Keep striving to enter heaven

Luke 13: 22-30

22 He went on teaching from town to village, village to town, but keeping on a steady course toward Jerusalem. 23 A bystander said, "Master, will only a few be saved?" He said, 24 "Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life--to God!--is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you'll sit down to God's salvation banquet just because you've been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. 25 Well, one day you're going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you'll find the door locked and the Master saying, 'Sorry, you're not on my guest list.' 26 "You'll protest, 'But we've known you all our lives!' 27 only to be interrupted with his abrupt, 'Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don't know the first thing about me.' 28 "That's when you'll find yourselves out in the cold, strangers to grace. You'll watch Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets march into God's kingdom. 29 You'll watch outsiders stream in from east, west, north, and south and sit down at the table of God's kingdom. And all the time you'll be outside looking in--and wondering what happened. 30 This is the Great Reversal: the last in line put at the head of the line, and the so-called first ending up last.

Food for thought

Jesus' answer to the man's question must have come as a shock. With it Jesus declared that entry to the kingdom can never be automatic but is the result and the reward of a struggle. "Keep on striving to enter," he said, the way to life--to God!--is vigorous. The word for striving is the word from which the English word agony is derived. The struggle to enter in must be so intense that it can be described as an agony of soul and spirit.

It is easy to think that, once we have made a commitment of ourselves to Jesus Christ, we have reached the end of the road and can, as it were, sit back as if we had achieved our goal. There is no such finality in the Christian life. We must ever be going forward or necessarily we go backward.

Please do note the defense of these people was, "We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets." There are those who think that just because they are members of a Christian family all is well. They differentiate between themselves and the heathen in their ignorance and blindness. But living in a Christian family is not necessarily a Christian. He may be enjoying all its benefits; he certainly is living on the Christian capital which others before him have built up; but that is no reason for sitting back content that all is well. Rather it challenges us, "What did you do to initiate all this? What have you done to preserve and develop it?" We cannot live on borrowed goodness; holiness is a personal affair and is in-transmissible.

There will be surprises in the kingdom of God. Those who are very prominent in this world may have to be very humble in the next; those whom no one notices here may be the princes of the world to come. There is a story of a woman who had been used to every luxury and to all respect. She died, and when she arrived in heaven, an angel was sent to conduct her to her house. They passed many a lovely mansion and the woman thought that each one, as they came to it, must be the one allotted to her. When they had passed through the main streets they came to the outskirts where the houses were much smaller; and on the very fringe they came to a house which was little more than a hut. "That is your house," said the conducting angel. "What," said the woman, "that! I cannot live in that." "I am sorry," said the angel, "but that is all we could build for you with the materials you sent up."

The standards of heaven are not the standards of earth. Earth's first will often be last, and its last will often be first.

Marriage is a huge mystery

Ephesians 5:21-33

21 Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another. 22 Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. 23 The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. 24 So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands. 25 Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church--a love marked by giving, not getting. 26 Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, 27 dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. 28 And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor--since they're already "one" in marriage. 29 No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That's how Christ treats us, the church, 30 since we are part of his body. 31 And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh." 32 This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. 33 And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.

Food for thought!

Today's food for thought is taken from the first reading. You'll know the reason why. But first, let us accept that Paul's words on marriage in this reading are indeed HARD TALK, and to many people, both married and single, are quite challenging. But they shouldn't be, because in these words, we find the biblical notion on marriage.

First and foremost, marriage is indeed a HUGE MYSTERY, as Paul said. And like any mystery, our understanding of it is limited. What Paul is teaching us is that Christian marriage is the most precious relationship in life, whose only parallel and model is the relationship between Christ and the Church.Every couple reminds the world of the relationship of CHRIST AND THE CHURCH.

However, sometimes the emphasis of this passage is entirely misplaced; and it is read as if its essence was the subordination of wife to husband. The single phrase, "The husband provides leadership to his wife" (the husband is the head of the wife) is quoted in isolation.  But the basis of the passage is not control; it is love.  

