“When the crowd saw it, they all praised God.” (Lk 18:43)

 “When the crowd saw it, they all praised God.” (Lk 18:43)

Today’s Passage: Lk 18:35-43  

Meditation: In the gospel of Mathew w read, “In the same way, your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your father in heaven.” (Mt 5:16) It means that our each good deed turns to be a witness to God’s love and is an occasion for others praising God. While I was attending a charismatic retreat there were some testimonies of those who received different graces from God, both physical and spiritual. All these testimonies were received by the people in great thankfulness to God. It was really moments of praise and thanksgiving.

If we go through the gospels, many a time we find people from different walks of life praising God after seeing the miracles performed by Jesus. Today’s meditation passage is one of such instances. The poor blind man, who received healing from Jesus, followed him praising God. Seeing this act of the healed one, the crowd praised God. Therefore, we can see here a double miracle: the healing of the man born blind as well as the people turning to God praising him.

Today also many people receive God’s graces; some of them, of course, give thanks to God and few others forget thanksgiving. Today’s verse clearly indicates that our thanksgiving has a great witness value. Your thanks giving and praise to God invite others also to praise him and lead a thankful life. Jesus himself was impressed by the thankfulness of the Samaritan who was healed from his leprosy.

  

But this act of thanksgiving in public, in anyway, should not be a show before others. Jesus always criticized this attitude of the Pharisees and instructed his disciples saying, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners, so that everyone will see them.” (Mt 6:5) Do we lead a life of thanksgiving before God in our day to day life?

 Prayer:  Lord God, we thank you and praise you for your daily eternal bread. Have mercy on us! O Lord, many a time we receive abundant graces from you, but often forget to give you thanks and praise. Today we understand that it is not only our duty and right but also it is our salvation. Thanksgiving life itself is a witnessing life. Give us the courage to lead a thankful life in all circumstances. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen! 

                

Greetings: God is with you! Have a nice and blissful Monday…