Learn not to 'give up'

There is a familiar story in Book of Samuel, in fact the birth of Samuel. Elkanah had two wives, namely, Hannah and Peninnah. Elkanah offered sacrifices to the Lord and gave portions to Peninnah whereas he gave only small portion for Hannah because she was barren. Even though he loved Hannah more yet he considered it was a curse that she is barren. This bothered Hannah and distressed her life. In the bitterness of her soul she prayed to the Lord with tears and made a vow to give him to the Lord for the whole of his life and no razor shall ever touch his beard. When she prayed this with utmost longing for a child in her, the Lord did not let her down, when including the chief priest Eli assumed that she is drunk whilst she was praying. The Lord hears her plea and grants her a son named Samuel and the rest is history. This story suggests that Lord never lets us down but from our part we need to seek with that longing in our soul for Him. At times, circumstances of life will influence our life style and eventually make us slaves to that circumstance.

There will be always people in our lives who will discourage us or even lead us to give up in life but if we are rooted in God, nothing can influence us. “If God is for us who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31). We have to believe in the truth that God is for us always; God is good, all the time. It is natural for any human person to be discouraged when someone is pointing out at us how we should be or how bad we are? These kinds of phrases will undermine our own worth because we believe that we are in the image and likeness of God. In the recent times, we have heard about sad stories of people either ending their own lives or inflicting violence on others. It seems like the image of God has been distorted, in other words, there is no respect for the human person.

Pope Benedict XVI writes in Caritas in Veritate that "The Church forcefully maintains this link between life ethics and social ethics, fully aware that 'a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized.'" (no. 15).

We, as parish community can influence our society to a large extent because our parish community has a responsibility to reach out to the people who need our loving touch. I would like to extend any form of support to any parishioner who would like to make a difference in the life of this nation. Let us learn not to give up and let us help others learn this trick not to give up.