WE ARE IN THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, THE MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY. PLEASE, PRAY THE HOLY ROSARY AND ASK THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY TO PRESENT YOUR INTENTIONS TO HER SON FOR REDRESS.
COLLECT: “ALMIGHTY EVER-LIVING GOD, INCREASE OUR FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY, AND MAKE US LOVE WHAT YOU COMMAND, SO THAT WE MAY MERIT WHAT YOU PROMISED. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SON, WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN”.
Rom 8:12-17; Ps 67:2,4,6-7,20-21 and Lk 13:10-17.
Laws in our societies, institutions, workplaces, families, etc., are made by man and not man being made by our laws. Among other things, we make laws to serve as norms of good conduct for citizens. They provide guidelines and orders for good behaviour among citizens. They keep the society running. Laws are based on common sense and they are to help us do sensible things. Laws should promote life and peaceful coexistence among people. The laws we make are to set or make us free and not to enslave us. If the laws we make and implement fail to do these, then they are obsolete and they have outlived their usefulness and should be discarded or thrown away.
In dealing with us, God, our Creator, prefers and hails the spirit of the law and not the letter of it. The spirit of the law will consider and aim at saving, protecting and promoting life rather than destroying life. The letter of the law will analyze, interpret and apply it no matter what, even if the destruction of life is involved. God, through his Son Jesus, condemns this attitude. In fact, what pleases God is faithful love and mercy but not the faithful observance of the law to the letter, to the neglect of saving, protecting and promoting human life (Cf. Hosea 6:6).
St. Paul condemns the attitude of being slaves or making people slaves to the law, as if one is saved or justified by the law. It is the grace of God that saves and justifies us. The misconception that strict observance of the law saves and justifies one, often leads us to doing or carrying out things we do not intend to: this often leads to sinful actions and deeds, resulting in wretchedness, death and damnation. However, the understanding, interpretation and application of the spirit of the law often lead to doing or carrying out things we intend to: this often leads to good actions and deeds, resulting in life and salvation.
Let us pray for divine wisdom today to be with us and help us make and implement laws that will help humanity live peacefully and eventually lead humanity to salvation and redemption. We pray for those times our strict observance of the letter of the law led us into sinful actions and deeds, that the Lord may forgive us and may He set us free as He did to the woman being crippled by the spirit.
WE MEDITATE TODAY, MONDAY, ON THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES: ‘THE ANNUNCIATION, THE VISITATION, THE BIRTH OF JESUS, THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE AND THE FINDING OF THE CHILD JESUS IN THE TEMPLE’. (LET US PRAY FOR HUMILITY, LOVE OF NEIGHBOUR, POVERTY IN SPIRIT, OBEDIENCE AND JOY IN FINDING JESUS) “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen”.
PRAYER: “MAY YOUR SACRAMENTS, O LORD, WE PRAY, PERFECT IN US WHAT LIES WITHIN THEM, THAT WHAT WE NOW CELEBRATE IN SIGNS WE MAY ONE DAY POSSESS IN TRUTH. THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN”.
Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya, Catholic Diocese of Wa, UW/R, Ghana. (00233) 0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@yahoo.com.
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