February 07, Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saint Gonzalo Garcia.
Daily readings: 1 Kings 10:1-10, John 7:14-23
The queen of Sheba hears of the fame of Solomon and wants to personally verify it. Sheba is possibly the modern port city of Saba in Yemen. Upon verification, she proclaims that she is only being informed of less than half of the reality. Overwhelmed by what she witnesses, in her great generosity, she gifts Solomon gold, precious stones, and the biggest amount of spices that the country has ever received. In conclusion, she dares to make an emphatic confession: “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king to execute justice and righteousness” (1 Kgs 10:9).
The author of the First Book of Kings has rightly pointed out that the source of Wisdom is the Lord Himself. There is nothing in the world that does not come from the Lord. But why is it that the Lord does not bless all the people with the same kind of knowledge and wisdom? The Psalmist has an answer in Ps 37. He says, “The mouth of the just murmurs wisdom. It is only those who commit their ways to the Lord and trust in Him who will be able to speak wisdom as well as Solomon. The Law of God should ever be in our hearts!
Unfortunately, the human heart becomes home to a host of sins such as fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, and folly. These things that come from within are capable of defiling a person, but not the things that go into a person. We cannot keep on blaming the environment or the circumstances in which we live as the cause of our downfall. They can only stimulate us. The final decision is ours. The key is within us. The more we accuse others, the more we become blind to our faults and make efforts to keep them under the carpet.
Holy Mother Church honors St. Gonzalo Garcia, a lay Franciscan brother. He was born in Vasai. He preached the gospel in Japan and died as a martyr. He was one of the 26 martyrs who died together with Paul Miki.
Call to Action for Catholic Living: Righteous living makes one wise. Righteousness is faith lived concretely without compromising Christian values, which are also basic human values. How serious am I about my daily commitment, especially in adverse conditions?
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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