First Reading - 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Gospel - Luke 2:33-35 (According to the proper feast)
The liife entails many mysterious events. There are some which are unraveled and others remain incomprehensible. However, the mysteries of our lives can become instrumental to draw ourselves closer to God because they remind us of our finiteness. It's through God's grace we are able to discern the mysteries of our lives and know His will in everything through the eyes of faith. As Christians, we do have our mystery of faith. The readings of today are so designed to help us understand the mystery of our Catholic faith in Jesus.
Paul, in the first reading, reminds the Christians about the great mysteries of our Christian faith viz. passion, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Adding to that, the appearance of Jesus to his disciples and lastly to Paul himself as he underlines. Paul firmly affirms it to the Christians that the 'Pascal Mystery' is the good news for all the Christians and all firmly hold to this truth and there is no alteration or subtraction to this great truth. Historically speaking, Paul certainly addresses the heretical teachings that were surfacing among the Christians proposed by some leaders. Therefore, Paul strongly recommends to the Christians that they must adhere to the truth of the gospel and not be driven away by the false prophets who teach other than the truth taught to them. In fact, the Pascal Mystery is really a great mystery that remains incomprehensible to our human mind but it requires our faith and grace of God to understand it. Therefore, Paul tries to convince the Christians to keep the eyes of faith open to remain firm in the teachings of the gospel.
The gospel passage brings to us 'a great mystery' that blessed mother Mary confronted in the prophecy of Simeon. As the opening verse of the passage says: "As the child's father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him." This particular verse reveals the encounter of the mystery experienced by Joseph and Mary. Simeon makes it clear that the child is going to be a sign of glory for many, Jews and gentiles alike. However, adding to it, he also mentions that the sign of his glory will be manifested in the contradictions or opposition by the people which refers to Jesus' paschal mystery. To cap it all, the prophecy reaches a sad note of the sorrows of Mary because of the sufferings of her son. The whole scene appears to be a mystery for Mary and Joseph which gradually becomes clear in the fullness of time for mother Mary. The interesting part of the sorrows of Mary is that she treasured everything in her heart and meditated on them which we read in the subsequent verses. This is where she gets strength to comprehend and accept so painful mysteries of her life.
Dear friends, the mystery of our Christian faith is demanding because that demands faith from us to understand it viz. the mystery of the trinity, the mystery of the Eucharist, and also the pascal mystery etc. The mystery of Christian faith is not stagnant but vibrant because it demands that our lives to be moulded according to the demands of Christian life with faith as the shield as Paul also reminds the Christians in the first reading. It demands that our life should be becoming of our Christian life in the Christian family (Church). Mother Mary is a beautiful example of how to live our Christian life according to it's demand. It's by surrendering everything to God and by treasuring in her heart that were at that given time mysterious and by meditating on them to know the will and plan of God for us. It's by every moment trying to know the will of God for her, she could co-operate with God in His redemptive plan. We are also invited to co-operate with God in His redeeming action that He accomplishes, by meditating on the events of our lives through which God unfolds His plan to us.
.jpeg)
0 Comments