10th Sunday in Ordinary Time(Cycle B, YearII)

Community Word:God’s great mercy keeps us in communion with Christ
Theme:We are in communion with Christ when we draw others to Him.
Promise: “…more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.”(2Cor 4:15b)

Reflection:
Grace is a favor from God to us who are undeserving. Mercy is God’s decision not to pour out wrath when we sin, but rather His forgiveness. Indeed, God is gracious and merciful because we can always count on Him for His grace, mercy and forgiveness. We are created for the glory of God (Is 43:7), and by nature since the entry of original sin, no man has any communion with God, for we are sinners and God is infinitely holy. But God Himself took the initiative to be reconciled with His people by sending His only Son to bear the curse that we deserved from God, be reconciled to Him, and thereby enjoy peaceful and loving communion with Him. Now, we are able to be in communion with our Lord God when we turn from our sins, repent for offending Him, believe in His promises and follow Him.

Our theme for the week expands this further to: We are in communion with Christ when we draw others to Him. It is easy to get self-consumed and self-centered in life. But authentic Christian love is selfless, concerned more with the needs of others than with one’s own, always focused on the Lord, points others to Jesus, and draws the lost back to Him.

This Sunday’s Gospel shows a fast-moving account of a complex episode in Jesus’ ministry – from His family and from the scribes. His family comes to take Him away because they think He is out of His mind and the scribes think that He is possessed by and in collusion with the devil. But Jesus pointed to them the absurdity of their thinking and concluded with a brief saying about forgiveness of sins. He told them, “Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin,” (Mk 2: 28-19).

There are actually four (4) sins against the Holy Spirit: 1. Despair concerning the possibility of salvation; 2. Presumption of God’s mercy and forgiveness; 3. Denial of the truths of faith; and 4. Final impenitence and refusal to turn to God. Our omnipotent God knows everything. God knows all our sins and often does it with a little nudge to our conscience. He also wants us to verbalize our iniquities so that we will be aware and are sure that we know what these sins are. It is always God Himself who makes the invitation to confess our sins to Him, thru His priests. However, when free human choices cause things to go awry or wrong, God does not turn away from us or from the situation, but He comes and continues to search for and calls us back.

Putting evil in its place and naming sin for what it is, Jesus reminds us that sin and evil must be confronted. The relationship we were meant to enjoy with God will be restored when we learn to do as Jesus did, to do the will of God in all that we are and in all that we do. Therefore, we should spend much time in prayer, reading and studying the word of God in the bible, regularly go to Mass and do God-given opportunities to share with those whose hearts have been prepared by the Lord to hear His message of salvation. Moreover, the solidarity with God in Jesus Christ, which has been extended to each of us, enables us to find courage in the struggle and in our faith journey. In Christ, we have been assured that goodness will never be overcome by evil.

St. Paul points out, God’s grace is bestowed in abundance in order that we may not lose heart as we struggle, as the Promise for this week says: “…more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God,” (2Cor4:15b). By faith, we are assured of God’s continuing help and with graces bestowed by Him in abundance, we become capable of facing the demands of life with calmness of mind and heart and of enjoying abundant life with gratitude. And as we witness to Christ and draw others to Him, we are enabled to let our light shine in such a way that others will recognize the power of God in us and glorify our Heavenly Father.

Prayer:
O eternal loving and merciful Jesus, let your Light look upon our weaknesses, fall upon our wrongful and sinful ways and disturb us to resolve to sin no more. Please equip and empower us to overcome temptations and to turn away from all of these. Infill us with your Holy Spirit and plant the word of God into our minds and hearts and by the fear of and love for the Lord, we may depart from evil, confess our sins and be one with you always and forever. We pray that our lives will be in accord to your divine way and holy will. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

Reflection Questions:
1.How can we be effective witnesses to Christ in the present world that we live in?

2.Share some ways of increasing your life’s witnessing for Christ and thereby draw your family or community members closer to our Lord God.

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
June 10, 2018 (Sun)- Gn 3:9-15/Ps 130:1-8/2Cor 4:13-5:1/Mk 3:20-35
June 11, 2018 (Mon)- Acts 11:21-26, 13:1-3/Ps 98:1-6/Mt 5:1-12
June 12, 2018 (Tue) – 1Kgs 17:7-16/Ps 4:2-5, 7, 8/Mt 5:13-16
June 13, 2018 (Wed)-1Kgs 18:20-39/Ps 16:1-5, 8, 11/Mt 5:17-19
June 14, 2018 (Thu) – 1Kgs 18:41-46/Ps 65:10-13/Mt 5:20-26
June 15, 2018 (Fri) -1Kgs 19:9, 11-16/Ps 27:7-9, 13, 14/Mt 5:27-32
June 16, 2018 (Sat) – 1Kgs 19:19-21/Ps 1, 2, 5, 7-10/Mk 5:33-37

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”