Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Thursday of the fourth week in ordinary time, February 5th, 2026, Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

Delivered by Ariel from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. 1 Kings 2: 1-4.10-12; Rs psalm: 1 Chron 29: 10.11ab.11d-12a.12bcd; Mark 6: 7-13.THE POWER OF ATRUST The title for our meditation today is: The Power of aTrust. In general, we can categorize trust, mandate, responsibility, orcommitment into two. The first is the belief to perform physical acts such asworking for a living, leading an organization, and selling or buying things. Thesecond is belief related to doing spiritual activities such as listening God'sword, worshiping, praying, and fasting. King David entrusted his son Solomon with the trust ofroyal leadership, and this we may regard as example of secular or physicaltrust. Parents or adults give trust to their children to carry out their dutiesand responsibilities according to their expectations. A lot of our physicallives are determined by the trust that is given to us, both within the familyand outside it. Meanwhile, Jesus Christ entrusted and sent Hisdisciples, we can see this as the example of spiritual belief that we find andread in the Gospels. Whenever and wherever our life is, it relates to thespiritual aspects that are all determined by the beliefs or spiritual adviceand guidance given to us. For example, a person attends Mass on Sunday, andfrom there he carries a trust to do the mission commissioned by the priest atthe end of the Eucharistic celebration. The important question is this: what motivates thegiving of trusts, both physical and spiritual has dignity, authority, and powerto produce greater trusts that we are obliged to and not other kind of trustsaround us? Our two readings today provide one main answer, namely obedience andfaithfulness to the God who gives that trust. We are encouraged and obliged tofollow advices, commandments, and rules. All of this is to ensure that thetrust comes from a much greater power and to ensure the legitimacy of theperformance of our duties. Obedience describes how God who entrust is true andHis will is pure. So there is no consideration whatsoever from us to argue oreven correct it. All we do is listen, understand, and practice it. Fidelity isthe close companion of obedience. Faithfulness endures to the end of lifebecause people obey unconditionally. Many times we become like King David or ApostlePeter, who profess faith to be obedient, but sometimes are unfaithful in ourcommitments. The important thing is to regret, then renew oneself to return tofaithfulness.Let us pray. In the name of the Father... O Lord JesusChrist, bless us and enable us to fulfill the all the trust You have put in usfrom the beginning of of our faith. Hail Mary, full of grace... In the name ofthe Father ...