WEDNESDAY, FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes
1 Kgs 10: 1-10 Ps 37: 30-31, 39-40 Mk 7: 14-23
THE LAW OF GOD GUIDES US!
Man’s life on earth is a time of trial, a warfare, a test of faith. Yet God, in His mercy, never leaves us unaided. He gives each of us the grace we need. The Law of God, revealed in Scripture, is our guide through every trial. However, when success comes owing to our God-given talents and gifts, we are often tempted to turn from Him. St. Paul would say, “We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling.”
King Solomon asked God to grant him the grace to discern between good and evil. He did receive wisdom along with all the riches and glory as no other king ever had. Everything prospered in his life and his mouth uttered wisdom. All this happened because the law of God was in his heart. He maintained his relationship with God by offering pleasing holocausts before the Lord. How good it would have been if King Solomon had persevered in his relationship with God! We know the story, despite the grace received from God; he went astray in his latter days. Was God unfaithful? Not at all. God cannot force the free will of any person. It depends on us how we use our free will. God gives us every grace to rise when we fall, for He is always faithful. If we do not return to God, the fault is ours.
Jesus teaches us in the Gospel that the things outside of us cannot defile us; rather, it is what comes from within the heart that truly defines who we are. All that God created, He found good and blessed, for creation flows from His loving hands. Yet, when we become overly attached to created things and slowly forget the Creator, even good gifts can cloud our relationship with God. When we sincerely try to live devotedly in Christ, we inevitably undergo trials and persecution from our own sinful nature and then from our enemy, the devil. Therefore, we must strive daily to live according to what the ‘Law’ of God teaches us, guarding our hearts and minds. Today, as we remember Our Lady of Lourdes, let us fly to her maternal protection, that she may help us grow in faith and purity, and become saints, following the humble example of Saint Bernadette.
Response: The mouth of the just man utters wisdom.
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