THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Also Read: Mass Readings for 23 October 2022 Mass Reading Reflection for 23 October 2022
Gospel: Luke 18: 9-14
The irony of our time is that like the tax collector we would stand at the rear row in the church and pray like, ‘thank God, I am not a pharisee!’ It is time to draw closer to Jesus and be humble like the tax collector and be attached to Jesus like Our lady and St. Joseph. They lived, prayed, worked, rested, walked, ate, and joked with Jesus.
Spirituality is not about the accomplishment; it is about a relationship with God.
God has not set a competition among humans as to who accomplishes most, and He is not waiting with trophies at the touchline. He is more like the parent awaiting the return of the child from school. The parent is more interested in the warm hug than the trophy the child may bring from the school. The achievements matter to him as far as the child matters to the parent. Yes, we matter to God much more than our achievements before God. If we are unable to run the raise, He is willing and happy to carry us to the touchline. That is why the tax collector returned home justified.
How warm is your relationship with God? Can you go to Lord Jesus Christ without fearing judgment and punishment, and confess to Him that you have failed? It is not God who punishes; you punish yourself by not availing the loving and forgiving embrace of Jesus. If it is Jesus who is going to justify you, who are you afraid of?
The tax collector trusted in God to pour his heart out, and Jesus justified him; the pharisee trusted in his own ability and achievements and got busted by Jesus. Trusting in God is far safer and wiser than trusting in one’s own ability. Let us start to emulate the tax collector and surrender ourselves to God and let Jesus justify us. It is the love of Jesus that prevents us from further going astray. If Jesus, His unparalleled love for us, prevents us from returning to the old ways we are on the right path. Once you start loving Jesus, you feel the pain of betraying his love and trust.
Ps 34:8 says, “Taste and see the Lord is good.” Often, we refrain from touching, tasting, and feeling Jesus. But there are those heroes around and ahead of us who dared to taste the Lord. Once they did, lives were different for them. They did not bother to please the world. They did not bother to satisfy themselves. St. Augustine is an excellent example from the past. Once he tasted the Lord, it was a total turn for him.
Dare to taste Jesus. Dare to taste his forgiveness. Dare to taste his love. He is waiting for you with arms stretched out wide. He is waiting for you to forgive you. He is waiting for you to take you to unparalleled joy in this world and in the world to come.
Dare to accept the forgiving love of Jesus! He is waiting to exalt you beyond your imagination.
Amen.
