Monday of 14^th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B: reflection

Theme: Our God is more powerful that all obstacles to your joy; approach Him with faith.

Reading: Mt 9:18-26

Dear friends, do you know that Jesus is more powerful than that thing that makes you wet your pillow with tears every night? Do you know He has the power to arrest those issues that seek to steal the joy of your life? The two miracles of today’s gospel reading assure us that Jesus has power over our joy killers or joy snatchers.

The first miracle was the healing of the woman with hemorrhage. Her sickness robbed her of her joy for 12 years. She spent all her treasures to recover her good health, but all her efforts yielded no positive fruit. But when she took her problem to Jesus, sickness – her joy killer – was conquered, and the joy of her life was restored.

The second miracle was the raising of the daughter of a ruler, Jairus, from the dead. It was said that the girl was 12 years old, which means she was at the threshold of adulthood or womanhood. So, death came to steal the joy of a little girl who was about to enter womanhood, as well as the joy her parents would have while watching their little girl grow into womanhood, because in the tradition of the Ancient Near East, at twelve years, girls are betrothed to their future husbands. When Jairus took his problem to Jesus, death – his family’s joy killer – was conquered, and his family’s joy was restored.

Did you notice that it was the faith of both the ruler and the woman that paved way for them to receive miracles from Jesus? The faith of the woman on that very day she was healed was so strong that even her physical barriers – the crowd – couldn’t stop her from reaching her target of touching the garment of Jesus. Also, the faith of the ruler in Jesus’ ability to restore his family’s joy was so strong to the point that even when news reached him that the daughter had died, he continued believing that Jesus will not fail him.

Dear friends, Jesus is capable of arresting your joy snatchers or joy killers, but you must march towards him to report your case with unwavering faith, the faith that conquers physical barriers and refuses to back down even when it seems God is delaying or when it appears that all hope is lost.

Walk to Him today with this unwavering faith and present your case. May your new week be abundantly blessed.

Fr Isaac Chima

 

Wednesday of 8^th week in Ordinary Time, Yr. II: reflection

Theme: The request of James and John and the rest of us Christians

Reading: Mk 10:32-45

In today’s gospel, Jesus told his apostles that he was going to Jerusalem to suffer and to die at the hands of the chief priests and scribes, and to be raised on the third day. While the other apostles were perhaps sober about what would become of their master, James and John were preoccupied with material gains from the messianic intervention in human history and, consequently, they failed to understand the exact role Jesus was going to Jerusalem for. Hence, they began asking for positions at his right and left, believing He was going to seize the seat of power in Jerusalem.

What James and John did is not dissimilar to what many Christians of today consider to be the normal. It has been observed that nowadays, wherever and whenever anyone is popularly hailed as a man of God, what 90%  or more of those who rush to his church events want has nothing to do with hearing the word of God, repentance from sins, and salvation of their souls, but rather material upliftment, business success, and physical healing. Many Christians of our time have become accustomed to attaching material gains or welfare to everything about Jesus, just as James and John did in today's gospel.

Material success, bodily healing, and other miracles related to material welfare have become the only yardsticks used to measure God’s messages and true messengers of God by many Christians of our time. People appear to be less concerned with salvation of their souls or the spiritual impact of Christian events/messages on their souls. Often, many people have renounced their faith in Jesus because they didn’t receive the material help they prayed for.

Dear friends, the mission of Jesus is to liberate us from the dominion of darkness and to save our souls and, as often as it pleases God, He also uplifts the material nature of the persons who harbor these souls. So, any attempt to assess the mission of Jesus and his messengers in terms of material gains is a-Christian (anti-Christian). We should, therefore, purify our motives for going to Jesus and for attending Christian gatherings.

May God open our minds to look beyond material gains in our relationship with Jesus. Amen.

Fr Isaac C. Chima