“Choosing to be with God and to obey His laws and commandments!”

(Based on Rom 16:3-9, 16, 22-27 :14-21 and Lk 16:9-15 – Saturday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time)

It’s a blazing hot noon-time…

The sun is fiercely casting its rays upon the earth…

The situation appears to be very tense and the emotions are running high.

The people of Israel have greatly offended the Lord by erecting a golden calf as their god!

Moses is right at the gate of the camp, emotionally charged and full of zeal and rage!

In a loud voice, with passion engulfing his entire self and bubbling with deep righteous anger, Moses, the man of God roars, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” (Ex 32: 26)

“Whoever is for the Lord, come to me….”

It is a time of making a decision.

The Israelites are to make a choice:

Choose to be with God or to follow other idols.
Choose to obey His laws and commandments or to stray away from His paths.

This choice will lead them to either life or death….

A similar question is presented before us too…

“Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!”

This choice will lead us to either life or death!

The Gospel of the Day presents this Call of the Lord to make a clear-cut and distinct choice in life: Choose between God and Mammon!

“No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other or, be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Lk 16: 13)

More than any time before, the world faces this deep-rooted problem of a “divided heart”

We say we obey God…
… but we fail to abide by His commandments and teachings in the Church!

Am I serving both…?
… God in His Church and the ways of the world…

We say we love God…but we fail to express this love in a faithful lifestyle of prayers and devotions.

Am I serving both…?
… God in devotion and the pleasures of our interests…

We say we serve God…but we fail to extend His love and compassion to our people in need.

Am I serving both…?
… God in His people and the comforts of our own self…

We say we honour God…but we fail to witness to His Gospel values and dilute them to serve our petty interests.

Am I serving both…?
… God in His values and the welfare of our own selfishness…

Let’s not be afraid to look at the naked face of reality staring at us today…

Many people today serve something besides God.
Many people serve sin instead of God.

Many people serve music, serve sports, serve money, serve themselves, serve power and positions, serve the cravings of their bodies…
.. instead of God!

Am I also serving something else instead of God?

In the Old Testament, one of the greatest accusations made against the people of Israel was the
“Sin of Idolatry”…
… abandoning the Living and True God and rendering worship and honour to some non-living thing as a god.

Though, as Christians, we may not be explicitly worshipping some idol or running after some gods or crazy over some tantras-mantras…
… it is not a bad idea to examine our conscience and check whether we really have formed some gods in our lives and thus entering into “practical” idolatry.

Maybe I am too much attached to my electronic gadgets like the phones, TV, music players, cams…and use them way beyond my “need”!?

The idol of gadgets?

Maybe I am too much obsessed with my looks, my styles, my clothing and food habits, my make-up styles…and “over-conscious” than the minimal requirements!

The Idol of the Self?

Maybe I am crazy about gaining over-popularity through an “n” number of picture displays and posts on many social networking sites…and “get totally upset” when I fail to receive the expected appreciations and “likes”!

The Idol of Attention-seeking?

Maybe I am too much occupied with my work, business and other undertakings, that I fail to give attention to my family, my community, the needs of my own spiritual self etc…and lose out on the little joys and happiness of life!

The Idol of Money and Work?

There could be many more idols in our life…

The Idol of Laziness…
The Idol of Immoral Lifestyles…
The Idol of Bad Habits…
The Idol of losing a Sense of Sin…
The Idol of Power-obsession…
The Idol of Criticizing and Judging…etc…

The Gospel of the day places a great choice before us…

Choose to be with God or to follow other idols…
… Or choose to obey His laws and commandments or to stray away from His paths?

We cannot serve both God and other things…

One leads to life… the other to death.

Which side are we on?

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
“THE SACRED MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH’S UNITY”

From the beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which comes from both the variety of God’s gifts and the diversity of those who receive them.
Within the unity of the People of God, a multiplicity of peoples and cultures is gathered together.

Among the Church’s members, there are different gifts, offices, conditions, and ways of life (CCC # 814)