Tuesday, July 7, 2020

FINDING OUR VOICES IN CHRIST JESUS


Reflection for Tuesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time Year A
(Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13; Mt 9:32-38)
Prophet Hosea laments how Israel shut God out in her choices of leadership. “Israel made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but without my knowledge.” By silencing God, the rulers they chose, led them to worship idols that “have mouths but cannot speak, they have eyes but cannot see" (Ps 115:5). The prophet announced series of punishments to them, which in the end will make Israel to lose its voice in the land of slavery. “Now He will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.”

Imagine one losing his voice. It is like one who has no place among the community of persons. His basic means of communication is shut down. Such a person cannot express himself freely, and he will begin to experience loneliness and abandonment! This is the kind of slavery that sin and Satan try to lure us into. Whenever we ‘silence’ God  away from our daily choices, we end up in the hands of ‘idols’ that have no voice and cannot guarantee our voices.   

In the Gospel of today, Jesus steps in as He restores the speech of a man possessed by a demon. This is how we find our ‘voices’ in Jesus in the midst of a world that is attracted to lies. There is always a conspiracy against the truth both in the family and the larger society. This tendency to mute the voice of truth has made those who received their voices in Jesus to be unpopular and few. Thus, the Pharisees tried to ‘silence’ Jesus by heaping false accusations against Him: “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” But their plan failed as all falsehood will one day collapse.

Seeing the crowds looking like sheep without a shepherd, Jesus said to His disciples “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few, pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.” God must be involved! True shepherds are God’s sent; true labourers labour for the Lord. These are the ones who through Jesus give voice and direction to the people. But if we shut God out as Hosea lamented, we will get leaders who may take us back to Egypt.

Therefore, let us invite Jesus into our lives today, and involve Him in our daily affairs. If we make our choices in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our voices shall continue to resound even without words.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Tuesday July 7th, 2020.

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