People who are suffering or are on the fringes of society may not know that they are “of more value than many sparrows.”

 
Reading: Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Luke 12:7b.
 
Good morning, happy Friday, and many blessings my dear family.
 
In today’s Gospel (Luke 12:1-7) even though the crowds are pressing around, Jesus speaks to his friends. The Pharisees and Scribes seem to have backed off for a while. Jesus explains that all our secrets will one day be revealed and come out into the open. So, we need to reconcile with God and receive forgiveness now without delay.
 
God loves each of us so much that even the hairs of our heads have been counted. It is poignant to hear Jesus speaking about the sparrows. They were such a common sight everywhere that he could never have imagined a time when the sparrows disappeared. Yet the sparrows we knew in our childhood are disappearing from our houses and gardens. Somehow climate change is affecting them. This perhaps is also a troubling sign and a call to deeper ecological conversion on our part.
 
Jesus’ popularity had grown with large crowds present. He availed of the situation to speak first to his disciples. They were to be a leaven for change, not like the yeast of the Pharisees in heralding a new era. God give us the openness to hear your message afresh, so that we are a light to others who walk in darkness.
 
True dignity is not earned as it is God-given. It is about acknowledging who we truly are as children of God who cares and provides for us. We are called to rely on God in the midst of what life presents. Lord, help us appreciate more fully who we are, being made in your image and likeness, so that we may offer to share the gifts you have given us for service in your name.
Jesus speaks dark words. He warns his disciples of the 'yeast' of the Pharisees, the opposite of the living bread with which he feeds the people. He warns of the spiritual death which is even more destructive than physical annihilation.
 
Is Jesus aware of his own fate closing in? Does he intimate the betrayal and death which he will undergo, at the hands of misguided religious men? And yet, to the very end, he comforts his followers, and assures them of God's protection. Luke’s gospel continues to indicate that the tension is building up and the opposition to Jesus is becoming stronger as he heads towards Jerusalem. Anyone who follows him needs to be focused and ready for anything.
 
Blessings,
 
Luis+