The husband is head of the wife – true, Paul said that; but he also said that the husband must love the wife AS Christ loved the Church, with a love which never exercises a tyranny of control but which is ready to make any sacrifice for her good. Paul is saying that husbands must, if it comes to that, die for their wives, just as Christ died for the Church.

He must love her as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for the Church. Christ loved the Church, not that the Church might do things for him, but that he might do things for the Church. Where there is true love there is sacrifice.

A man must love his wife as he loves his own body.  Real love loves not to extract service, nor to ensure that its own physical comfort is attended to, it cherishes the one it loves. There is something far wrong when a man regards his wife, consciously or unconsciously, as simply the one who cooks his meals and washes his clothes and cleans his house and gives birth to his children.

For the sake of this love a man leaves father and mother and cleaves to his wife. The two become one flesh.  He is as united to her as the members of the body are united to each other; and would no more think of separating from her than of tearing his own body apart.

Some advice: husbands, do you want your wives to be really loyal to you? Love them 24/7. Wives, do you want your husbands to really love you, submit to them 24/7. Marriage is a give and take game.

Bis dat qui cito dat!

Luke 13:10-17

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11 and a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” 13 Then he placed his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water? 16 Then shouldnʼt this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?” 17 When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.

Food for thought!

Before anything, let's note that this is the last time we ever hear of Jesus being in a synagogue. It is clear that by this time the religious authorities were watching his every action and waiting to pounce upon him whenever they got the chance. And they got one: Jesus healed on a Sabbath a woman who for eighteen years had not been able to straighten her bent body; and then the president of the synagogue intervened. He had not even the courage to speak directly to Jesus. He addressed his protest to the waiting people, although it was meant for Jesus. He criticized Jesus thru the people! Sometimes people can criticize JESUS by criticizing us. What they don't know is that there are certain things we do by Jesus' mandate.

Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; technically healing was work; and, therefore he had broken the Sabbath. But he answered his opponents out of their own law. The Rabbis abhorred cruelty to dumb animals and, even on the Sabbath, it was perfectly legal to loose beasts from their stalls and water them. Jesus demanded, "If you can loose a beast from a stall and water him on the Sabbath day, surely it is right in the sight of God to loose this poor woman from her infirmity."

What Jesus is saying is what many people do, even today. Being more benign to animals than to humans. Some people spend lots of money on their pets while some where some humans are starving. Sometimes we give more attention to beasts than to humans! Shame.

The president of the synagogue and those like him were people who loved systems more than people. They were more concerned that their own petty little laws should be observed than that a woman should be helped. For Jesus, the individual comes before the system; humans come before animals. In the world and in the church we are constantly in peril of loving systems more than we love God and more than we love humans. Sad.

Jesus' action in this matter makes it clear that it is not God's will that any human being should suffer one moment longer than is absolutely necessary. If Jesus had postponed the healing of this woman until the next day, no one could have criticized him; but he performed the healing to teach us that suffering must not be allowed to continue until tomorrow if it could be helped today. Over and over again in life some good and kindly deed is held up until this or that regulation is satisfied, or this or that technical detail worked out. He gives twice who gives quickly, as the Latin proverb has it: bis dat qui cito dat. No good that we can do today should be postponed until tomorrow.

Back on track!

Mark 10:46-52

46 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. 47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My rabbi, ” the blind man said, “I want to see!” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

Food for thought!

A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. Says the gospel reading of a man who had lost his identity. Due to his situation of blindness, the man was named Bartimaeus, that is, SON OF A FATHER! The man was, in other words, nameless. He was known and knowable in terms of his father; he had no name of his own.

Being nameless means being without identity of his own. THIS, was THE problem of this man. He was simply the son of the father. To call someone "son of the father" is to say nothing; is to say the obvious; is to say that the man was a son of a father. Who is not? So am I, so are you?

