By Philip Raj csc-
Readings: Jer 17: 5 – 10; Lk 16: 19 – 31
Day by day we tend to become more rational than what we ought to, which is why we doubt everything, especially belief in God.
Doubting or being a sceptic is not a bad thing, but our doubts should help us confirm our faith in God. If not, we will go astray and think that we do not need any grace of God in our lives.
Today’s liturgy of the word invites us to trust and depend on God’s grace, because we cannot do anything without God’s grace. Moreover, it makes us deepen our faith in God to face all challenges in our lives with a bold face. As the first reading reminds us, we would be like a tree which
is nourished with water and does not fear anything that would come on the way.
In the gospel reading, the rich man had no love, neither for God nor for the poor as he completely forgot about God and took things for granted in his life. So, he had to face consequences for his acts and negligence.
God loves us so much, that is why he has given us the freedom of choice, to choose what we want. We have two ways of living before us; one is to trust God and be sensitive to the needs of the poor and the needy at our doorstep. The second one is to neglect the voice of God and go away from him. What we choose, we become in our lives. The readings of the day challenge me to be sensitive to the poor and give visibility to my faith.