Devotional Thoughts for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost - 2nd Aug 2015
Reading: From the Gospel according to St. Matthew 18: 1-11
Dear and Respected Brethren,
When the blessed Apostles enquired our Lord, “who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God”, our Lord showed a child and said “unless you turn and become as little children, you will not inherit the heaven”. The blessed Apostles also thought as we all do think these days. Our lookout is also prominence and the modern man is willing to do anything needed to achieve the attention as well as the recognition of others. Our Lord’s command to convert/turn is very significant and meaningful. The common human nature is to ignore the dependence when there is growth in the personality. The child in his or her infancy only would like to hold the hands of elders while walking. Afterwards, they will not wait for the help from elders. Either they will run away or walk as they like. During the infancy, there is the uniqueness in all dealings and thinking. Innocence and transparency are the ideals of an infant and when he or she grows big, slowly these habits disappear from them. Elders are walking in the directions they like and desire. They must be depending their own brain, power, and desires. Our Lord wants us to turn back with a total “about turn” from the paths and ways of our choice. He wants us to hold His finger and walk ahead. We might say that we are going ahead with an aim of our destination. But how many of us could bravely say that we give prime importance to the will and wish of our Lord God? Our Lord is so sure that our ways and directions are far away from the ways and directions of our Lord God. That is why He is insisting us to turn back and come back to the original position where we lost our link with our Lord God. Let us examine ourselves daily whether we are keeping a steadfast link with our Lord God or not.
In verse 4 we read, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven”. We are sure of the humility of the infant. For an infant all before him or her are equal. We must consider all our brethren without any sort of discrimination. Our Lord again desires that we all must love our fellowmen alike. Let us analyze how we are treating with our own fellowmen.
In verse 6 our Lord cautions against the ones who create offences in society. We often ignore our Lord’s teaching and go after offences in the families, parishes, churches and other secular fields also. Let us remember that a true Christian should not create offences at all. We the faithful must try to get back the guys who often create offences, through the love of our Lord. Selfishness is the root cause of all sorts of offences and sins. So let us try to get rid of selfishness in its root level.
In verse 11 we read, “For the son of man is come to save that which was lost”. Searching of the lost sheep is the duty of the Church. The Church and Church leadership cannot escape from this task. We must co-operate with the Church to search the lost sheep. All members of the Church must find it a privilege to search the fellowmen, who have been lost for the Church for some or other reasons. We must realize that Lord Jesus is the real shepherd and He only could provide shelter, food and other needs.
May God bless all.
Jose Kurian Puliyeril ( Kottayam )