Sunday, August 18, 2024

20th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 19-08-2024

Ezekiel 14:15-24 / Matthew 19:16-22 

There is a time in the past when there is this scene in the movies or a dramas.

A robber would come up to a person with a weapon and say “Your money or your life?!?”

The choice is obvious, since we would want to live another day and earn back what we have lost.

Life is certainly more precious that money. And no amount of money can ever buy a moment of life.

But in the 1st reading, the prophet Ezekiel was not given much of choice.

It was not so much as his life was at stake but rather it was his wife’s life.

It may seem that God was so cruel as to take the life of an innocent woman, the wife of a prophet.

But it was meant to wake up the people of God to their sinfulness and impending punishment.

It is such a tragedy that lives have to be lost because of human sinfulness and wickedness.

And it is also such a tragedy to be absorbed with the glitter of worldly wealth and forsake the treasures of heaven.

Let us think about what is our focus on: money or life?

Our choice will determine our future in the here and the hereafter.