A WORD FOR TODAY 15 OCTOBER 2019

A WORD FOR TODAY

LET YOUR FAITH BE SEEN IN ACTION

It will not make any sense at all if we claim to hear God's word everyday, but it does not move us to do something for Him. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation for those who have faith as stated by saint Paul in the first reading of today in his letter to the Romans.

God has revealed Himself to us in Christ and to believe in Him we must let His word take root in us and in that way we shall know Him and do the things He wants us to do. Our relationship with Him must move us to seek righteousness and purity of life and we shall make others to know about Him without compromising our faith. Therefore, we cannot claim not to know who God is and what He wants from us, because we hear His word everyday and all that is required of us is to put it into action through faith and it will make a tremendous impact in us.

It will amount to foolishness on our part to know the greatness of our God, His glory and power, and still leave Him to go and seek other gods. In doing this we lose our faith and worship created things instead of the Creator Himself. Knowing God is not just a lip service thing, but must be expressed in action in the way we live and in the things we say. We must grow our faith in righteousness and let the world know about Christ who has saved us so that they too can find salvation in Him and through Him.

In the gospel reading we see Jesus honour the invitation of the Pharisee, but the man was surprised to see Jesus eat without washing His hands which was against the law. Now Jesus used that opportunity to teach him what is important, that if they could put more effort in trying to do God's will by living well and taking care of their soul as they take care of their body they will be better people in the practice of the faith.

We must not just be people of the externals and deceive people to see us as men and women of faith, while on the inside we are rotten, weak and sinful. We must begin the cleaning from the soul and make effort to let God's word move us to love and to do good. It will amount to foolishnessto look good on the outside, but on the inside, in the depth of our soul it will be full of dirt and evil deeds.

True Christianity goes beyond mere external observance of the law, but involves more of the interior life where God dwells in our hearts and He moves us to do things with conviction in a manner that will be pleasing to Him. We must focus more of making our heart to be pure and to live a righteous life. We must let our actions flow from love, empathy, care and justice. It is only in doing this that our faith will shine out and we will be able to win souls for God. Be clean on the outside, yes, but more importantly, be pure and saintly in the inside and be like Jesus to all men and women of our time.

Today we celebrate the memorial of saint Teresa of Avila(1515-1582). She was a virgin and doctor of the Church who entered the Carmelite convent at the age of 20 and her experiences led her to develop a very deep spiritual and prayerful life which was also seen in her action. She worked hard to teach others the way of God and the interior life. We must learn from her to stay close to God always in prayers and put into good use the grace we receive from Him to do good in our world.

Good morning dearest one. Smile😊as you do your work and do have a great day. May God's grace help you to do His will and may your effort to be a good disciple never be a waste. Amen. And may the Almighty God bless you: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Meditation: Romans 1:16-25/Psalm 19:2-5/Luke 11:37-41

Watch-Word: The righteous shall live by faith

To concentrate on the externals and ignore the interior life will make us become fake christians and in the end it will all be emptiness, sadness and regret

(Tuesday of the 28th week in the Ordinary Time, Year 1)