Reading and meditation on the Word of God, Wednesday of the 10th week in ordinary time
June 9, 2021
Reading is delivered by Brother David, SDB and meditation delivered by Father Peter Tukan, SDB, from the Salesian Don Bosco Community in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The reading is taken from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians (3: 4-11)
Brothers and sisters:
Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.
Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit
for anything as coming from us;
rather, our qualification comes from God,
who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant,
not of letter but of spirit;
for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, was so glorious
that the children of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses
because of its glory that was going to fade,
how much more will the ministry of the Spirit be glorious?
For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious,
the ministry of righteousness will abound much more in glory.
Indeed, what was endowed with glory
has come to have no glory in this respect
because of the glory that surpasses it.
For if what was going to fade was glorious,
how much more will what endures be glorious.
The Word of the Lord.
The theme for our meditation today is: Can We Measure the Ability of God? Generally our answer is “no” and we will never do it. Saint Augustine once had made a try because he wanted to find out how powerful God was, but he failed to understand God as he wanted to. He mocked a boy who made a hole in the sand to fill all the seawater into it. The boy responded convincingly to him, that the human brain is too small to fill all the power of God.
Actually, we can measure Him and His works. We can measure God’s ability not by multiply study, research, proof of high theological-academic reflection, or years of contemplative reflection. We can only measure Him by accepting and acknowledging every form of His glory that we experience every day. In short, we measure God’s ability by His own power which is manifested in our words and actions to testify about His acts of love and mercy in the world.
Saint Paul and his companions give us the way to measure God’s power by using this truth, namely our ability or defense is absolutely from God and not from merely a human ability. They testified that in all their human fragility, they were able to survive and endure all the sufferings in body and soul, it was absolutely the power of God that had worked in them.
This way of measuring God’s power is also found in many of us. Why does the whole world continue to wonder on the ability of the followers of Christ to remain strong when they are facing difficulties and sufferings? Who is the source of the almighty power to whom the followers of Christ rely their faith and keep their sacred promises until death? Who is the source of all strength that married couples and professionals offer their commitments though they should face all the challenges and obstacles of life, and then they can testify to the world that they are happy and live a life gratefully?
The answer should be it’s God alone who is the source for everything. We can measure His might when we witness every manifestation of His glory. This means, every one of us is in the hands of God to what purpose and how our lives would be, it’s there that we can measure and acquire certain understanding with Him. However, let us not just sit and preoccupied in counting numbers that will be endless. We must obey and teach His commandments, passing and sharing them to those who are the least in the kingdom of God. By obeying Him, we will come up to the standard or measure that God wants for each of us.
Let’s pray. In the name of the Father… As we dedicate our ability to answer Your call, O God, may our spirit and will always be renewed to continue carrying out the mission that You have entrusted to us. When we feel that we are unable to carry it and become despair, may Your Holy Spirit sustain us. Glory to the Father… In the name of the Father.