Friday, 7^th February – Friday of week 4 of the year.

Reflection: Sirach 47:2-13

GOD HAS NO FAVORITE

God said to Moses: I shall forgive whom I forgive and have pity on whom I have pity (Romans 9:15). Often times when we read this scripture we think of predestination, which implies that some are destined to be saved while others to be condemned. However, if God has destined some for hell, how can He call all to live a holy life and why did He send His only son to die for all? If God calls us to a relationship of love and faithfulness with Him (Hosea 2:20), it is because we are free and responsible to choose (Sirach 15:11-20). It is our free will to respond to the call of the living God within us that makes us His favorite.

Abraham was said to be a “Just Man”, because he gave in totally to God. His descendants, the people of Israel, were called “the Chosen”, because of God promises to their fathers. God plagued the land of Egypt to set His people free, He divided the Sea to make way for His people and fed them in the desert, He destroyed nations for their sake. Yet when the people of Israel disobeyed Him, He left them to the hands of their enemies and allowed them to suffer. God was an enemy to their enemies and blessed their path as long as they obeyed Him and kept His precepts (Leviticus 26: 1- 46). Thus, God’s mercy endures from age to age on those who fear Him and walk in His path (Sirach 15:19). King David was called “a man after God’s heart”, not because he was perfect, rather because he strived to please God, despite his weaknesses. He was a man that feared God.

Dear friends, since we are aware that God has no favorite, but that any man, from any tribe or nation, who does His will and keep His precepts is acceptable to Him (Acts 10:34-35). Let us then strive daily to please God and walk in His path for only in this do we prove our love for Him.

Prayer: Lord, take all that I have and make them yours. Give me the grace to freely respond to you in faith. Amen

KNOW YOUR FAITH: CCC 1730 – MAN’S FREEDOM

God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. “God willed that man should be ‘left in the hands of his own counsel,’ so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to Him.”

HIDE A TREASURE: “Now if you listen to me and keep my covenant, you shall be my very own possession among all the nations” Exodus 19: 5 CCB

Readings for today: Sirach 47:2-13, Psalm 18: 30, 47-51, Mark 6:14-29