In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell

Col. 2:6-15, Lk. 6:12-19. Paul offer more detailed moral guidance to the Colossians in today's first reading and traces the underlying principle of Christian life. He is concerned about them possibly losing touch with their allegiance of faith, or “not holding fast to the head” and letting some other 'wise one' take the place of Christ as their leader. The precise nature of the threat to the Colossian community are the temptations of dualism and idolatry. Dualism is the spirituality of self-imposed piety and the severe treatment of the body because the body was thought to belong to a lower realm than soul and should be given no care. Against this Paul declares that false asceticism does not really curb the appetites of the body. He warns them not be taken captive through philosophy and empty deceit. He offers them deeper insight into Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God’s wisdom and life in this world: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”.

John puts this insight even more memorably, saying “the Word became flesh and lived among us, that we may be children of God. Our basic vocation is to stay close to Christ and let Him be the impulse for all that we do. Touching the Lord is a more intimate and a more personal form of communication with Him than hearing or seeing. To make this divine touch available to all, Jesus chose twelve men to be His principal and most important agent of His divine touch. He called them from their various origins and backgrounds, some of them being fishermen, while others were intellectuals, a tax collector, a zealot and freedom fighter among others. When He called them all, they left behind everything and followed Him. He calls us to stay close to Christ and let Him be the impulse for all that we do.

May the Lord renew the wonders of His power in us, so that after the sorrows of our exile we may come home to Him in gladness! Amen!! Good morning and have a great day!!!