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 Thursday of 14^th Week, Year II (Memorial of St Benedict): reflection

Theme: Never take God’s benevolence for granted

Reading: Hosea 11:1-4,8c-9

Dear friends in Christ, in today’s first reading, God continued to invite the people of Israel, through the prophet Hosea, to reciprocate His goodness to them by ending their romance with foreign gods. He spoke to them as a loving father would speak to an errant son, reminding them of the great deeds He accomplished in their lives, starting from the time they were about to be exterminated in Egypt.

Despite Israel’s growing ungratefulness, God chose not to deal with them according to their actions or in accordance with His justice. Rather, He promised to allow His compassion to continue growing warm and tender for them, and to bless them more. With this benevolent approach, God intended to win His people over with more love and to give them another chance to walk away from their sinful ways and start doing good.

What does this passage tell us, dear friends? Many people wonder why God continues to bless and favour them despite their wicked lifestyles. Today’s reading simply tells us that the blessings, favours, graces and breakthroughs we continue to experience in our lives even while we are living in sins is God’s approach to win us over to himself by showing us more love rather than chastising us for our wrongs. The reason for His benign treatment of us, even when we offend him with our lives and deeds, as we saw in today's reading, is to offer us another chance to cease evil and to remind us that He loves us unconditionally.

When the people of Israel failed to seize the numerous ‘another chance’ given to them by God, what befell them shook the history of their lives. Many of us may be on the last stage of another chance from God. Let’s make a move before it becomes late.

St Benedict, Pray for us

Fr Isaac Chima