27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B, Year I)
Community Word: The Kingdom of God is for those who obey His commandment of love.
Theme: We obey God’s commandment of love when we trust Him with a child-like faith.
Promise: “Blessed are you who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways!” (Ps 128: 1)
Reflection:
Our theme for this week brings us to a better understanding of our relationship with God. God expresses His covenantal love to us and in response, we show our love for God in our faithfulness to Him and to one another. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus explains the value of marital relationship and our need to relate to Him with a faith like that of a child.
The depth of God’s love for man is immeasurable. He created the universe and gave man dominion over His creation so that His divine relationship with man would overflow into all that He created. Such loving relationship was manifested through His Son made flesh, who is the bridegroom united with us, the Church, as His bride. This is the relationship of a man and woman in marriage which sacredness and indissolubility Jesus emphasizes in the gospel – “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh,” (Mk 10: 7).
From the beginning of creation, it was the will of God that man and woman be united in one flesh. Jesus teaches us this value of marriage in Mark 10: 9, 11 – “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate… Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” He reminds us that husbands and wives must be faithful to one another and cautions that separation is caused by hardness of heart when selfish desire is chosen over sacrificial love. Jesus chose to save us and He continues to forgive us despite our sinfulness because He is faithful to God’s covenantal love for us.
God loves us in spite of our sinfulness; He does not desire for us to stay broken. He allowed Jesus to be made “lower than the angels” (Heb 2: 9a) to share in our humanity for the purpose of re-establishing the relationships to the order which He intends. Jesus came to save us. During this time of the pandemic, we need to believe that Jesus Christ is faithful and He is here to save our marriages and families from the attack of the enemy. He is here to restore our broken bodies, to strengthen relationships and to remind us of God’s eternal and faithful love with His people. This is the time when our faithfulness to our Triune God is tested. And this requires deep faith, a faith like that of a dependent child.
Our true relationship with God is governed by how faithful and obedient we are to His commandments. The truth is that our God is a faithful God. He wants to have an everlasting relationship with us and continues to call us every day to honor Him by following His commandment of love – to love God with all our heart and mind, to love others as we love ourselves. Thus, we will receive the promise of a blessed and abundant life when we are right before Him – “Blessed are you who fear the Lord, who walk in God’s ways!”(Ps 128: 1). Fear of the Lord is not being afraid of God, but giving Him appropriate reverence and holy respect because He is the source of perfect love and wisdom. We want to know God more, so that we may love and serve Him fully in His kingdom.
Prayer:
Father God, we thank you for being the God over our relationships. Thank you for inviting us to a deeper and meaningful relationship with You, my Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Help us to imitate the perfect love of our Triune God and bring such loving relationship to our families, our neighbors and community brothers and sisters. Cleanse us of our self-centeredness and hardness of heart and renew any broken relationship. Help us to trust You with a child-like faith and be truly obedient to Your commandment. To You, our God, we give glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving, in unity with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reflection Guide Questions:
- How is my relationship with God at this point in my faith journey? Do I have a child-like faith when I pray to the Lord?
- How does my relationship with Jesus Christ flow to my family members and others, especially those who are in need?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
October 3, 2021 (Sun) – Gn 2:18-24/ Ps 128:1-2.3,4-5,6/ Heb 2:9-11/ Mk 10:2-16
October 4, 2021 (Mon) – Jon 1:1-2:1-2, 11/ Jon 2:3, 4, 5, 8/ Lk 10:25-37
October 5, 2021 (Tue) – Jon 3:1-10/ Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 7-8/ Lk 10:38-42
October 6, 2021 (Wed) – Jon 4:1-11/ Ps 86:3-4, 5-6, 9-10/ Lk 11:1-4
October 7, 2021 (Thurs) – Mal 3:13-20/ Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6/ Lk 11:5-13
October 8, 2021 (Fri) – Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2/ Ps 9:2-3, 6 and 16, 8-9/ Lk 11:15-26
October 9, 2021 (Sat) – Jl 4:12-21/ Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12/ Lk 11:27-28
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!
