Commentary on the Gospel of
Trust in the Lord and share.
For many years I have not had the opportunity of going to the river near my home in the village, the river in which I learnt how to swim during my childhood. I still have many lovely memories of this river. During the just celebrated Christmas holidays I happened to visit home, and while taking a walk, I decided to reach the riverside! Though it was dry season in my area (we call it harmattan), the plants by the riverside were all blossoming with life! it reminded me of how we used to climb some of the trees around the place in search of fresh fruits, throughout the year! And we would always find some fruits. “Blessed is the man who trust in the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside the waters.”
Trusting the Lord shows forth in cultivating virtues that attach oneself to the Lord. In fact, cultivating virtues is akin to digging a dam all around oneself, a dam whose source of spring is the Lord Himself. The one who trusts the Lord feeds from the fresh nutrients of kindness and mercy, charity and generosity, patience and forgiveness, love and compassion endlessly! One is not scared of reaching out by practicing these virtues, simply because he or she trusts the source, the Lord Himself.
Cultivating these virtues is only possible because the one stays with the source, remains with the Lord: meditates the Lord, thinks the Lord, talks the Lord, preaches the Lord. The one acquires these virtues that reach out in sharing in contrast to the rich man in today’s Gospel reading who built an exclusive wall around himself with his riches – purple garment unto himself, sumptuous food unto himself alone, with no language of sharing. To him Lazarus did not exist. What an invitation set before us: trust in the Lord and share.
