The River of Mercy 0 comments
Thursday 19th week ordinary time
(Matthew 18:21-19:1)
One of the most deep-seated weaknesses of human nature is our desire to revenge and payback. There is something inside us that feels relieved when we have scored over an enemy. We seem to get a certain satisfaction out of this. However, as followers of Jesus Christ we are taught that sorrow, forgiveness, and reconciliation are absolute necessities for discipleship.
Why do we find it hard to forgive others even though that is the only way to anchor God's forgiveness? I think the reason is because we fail to appreciate and celebrate our own forgiveness. Like the ungrateful servant in the parable, we focus on the 100 denarii our neighbour owes us rather than the 10,000 talents we owe to God, which God has graciously cancelled. Let us think about this in perspective.
A denarius is a labourer’s daily wage. So his fellow servant owed him 100 days pay, which could be paid back in a couple of months. But this same servant owed his master 10,000 talents. A talent was equal to 6,000 denarii. So he owed his master the equivalent of 60,000,000 denarii. For a labourer working 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year, it would take 280,000 years to raise that kind of money. This enormous figure shows that the servant owed his master so much that there was absolutely no way he could ever hope to repay that. This is symbolic of the debt each of us owes God through sin; a debt we could never ever hope to repay even if we spent out whole life is sackcloth and ashes.
Not even the combined penitence of all humankind suffices to blot out a single sin. But God in his infinite mercy sent his own Son to die on the cross and take away our sins. And all He asks of us is to be grateful; to realise that He has done for us so much more than we could ever be required to do for our neighbour.
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There are two seas in Palestine. They are both very different. One is called Sea of Galilee. It is a large lake with clean fresh water from which people can drink. Fish and people swim in it. It is surrounded by green fields and gardens. Many people have built their homes near to it. The other big body of water is called the Dead Sea. It lives up to its name. Everything about it is dead. The water is so salty that people would get sick from trying to drink it. It has no fish. Nothing grows along its banks. No one wants to live anywhere near its unpleasant smell.
The interesting thing about both these bodies of water is that the same river flows into both of them. What makes the difference? Just this one: one receives and gives; the other receives and does not give. The Jordan River flows into the top of the Sea of Galilee and out at the bottom. The same river flows into the Dead Sea and never gets out again.
We have received the river of mercy of God. The river of mercy should flow out to others. Otherwise, we will be like the Dead Sea.
Correcting others 0 comments
Wednesday 19th week ordinary time
(Matthew 18:15-20)
In this times when an aggressive media usually pursue issues for expose, and use the formula “for the sake of truth,” there is the tendency to sacrifice privacy and good name. There is a tendency to glorify being “brutally frank” about issues as a virtue. However, Jesus’ admonition is clear and uncompromising; even in the worst of times when someone may have fallen into the lowest point of moral and spiritual life, correction should be first be done privately. This avoids unnecessary publicizing of private matters, and it also avoids giving unnecessary hurt to persons.
Deeper consideration of the teaching of Jesus makes us realize that Jesus is not simply teaching on correcting mistaken persons. Jesus is talking about true love and concern. True love and concern cannot afford to be silent and indifferent toward people in their weaknesses. Silence and refusal to be involved will not be a safe option, but we will actually be held accountable for the attitude as a “sin of omission.” This is an eye opener for us who live in a society where the culture of personal safety and individualism is becoming more and more basis of action.
Be Like Children 0 comments
Tuesday 19th week ordinary time
(Matthew 18:1-5)
In our ordinary world, those who are famous become our idols. There is a constant search for idols: American Idols, Philippines Idols, and so on. But in our Gospel today Jesus called a child to him and said we are to become like children. A chldren to be our idol?
I found an intriguing idea today about the practice of “inverted Confucianism” today: instead of worshipping our ancestors we worship our grandchildren. The status of children is utterly changed; till modern times they were regarded simply as incomplete adults – ignorant, helpless and dependent.
To receive the impact of what Jesus did and said, we have to put the pampered little tyrant out of our mind and imagine a child in 1st-century Palestine. In Jesus’ time children had no rights, position, or privileges of their own. They were socially at the "bottom of the rung" and at the service of their parents, much like the household staff and domestic servants. Notice that Jesus placed the child at his right side. What is the significance of Jesus' gesture? Jesus elevated a little child in the presence of his disciples by placing the child in a privileged position of honor at his right side. It is customary, even today, to seat the guest of honor at the right side of the host. Who is the greatest in God's kingdom? The one who is humble and lowly of heart — who instead of asserting their rights willingly empty themselves of pride and self-seeking glory by taking the lowly position of a servant or child.
