to live but to teach. If you are good at winning and caring for souls, you are a pastor, it means you are given a pastoral ministry: visiting the sick, building people's faith in God, counseling and encouraging the weary, etc. Pastor does not means head of a church or caretaker but one who cares for souls. This can be exercised through lay apostolate.
Jesus Christ takes care of the members of his body through the various ministries he created in the Church. Paul says, "And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teacher, for the equipment of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ".
He continues to take care of us until we attain maturity proportion to Christ's manhood. Jesus himself is the measure of our maturity. Jesus Christ is our model.
Lord our God, we pray that may your grace never be futile in our lives but bear abundant fruits of righteousness and justice. Amen.
Rev. Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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