No wonder that when Jesus asked the man, “What do you want me to do for you?”, the man went straight to the base of his situation, the mother of his problem: “I want to see again!” Did you notice that the man is referred to as Bartimaeus (son of a father) up to and until he came to Jesus? Did you notice that in verse 50 the man does throw away the coat that was covering him all along? "Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus." Before this man knew Jesus he "was sitting beside the road", after coming to Jesus he was "back on track". The gospel says that, " Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road."

I don't know on which part of the road you are standing today; I don't know the name of your coat that is covering you right now, whether it is guilt, boredom, unemployment and probably unemployable, anger, despair, confusion, addiction, or even grieving the loss of a dear friend. Whatever is covering us this day, we can throw it away, through him who strengthens us. The man's coat was called Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus. This is the coat that the man, empowered by Jesus, threw away for the first time. Because of this coat, the man could not see; he had become blind; he had lost his name; he had lost his God given identity; he had lost his job, his status, his family and friends. It is all this that Jesus restored in this man: his identity, his name, his sight, his status, his dignity, and above all his personality. He is no longer a son of a father, but a son of THE HEAVENLY FATHER, created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27).

Many of us have lost our sight of what God made us; we have lost our "God given identity", and are known by "people given identity". If I asked, What is your identity? Your mission? Your purpose in life? What on earth are you for? What would you reply? Most of us would reply in terms of the people given identity. Please, notice how difficult it was for the man to beat the people given identity? When he called, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” many of the people yelled at him: “Be quiet!”. Why did the people react this way? Because they don't want us to lose the label they have given us; people like seeing us miserable. As long as they enjoy, as long as the people get what they want, they don't mind about your condition. We are egoistic people, and all we want is to have our interests served.

Everybody was created, not to be just a son of a father; this is too little. As Viktor E. Frankl says in his book "Man's Search for Meaning", Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Once someone said, "He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how." It means that who knows the "why" for his existence, will be able to bear the "hows of his life."

Everybody needs "something" for the sake of which to live and sometimes, if need be, to die for. This meaning is unique and specific to everybody, in that it must and can be fulfilled by each person alone. That is why, life's greatest tragedy is one to lose sight of the meaning of life; the tragedy is to have the means of life (be materially rich) but have no meaning of life.

We can discover the meaning in life in three different ways: (I) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering. The man in the gospel found his meaning by encountering Jesus. To Jesus be praise and honour and glory, for ever! Amen.

Gospel of the second and last chances!

Luke 13:1-9

13  1 About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. 2 “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. 4 And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”

6 Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. 7 Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’ 8 “The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. 9 If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”

Food for thought!

Today's reading is troubling me. Yesterday, I buried my great friend and colleague. I am right now traveling home from his funeral. And I feel the words of Jesus directed especially to me: "And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God." My friend died. I am still around. Why am I still alive? Why do I still breathe air, eat the food, and use mother earth's resources? Have you ever asked yourself this? Why have you not yet died? Is it because you are holier than all who have died before you? Is it luck for you and bad luck for them? 

This is the issue Jesus is posing in the parable:  ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’ What is Jesus saying here? Well, we must remember that repeatedly, directly and by implication, Jesus reminds us that we shall be judged according to the opportunities we have enjoyed in life. Oh yes, we shall be judged according to what God gave us. Never was a generation entrusted with so much as ours and, therefore, never was a generation so answerable to God.

Jesus is saying that uselessness invites disaster. It has been claimed that the whole process of evolution in this world is to produce useful things, and that what is useful will go on from strength to strength, while what is useless will be eliminated. The most searching question we can be asked is, "Of what use were you in this world?"

Back to my friend's funeral. I can still hear the speeches; people after people were all in accord that he was useful in this world; he made a difference in many people's lives. And this is what Jesus is teaching us today, that nothing which only takes out can survive. The fig-tree was drawing strength and sustenance from the soil; and in return was producing nothing. That was precisely its sin. 

In the last analysis, there are two kinds of people in this world--those who take out more than they put in, and those who put in more than they take out. I don't know where you belong; I know where my friend belonged: he put into this world more than he took out; he lived just 42 years!

