30 July, Thursday — Undoing our wrongs

Jul 30 – Memorial for St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop & Doctor

An adult convert, St. Peter (406-450) fought paganism and heresy, enforced reforms, and built several churches and ornate altars in his see. A preacher with outstanding language skills, he was given the name ‘Chrysologus’, referring to his ‘golden word’. 176 of his sermons have survived; it is the strength of these beautiful explanations of the Incarnation, the Creed, the place of Mary and John the Baptist in the great plan of salvation, etc., that led to his being proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1729.

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Jer 18:1-6
Mt 13:47-53

…he would start afresh and work it into another vessel, as potters do.

I believe that one of the greatest short-cut keys in using a computer is the undo function — ‘Ctrl+Z’. This key is my go-to combination whenever a mistake is made. This is especially whenever I delete something accidentally and I recall this keyboard combination when I read the first reading of today. It reminds me that it is possible for us to restart our lives whenever we face any challenges.

God loves us very much and, there are situations where sometimes we may have strayed from Him. Yet God always allows us to restart all over again. No matter how great the sin, God always allows us to return to Him whenever we choose to repent and discover that the present ways are no good. How does this message then link to the Gospel passage of today?

There is time given to us to discover the weakness of our ways and for us to return to God. That has to be a free decision made by us — God cannot force it unto us. If we persist in our wayward approach, we have to accept the consequences that come with it. The place where there is weeping and grinding of teeth is not a place which I look forward to going to. There are enough signs to remind us to take the straight and narrow path towards the heavenly kingdom. Let us make the effort to admit our failings and reset our lives towards God.

(Today’s Oxygen by Nicholas Chia)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we pray for the strength to stay faithful to your love.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks for the gift of faith.