In the gospel reading, we see some element of impatience on the part of John the Baptist, when he sent his disciples to Jesus to ask him if he was the one to come or they were to expect another person. It was not that John the Baptist did not acknowledge Jesus as the messiah, but like other Jews who were expecting a military messiah to rescue them from the Romans who were ruling them, he too expected to see some form of action coming from Jesus against the Roman leaders but he did not see it. This shows that John the Baptist, though knew Jesus as the messiah but he did not know the form in which Jesus’ messianic mission would take. Jesus teaches us, through his reply to the disciples of John the Baptist, that God’s ways of spreading his love and goodness to all the children of God, and redirection back to God the hearts that strayed, demands patience from us; and if we are thus patient, we receive a reward of blessings because Jesus said “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me”. The ways of the Lord Jesus are consistent with the will of God, for just as Jesus came giving sight to the blind, cleansing the lepers, making the deaf hear, raising the dead, and proclaiming the good news to all, so has it been in line with the will of God, as recorded in the first reading , which notes that the splendor of our God will strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, open the eyes that are blind, clear the ears that are deaf, untie the tongues that are mute, etc. So rather than take offense at the Lord that the ways of God are too slow, according to our judgment, St. Paul encourages us , in the second reading, to be patient with the ways of God as the farmer who plants and waits patiently for the seed to grow and produce fruit; and then his or her joy is full.
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK:
My Lord, never let me be blinded by impatience that prevents me from seeing your silent transformative reign over all that you have made. Permit me not to be guided by my selfish thoughts of how things should be on earth and how situations around me are to be ordered. Grant me the patience of waiting upon your plans for me because they are always the best.
TRAIN A VIRTUE FOR CHRIST FOR THE WEEK: (Straight forwardness) Be direct and plain, but not in arrogant manner.
MEDITATION POINT FOR THE WEEK:
(a) Am I straight forward in a humble way?
(b) How do I regard people who are straight forward to me?
(c) What spiritual value lies in being straight forward?
MEMORY VERSE FOR THE WEEK: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29: 11)
Write down below something from today’s homily. Reflect on it for the coming week
BIBLE PASSAGES FOR DAILY REFLECTION
SUNDAY: PSALM 143
MONDAY: PSALM 29
TUESDAY: PSALM 23
WEDNESDAY: PSALM 36
THURSDAY: PSALM 64
FRIDAY: PSALM 24
SATURDAY: PSALM 61
