Daily Reflections - Feb 1, 2018

1 Kings 2: 1 - 4, 10 - 12; Mark 6: 7 - 13

Our Lord has designed our lives with a fundamental protocol. Share your wisdom and pass the baton. In the reading of 1Kings 2:1-4, 10-12, King David is nearing death. And in those last days, he took it upon himself the last but eminent task of mentoring his son Solomon to follow in his own footsteps to Fear the Lord with all his mind and all his soul; to obey God’s Statutes, Commands, Ordinances, and Decrees as written in the law of Moses. David testifies to the Lord’s promise assuring Solomon that God will reward his faithfulness. Later the scripture shows that God fulfilled His promise to David by allowing his son Solomon to sit on the throne of Israel, thus establishing David’s dynasty.

Again, in the Gospel of Mark 6:7-13, the scripture tells us about how Jesus deputes his disciples in groups of two messengers to spread the Good News of God’s Salvation. Jesus embarks them on a spiritual mission and instructs them to leave the material necessities and to arm themselves with the Power of God’s Spirit. He specifically instructs them not to carry any money, food, and clothes. Jesus had in mind to teach them to embark on God’s Holy mission depending totally on Him to bless their way.

The Bible readings both teach us the same. David was mentoring his son to be humble before God. David was instructing his son to put God before all things and David was instructing his son to depend and cling entirely to God, His Words and the Law of Moses. In the Gospel of Mark, we find the same lessons. Jesus is instructing his disciples to give up on all material necessities, to put God’s mission before everything in their lives and to cling entirely to God for all their needs. Solomon was given the Kingship of Israel as the baton of Glory and Jesus gave His disciples God’s power and dominion over evil spirits as their baton of Glory. In both instances, they were told of their need to be humble and their need to Obey and depend on God.

Our lives are not all that different from theirs. The Word of God instructs us to carry the Good News in our daily lives through action. God instructs us to wear a tunic of spiritual humility because that is all we need. Jesus instructs us to cling to Him in faith and not worry too much about material necessities. Our faith in God is the ‘stick’ that we must use in our journey to keep us balanced and steady. Our simplicity is the ‘sandals’ that we need to keep us from getting hurt as we walk through a society that bases life on the vanity. The Lord knows that ‘His Word’ will not be welcomed in every home and by every person, yet he tells us to live our lives entwined in the Gospel so that others will see us and know that we are different. Today, we need not give long speeches and teach the Gospel. Today we need to teach by example. Through our Holy lives, God will empower us to evade evil away and bring in holiness and Joy. But it is not always going to be easy. There will be opposition and there will be hurdles and struggles. But just as King David assured his son of God’s reward, Jesus also assures us of Eternal Life.

- By Bro. Maryo.

Saint of the Day - St. Henry Morse of England.

Henry Morse was born in a Protestant family but converted to Catholicism at the age of 20. He embarked on a mission to spread the Good news of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church. Later he was ordained a priest and joined the Society of Jesus at the age of 30. He continued to spread the Word of God facing imprisonment on various occasions until he was sentenced to die and was Martyred in the year 1643. Henry Morse was canonized and made one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970