GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 17TH JUNE 2016
FRIDAY OF THE 11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
1ST READING: 2Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20
PSALM: Psalm 132:11-14, 17-18
GOSPEL: Matthew 6:19-23
THEME: HEAVEN SHALL PRESERVE YOU
Whenever I think of leaders like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Nelson Mandela who in spite of imprisonment and other challenges ended up becoming leaders of their nations, I am inspired to arrive at the conviction that heaven preserves makers of history and at the divinely appointed time, they are showcased to the world.
In our First Reading, a woman by name Athaliah, after the death of her son who was king, decided to kill off the whole royal family by eliminating all probable heirs of the royal throne of Judah. She then became the ruler of the land. However, as divine destiny would have it, a boy known as Joash, a member of the royal family, was whisked away and preserved by another woman by name Jehosheba, a sister of the late king. He was concealed from the bloodthirsty Athaliah for six years. In the seventh year, he was brought out and made King of Judah.
Are there some “Athaliahs” in your family or at your workplace seeking to destroy you because of their feelings of insecurity and their desire to usurp power? Courage! Do not let your heart be troubled. Heaven knows how to preserve you. What the Lord has said about you will surely come to pass. Let the “Athaliahs” go ahead and do all they can. Let them do all the character assassinations and evil machinations to uproot you but the Lord will protect you and in the “seventh year”, i.e. God’s divinely appointed time, whatever the Lord has said about you will come to pass.
Lord God, you are my guardian. You neither sleep nor slumber. You are my shade and you hold my right hand. May the sun not strike me by day nor the moon by night. May you guard my coming and going both now and forever. In the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, I pray. Amen
Fr. Andrews Obeng, SVD
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)