17th Week of Ordinary Time, Thursday, 8-1-24, Year B
Readings: 1st Reading: Jer 18:1-6; Psalm: 146 1b-2-6ab; Gospel: Mt 13:47-53
Memorial: St. Alphonsus Liguori – Bishop & Doctor of the Church
Theme: Complete Dependance On God
Job said, “We accept good things from God, and should we not accept evil? (Job 2:10)
Who are we to question God? He created us, gave us life, and set us in this world to love Him and be His children. So why would we not accept everything He does for us, both the good and the bad, and be grateful and return His love with all the love of our hearts?
But, alas, the evil one has other plans. He sets out to destroy our perfect love for God and convert that love into a self-love for ourselves. When this happens, we damage ourselves and create imperfections that will require reforming and reshaping so that a new self can be made, one that loves God again. If we are damaged beyond repair, we are thrown away, never to be used again.
It is a reminder of our utter dependence on God to provide for us. He has the power to do whatever He wants without our permission. But God does not exercise that power without allowing us to work with Him first in correcting or fixing our imperfections. He wants us to rely on Him. He wants us to depend on Him. He wants us to ask Him for help. In this way, He can reform and reshape us back into the person He created us to be in the first place.
It pains God when we decide not to rely or depend on Him for help. It is worse when we begin to think we do not need His help at all. When we think this way, we could well be on our way to damaging ourselves beyond repair and being thrown away. This is where the evil one wants to lead us, into complete self-pride or utter despair where we give up on God completely and reject His love. When we remain in these states at the end of our lives, or at the end of the age when Christ comes again, we risk being thrown away and lost forever.
Never think you are better than God. Never think that you do not need God. Never think that God cannot help or save you. With God, anything is possible. We would do well to take Him up on His offer of unconditional love and work with Him toward holiness, no matter how many imperfections we have. We are never lost if we love God and depend on Him. We are lost if we do not.
St. Alphonsus Liguori understood this and preached, as well as wrote on this and many topics, instructing the people in the way of the Holy Trinity. Born in Naples, Italy in 1696, he quickly displayed his intelligence and love for God through education and training. He became a priest at the age of 30 and went on to found the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). He became a Bishop and instructed the people through many excellent writings and exhortations asking them to depend on God.
After his death in 1787, he was made a Doctor of the Church where his teachings and writings still have great significance for our lives today.
Saint James Catholic Church 