ROT AWAY

It is frightening to see something rotting because it could be associated to dying too. I always shiver whenever I see a dead animal on the street that is starting to decay and smell. I am sure nobody wants to go near it and be contaminated of the stench and germs that it carries. We might not realize it but today's 1st reading tells us indirectly that whenever we sin we expose ourselves to the process of rotting and death eventually if we fail to remedy our situation. In fact it was said in Kerygma that sin accompanies death. We may not see it with our visible eyes but every time we sin our soul starts to deteriorate and become susceptible to the destructive elements of sin. We must not allow this to happen to us and avoid sin in order for our souls to remain intact and not rot away. Amen. Hallelujah!

Ezekiel 24:15-23
...You shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away because of your sins and groan one to another.

Today's psalm reading is taken from Deuteronomy and could have been written thousand of years ago even before the time of Jesus Christ. But its message still resounds to this very day. People nowadays are acting as if there is no God with the way they go about with their lives. It is sad to see how they put their loyalty in fame, honor, power and riches without realizing that everything comes from God and He should be first. Amen. Hallelujah!


Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20, 21
R: You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
...What a fickle race they are, sons with no loyalty in them!” (R) 21 “Since they have provoked me with their ‘no-god’ and angered me with their vain idols, I will provoke them with a ‘no-people’; with a foolish nation I will anger them.”


Detachment is a word that is not easy to practice especially with not just things but people too. Today's gospel asks us to do just that in order to be perfect. Whew! We must admit that all of us have certain attachments in this world that we could not just let go of. It's not only with material possessions that today's gospel is talking about but also with people that we find hard to detach ourselves from. We should only cling to God alone. Although God being loving and perfect in everything that He is, surely does not want us to turn our backs from these attachments we have in this world in the literal sense of the word but it is in finding ourselves still with peace and joy despite the absence of them. It is because of the knowledge that God alone suffice. Amen. Hallelujah!

Matthew 19:16-22
...What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.