Welcomed!

I will not reject anyone.

35 [a]Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. 36 But I told you that although you have seen [me], you do not believe. 37 Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, 38 because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 39 And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it [on] the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him [on] the last day.”-John6:35-40

I am truly touched by Jesus' words, "...I will not reject anyone who comes to me..." I am trying to be Christ-like. I want to be another Christ to others. I want to live and imitate Christ. To be Christ-like, one has to be like Him, of course. To be like Him, one has to be Love. And Love asks that we do not reject anybody. Sigh. Easier said than done, but, through the grace of God, we can and we can try and try. They said that rejection has its benefits too. However, must we resort always to rejection even if we have a choice to be open and accepting especially to the many blessings of God?

Image courtesy: God's not Dead

Unity

Jesus is for all.

31 Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 32 And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) 35 And [immediately] the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. 36 [a]He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and [the] mute speak.”-Mark7:31-37

Today's gospel is a kind of continuation of yesterday's reading. Yesterday, Jesus has shown mercy to the Syrophoenician woman and her child. Today, Jesus actually went to the Decapolis area (or otherwise known as the Ten Cities where Gentiles are the majority in a Jewish nation). Here, Jesus is welcomed by people - crowd for that matter. Did He send them away? No. Did Jesus show partiality - that is, preferring the Jews only? No, in fact, He has cured a man with a speech impediment.

Today's gospel is a reminder to me and to all of us that Jesus does not show preference on a certain group of people only. He is a God that welcomes and reaches out to people, even to those who do not believe in Him. We too are invited to welcome, to be respectful and to be open to all peoples regardless of their religion or status in life. The fault of some, is not the fault of all. The sin of some, is not the sin of all. Rather than antagonize people, isn't it much better to live in peace with one another?

Image courtesy: Enact