The path of man on earth is an undulating path, designed with valleys and hills, plains and mountains, dangerous curves and beautiful smooth paths and landscapes. On this path, one encounters angels and demons, as well as saints and marauders. Though this interplay of colours in human life makes life interesting, it underlines the fact that life is a tough encounter, a challenging mission.
Some of our experiences in the voyage of life are beyond our understanding. We would want to understand why certain things happen to us or even to others. We would ask God in prayer to help our understanding but hardly get the answer. He would expect that we rather found our feet on the pillar of faith. Yet our faith would continue to seek understanding.
However, the Lord has set aside a time to unravel the mysteries we now experience. It would be on His holy mountain. It would be a time of great consolation and illumination. It would be a time to tell the story of our tough journey to His great mountain. There we shall understand better. An old song articulated it beautifully:
Tho’ shadows deepen, and my heart bleeds, I will not question the way He leads; This side of Heaven we know in part, I will not question a broken heart.
We’ll talk it over in the bye and bye. We’ll talk it over, my Lord and I. I’ll ask the reasons – He’ll tell me why, When we talk it over in the bye and bye.
Encouragement
The message of the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading of today is a wonderful message of encouragement. It is a message that is intended to urge us on to victory. His tidings give us hope and assure us that our earthy struggles are not in vain.
The Evangelist Matthew tells the story of the interventions of Jesus in the lives of many people, whom He encountered on the path of human earthly journey. He met people who were broken and worn out, people without orientation, “sheep without a shepherd”. He gave them hope. He encouraged them to keep striving for the prize ahead.
This gospel episode informs us that we are not alone in this life voyage. The Lord goes with us and abides with us always. When we are tired out and down, He restores our strength. We need only but one thing to experience His time of intervention, namely, hope. We must not give up no matter how dark our night becomes. Robert Green would say, “Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers” and according to Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “To live without hope is to cease to live.” When hope dies, life ceases to be. Keeping hope alive is to keep living. Whoever gives up hope, accepts the horror of death.
Those healed by Jesus today received their healing only because they continued to believe in life in spite of their conditions; they believed that life was worth living; they hoped that the sun would shine tomorrow. And their hope did not disappoint them.