In one sense we are all in debt to life. We came into it at the peril of someone else's life; and we would never have survived without the care of those who loved us. There is laid on us the duty of making a difference in the world before we live it; we have the obligation of putting into life at least as much as we take out.

The question we face is What is the meaning of life? As Viktor Frankl says, It is not man who poses the question, What is the meaning of life? but he who is asked this question, for it is life itself that poses it to him. And man has to answer to life by answering for life; he has to respond by being responsible; in other words, the response is necessarily a response-in-action.

Before we go, Jesus is teaching us something beautiful. A fig-tree normally takes three years to reach maturity. If it is not fruiting by that time it is not likely to fruit at all. But this fig-tree was given another chance. It is always Jesus' way to give us chance after chance. God is infinitely kind to us who fall and rise again.

And lastly, this is not only the Gospel of the second chance; it is also the Gospel of the last chance. Jesus is clearly saying that there is a final chance. If we refuse chance after chance, if God's appeal and challenge come again and again in vain, the day finally comes, not when God has shut us out, but when we by deliberate choice have shut ourselves out. God save us from that!

Why?

Luke 12:54-59 

Then he turned to the crowd: "When you see clouds coming in from the west, you say, 'Storm's coming'--and you're right. 55 And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, 'This'll be a hot one'--and you're right. 56 Frauds! You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don't tell me you can't tell a change in the season, the God-season we're in right now. 57 "You don't have to be a genius to understand these things. Just use your common sense, 58 the kind you'd use if, while being taken to court, you decided to settle up with your accuser on the way, knowing that if the case went to the judge you'd probably go to jail 59 and pay every last penny of the fine. That's the kind of decision I'm asking you to make."

Food for thought!

Jesus is surprised at us. He says, “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right?"  Curious.  Why don't we know what is good for us? why do we choose what is dangerous to us? Why? Why do we spend our time and money on things that have little or no relevancy to us?  This is the question Isaiah put long ago:

Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy? Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest. (Isaiah 55:2)

The people who were so wise to read the signs of the sky could not, or would not, read the signs of the times. If they had, they would have seen that the kingdom of God was on the way. Jesus used a very vivid illustration. He said, "When you are threatened with a law-suit, come to an agreement with your adversary before the matter comes to court, for if you do not you will have imprisonment to endure and a fine to pay." 

The assumption is that the defendant has a bad case which will inevitably go against him. "Every body," Jesus implied, "has a bad case in the presence of God; and if we were wise, we will make our peace with God while yet there is time." There are some things we cannot afford to put off; above all, making our peace with God.

Are you in B.C. or A.D.?

Lk 12:49-53

49 "I've come to start a fire on this earth--how I wish it were blazing right now! 50 I've come to change everything, turn everything rightside up--how I long for it to be finished! 51 Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I've come to disrupt and confront! 52 From now on, when you find five in a house, it will be-- Three against two, and two against three; 53 Father against son, and son against father; Mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; Mother-in-law against bride, and bride against mother-in-law."

Food for thought!

These words are by all ways a shock. Jesus sometimes shocks and shakes us. In order to drive home an important point, Jesus sometimes uses hard talk. The question is, what is it that he want to teach us this time? What is the lesson?

First of all, FIRE in the Bible is almost always the symbol of judgment. So, then, Jesus regards his coming as a time of judgment. So when he says, I have come to start a fire on this earth, he means, I have come to judge all of us. When we stand before Jesus, we stand in judgement. By the way, this is why time is divided into BEFORE CHRIST (B.C.) and AFTER CHRIST (A.D). 

Before Christ comes to us, we are living in BC, and after he has come, we live in AD. His coming inevitably means division, not only of time and history, but also sometimes of families and individuals. Over and over again we have to decide whether we love better our ways or Christ's ways; our traditions or Christ's teaching; our thoughts or Christ's thinking. 

