GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 14TH NOVEMBER 2016
1ST READING: Revelation 1:1-4; 2:1-5
PSALM: Psalm 1:1-4,6
GOSPEL: Luke 18:35-43
THEME: FIRST LOVE
Inherent in every human being is the capacity to love and to receive love. There are moments in life when love like a mighty ocean sweeps you off your feet and you fall in love – a happy fall.
Different people have different things to say about their “first love”. Some reminisce the depth, childlike trust and innocence of such experiences. Whatever it maybe “first love” leaves an imprint on one’s heart which remains forever.
In our First Reading, the experience of “first love” is recalled in the prophetic message addressed to the “angel of the church in Ephesus.” The message starts with the expression, “I know…” (Rev. 2:2). Earlier on in Rev. 1:14, the Lord is described as having “eyes like a burning flame”. Thus “I know” implies that the Lord knows into details all that is happening in the congregation as a whole and in the lives of individuals.
The prophetic message continues by acknowledging all the good things happening in the church in Ephesus, namely, the hard work, the endurance, the ability to distinguish true apostles from false ones and to suffer for the name of the Lord. Then the Lord adds, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first” (Rev 2:4-5). No doubt there was a relationship but it appears the quality of the relationship had been watered down by the Ephesians. The call to return to the “first love” is thus one of living anew a relationship that started on a note of great love.
In our journey of faith, some of us carry memories of the many hours we spent every day absorbed in prayer; we remember those moments when fasting and mortification played a central role in our spirituality; we remember when giving alms to the poor was a normal practice and seeking pardon from the Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation was an important part of our way of life. All these were done not for show but as an expression of our deep love for the Lord. Now the question is: Have we stopped doing all these things? What has happened?
The message to the church in Ephesus is a call to each one of us to reexamine our relationship with the Lord. Is our love for the Lord still deep? If the answer is “no”, then let us heed to the call to “repent and do the deeds you did at first” (Rev. 2:5).
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you first loved me; you still love me and promise to love me for all eternity. Pardon me for those times when I have been tepid in my response to your love. I resolve today, with the help of your grace, to love you more than ever. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).