Today’s Readings:
Isaiah 56:1,6-7
Psalm 67:2-3,5-6,8;
Romans 11:13-15,29-32
Matthew 15:21-28
God desires a relationship with you. But this is not a relationship like all the other relationships you are involved in. Your relationship with God ought to be the foundation of every other relationship you are involved in. This is the only way to set every other relationship on the right path and make them fruitful.
What is the right way to relate with God?
A relationship is a connection that exists between persons. It is to share your life with another – your time, your resources, your joys and pains, your secrets and dreams and to give and receive love from the other person. The opening prayer of the 20th Sunday in ordinary time, tells us that in our relationship with Him, God prepares good things for us which no eye can see, He fills our hearts with the warmth of His love and grants us the grace to love Him in all things and above all things. In our relationship with Him, God pours Himself (so to speak) into us and gives us nothing short of 100% of Himself. God is not a charity organisation; He is a Person with whom you can enter into a relationship. If you wish to relate with Him, you also have to give yourself completely to Him.
What are the hallmarks of a relationship with God?
Faith (Matthew 15:28): Woman you have great faith. The Canaanite woman believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of David and that He alone can answer her prayer even when he called her a dog. To her, Jesus is the only One. Is Jesus your only one?
Trust (Psalm 37:3-5): “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” No lying, cheating, or in any way consciously hurting the other person. You feel free to talk about anything (learn the other person’s voice): share your hurts, your fears, your needs or desires. Be free to be yourself. God demands the same of you in your relationship with Him. You cannot choose to remain in your sins and still make demands of God. He wants us to _“care for just and act with integrity” (Isaiah 56:1).
Permanence (Mark 10:9): What God has joined together, let no one separate (this applies first to our relationship with God, especially for those who are Catholic at one point and decide to go somewhere else because of marriage or something else).
Selflessness (John 15:12): My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Mutual Respect (Luke 6:31): Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Character (1 Corinthians 16:14): Let all that you do be done in love.
JUDE-MARY OWOH
Prayer:
O praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise Him, all ye people.
For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of David, look upon my poor state and lift me to a state of grace.
O Lord, help me to treasure my relationship with you above my other relationships and treat others with the same love and care that you have shown to me.
I plug my life into the socket of holiness and righteous, in Jesus name.
Father, we commit our children, youths and your adults into Your fatherly care, keep them as the apple of Your eye, in Jesus name.
O Lord, pour out Your spirit afresh on all ministers of God, in Jesus name.
Father Lord, strengthen the body of Christ to fight the spiritual battle of faith victoriously, in Jesus name.
We command the spiritual strong men in charge of our nation to be bound, dismantled and be disgraced, in Jesus name. Amen.
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