CALLED TO INHERIT ALL THE BLESSINGS IN HEAVEN


SUNDAY, FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP 

Amos 7:12-15; Ps 85:9-14; Eph 1:3-14; Mk 6:7-13

Blessed with All the spiritual Blessings in Christ Jesus

When we consider the dignity of the divine Majesty of God and the blessings to which he calls us his miserable creatures, we feel overwhelmed and momentarily go blank. This is because our minds cannot comprehend such a height of contemplation. But great light of consolation comes from the little we know of God. The Catechism teaches that God is a supreme Spirit who alone exists of himself and is infinite in all perfection. If the material creatures are not easy to comprehend, how can we comprehend the Creator of all there is in heaven and on earth? On the ground of the infinite greatness of God, no one dares disobey his will expressed by his word given to us. When the word of God comes to us, we cannot refuse to receive it because of the greatness of God and the infinite good contained therein. Based on these considerations, Amos replied to Amaziah’s attack on his authority to proclaim the word of God in Bethel. He gently reprimanded the priest, who was supposed to know better, by reminding him that no one can refuse to prophesy to the people when Yahweh sends his word. “I was no prophet, neither did I belong to any of the brotherhoods of prophets, I was a shepherd, and looked after sycamores: but it was the Lord who took me from herding the flock, and the Lord who said, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’” To prevent or oppose the message of God to his people is to cooperate in the work of the prince of darkness.

The first reason for this judgment is the infinite blessing to which the word of God calls the people. The word of God summons us to faith in God, which is the basis of our reception of the blessings of God. The psalmist speaks of the immediate blessings that the recipient of God’s word receives. These are forgiveness and peace. “I will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace, peace for his people. His help is near for those who fear him and his glory will dwell in our land.” Hence, to reject or oppose the proclamation of the word of God is to block the blessings of forgiveness for the people and the peace guaranteed on their return to God. The glory of God fills the land due to his real presence among those who fear and believe in his holy name. This spiritual or mystical presence is a foretaste of the heavenly blessing promised by Jesus Christ. The foretastes are nothing compared to the revelation St. Paul made of the blessings that the believers in God’s word are to receive, or have received, from the beginning of creation. “Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ. Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence.” The mission of the word of God is to bring the presence of God in our midst, through which we are made ready for the fullness of it in heaven.

The heralds of the Good News are harbingers of heavenly peace and divine presence.  Thus, no one can impede the proclamation of the word of God without punishment. The fullness of heavenly blessings, predestined for us, is already in existence and awaiting our confession of faith in Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word. His appearance in human nature is God’s communication of the fullness of blessings to humanity. The assurance of this fullness is the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ. “Now you too, in him, have heard the message of the truth and the good news of your salvation, and have believed it; and you too have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise, the pledge our inheritance.” The heavenly blessings are beyond our imagination, for what we have already received is beyond our imagination.

The importance of the message is again estimated by the one who brings the message, Jesus Christ the Lord. If the Only Begotten Son of God is a messenger of the heavenly blessings, who can imagine the greatness of what God promised? Further, if the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity, guarantees what God promised, who dares to doubt God's infinite blessings? If the Son of God came as Messenger of the Promised Inheritance, who dares obstruct or impede the Good News from reaching the people? Every one of us is called to serve the course of the Good News. “Then he summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs giving them authority over unclean spirits.” The word of God comes with authority, not only to destroy opposition within us but also against those who oppose the proclamation of the Good News. We must pray and submit our whole being to God that he may use to bring about his holy will.

Let us pray: O God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray, so that they may return to the right path, give all who for the faith they profess are counted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and to strive after all that does it honour. 

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