“BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO WALK IN THE LAW OF THE LORD” (cf. 119:1b)

⏰Friday of the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time 2 (16 Nov. 2018)

📖2 John 4-9; Ps 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18 (R.v.1b); Luke 17:26-37

As we gradually draw closer to the end of the liturgical year, the readings of this period keep taking our minds back to the time of the ultimate end of all things. The Gospel calls us to fix our mind on this reality so that whenever it happens, it shall not be an accident to us.

The point we must hold on to is that call to move out of ourselves and consider the things of God as much more important than ours. Any spirit that changes the focus to the opposite is the spirit of the antichrist (cf. 2 John 8).

While the spirit of Christ would say, “Love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44), the spirit of the antichrist would say, “Love your neighbour and hate your enemy” (Matt 5:43). Which side do you choose to respond to?

Seeing the division between those who do good and those who are falling back, which was evident in the early Church, the evangelist John insisted that love must be their guiding principle. Only love can heal such division and engender conversion.

With the advent of many denominational churches, we are faced with the situation where people love only those who attend their church – only those are the saints. That is against the teaching of Christ, and so the work of the antichrist.

Another ploy of the antichrist which is evident today is the situation where some people think that they are the paradigm for evaluating what is good or wrong, and not God. They go with the title, “Pro-choice.” The people in this category are given the example of the people of Noah’s time and those of Sodom and Gomorrah, who chose to follow their will against God’s will and so walked themselves into doom.

May God give us the grace to choose and follow him always in love and so share in the glory of his reign in the end. Amen.

Have a grace-filled day. Peace be with you.