✝️ REFLECTION CAPSULE FOR THE DAY – Oct 03, 2021: Sunday
“Nurturing faithfulness and loyalty as the hallmarks of our relationship with the Lord and with one another!”
(Based on Gen 2:18-24, Heb 2:9-11 and Mk 10:2-16 – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Henry Ford is the founder of the Ford Motor Company.
>> He manufactured the first automobile that was affordable even to the middle class – an object of expensive curiosity turned into a practical conveyance.
Ford had a happy married life with Clara Jane Bryant.
On their golden wedding anniversary, a reporter asked them:
“To what do you attribute your fifty years of successful married life?”
“The formula,” said Mr. Ford, “is the same formula I have always used in making cars – just stick to one model!”
Being faithful and loyal is undoubtedly the hallmarks of a successful relationship.
>> But we live in a world, where divorce is becoming an increasingly common term and phenomenon.
The Gospel of the Day presents Jesus engaged in a conversation with the Pharisees and clarifying and shedding light on the concept of faithfulness and fidelity in relationships.
When we hear the word Divorce, we primarily associate it…
…. with a man and woman, in marriage, seeking divorce.
But divorce is not merely limited to spousal relations.
>> In fact, divorce is on the increase everywhere….
There is divorce…
… between the parents and the children
… between siblings and family relations
… among the members of a religious community and congregation
… among the members of the Church
… within the society itself
There is also a great divorce within one’s spiritual life…
… one is separated and torn apart between serving God and serving the World!
In all these cases of divorce…
… the one basic factor that is lacking is that of Commitment and Faithfulness.
When there is a decrease in commitment and faithfulness, the gravity of divorce and separation, increases!
It could be…
… in the spousal relation
… in the family relation
… in the community relations
… in the societal relations
… or even in our personal spiritual relationship with God!
When we fail in faithfulness, we end up in separation
>> When we are complacent in commitment, we are in danger of divorce…!
Today, let us look into our personal spiritual relationship with God, and examine…
>> Are we separating ourselves from God?
>> Are we being divorced from God?
Apparently, we may feel that these questions are not for us…
But let’s go a little deeper into ourselves…
… Are we really serving God as our master? … as the Only Master?
… Or are there times, when we fail in our faithfulness, and become complacent in our commitment…?
We need to give the first place to God…
… in our personal lives, our family lives/ our religious and priestly consecration.
>> But are there occasions, when sometimes we keep God away…
… to satisfy our sinful pleasures?
… to answer our egoistic tendencies?
… to fulfil our worldly sinful desires?
… to gratify our evil personal agenda?
If the answer is yes…
… then we are not on God’s side!
The Lord demands a total commitment and dedication to Him.
God hates divorce!
The book of Genesis narrates the beautiful and loving act of God, Who institutes the Marriage Convent between man and woman…
… by emphasising on their equality, and the need for fidelity, as is witnessed through the words of Adam:
“This at last is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called woman, for out of man, this one was taken!” (Gen 2:23)
In Baptism, we have entered into a covenant with Him.
>> Am I in danger of being divorced or separated from our Beloved Covenant Partner?
The little acts of unfaithfulness and infidelity are the ones that slowly shreds a relationship into pieces.
Let’s tighten up our spiritual lives, and re-dedicate our commitment and faithfulness and consecration to the Lord.
He is a God who cares deeply for us
>> He is Loving parent who sees to all our needs
>> He is a lover who is intensely passionate about us
Shall we not remain in His loving affection by being more faithful and committed to Him and Him alone?
Yes… let faithfulness and loyalty be the hallmarks of our relationship with the Lord!
Let’s say…
>> Yeah to Jesus and His Kingdom…
… and nay to Satan and the ways of the world!
God Bless! Live Jesus!
– Fr Jijo Jose Manjackal MSFS
Bengaluru, India
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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH
>> The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
>> This joint mission henceforth brings Christ’s faithful to share in his communion with the Father in the Holy Spirit.
>> The Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with his grace, in order to draw them to Christ.
>> The Spirit manifests the Risen Lord to them, recalls His word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his Death and Resurrection.
>> He makes present the mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with God, that they may “bear much fruit.”
>> Thus the Church’s mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in Her whole being and in all Her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity
>> All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God.
> For if Christ, together with the Father’s and His own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. For just as the power of Christ’s sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, in the same way, the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity. (Cf. CCC # 737-738)
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Nelson MCBS 