The message that all prayers are answered in God’s timing, not man’s is reinforced. How will we grow in our faith or as a person if all our whims and fancies are answered without learning the purpose of having faith and perseverance. The sons of Israel eventually received what they asked of God our Father and Moses but they were still not satisfied and filled with greed. Due to their greed and unwillingness to enter the promised land, God our Father sent them off to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Reflecting on this, we should have a sense of gratitude despite all that is happening around us and the world, and that God our Father has still blessed us with what we need to thrive. Considering what we have, we should never fail to help our brothers and sisters in Christ to grow in obedience to his will and serve God our Father with the gifts that he has blessed us with.
Many a time, we find ourselves like the Israelites who are constantly complaining against God our Father. Filled with feelings of doubt and impatience, we resort to taking things into our hands. Some of us are guilty of only turning to God our Father when we have a problem that we are unable to get out of or when we desperately need him to answer our prayers. Are we able to turn away from our old habits and put on the new to develop a real, intimate and loving connection with God our Father? Every Sunday, when we receive Communion both the Body and the Blood of Christ help us rejuvenate our spiritual life, by giving us the Grace in obeying his laws and putting on the new self, a self that glorifies God our Father. We are then able to lean on him no matter the circumstance towards holiness and the truth that Jesus has revealed to us.
In the gospel, the people ask Jesus “What sign will you give to show us that we should believe in you? What work will you do?”. Many of us find ourselves having similar feelings of doubt and a multitude of questions towards Jesus. We anticipate a prize or require some form of evidence so that we may be able to believe and fully place our trust in him. When there is no form of evidence, we often find it difficult to believe and question whether indeed he is present and really helping us. We need to let go of the mindset of setting conditions before God and be able to channel the unconditional love that he has for us towards him. He reminds us not to be consumed by the temporary and materialistic things of the world that only bring temporary happiness. At the end of the day, only God will be able to give us peace and full sustenance and long-lasting happiness.
Written by
Ephrem Music Ministry