Psalm 105: 1-4, 6-7 The wonderful history of Israel   “…Seek Yahweh and his strength, tirelessly seek his presence!...”

Matthew 10: 24-33 Open and fearless speech  “…’So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven.  But the one who disowns me in the presence of human beings, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’”

Today’s readings in the fourteenth week of Ordinary Time speak to us about forgiveness, about having a tireless desire to seek strength from the I AM, and about having the courage to walk with the faith handed down by the early Christians.  Today’s messages are so simply put, do this and this will result.  Why do we so often look at the action God is asking us to take, without considering how much help we’ll be given to accomplish it?

Jesus tells us we are SIGNIFICANT to our Heavenly Father, he knows the smallest detail of our existence.  How well do we know our Heavenly Father?  Could we forgive a family of brothers who handed us over to be sold into slavery as Joseph did? (Genesis 50:18)  If we knew God the way he knows us, we might more easily answer yes.  Joseph knew God, and knew God’s love.  So, even though Joseph grew up separated from his family, because of his brother’s actions, his response to their plea for mercy was unselfish and loving.  He said he would provide for them and their dependents.

For some people in our lives, the idea of forgiving them seems unfathomable.  Possibly, the reason it seems so hard to do is because we haven’t gotten to know God, who tells us if we take the first step, His help is closer than we realize. For me that first step has to be to listen to the Word and let it soak in.  To sparsely listen to the readings at Mass and not give but a glance at the meaning of the message has been a difficult pattern to break.  If you only hear the-what-to-do, and not the-how-to-do, the-what-to-do seems impossible.  Today, I’m a better listener, but I lack the trust to take the first step towards doing what Christ would do.  Let us all pray to trust God more, so that we might break the pattern of trying to do things on our own, without God’s help.  Pray that as God’s message today seems simple, when our next opportunity to forgive comes along, we may experience the simplicity in choosing to do God’s will.