Reflection on Today's Readings, Saturday of 17th Week in Ordinary, Year 1, July 31st, 2021
Texts: Lev. 25:1.8-17; Ps. 67:2-3.5.7-8 ; Mtt.14:1-12
Today is the memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola. He was a native of Loyola in Northern Spain. He was first a soldier before his conversion. He was shot at his legs in the battle of Pamplona against King Francis I of France. In a place where he was looked after, he requested for His favourite kind of books to read but none was available. To satisfy his desire for reading, he made do with with the kind of books that was available, "The Life of Christ" and "The flower of the Saints". After reading, his thought was moving between the profane books he was used to and what he just read. He considered in his thought doing what the saints had done. This happened for sometime until he discovered that the thought on Jesus and the saints filled him with lasting joy and peace while that of the profane books often excited him and left him empty and dejected. This experience led to his conversion. As we celebrate him today, we are reminded to always meditate on holy things. This means we are to feed our minds with holy things. We should be mindful of the books we read and of the film or video we watch, for they have great impact on our thoughts and finally on our actions. Our actions begin from our thought. The wise says, "More than all else, keep watch over your heart, since here are the spring of life" (Prov. 4:23).
We see in today's gospel reading that saying the truth requires courage and grace. Saying the truth may lead to death, for the world does not accept the truth. Truth has become a terror to the world. In the case of Herod, the truth hurt his ego and restrain his desire. Some of us are like him too; we hate the truth because it prevents us from engaging in sinful pleasure. We also notice in King Herod a kind of contrition that bears no fruits. He felt sorry but he did not change his mind. Are there some things we are not happy about and yet keep doing them? If there are, then we are not different from King Herod. We are to learn from the gospel reading to be careful of the kind of promise we make. We should also learn to despise shame for the sake of God. King Herod did evil to gain the respect of man; he preferred human respect to God's favour and liberty.
We learn from today's first reading that God has various means of calling us to the right path. The first reading speaks of the year of jubilee. The jubilee year is meant to encourage a way of life pleasing to God. It encourages righteousness and justice. It is a year that helps to put right our relationship with God and with man. The people of God exercised faith in God’s providence during this time.
The jubilee year is a Year of freedom , peace and joy; it looks forward to the time of Christ. Jesus applies the words of prophet Isaiah to Himself: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, for He has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, sight to the blind, to the oppressed go free, to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19). True liberty is found in Christ. When we live according to the gospel of Christ, we will have liberty and enjoy the favour of the Lord.
The year makes us realise that we are all born to be free, we are not to enslave one another; We are not to wrong one another. The year helps the people of God to return to the path of righteousness and justice.
Lord our God, we thank You for the liberty given to us in Christ, grant that we may be agents of freedom and peace in our world. Amen.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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