27th Week in Ordinary Time (B) : Friday 11th October 2024

Pope Saint John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council on 11 October 1962, opening the doors of the Catholic church to dialogue with the modern world. This historical and significant event reaffirmed the missionary dimension of the church, made meaningful assurance to the life of faith and further established interreligious relations with people of other faiths.

Faith brings us blessings and closeness to one another, and to God. As St Paul articulated well to the Galatians, that people of faith would receive the same blessings as Abraham did.

Yet, the Gospel places us into the reality of discomfort triggered by people whose faith is tainted with malice. They reacted vehemently against Jesus’ healing power and scandously attribute his power to that of Beelzebul rather than God. Jesus redressed their rationale with the fact that demons have no power to defeat another evil, but only to war against God. It is sensible for the crowd to hear that a kingdom is heading towards a fall if it is divided. Hence, Jesus clearly chided them, saying, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters!” To us, there are ultimately only two kingdoms which stand in opposition to one another – the kingdom of God and the kingdom of evil. Vatican II paved the way for us to engage the world with truth and compassion, and this is continued by the synodal approach of bringing people of faith to the table of listening.

Lord, may our love of your Church reveal our compassion for one another.