COLLECT: “GRANT, O LORD, THAT WE MAY ALWAYS REVERE AND LOVE YOUR HOLY NAME, FOR YOU NEVER DEPRIVE THOSE YOU SET FIRM ON THE FOUNDATION OF YOUR LOVE. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SON, WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU IN THE UNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN”.
Amos 5:14-15,16-17; Ps 49:7-13,16-17 and Mt 8:28-34.
The meaning of the very name “JESUS” is “GOD SAVES”. Both scriptures today put before us the saving or salvific work of God. He can save people from their predicaments. In the portion of the Book of Amos we meditate on, Amos urges the Israelites to convert themselves, so that God might save them from the fury of the Assyrians. A similar message is presented in today’s Gospel, where two possessed men are saved by Jesus, the one who ‘saves’. Indeed, God’s salvific power is shown where awestruck townspeople beg Jesus to leave their area. We are inspired and encouraged by today’s scriptures that the Lord Jesus can rescue us from whatever situation we are going through in life, even if what we are going through makes us question the very meaning of life.
We should also today, take some steps back in reflecting deeply on our lives, our thoughts, our words and actions, alongside how we handle people, especially those who are less fortunate than we are, as well as those who are going through some misfortunes in life. People in these categories who immediately come to mind are; widows/widowers, orphans, children who are borne outside wedlock or outside proper marriages, people whom we consider “unclean” or repulsive to us or who violate our moral standards and religious beliefs, those who contract some incurable diseases, those who are branded as witches and wizards, the unloved and uncared for lonely old ladies and men, as well as our mentality towards some of our dead people. Sometimes, some of us think and behave as if some of our dead people looked for it, thereby behaving (through some of our utterances) as if we were the ones who could have avoided it.
Blind Zachary of blessed memory played a song that: “A ba ta nie, a eebo k’o bang, kye ka anang ta nie o eebo bong” (Lit. “When a matter does not concern you, you think you have the solution, but when you are deeply involved, what can you do”). The fact is, no one will be on earth forever. We shall all die and be swallowed by Mother Earth one day. No one knows how someone will end or how he/she will end. We need to handle people with care and love. Sympathise with them and do not discriminate against them or even ostracise them as the people of Gadarenes did to the two demoniacs, and eventually to Jesus when he saved the two possessed men. Let us be charitable not only with our material possessions toward them, but also with our utterances and words. By so doing, we demonstrate how we value human life and dignity. Let us follow after Jesus’ example by doing all that is possible to save people who are going through some predicaments, as well as to sympathise with the less fortunate ones. We need to show them love, care and concern. They should be shown a sense of belonging. We need to do whatever it takes to reintegrate them into society. Ignoring them is another form of demon possession, in fact, an acute form of it.
Let us pray that the Lord may heal and exorcise us from the demon possession of envy and jealousy, tribalism, nepotism and discrimination, self-centeredness, from inhuman or dehumanising actions and from the demon possession of the ‘holier than thou’ attitudes or self-righteousness (which usually manifests itself in unhealthy scruples). May we be exorcised from the demon of hostility and hatred. Stay blessed.
WE MEDITATE TODAY, WEDNESDAY, ON THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES: ‘THE RESURRECTION, THE ASCENSION, THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE ASSUMPTION, AND THE CORRONATION’. (WE PRAY FAITH, HOPE, LOVE OF GOD, GRACE OF A HAPPY DEATH AND TRUST IN MARY’S INTERCESSION) “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: “GRANT US, O LORD, WHO HAVE BEEN RENEWED BY THIS SACRAMENT, SO TO LIVE IN THE CHURCH, THAT, PERSEVERING IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD AND IN THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES, WE MAY BE ONE HEART AND ONE SOUL, MADE STEADFAST IN YOUR LOVE. 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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