Posted by The WORD in other words (2022) by Fr Roshan D’Souza SVD – St. Isidore Labrador Parish, Loreto, Agusan del Sur
Monday 6th Week of Easter
“The house is built of bricks, and the home is made of love.” We all live in a house, and our vocation is to make it a home with love. The whole family of a woman named Lydia got baptized by St. Paul, in turn, she invited St. Paul and his companions to her home. The baptism made her a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of divine love. The presence of Jesus in her heart and family transformed her house into a home of love and generosity.
Unlike St. Paul and the household of Lydia, the opponents of Jesus were not empowered by love. Jesus gives a piece of advice to his disciples about what is in store for them, the cost of being his followers. He signifies the two prominent reasons for the persecutions and hardships they will encounter while proclaiming the good news of God’s love.
The most prominent one is that the Pharisees and the Scribes don’t know the savior and the loving Father who sent him to the world. The second one is the wrong conception of religion and its doctrines. To love God and neighbor is the embodiment of knowing Christ and becoming the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
The doctrines of any religion must be rooted in this commandment of love. The Jewish leaders were clinging to the external doctrines, compromising the vocation to be the ambassadors of God’s mercy and love.
Meeting Jesus in everyday circumstances and proclaiming him in our daily activities at home and workplaces will make us true witnesses of him in the world. May he fill us with his wisdom and love, which will transform our house into a home of God’s presence.
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