PRAYER: “GRANT THAT YOUR PEOPLE, ALMIGHTY GOD, MAY BE EVER WATCHFUL FOR THE COMING OF YOUR ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT, AS THE AUTHOR OF OUR SALVATION HIMSELF HAS TAUGHT US, WE MAY HASTEN, ALERT AND WITH LIGHTED LAMPS, TO MEET HIM WHEN HE COMES. WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU IN THE UNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN”.
Is 48:17-19; Ps 1:1-4,6 and Mt 11:16-19.
The Dagaaba have a wise saying which literally goes: “They should not cook/boil you, they should not roast you, what then should they do with you?” (Ba ta dug fo, ba ta le se fo meng, bong ka fo buora?).
They have another saying, which is in fact, a name some people give to their children, that “Ninsaala kye maalo”. This means, it is not easy to do good for people. There are times the person you do all you can to help, does not appreciate your efforts. He/she may appreciate your efforts negatively.
The above thoughts have shed more light on the message and lessons from the scriptures we meditate on today. God, through his prophets of old, taught his people what was good for them. He led them in the way they should go. He gave and taught them his commandments.
If the people had listened to God and had been alert, being faithful to all that God taught them, they would have been happy and prosperous in life. However, they disobeyed God, his teachings and his commandments and did their own thing (Cf Is 48:17-19).
God tried another way to show fallen humanity his unfailing love by sending John the Baptist to come and prepare the way for the Messiah. In his ministry, John the Baptist lived a life of asceticism: neither eating nor drinking.
The people said he was possessed by a demon, and therefore, many people did not believe him. Jesus came after John the Baptist, eating and drinking and the people said he was a glutton and a drunkard. They also accused him of being a friend of tax collectors, traitors, and sinners.
Most of them did not believe in him either. What else did the people want? Who else would they believe in? As the twi has it, “On pe wai, O pediebein?” God has been doing a lot of things for us, in our time, either directly or indirectly, to let us know how much he loves and cares for us. Yet, there are times we do our own things.
There are times we ignore God, we do not pay attention to what he tells us to do and therefore we suffer for that. Several times, we respond negatively to all the good and caring things that God has been doing for us. What else do we want God to do for us then we will obey him and be happy with him, and be prosperous?
This is sometimes worse at the human level. Some people ‘kill’ themselves or do all they can to show other people love, care, concern and support, and what they receive in return is a negative response or destructive criticism.
You make all the necessary efforts to help someone, and the person is never happy with the efforts you are making to help him/her, or the person betrays you. This happens in all spheres of human life and sectors.
It is happening in married life between partners, in the family between parents and their children, among siblings, it is happening in our offices and workplaces, in our Churches, in politics, etc. One thing we should take note of is that, it is not possible to please everyone in this world. Some people will be happy with you and your behaviour, while others will not be.
Please, about personal happiness, a friend of mine has this to say: “Just live your life being happy, how you are, since that’s your authenticity. Your happiness doesn’t rely on you trying to please everyone because it is a mission that can’t be accomplished. Unless you decide to be happy, nobody can make you happy. You don’t need the approval of another person to be happy...Happiness is found within us and we choose to be happy or unhappy….”
The watchword is, to do the right thing, the thing that will promote humanity, human dignity and a thing that will go in line with the will of God and eventually reveal God’s glory. The guiding principle should be, ‘to please God in whatever I do and be happy’. Stay blessed.
WE MEDITATE TODAY, FRIDAY, ON THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES: ‘THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN, THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR, THE CROWNING WITH THORNS, THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS AND THE CRUCIFIXION’ (WE PRAY FOR SORROW FOR SIN, PURITY, COURAGE, PATIENCE, AND PERSEVERANCE) “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 the hour of our death, Amen”.
PRAYER: “REPLENISHED BY THE FOOD OF SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT, WE HUMBLY BESEECH YOU, O LORD, THAT, THROUGH OUR PARTAKING IN THIS MYSTERY, YOU MAY TEACH US TO JUDGE WISELY THE THINGS OF EARTH AND HOLD FIRM TO THE THINGS OF HEAVEN. THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN”.
Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya, Catholic Diocese of Wa, UW/R, Ghana. (00233) 0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@ya@yahoo.com
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!