by Dcn Andrew Loh
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalm 127
Hebrews 2:9-11
Mark 10:2-16
Theme: If We Love One Another, God Abides In Us
In the Gospel today, Jesus talks about marriage and about hardness of heart. We will also see Jesus welcoming the children and saying that the kingdom of God belongs to them. It is the children that have the vulnerability and softness of heart.
We see two kinds of hearts, the hardhearted and the softhearted.
Should not softheartedness be ingrained into our relationships, be it marriage, family or friendship?
In the catechist’s address, Pope Francis says this about men and women:
The difference is not for opposition or for subordination but for communion and procreation. Always in the image and likeness of God.
And today’s Gospel Acclamation states:
If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.
In a marital union, God is part of that union. It is a union of three, not two. And perhaps married couples can keep on revisiting the three Cs, communication, cooperation and compromise.
As for our other relationships, are we givers or are we takers?
Does it tend to be lopsided most of the time?
Does one party need to frequently remind the other of this lopsidedness?
Now, we as children of God, we are called to be childlike before God and with God, to let go of self-inflatedness and delusions of self-sufficiency and to allow God’s love, mercy and providence to take over.
We need to remember too that we are living in the present instead of being preoccupied with the future. And so, like children, put aside unnecessary anxiousness.
Author Brennan Manning said:
Childlike surrender and trust, I believe, is the defining spirit of authentic discipleship.
As authentic disciples of Christ, what would shine would be what touches and moves others. We can move others when we share our vulnerability, our experiences and our dependence on God.
It is in the surrendering of this dependence on God that others will see the workings and the ways of God in our lives.
When others start to feel, they become inquirers.
And inquirers become believers.
And believers make more believers.
Let us at this Mass then ask the Lord to heal the hardened areas of our hearts and to become childlike to grow in our relationship with God and with others.
Amen.
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