Reflection on Today's Readings, Monday of 15th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1
Texts: Ex. 1 :8-14.22; Ps. 124:1-8; Mtt. 10:34-11:1
The message, today, is that God should be the first in the life of everyone. We should not allow any thing to separate us from Him. This brings to mind the word of St. Paul, _"Can anything cut us off from the love of Christ -- can hardships or distress, or persecution, or lack of food and clothing, or threats or violence; as scripture says: For your sake we are being massacred all day long, treated as sheep to be slaughtered? No; we come through all these things triumphantly victorious, by the power of him who loved us"_ (Rom. 8:35-37).
Anything that one places above God could separate one from Him. Jesus, in today's gospel reading, tells us that following Him will bring about rejection from some family members and friends. The rejection will come because of our ways of life, which is against their ways. So if we love family members and friends more than Jesus Christ, we will abandon Him to preserve our relationship with them. However, if Jesus Christ is the first in our lives, every other things will stop at His door.
Today's first reading speaks of how God blessed His people to the extent that the Egyptians feared that they might subdue them one day. God blessed them with population and strength. Hence, the king of Egypt said to his people thus: _“Behold, the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war befall us, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”_ The people of this world fear the children of God. They fear us because of the grace of God which has put us ahead of them.
The Egyptians saw the grace of God in the people of Israel and felt threatened. This brought about persecution, suppression and oppression. This sheds light on Jesus' word: _“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes will be those of his own household."_ The blessing of God in one's life could arouse hatred from family members and friends. The sword is His grace which will arouse hatred, envy and jealousy from the people of the world as it did in the case of the Israelites. The grace of God will transform our lives and become outstanding to the envy of the world. The life of grace is often against the aspirations and desires of the people of this world. Seeing the life of grace in us, the people of the world feel threatened and want to suppress it. Those who love Jesus Christ and put him first remain resolute in face of this persecution; hardships or distress, or lack of food and clothing, or threats or violence will not be able to separate them from Jesus Christ.
The grace of God will continue to be abound in the life of those who put Christ first in their lives. The more they persecute us, the more we grow in grace. The Egyptians oppressed the people of Israel so as to suppress the grace of God in them but the more they oppressed them, the more they grew in population and might. We have to love Jesus above all things if we are to be firm in faith. Sometimes we show by our ways of life that Jesus Christ is not the first in our lives. He says, _"He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it."_
Jesus Christ goes further to tell us that He is present in his followers. He says, _"He who receives you received me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward."_ To receive a prophet is to receive his message. To receive the righteous is to accept the ways of the righteous. The reward obtained for receiving a prophet is the word of God and that of the righteous is righteous life. Let us allow His words to dwell richly in our hearts and let us embrace a righteous life.
Lord Jesus Christ, grant us Your help that we may love You and put You first in our lives. Amen.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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