COMPASSIONATE GOD


 Tuesday, August 1st, 2023.


Saint Alphonsus Mary de' Liguori, Bishop, Doctor 

 on Tuesday of week 17 in Ordinary Time


First Reading. Exodus 33: 7-11; 34: 5-9, 28

Psalm. 103: 6-13 (R. 8a)

Gospel. Matthew 13: 36-43


TOPIC FOR REFLECTION


A LORD IS COMPASSIONATE AND LOVE


Moses in today's first reading praised the name of the Lord in the tent saying: You O Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy and faithfulness, keeping merciful love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, 

So, Moses made haste to bow his head towards the earth, and worshipped. And he said, “If now I have found favour in your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I beg you, go in the midst of us, although it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”  And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.


Moses interceded for his people,  and the Lord had compassion. More reason in today's Gospel, He encouraged us not to allow the evil spirit to be rooted in us alongside the spirit of God.


So, Jesus in today's Gospel explained the meaning of the parable to His disciples. He said...

He who sows the good seed is the Son of man

The field is the world, and the good seed means the sons and daughters of the kingdom

The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels.


Therefore, the Gospel is reminding us that the kingdom of God is real, and close at hand. We should not allow the devil to plant evil seeds alongside the seed of the kingdom already planted in us. If we do not resist the devil before planting its bad seed in us, we might find it difficult to uproot it later.


It is true that at the end of time, the Lord will separate the good from the bad. It is good to resist the devil, than to say, later I will repent. 


To fall into sin is easier than to repent.


So, we should allow the seed of the Gospel sown in our lives to germinate and bear fruits, a fruit that will last.

We should not take the compassionate heart of God for granted. 


More so, the Holy Mother Church celebrates the memorial of St. Alphonsus, The Father founder of the Redemptorist Congregation.


Peace ✌️ be with you


Rev. Fr. Segun Oladeji, CRS.

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