The essence of Christianity is that loyalty to Christ has to take precedence over the dearest loyalties of this earth. We must be prepared to count all things as loss for the excellence of Jesus Christ, as Paul did:

I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. 7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. (Phil 3:5-9)

In your life, do you have a BC and AD? Do you see any difference in what you were before and what you are today? Are you changing in anyway? Are you still living in BC?

God is watching you!

Luke 12:39-48

39 "You know that if the house owner had known what night the burglar was coming, he wouldn't have stayed out late and left the place unlocked. 40 So don't you be slovenly and careless. Just when you don't expect him, the Son of Man will show up." 41 Peter said, "Master, are you telling this story just for us? Or is it for everybody?" 42 The Master said, "Let me ask you: Who is the dependable manager, full of common sense, that the master puts in charge of his staff to feed them well and on time? 43 44 He is a blessed man if when the master shows up he's doing his job. 45 But if he says to himself, 'The master is certainly taking his time,' begins maltreating the servants and maids, throws parties for his friends, and gets drunk, 46 the master will walk in when he least expects it, give him the thrashing of his life, and put him back in the kitchen peeling potatoes. 47" The servant who knows what his master wants and ignores it, or insolently does whatever he pleases, will be thoroughly thrashed. 48 But if he does a poor job through ignorance, he'll get off with a slap on the hand. Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!

Food for Thought:

The unwise steward made two mistakes we all so often make.

(i) He said, I will do what I like while my master is away; he forgot that the day of reckoning always comes. We have a habit of dividing life into compartments. There is a part in which we remember that God is present; and there is a part in which we never think of him at all; there are days, moments and places we are godly, and others we are not. We tend to draw a line between sacred and secular; but if we really know what Christianity means we will know that there is no part of life when the master is away. We are working and living forever in our great task-master's eye. Our Master is never away. God is watching us.

(ii) He said, I have plenty of time to put things right before the master comes; there is nothing so fatal as to feel that we have plenty of time. Jesus said, "We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night comes when no one can work" (Jn.9:4). One of the most dangerous days in a man's life is when he discovers the word "tomorrow." Tomorrow never comes; yesterday never comes back; only today matters. Live it well.

The passage finishes with the warning that knowledge and privilege always bring responsibility; our privileges, our opportunities, our riches, our money, our talents all is responsibility. To whom much is given, much will be demanded of him. Sin is doubly sinful to the person who knew better; failure is doubly blameworthy in the person who had every chance to do well.

Jesus expects us to expect him when he comes!

Luke 12:35-38

35 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.

Food for thought!

It is true, one day we will all meet God. And it is true  that no one can tell the day or the hour when eternity will invade time and summons will come. How, then, would we like God to find us? This is what Jesus is helping us do: "Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks." Jesus does not want to surprise us; he expects us to expect him. 

(i) We would like him to find us with our work completed. Life for so many of us is filled with loose ends. There are things undone and things half done; things put off and things not even attempted. Great men have always the sense of a task that must be finished. Jesus himself said, "I have accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do" (Jn.17:4). No man should ever lightly leave undone a task he ought to have finished, before night falls.

(ii) We would like God to find us at peace with our fellowmen. It would be a haunting thing to pass from this world at bitterness with a fellow. No man should let the sun go down on his anger (Eph.4:26), least of all the last sun of all and he never knows which sun that will be.

(iii) We should like God to find us at peace with himself. It will make all the difference at the last  breath to know whether we feel that we are going out to a stranger or an enemy, or going to fall asleep in the arms of God. An other words, be at peace with the Lord. How? "Let every detail in your lives--words, actions, whatever--be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way." (Col. 3:17)

 Luke 12:35-38

Life is not about having much but being much!

