In Need Of God's Mercy

 Reflection on Today's Readings, Wednesday of 8th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1, May 26th, 2021
Texts: Sir. 36:1-2.5-6a.11-17; Ps. 79:8-9.11.13; Mark 10:32-45
One thing that we are reminded of today in the first reading is that we are all in need of God's mercy. We need God to look upon us and have mercy. The call on God to "look upon us and show us the light of His mercy" is an appeal to Him to see and remember our condition and so come to our aid. We need God to look upon our vulnerability to sin and so grant us firm resolution against sin; we need God to look upon our imperfections and so make Himself our Perfection; we need God to look upon our weakness and so become our Strength; we need God to look upon our inclination to sin, and so become our Saviour. We need God to look upon our suffering and pain, and have pity; we need God to look upon what we stand against daily and come to our aid.
The reading reminds us to open ourselves to God for help. We are nothing without God; we need His mercy and grace. St. Augustine says, "For you love the truth, and he that 'does truth comes to the light'. I wish to do it in confession, in my heart before you, in my writing before many witnesses. And even if I will not confess to you, what could be hidden in me, O Lord, from you to whose eyes the deepest of man's conscience lies bare? I should only be hiding you from myself, not myself from you. But now that my groans is witness that I am displeasing to myself, you shine unto me and I delight in you and love you and yearn for you, so that I am ashamed of what I am and choose you and please neither you nor myself save in you" (office of the reading Vol. III, p. 117).
We are to tell Him what we know about ourselves and what we do not know. We are to be sincere to God and be truthful about ourselves. We are to be true to ourselves so that we may not be false to one another. Our confession before God brings about self-acceptance, self-acknowledgement, and the need to develop and grow beyond our present state. We ask for God's grace to surpass the present state. This is because we have come to realise that we are handicapped and that only with God we can grow and become better. St. Augustine says, "For when I am wicked, confession to you simply means being displeased at myself; when I am good, confession to you means simply not attributing my goodness to myself: for you, Lord, bless the just man, but first you turn him from ungodliness to justice" (p. 118).
We need to pray that all nations may fear God. If we all know God, justice will reign and we will know peace. Hence, the reading says, "send fear of you upon the nations, and let them know you, as we have known that there is no God but you, O Lord. Show signs anew, and work further wonders." The new signs and further wonders are to inspire in man the love of God and His fear. God shows the new signs and further wonders in the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, in today's gospel reading, Jesus says, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise.” We are also called to be like Him so as to make God known to all nations. He says to us thus: "Are you able to drink the chalice that I drink, or to be baptised with the baptism with which I am baptised?” We are to gather with Jesus Christ all the scattered children of God all over the world.
Today's first reading reminds us to always pray for the fulfilment of God's promises. It calls to mind that there is a reward for waiting for God when it says, "Reward those who wait for you". The reward from God is our satisfaction. We need to pray for the fulfilment of His promises because it is in them we find joy and place our hope. His promise gives us joy and strength to journey through thick and thin. It also reminds us that only with God's help we can be righteous and that by our righteousness the people on earth will know God; they will know that He is Lord, the God of all ages. The point today is that we are in need of God's mercy and help.

Lord our God, show us Your mercy and we will be saved. Amen.

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke