Reflection on Today's Readings, Thursday, 2nd Week of Lent, Year B, March 4th, 2021
Texts: Jer. 17:5-10; Ps. 1:1-4.6; Luke 16:19-31
In today's first reading, prophet Jeremiah reminds us that to put one's trust in man or flesh is to invite misfortune. We can trust a man, but putting one's trust in him is making him our god. To put one's trust in a man is to express one's deepest faith and hope in him and by so doing submitting to his whims and caprices. Such a man takes the position of God in our life. Some trust in their gifts and talents, some trust in their skills, some trust in their wealth, some trust in power, some trust in fame, etc. We may ask ourselves individually: 'What has taken the place of God in my life? If we are are able to discover it, just know that this year Lent is on its way to be fruitful. Having discovered it, we are to give it up during this period and forever.
Propet Jeremiah calls us, today, not to trust in man because it brings misfortune, curse. When we trust in man, we are cut off from God, the source of life. We are like a river that has cut off from its source and must dry. Prophet Jeremiah says, "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land." Shrub in the desert does not do well and has a low and poor yield because it lacks the basic necessities and conditions for survival and productivity. This means whoever trust in man suffers the basic necessities of life and conditions for survival and fruitfulness. To be fruitful, here, is to be abound in virtues and good works. This shows that the evil in our societies today is as result of humanism, expression of our deepest faith and hope in man, in science. In a world where God takes the second seat, man is set adrift and he is controlled by his desires, his whims and caprices. Man has so long expressed their deepest faith in law to guide them, but it is clear now that law does little. In spite of penalty attached to law, man breaks it daily; man cannot be subjugated by law. Man cannot be fruitful without God. Man has also expressed his faith in military power, and so weapons are produced and accumulated. However, we now know that military power count but a little. Our world is now like a patched land, an uninhabited salt land. A patched land suffers water and nutrients while a salt land is poisoned with salt and so made unfit for life, for survival, let alone productivity.
We are not to trust in man because he is prone to evil and we cannot know his mind. It is said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?" To trust in man is to submit to his evil and corruption.
Prophet Jeremiah invites us to trust in God. He says, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” When we trust in God, we are connected to the source of life and as such we are filled energy for survival and liveliness. To trust in God is to have the basic necessities and conditions for survival and fruitfulness at our disposal. When we trust in God, He becomes our strength; we can now say the Lord is our strength. Trusting in God is not an end to adversity, but in time of adversity, we walk through it in God's strength, not in our own strength. This means we have energy and strength in abundance to survive hard times. In spite of hard times, we maintain our virtues and good works. In this difficult times in the history of our world and nation, let us trust in God.
Today's gospel reading reminds us that when we fail to trust in God in this life, we suffer for it in the life to come. Those who trust in God in this life we enjoy forever in heaven. The rich man trust in his wealth and he disregards God; he did not pay attention to the plight of the poor, the less privileged. Because he turned away from God, he had no concern for virtues and good works.
Lizarus is a representation of those who are in needs: the sick, the orphans, the less privileged, the sorrowful, the oppressed and depressed etc. Lizarus is also a typical example of a person who trusts in God, no matter the conditions. He continued to persevere in virtues and good works in hard times. He was greatly in need and yet did not abandon God; he was able to pass through the situation because God was his strength. For his faithfulness to God, he enjoyed everlasting life.
Lord our God, help us to trust in You and You alone, and as we do so, grant us your strength and energy for survival and fruitfulness. Amen.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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