Luke 12:13-21

13 Someone out of the crowd said, "Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance." 14 He replied, "Mister, what makes you think it's any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?" 15 Speaking to the people, he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot." 16 Then he told them this story: "The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. 17 He talked to himself: 'What can I do? My barn isn't big enough for this harvest.' 18 Then he said, 'Here's what I'll do: I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll gather in all my grain and goods, 19 and I'll say to myself, Self, you've done well! You've got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!' 20 "Just then God showed up and said, 'Fool! Tonight you die. And then your barnful of goods, who gets it?' 21 "That's what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God."

Food for thought!

                       

Jesus refused  and refuses to be mixed up  in our disputes about wealth. However, out of that man's request there came to Jesus an opportunity to lay down what his followers' attitude to material things should be. Jesus did it in the form of a parable. Two things stand out about the man in the parable.

(a) He never saw beyond himself. 

There is no parable which is so full of the words, I, me, my and mine. The rich fool was indeed self-centred. This man had never thought of giving any of this abundance away. His whole attitude was the very reverse of Christianity. Instead of denying himself he aggressively affirmed himself; instead of finding his happiness in giving he tried to conserve it by keeping.

The Romans had a proverb which said that money was like sea-water; the more a man drank the thirstier he became. And so long as a man's attitude is that of the rich fool his desire will always be to get more, and that is the reverse of the Christian way. Our life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. Life  is not a question of having but of being. Life is not about having much but being much.

(b) He never saw beyond this world. 

All his plans were made on the basis of life here. There is a story of a conversation between a young and ambitious boy and an older man who knew life. Said the young man, "I will learn my trade." "And then?" said the older man. "I will set up a business." "And then?" "I will make my fortune." "And then?" "I suppose that I shall grow old and retire and live on my money." "And then?" "Well, I suppose that some day I will die." "And then?" came the last stabbing question.

The man who never remembers that there is another world is destined some day for shock. Yes, we too are fools to store up earthly wealth but neglect to have a rich relationship with God. What we have will be lost one day; what we are is ours for ever. So we do well to invest in being more than in having more.

Will you pay the price?

Mark 10:35-45

35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.” 36 “What is your request?” he asked. 37 They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” 39 “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. 40 But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”41 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Food for thought!

This is a very revealing story.

It tells us something about James and John: they were ordinary people, like you and me! Matthew retells this story (Matt.20:20-23), but in his version the request for the first places is made not by James and John, but by their mother Salome. Matthew must have felt that such a request was unworthy of an apostle, and, to save the reputation of James and John, he attributed it to the natural ambition of their mother. 

On the other hand, Mark wants to portray James and John, not as supermen, but as natural and normal people, like the rest of us. All the apostles were not a company of saints. They were ordinary men. Did you notice what the ten did? "When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant." It was with people like ourselves that Jesus set out to change the world, and did it.

It is with such people that Jesus continues to save and serve the world. We too, are like James and John. We have been Christians for some time now, but we still continue to misunderstand Jesus. This incident tells us that they had completely failed to understand Jesus. It shows, as nothing else could, how little they understood what Jesus was saying to them.

Like James and John, many times we come to Jesus, kneel down, and make requests for which we are not ready to pay the price. We want the product, and we hate the price. We want riches but don't want to work for them; we want the rose but hate the thorns; we want salvation but hate the suffering.

“You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” And they said, we are able. And they were able. As you know, James was the first apostle to die; he was martyred. And John? He  was the last apostle to die. He died in exile, under persecution.

 You know what? Most of our troubles are due tot he prayers we made in the past. I repeat: many of our problems are because of the requests we made to the Lord. our problems are the price we pay for what we asked the Lord to grant us. There is nothing of value we can get without a price. we should know this as we kneel down to pray. There is a price tag attached at  each and everything good.

Whenever you ask Jesus anything, Jesus asks you: Are you able to drink the bitter cup of suffering that accompanies your request? Are you able to suffer in order to get what you want? Are you able to pay the price? Because there is no glory without crown; no victory without a fight. This is what Jesus teaching us in the gospel reading of today:

"Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."

