Sunday, February 8, 2009

A coin has two sides...

Got this from somewhere.. Thought it's really meaningful, esp for all of us out there facing our daily struggles... May it provide some hope amidst our darkness.. Can't wait to see you guys later! :)
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A coin has two sides; so does life. On one side, life is day-to-day drudgery, full of failed dreams and shattered hopes. On the other side, life contains moments of joy, peace and a sense of purpose. These moments may not come often, but they still keep us plugging along through the challenging days, allowing us to hope against hope that things will turn out well. Maybe, just maybe, we think, our dreams are not in vain.

This Sunday's readings examine both sides of the coin, but leave us with no doubt about upon which side to base our lives.

In the first reading, Job touches unerringly upon every phase of life's dark side. For instance, he asks, "Do not human beings have a hard service on earth, and are not their days like the days of a labourer?" He goes on, "...so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery ...my eye will never again see good." Not a glimmer of light enters into this picture that Job so honestly paints. And yet, he never loses faith in God.

The two other readings look at the other side of the coin.

In the second reading, Paul describes to the Corinthians how he sees his preaching of the gospel. He desires no pay for this work. His reward is simply to be able to offer "the gospel free of charge", even though in doing so he made himself "a slave to all". But as he says, it is all worth it in order "that I may share in its blessings."

In the gospel, Mark tells us how Jesus healed Simon Peter's mother-in-law and other great numbers of sick and possessed people. So great were the numbers cured that his companions wanted him to stay on the spot, for,as they said, "Everyone is searching for you." But Jesus answered, "Let us go on to the neighbouring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came to do." Obviously Jesus is "good news".

All of our lives contain some drudgery and sorrow, but in Christ, all drudgery and sorrow become the birth pangs of new life. In basing our lives on Christ, our pain, taken in faith, becomes part of our journey as it was part of Christ's journey. Our sorrows become balanced by the conviction that a new day is dawning, an everlasting day when we will live forever in God's loving embrace.

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