Monday of Week 6 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Genesis 4:1-15,25 | Psalm 49(50):1,8,16-17,20-21 | Mark 8:11-13
The Lord asked Cain, ‘Why are you angry and downcast? If you are well disposed, ought you not to lift up your head? But if you are ill disposed, is not sin at the door like a crouching beast hungering for you, which you must master?’ (Genesis 4:6-7)
Food for thought, for when we encounter setbacks in our daily life, or competition from others.
Cain’s offering was not favoured by God because it was unworthy in some way, and not because Abel managed to curry favour with God behind Cain’s back.
Similarly, when our contributions at work or home are rejected, it isn’t necessarily a matter of falling to second place in a bootlicking race. It could well be that we just didn’t put in enough effort, or simply couldn’t care less about what we did – that would certainly reflect itself in the quality of our final product.
Unfortunately, Cain chose jealousy and murder over self-assessment and striving for improvement. We should take a lesson from today’s reading, and be better-disposed towards ourselves and others, but especially to the Lord our Creator.
Lord, open our eyes to the areas in our lives where we fall short of Your expectations. Grant us the humility to accept that we are imperfect, and the drive to improve ourselves daily in Your sight. May everything we do be to Your glory. Amen.