DIVINE WHISPER with FR. PIUSRALPH EFFIONG, SMMM

TUESDAY OF THE 33rd WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR (II)

Mystery of the day: Sorrowful 

Celebration: St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

(1206-1280). German by birth, he studied in Padua and Paris. He entered the Order of Preachers and taught theology. In Paris, St. Thomas Aquinas was his pupil. A man of great wisdom, he became a bishop and worked to establish peace among peoples and cities.

Table of the Word:  Revelation 3:1-6.14-22; Luke 19:1-10.

"For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." (Revelation 3:17)

Theme: Pride goes before fall.

Reflection for the day

Pride is one of the vices that has eaten so deep into man. It creates among men that insensitivity that he is "all and all". It beclouds sense of reasoning and pushed man into the pit of shame and destruction. 

In the light of this, that God revealed through Evangelist John in today's first reading the emptiness of man thus: 

"For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." (Revelation 3:17).

To buttress this point God exhorted us in this way:

"Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see." (Revelation 3:18).

No matter how Valuable we may think our fame and glory is, without God it is vanity upon vanity. We need the "humility of Zachaeus" to get salvation. He was a rich man as described by the scripture. He did not consider his status in the society but went ahead of the crowd just to see Jesus (cf. Luke 19:1-10). And seeing Him, he did not waste time in responding to the call to come down from the tree, a lesson for us to have a quick response to the detects and ordinances from God. This poses a question before us: How quick do we respond to God's invitation to depart from evil ways?  

As He is ever ready to have us close to Him as He did to Zachaeus. His readiness to dine and wine with us is also being found in Evangelist John's revelation when He says:

If any one opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him” (Revelation 3:20).

Let us beloved in Christ, open our ear to hear the Word, and heart to receive Him, while imploring the intercession of St. Albert the Great whose memorial we celebrate today. Peace, be with you!

Let us pray

O God, who made the Bishop Saint Albert great by his joining of human wisdom to divine faith, grant, we pray, that we may so adhere to the truths he taught, that through progress in learning we may come to a deeper knowledge and love of you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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