Reading and meditation on the Word of God, Monday of the 12th week in ordinary time
Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, religious
June 21, 2021
Reading is delivered by Irene Asterna from Saint John Bosco Church in Jakarta, Indonesia and meditation delivered by Father Peter Tukan, SDB from the Salesian Community in Jakarta, Indonesia
The reading is taken from the book of Genesis
The LORD said to Abram:
“Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk
and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.
“I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you
and curse those who curse you.
All the communities of the earth
shall find blessing in you.”
Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him.
Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
Abram took his wife, Sarai, his brother’s son Lot,
all the possessions that they had accumulated,
and the persons they had acquired in Haran,
and they set out for the land of Canaan.
When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land
as far as the sacred place at Shechem,
by the terebinth of Moreh.
(The Canaanites were then in the land.)
The LORD appeared to Abram and said,
“To your descendants I will give this land.”
So Abram built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.
From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel,
pitching his tent with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east.
He built an altar there to the LORD and invoked the LORD by name.
Then Abram journeyed on by stages to the Negeb.
The Word of the Lord.
The theme for our meditation today is: Sincerity is Wonderful. The virtue of sincerity can be understood as a person being himself or herself, to become what he or she is in words and deeds. Often sincerity is put along with honesty, transparency, or frankness. When a sincere person faces with a problem, he is neutral in seeing to that problem. He is free from prejudice, not making favouritism and unbiased.
When we put sincerity in the same sense with innocence or frankness and clarity, this should refer us to someone who has no hesitation at all to say what he has to say and to do what he has to do. He is free from any burden to say and to do things. He stands on the ground of truth, common sense, moral and norm established in society. We know from the book of Genesis that the Lord God called Abram and sent him to go to a new place called the promised land. God did that as a holy covenant made between Himself and Abram. Abram was sincere with that calling and without hesitation at all he departed with his family, his wife Sarah and his relative Lot. He was supported by all his will and freedom. He was glad to obey God.
Such act of Abram is actually a sincerity. Abram opened himself to God so that he did not find it difficult to carry out God’s will. God made Abram’s sincerity as the basic project to realize a bigger plan, namely the salvation of mankind. Abram’s sincerity was strengthened as if to give him confidence in this way: Don’t worry, that sincerity will help you grow stronger. You have no burden, because this is the Lord’s business. Don’t take it too personal. Or it can be said in this manner: No personal feeling at all. And Abram proved to be the father of faith of all nations. This should remind us that sincerity is so wonderful.
The sincerity is extraordinary. One of its advantages is that it will make a person free, confident, and happy to live his life in truth and goodness. The Lord Jesus gives us an advice through the proclamation of the Gospel today, that sincerity in us must be alive and growing. He emphasizes that a follower of Christ is not to judge others with or without any reason. When he does not see the wooden beam in his own eyes but tends to see the needle in the eyes of his brothers or sisters, he is actually an insincere person.
Our sincerity needs to be maintained in order to help making our life day by day beautiful and pleasant with our neighbors. This beauty is obtained by first judging ourselves in the first place, before judging others. That is a true sincerity.
Let’s pray. In the name of the Father… O Lord Jesus Christ, bless us with the grace of sincerity and honesty in our words and deeds. Glory to the Father… In the name of the Father…