Jeremiah 20:10-13 / John 10:31-42
At times, it may be rather easy for us to think that we are quite good people, even in the religious sense.
As long as we say our prayers, go for Mass regularly, don't break any the the 10 Commandments, then we might think that we are quite good people.
Yet, the measure that we use are created by ourselves and it is by that measure that we compare ourselves with others and even judge others.
In the gospel, Jesus gave the measure by which our lives must be measured, and that is we live our lives according to the ways of God.
Yes, we are called to live godly god-like lives and to do the works of God so that we become signs of God's presence in this world.
Yet, we fail because we may have been overwhelmed by the evil that we see around us and we have let it influence us so much so that we may not be even aware of the evil we commit.
Also, when we are oppressed by evil-doers, we forget our divine calling and we react with evil for evil.
That was the distress of the prophet Jeremiah in the 1st reading. He was surrounded and overwhelmed by evil.
Yet, he turned to God to save him and to deliver him from the hands of evil men.
May we also turn to Jesus our Saviour and Healer and ask Him to cleanse us of evil and to deliver us from evil so that we can renew our baptismal commitment and walk the ways of God.