GOD RECOGNISES AND REWARDS YOUR SACRIFICE

When it comes to serving God, we must be willing to go the extra mile, even to deny ourselves of certain privileges and to give God his rightful place in our lives because when we make sacrifices with sincere hearts, God blesses us in return.

In our first reading today, we see how Daniel, Hananiah, Misheal, and Azariah popularly known as Shedrach, Mishach, and Abednego, went the extra mile by denying themselves of the so-called rich food of the king as a way of giving God his rightful honour. They opted to eat only vegetables because they wouldn’t want to defile themselves.

Their decision to abstain from the king’s food seemed like punishment but the Bible said that in 10days, they not only looked better fed and more nourished but also endowed with Wisdom and Understanding more than the magicians in the palace.

In today’s Gospel passage also, we see Jesus publicly appreciating a woman who genuinely sacrificed all she had to God.  This woman’s contribution can be likened to the act of Daniel and his colleagues. Just as they denied themselves of the king’s food, this woman denied herself of all the money she had trusting that God will provide for her. Behold, Jesus immediately noticed her. When we act with such faith, God responds immediately. He rewards our Genuine Sacrifices.

My dear friends, as we begin this new week, we must learn to make sincere sacrifices to God. It is possible that the reason you have not experienced your breakthrough is simply because you have not sacrificed enough or genuinely. If God could offer us His best gift, in the person of his beloved son Our Lord Jesus Christ, he would not be expecting anything less from us.

Beloved in Christ, St Paul in 2 Cor 9:6 told us that “he who sows sparingly, will also reap sparingly”, so let us pray that through the intercession of St Cecilia, we may always make genuine and sincere sacrifices that will fetch us bountiful blessings.