“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”
Friday, 28th October 2016,
Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time
Feast of Sts Simon and Jude, Apostles
Eph 2:19-22;
Ps 18:2-5;
Lk 6:12-19
UNITY IN DIVERSITY!
God invites human cooperation in his work of redemption. Jesus chose the most ordinary people of his time to be his apostles. He empowered them and they became his faithful instruments to continue the Father’s will. Luke’s Gospel tells us, Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer. It was then that he came down and chose the twelve.
What a heterogeneous group it was! Look at the names in today’s Gospel, the chosen ones: Peter was impulsive and full of fear, and Jesus chose him to lead. James and John quarreled over who would sit next to Jesus in the Kingdom they misinterpreted; Matthew was a tax collector, etc. We can imagine the initial meeting of these disciples. Their hostility and suspicion of each other could only be healed by the great and unstoppable love Jesus offered to them as individuals.
Today’s first reading sums it up neatly: “Brothers and sisters, you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God.” (Eph 2:19). Are we ready to allow Jesus build us up as members of his household, even if it means embracing those I dislike?
Prayer: Lord Jesus may Your love empower me to accept the other as he/she is Amen.
