YOU SHALL BE FOR GOD: A PEOPLE, A NAME, A PRAISE AND A GLORY (cf. Jer 13:11)

⏰Monday of the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time 2 (30 July 2018)

📖Jer 13:1-11; Deut 32:18-19, 20, 21 (R.v.18b); Matt 13:31-35

My dear, God’s will for you at the beginning of this working week, just as always, is for your good. He always want to make us essentially part of himself. But many times, we separate ourselves from the blessings of God due to our sins.

The drama that God made Jeremiah to play in Jer 13:1-11 represent this fact. While the waistcloth was good, it glued close to the body but when it spoiled, it could no longer be used closed to the body. It describes how close God was to his people, and how sin punctured that bond. They thus became like spoiled waistcloth that is good for nothing. The book of Deuteronomy made that connection clear when it says that Israel forgot the God who gave birth to him and the Lord threatened to turn his face away from her (see Deut 32:18-21).

The good thing however is that God has not abandoned us in our sinfulness. He continues to speak to us in the depth of our heart. His word is like the mustard seed that is planted in our hearts that is expected to grow into a big shrub.

Note that it is in the same manner that the shade of a big mustard tree attract people and animals that your outstanding virtues would attract a closer relationship with God, and so his blessings.

May God enable us to understand how close he is to us so that we may avoid sin which punctures our close bond with him. May his Word continue to transform us into his ideal children. Amen.

Have a blessed and an outstanding working week. Peace be with you.