Monday Eleventh week in ordinary
time year II
1 Kings 21:1-16, Matthew 5:38-42
There are many names which have
gone into extinction and no one accept to bear them again because of those who
have been called the names before. People hesitate in our time to bear names
like Judas and Jezebel. This is because the names seem to represent betrayal
and wickedness respectively.
In the first reading of today, we
see what extent wicked people can go to achieve what they want. King Ahab
cannot be blamed for desiring the vineyard of Naboth for a garden, but I blame
him for getting angry and depressed that poor Naboth refused to give him his
land because it was his only ancestral inheritance. He must have thought that
he would always get what he wanted because he was the king and he was rich.
Life does not work that way.
When things are bothering us, it
is very important to tell the right people who can either assist or advice us
on the right thing to do. Jezebel was not the right person to have heard of the
issue of land between her husband and poor Naboth; she approached the issue
negatively with the mind that she can get whatever she wanted even if it meant
taking the life of Naboth to achieve it.
It is very important that we
respect one another and know that who we are and what we have does not make us
better than the other person. That Ahab was a king and Jezebel a queen, and
that they had everything in life, does not make them better or their lives more
important than that of Naboth. Dialogue is the only way. Whatever we achieve in
a wrong way will only bring us sadness and sorrow. May the Lord grant us the
grace to treat others the way we want to be treated. Amen. God help us.
Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie MSP
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