Moreover, children have their qualities we can learn despite of their defects. They are intellectually and emotionally immature. But children have some precious qualities which they often lose as they grow up. They are born free of prejudice and they are totally open to learning. It is this quality that we need to enter the Reign of God. To be totally open and free of prejudice when it comes to listening to God. To be fully teachable and malleable and flexible. Then we are ready to receive everything that God wants us to have and to become everything God wants us to become. Furthermore, to welcome a person who has these qualities in Jesus’ name is to welcome Christ himself.
Paying Taxes 0 comments
Monday 19th week ordinary time
(Matthew 17:22-27)
In the time of Jesus, Jewish men throughout the world showed their loyalty to the temple in Jerusalem and helped to support its work by paying a temple tax of about two days' wages (A half shekel at this time was roughly equivalent to two days’ wages). The tax collectors wondered if Jesus was going to pay the tax, perhaps because they were aware of his critique of the temple, or maybe because they knew he had no steady source of income.
(At least) there are two points we can learn. First, Jesus agreed to pay the tax, not out of some obligation, but in order not to offend his fellow Jews unnecessarily. (Surely he had offended them plenty in matters of the kingdom of God.) As children of God, Jesus and his followers did not have to pay a tax to their Heavenly Father, but they chose to do so in order to foster good relationships with other Jews.
Sometimes Christians are needlessly offensive in their desire to honor God. The example of Jesus and the temple tax reminds us that we need to be both faithful to the Lord and respectful to those around us. Though sometimes we cannot help but offend people with our beliefs, we should never do it needlessly. There is no point erecting barrier so that others are kept away from the Lord.
Second, this passage seems to reflect a dilemma of the early Church. A double dilemma. Should Christians who are Jews continue to pay the Temple tax? Should Christians in general have to pay tax to a pagan government, especially one whose emperor claims to be a deity?
The first dilemma solved itself in time, especially with the destruction of the Temple (which had already taken place when Matthew was written). The second dilemma took longer. The problem seems to have been solved by the principle laid down elsewhere by Jesus: Give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor and to God what belongs to God.
We too have to discern what is legitimately required of us by our governments and make our contribution to the needs of our society while at the same time not compromising on issues where universal principles of truth and justice are at stake. Civil disobedience is sometimes not only a right but also a responsibility.
Life 0 comments
Friday 18th week ordinary time
(Matthew 16:24-28)
For those who believe in feng shui, today is a good day because of the good number 8-8-2008. Many couples choose today as their time for their weddings because of that ‘good day”. Maybe, that is also the reason why the Olympic will start today, exactly this evening at 8.08pm. But for us who have faith in God every day is a good day everything we have is an out-right gift from God. We owe him everything, including our very lives – our day by day lives.
In our short Gospel passage, the word “life” is mentioned four times. Indeed God is life, and this is a gift he shares with us through his Spirit. The word of the Lord reminds us that we must ask ourselves: “What will a person give in exchange for his or her life?”That is, how can we make a return for the gift of life that the Lord gave us?
L = live life. We must discover our intended purpose in life. God works with a purpose. Then we must pursue that purpose. This is greatness. It is measured not against what others do; it is measured against what we are supposed to do.
I = intimacy, not just acquaintances. We must not live inwardly for ourselves, but outwardly for God, and for others. We must pour ourselves out in relationships that are meaningful and humanizing. What defines our relevance in life is this: the live we have touched.
F = fullness. In whatever it is that we are engaged in: let us put our whole selves into it. The Lord says, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it.” To try to do something and to try to “save my life” is mediocrity. St. Ireneus said the glory of God is in the human being fully alive.
E = empty yourself. Do not be afraid – excel, transcend, give life your best all the time.
Personal Conviction 0 comments
Thursday 18th week ordinary time
The heart-to-heart encounter between Jesus and the disciples at Caesarea Philipi centered on the open question that Jesus posed to the disciples: “But who do you say I am?” This question, highlighted at the middle of the narration of the Synoptic Gospel, brings us the key motif of authentic discipleship: personal conviction.
The twelve, especially Peter, will not be learners and followers forever. They will be sent; they will be apostles. It is important then that they have personal conviction about Jesus: his person and his true mission. [In this sense we can understand why Jesus rebuked Peter: “Get behind me satan!” Peter had understood the mission of Jesus wrongly (namely: politically) and this “Rock” could be a stumbling block for Jesus’ true mission].
What would spell success in the evangelizing efforts of the twelve is “fire” that burns from personal conviction. True enough, when finally these twelve started out their task of spreading the Good News that is Jesus, they made the believing community attain a remarkable growth – from Twelve Galileans to half a million Christian throughout the Roman Empire by the end of the first century. Considering the poor communication and tiring travel at that time, this was an explosive growth attained in around 30 to 40 years.
Do we have this personal conviction alive and aflame? Our vision of Jesus in the Gospels should become an inner inspiration, "a fire within" that will create a special response, an awareness of mission, and a strong desire to spread our belief in Jesus' vision and mission.
