Thursday of week 31 in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Romans 14:7-12
Saint Paul’s words in Romans remind us of a profound truth: our lives and deaths belong entirely to the Lord. “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” This awareness should free us from the temptation to judge or look down on others, for we are all held by the same mercy and destined to stand before the same just and loving God. Life becomes sacred when we see it as belonging not to ourselves but to Him who created and redeemed us. Judging others, then, becomes an act of forgetfulness, forgetting that only God sees the full story of every heart. To live with this awareness is to walk in humility and reverence, grateful for the gift of belonging. Each person we meet is someone for whom Christ died and rose again. Instead of judgment, we are called to compassion; instead of superiority, to solidarity in the Lord who holds all life in His hands. Let’s reflect: Do I live each day with the awareness that my life and the lives of others belong completely to God, allowing this truth to replace judgment with humility and love?
Don Giorgio