“BLESSED ARE YOUR EYES, FOR THEY SEE, AND YOUR EARS, FOR THEY HEAR” (Matt 13:16)

⏰Thursday of the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time 1 (27 July 2017)

????Exod 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20b; Dan 3:29-30, 31, 33, 32, 34 (R.v.29b); Matt 13:10-17

God is all powerful yet he has made himself so simple for us to experience and encounter. From the encounter the people of Israel had with God in the First Reading, we see the desire he has to reveal himself to man. That revelation is for our good.

For the Israelites, it served to encourage them and build their trust around Moses and in the promised salvation. Yet, to have that encounter with God, it was expected that they should consecrate and purify themselves (see Exod 19:10).

The same call for consecration and purification is equally made to us so as to have a fruitful encounter with God. We are not to be forced to meet that requirement; it is a matter of choice. But we must know that it the choice we make that will determine the kind of fruit we shall bear.

Remember that we have said in the past that it is not the case that the sower deliberately dropped some seeds along the path or sowed some on rocky ground or among thorns. The seeds themselves chose to fall in those places. It is equally your choice to either make yourself ready for the Lord or not.

For those who make the choice to be ready for him, he will give the grace to bear fruit in plenty. That is why he calls those who accept that challenge as the blessed.

Are you among the blessed? Are you making any effort to be in that number?

May God grant us his grace to make ourselves ready for him so that coming into our lives, we shall bear fruit in plenty and all that do not belong to him in us shall give way. Amen.

Have a blessed day ahead. Peace be with you.