Only in God is My Soul at Rest"
Today's Mass Readings
If we do not understand today’s first reading as a continuation of yesterday’s readings, it is easy to misunderstand Paul’s harsh language about the wrath of God. Not once, but twice just in today’s reading Paul points to the judgement and wrath of God. In the gospel reading too, Jesus expresses his frustration with the Pharisees for their inability to comprehend the mysteries of spiritual life. St Paul’s main point is not the judgement or the wrath of God but the deliberate rejection of God by some people. He has just argued in the passage preceding today’s reading that, even nature bears witness to God. Paul calls those who reject God insolent, boastful, haughty, ingenious, wicked, rebellious, senseless, faithless, heartless and ruthless (Rom 1:30-31), because “although they know the just decree of God” (Rom 1:32), they reject to live by these decrees. As he continues in today’s reading, their very rejection of God separates them from God. Thus even God, whose is known for his “priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience,” (Rom 2:4) cannot save them.
Jesus’ frustration like Paul’s does not arise from God’s rejection of people but the Pharisees rejection of the revelation of God in Jesus. They were not convinced that God could reveal himself in the ordinary. In other words, the enemies of God in Romans and the Pharisees in the gospel reading have all the signs that point to God’s truth. However, pride and arrogance stops them from accepting God as revealed by Jesus. On the contrary people like Ignatius of Antioch, whose feast we celebrate today, surrendered himself to martyrdom to bear witness to God.
The work of God is visible in every small detail in the world. From the raindrop to the warmth of the sun, from the newborn to the aged, from the beautiful to the painful the handiwork of God is obvious. Most people want a miracle in order to believe that God had a message for them. Today, pause to recognize God in the small things. Even someone we do not like may have a message for us.