HUMILITY IN HIS WORD

  Reflection for Tuesday of the 19^th Week in Ordinary Time, Year A

(Ezek 2:8-3:4; Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14)

Our prophetic blessings this Week shall come from the scroll-eating prophet, Ezekiel. His prophetic oracle came at a difficult time, i.e. during the Babylonian deportation. He was among the Exiles, and the word of the Lord came to him along the way, on the banks of a river in Babylon (Ezek 1:1). It was not easy for Ezekiel to minister to people who were already displaced from their homeland. His Book contains prophecies about Jerusalem, against the foreign nations, hope of restoration after the fall of Jerusalem, and vision of the new temple and new Israel.

Today’s reading focuses on the vision in which Ezekiel received the word of God. The Spirit  gave him the scroll of the word and asked him to eat it. “Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” This unique way of delivering the message of God to Ezekiel indicates the tough job ahead of him, and to give him courage to carry it out. “Then I ate it; and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.” The scroll of the word of God would ‘dwell’ in him as part of his body, such that he could not deny or fail to deliver any of it. We shall see how the mission of Ezekiel unfolds in days to come.

In Jesus, the Word of God took flesh of its own and dwelt among us. Now, we are ‘taken up’ into His abiding presence. So the life of the Word is ‘mingled’ with ours. Imagine the great humility with which we stand before God through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. The deeper we ‘soak’ ourselves in Christ Jesus, the more we ‘die to ourselves’, put off our pride and with the courage of Ezekiel, witness with our lives to Jesus. When the disciples asked, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus answered, “Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The humble are God’s little ones. They may appear vulnerable but God cherishes them. He is their strength; He protects them and brings them back if they go astray. “So it is not the will of my Father who is in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” It takes great humility for one to abide in the word of God, swallow it, digest it and assimilate it. What came to Ezekiel as a vision has become a way of life for us in Jesus Christ. The prophet’s mission might be tough, but our way to righteousness and eternal life is narrow. In humility, we must make the word of God our home in our hearts (Eph 3:17). This is where our greatness in life lies; this is our foretaste of heaven on earth. And may the abiding presence of Jesus Christ be with you + in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Tuesday August 11^th, 2020.
Memorial of St Clare.
 www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com