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The Gospel Proclamation
“Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; ... For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to him, who knocks. Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread? .... Bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Do for others what you want them to do for you; ....
Gaze at Jesus’ Sonship
Jesus awakens us today to ask. He knows most human requests are for material well-being. The most precious heavenly gift of Abba to the world is Jesus. Jesus, who had faith in God’s divine plan to save the world, sacrificed Himself to fulfil that plan. He is the most powerful gift of God in true spirit of community to raise the world to divine sonship.
Gaze at our sonship
Lord, who constantly raises us to divine sonship, expects us to elevate others to meet Christ. That is the meaning of evangelizing. Esther 4: 17 say “Mordecai then left and did everything that Esther had told him to do”. Queen Esther and Mordecai were already in privileged positions. Trouble starts when Mordecai does not yield to the orders of the empire to bow down to Haman, the Prime Minister of the King. As a result, Haman identifies that there is a segment of people in the empire, who actually has a different set of values, and plans to kill the Jews. Queen Esther becoming aware of this situation, sets out a plan with Mordecai. First they choose to go to the presence of the Lord. We know it today as the scripture say they wore sack cloth instead of rich garments, ash instead of perfume and began to pray in fasting. These outward signs helped them to embrace an attitude of humility to receive God’s help. In asking they received heavenly riches of courage, truthfulness and faith in God.
Sacrifice, humility and faith are important virtues in experiencing the kingdom of God. When we gaze at others who sacrifice for our sake, don’t we always appreciate these two qualities in them? It may be in a simple action like offering a seat in the bus. But in every kind of sacrifice, we experience a powerful manifestation of Christ’s sacrificial love continuing to take place in the society through one another.
Prayerful Awareness
Let us become aware that we are in the presence of the Lord by our body posture kept in a respectful manner. Like Queen Esther who was willing to give up her comfort to reveal her true ethnic identity in faith and courage and truthfulness, let us appreciate the example she teaches us today. Lord’s Spirit is always truthful. It is our journey in faith.
Let us pray
Lord Jesus we ask for strength to accept your courageous spirit that will enable us to accept the divine gift God’s sonship. In all situations, you reveal the barriers we encounter to journey towards our true inheritance. Therefore, help us to listen to your salvation plan for us and through us to others. Amen.
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