Tuesday of 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Yr. II: reflection
Theme: Ingratitude towards God exposes us to terrible loss.
Reading:
Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12
In today's
first reading, the prophet Amos called out the people of Israel for failing to recognize
and appreciate God for everything He has given them. Among the Israelites of
Amos' time, there was a growing tendency to regard the visible signs of God's
blessings (which included the gift of life, good health, a bountiful harvest of
the fruits of the earth, relative peace in the city, protection from attacks,
and many more) as ordinary natural givens that had nothing to do with divine
providence.
In today's
reading, Amos corrected his people by asking a series of questions that all
imply a negative answer, reminding them that there is a cause for every effect
on earth, that God is the true and original cause of the blessings that had
become ordinary in their eyes, and that even nature serves God's purpose.
When we get
used to good things, we tend to take them for granted. This also applies to
God's blessings in our life. One of the consequences of taking God's blessings for
granted is failure to express gratitude to Him for them. Amos reminds us that
God is the ultimate cause of all our blessings, that He is the reason for our
smiles, and that ungratefulness to Him exposes us to grave loss.
Dear
friends, some people say that ingratitude is more grievous than the sin of revenge,
because revenge returns evil for evil, while ingratitude returns evil for good.
However, gratitude draws the mind closer to the source from which the blessings
come and opens the way for more. Let us, therefore, recognize that behind the good
things we consider as the common things of the day and blessings of nature, there
is a cause that makes them possible, and that the cause is God, our provider. Let
us be grateful to Him and to those He uses as channels to bring his blessings
to us.
May your heart be grateful to God always.
Fr Isaac
Chima.
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