Blessed is he who does not lose faith in Him (Mt 11:6)

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Mt 11:2-11), Jesus says something rather astonishing about John the Baptist. He says, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen. And yet, even John had his weaknesses; even John had moments of doubt. The very man who had seen the Spirit descend on Jesus, and had baptized him was no longer sure if he was the Christ.

How could Jesus be the Christ in the face of so much evil; how could He be the Christ if he had left John in prison? Jesus sends a seven statement answer to John:

The blind see
The lame walk
Lepers are cleansed
The deaf hear
The dead are raised
Good news is preached to the poor
Blessed is he who does not lose faith in him

The seven statements suggest that Jesus’ work is perfect. He has not left anything undone. Just as God created the world in six days and blessed the seventh day, John is invited by Jesus not to lose faith in him. It is through faith in Jesus that the perfection of God’s work is revealed. It is only through faith that you are able to see the hand of God perfectly at work in your life!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rev. Fr. Michael Mensah, SSD Fr. Michael Kodzo Mensah is a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, Ghana. He is a Biblical Exegete and holds a Doctorate in Sacred Scriptures from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, Italy. He is currently a Formator and Academic Dean of St. Paul’s Catholic Seminary, Sowutuom in Accra, Ghana.

THE BOOK IS HERE!

Breaking The Word (Year A) is the first in the series of a three-volume work dedicated to the explanation of scripture readings for Sundays and Feast days, according to the Catholic Liturgical Calendar. The author leads the reader to discover new insights into these passages of Holy Scripture by returning to the original texts in Hebrew and Greek as the basis for the interpretation of these passages. The book is thus the perfect study manual for both preacher and student not only in terms of content but also in terms of the exegetical methods which the author employs on every page of this work. It is also the perfect companion for everyone of Christ’s faithful who feels that restless desire to go deeper below the surface of the Word of God proclaimed on Sundays and Feast days.

Swords into Ploughshares! (Isa 2:4)

Have you ever wondered what it means the prophecy of Isaiah which reads “they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks? Well, it simply means that a situation of war will be turned into a situation of peace. But why swords and ploughshares? The sword in the bible was an instrument of war. But not just war. It was a symbol of violence. The first story of violence in the Bible was that of Cain and Abel (Gen 4), when an elder brother killed his own younger brother. The ploughshare was a farming implement. The first farmer was Adam, the father of Cain and Abel, whom YHWH commanded to till the garden of Eden and care for it (Gen 2:15). The prophecy of Isaiah is thus a vision of a return from violence to what God originally intended – the peace of Eden. This is what God intends for us this week. May God banish from your heart every violence and return you to the peace in which you were created.

BREAKING THE WORD

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