By Praveen Bandula, CSC _
Readings: Joel 4: 12-21; Lk 11: 27-28
One of the Ten Commandments is ‘honor your mother and father’. God gave this commandment to us to respect our parents in their old age and to bring honor to them through our good living. The tree is judged by its fruits, in the same way parents get good and bad name by the lifestyle of their children.
The Gospel of the day gives us a message that society judges us in whatever we do or say. A woman got up from the crowd to bless Mary for giving us Jesus as a savior. The blessing of Elizabeth to Mary during her visit ‘blessed are you among women’ was fulfilled in today’s Gospel reading, even Mother Mary herself praised God saying, ‘surely from now on all generations will call me blessed.’
The good tree always bears a good fruit. The blessed virgin who is holy and humble of heart brought the savior to the world. In the second part of the Gospel reading Jesus blesses us, the believers, for accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior. In the Old Testament when Abram was called, God promised him that ‘I will bless those who bless you.’ Let us have a positive attitude towards people because God lives in every one of us.
We cannot curse any one for a moment of anger and jealousy. Believe in Jesus Christ that he is our savior so that we may receive heavenly blessings and live a worthy life in Christ Jesus. God is compassionate and loving towards people who are compassionate and loving to neighbors. Let us pay heed to the message from today’s Gospel reading to be good children of our parents and heavenly Father to witness the good news of Jesus Christ and to bring his blessings to everyone we encounter in our daily life.