Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ezekiel 16:1-15.60.63;
Matthew 19:3-12)
The prophet
Ezekiel is famous for his bizarre comparisons.
Today’s passage provides an example.
Israel is described as an urchin whom the Lord makes into a beautiful maiden
somewhat like Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. The damsel, however, becomes
entranced with her own beauty. She betrays
her benefactor to seek other lovers. She
will fall from grace but will be redeemed by the Lord who took pity on her in
the first place.
Similar stories
may be told of all sinners. They become
enchanted with the attributes with which they have been endowed. They forget to give thanks for who they are
and what they have. They abandon God
sometimes to the point of denying His existence. They will have to learn the hard way how much
He loves them.
We should
avoid ungratefulness. When we recognize
the Lord as our benefactor, we overcome pride, the gate to unhappiness. Giving thanks
to God for who we are and what we have, we will move well beyond the counterfeits
of pleasure. We will enter houses of joy.
