29th Week, Saturday, Oct 23
Romans 8:1-11 / Luke 13:1-9
Evil no longer enslaves you; Christ's spirit dwells in you.
Justus: Jesus is alive.... Sometimes, I feel aware of
him, as if he is close by. ... You have no temptation to cheat anyone ... when
for all you know Jesus is standing beside you.
Marcellus: I'm
afraid I would feel very uncomfortable being watched by some invisible
presence.
Justus: Not if that presence helped ...keep you at
your best. It's this presence Paul speaks of in today's reading
***
How do we feel in Christ's presence? "I am with you
always, until the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20
***
The act of sin of our first parents has created a gulf
between God and human beings. The relationship is broken by human beings and
they are called to repent. To repent is to return, to repair and to restore the
relationship with God. Though Jesus heals many bodily ills, yet he stresses the
need for purity of heart, because evil takes root first in the heart (Mt. 9:4).
Hence, through a call to repentance, he asks us to undergo a change of heart,
or “cardiac surgery”. Let us ask ourselves, ‘What do I have to do now in the
light of what I have done?’
***
Christians too, like anyone else, have to fight within
themselves the tyranny of sin. They are torn beings, capable of the worst, yet capacitated
for the best by the Spirit of Christ. They have to make Christ’s experience
their own. We have to struggle to make the Spirit come to life in us and under
his guidance and with his vitality seek the identity of Christ.
***
To die a peaceful death is indeed a great blessing from God. And to be surrounded by close family members and to have received the Last Rites and Viaticum would be something that is deemed as a perfect end to life on earth. And a happy, peaceful and blessed death is one of the petitions that are found in most devotional prayers. Yes, we do pray for a peaceful and blessed death, and if God willing, without pain or suffering. But when we hear of a sudden tragic death, or a life that was ended by some kind of disease, or an untimely death, we may wonder if it was some kind of punishment.
In the gospel, some people told Jesus about the deaths of some Galileans, who were probably tortured and executed, going by what Pilate did with their blood. Jesus in turn recalled the eighteen lives that were lost when the tower at Siloam fell on them. Jesus also made it clear that those who lost their lives tragically were not more sinful than the rest of the other people.
In fact, those who lost their lives through persecution, those martyrs who witnessed their faith with their lives, are blessed by God. Whichever the case may be, whether tragic death or peaceful death, let us through our repentance be prepared to face death. It is a great blessing from God to know that death is the passage to the eternal life with God.
***
We are sinners, deserving of punishment. But God is a
patient God, willing to give new chances.
***
Prayer
Lord our God, you enter our existence, torn and divided as
it is, and with death written into it, to set us free with the life of your
Spirit. May we give space to your Spirit to work in us, to unify and renew our
being and our actions, that with his help we may overcome the forces of evil in
us. May we not be cut down like fruitless trees but live for life and for love through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
