The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Dudz Lero SVD – Holy Name Univeristy, Tagbilaran City
Friday 5th Week in Ordinary Time
There was a story featured in the March 2007 issue of the Reader’s Digest magazine about the Bangladeshi fire service diver Mohammad AbulKhaer. According to the story, over 100,000 people in Bangladesh travel everyday by ferry to cross any of the more than 230 rivers around the country.
More often than not, these ferries would be overcrowded with passengers. Hence, tragedies of sinking ferries are common. Most passengers, unfortunately, cannot swim, and when they cannot be pulled out of the water on time, they drown. Until 2007, Muhammad AbulKhaer had risked his life for 15 years to return as many bodies as possible to their grieving families. When interviewed about the philosophy of his heroic deed, he simply responded: “I love helping my fellow human beings in times of tragedy.” But his commander remarked differently: “God has given him something special, otherwise there is no explanation for what he does.”
I am moved by the commander’s words. In simple terms he means that what Khaer is doing is reflective of the God in him, at work through him. This, too, is a conviction I personally hold. Everything that we do mirrors the God in us. And I take great comfort in this conviction from the words of Jesus in the gospel today: “…believe the works, so that you may realize (and understand) that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” (John 10,38)
We should thus be careful with the things that we do. We should be careful with our work. We should be careful with our attitudes. We should be careful with our relationships. They speak on our behalf, whether we have God in us, or we are godless persons.
