Thursday, October 19, 2023

28th Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 20-10-2023

Romans 4:1-8 / Luke 12:1-7    

A prominent and religious man went to heaven and came before the Pearly Gates and there was an intercom.

He pressed the button and said, “Hello, I am Thomas, and I want to go in. The Pope knows me, as well as a number of Cardinals. Can you let me in?”

A voice replied, “Come back another day.” And the man wondered why.

He thought about it for a couple of days, and he pressed the button and said, “Hello, I am Thomas. I have kept all the Commandments and the laws of the Church and go to Mass everyday and say my prayers faithfully. Can you let me in?”

A voice replied, “Come back another day.” And again the man wondered why. Meanwhile, he noticed that ordinary and lowly people whispered into the intercom and they were let in.

So he managed to ask a lady who was just about to go in, what was it she whispered into the intercom.

What she told him made him think and reflect.

This time he pressed the intercom button, and whispered, “Lord, I am not worthy, but please let me in.” and the gates opened and he walked humbly into heaven.

This is just a story, but it goes to show what the 1st reading is saying about Abraham.

Abraham put his faith in God, and this faith was considered as justifying him.

When we have nothing to show or boast about, except our faith in God’s love for us, then we are truly happy.

In God’s eyes, we are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.

Let us be like the humble sparrow that depends on God’s providence, and we will fly to heaven.