We are Mere Infants in Christ!

 

22nd Week Wednesday in Ordinary Time

Year One

Col 1:1-8

Meditation

In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of love that you have for all the saints,  because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.  This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your[c] behalf, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

St Paul thanks God for the Colossians for their faith and hope in Jesus. Faith and hope are priceless gifts for a believer in Jesus. They keep them close to God and close to their Neighbours in charity and love. Faith and hope are also cultivated in life by believers. Once faith is put to test and hope is lost yet times. So, it is hard to remain in faith in God and hope in God. Love and charity which goes out in action is true. For a believer, these three theological virtues lead one to possess a healthy spiritual life. A community without faith, hope and charity is dead; instead the community is vibrant when these virtues are present in the believer and in the community.

Do we question our faith, hope and love in Jesus?

Year Two

1 Cor 3:1-9

We are Mere Infants in Christ!

St Paul is telling the Corinthians that he fed them with milk and not with solid food, for they were like little children. The Word of God is preached to them, but they are not able to live up to the Word of God. They were weak and fragile, failing to live as the sons and daughters of God. They were quarrelling and disputing themselves on every possible issue. One of the means to live as children of God is to live in peace and harmony.  Peace is the gift of the Holy Spirit and a guarantee of God’s blessing.

Those who have overcome the world and come to grown in virtue can still fall short of being stable and steady in virtue for human nature is weak and corrupted. Let no one fight and divide themselves but cooperate with God and his ministers for the building of the Kingdom of God. Humility and dependence on God is the need of everyone to grow in God and to live as His true sons and daughters.

Do we divide ourselves or unite ourselves for the sake of the Kingdom of God?

Lk 4:38-44

 After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her.  Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them. (Lk 4: 38)

The mother-in- law of Peter began to serve Jesus and his disciples immediately after she got healed. She experienced the power of Jesus, which made her active in action. She expressed her gratitude for her healing by serving them. That was the sign of her healing, one who was on bed with fever, now serving them actively. The presence of Jesus in our life transforms us entirely. We too are healed many a times in our lives and experienced the presence of Jesus. But are we grateful to God? Are we active in action like mother-in-law of Peter in serving Jesus and his disciples in and around us? Gratitude is a sign of wellness. St John Bosco used say that ‘a grateful boy is a holy boy.’ Gratitude is not enough in words but it has to be manifested in action.

Do we manifest gratitude in action for the blessings we received?

Fr. Putti Anthaiah, SDB