 Are we to stop making requests to theLord? No. We only have to brace outburst pay the price. And when the moment of paying the price comes, we have the second reading of today to console us:

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (Heb 4:14-16)

Sin against the Holy Spirit!

Luke 12:8-12

8 And I tell you, Whoever declares openly [speaking out freely] and confesses that he is My worshiper and acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man also will declare and confess and acknowledge him before the angels of God. 9 But he who disowns and denies and rejects and refuses to acknowledge Me before men will be disowned and denied and rejected and refused acknowledgement in the presence of the angels of God. 10 And everyone who makes a statement or speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit [that is, whoever intentionally comes short of the reverence due the Holy Spirit], it will not be forgiven him [for him there is no forgiveness]. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, do not be anxious [beforehand] how you shall reply in defense or what you are to say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour and moment what [you] ought to say.

Food for thought!

The unforgivable sin, which is the sin against the Holy Spirit.

Both Matthew and Mark record that Jesus spoke about this sin immediately after the scribes and Pharisees had attributed his cures to the prince of devils instead of to God (Matt.12:31-32; Mk.3:28-29). These men could look at the very grace and power of God and call it the work of the devil. So, the sin against the Holy Spirit is about calling good evil, treating good as if it was evil. Why is this so?

Why is that the unforgivable sin? Because in such a state repentance is impossible. If a man does not even realize that he is sinning, if goodness no longer makes any appeal to him, he cannot repent. Will he? God has not shut him out; by his repeated refusals he has shut himself out. That means that, he is so dead to God that he is conscious of no sin at all.

 We offend God when we love evil, when we prefer evil to good, when we deliberately refuse to see and acknowledge the good in others. This is what the Pharisees and scribes did with Jesus. They called him agent of Satan. How often do we do the same? The people we dislike we label them as evil, even when they do good, we see their good as evil. This is the sin against the Holy Spirit. We do well to acknowledge the good, even when it comes from our enemies. Goodness is holy, and when we accept it we accept and embrace holiness itself. And there is no holiness without the Holy spirit.

God's care is not fake, but genuine!

Luke 12:1-7 

1 By this time the crowd, unwieldy and stepping on each other's toes, numbered into the thousands. But Jesus' primary concern was his disciples. He said to them, "Watch yourselves carefully so you don't get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee phoniness. 2 You can't keep your true self hidden forever; before long you'll be exposed. You can't hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. 3 You can't whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day's coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town. 4 "I'm speaking to you as dear friends. Don't be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you, but then what can they do? There's nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. 5 Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life--body and soul--in his hands. 6 "What's the price of two or three pet sparrows? Some loose change, right? But God never overlooks a single one. 7 And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail--even numbering the hairs on your head! So don't be intimidated by all this bully talk. You're worth more than a million sparrows.

Food for thought!

Jesus' words are rather difficult to grasp. However, underlying them is the idea of genuine. Being genuine. The opposite of genuine is fake or hypocrisy. So, Jesus is condemning one and commending the other; he is condemning hypocrisy and commending being genuine. The hypocrite is never genuine; he is always play-acting. The basis of hypocrisy is insincerity. God would rather have a genuine, honest sinner, than someone who puts on an act of goodness.

The correct attitude to life is being genuine. The main reason for this is that everyone likes what is genuine and hates what is fake.We like genuine space parts, genuine beer, genuine perfume, genuine doctors, genuine sermons...We all trust what is genuine.

 God is genuine. God is not fake. And he put in each of us a genuine part, that is beyond the reach of everybody except himself. Our soul is genuine because God made it in his own image and likeness, "God created human beings; he created them godlike, reflecting God's nature." (Gen. 1:27).

Man's power over man is indeed fake, not genuine, because it is strictly limited to this life. A man can destroy another man's life but not his soul. But not with God. God's power is such that it can blot out a man's very soul. It is, therefore, only reasonable to fear God rather than to fear men. 

The other disciples of Jesus!

Luke 10:1-9

1 Later the Master selected seventy others and sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go. 2 He gave them this charge: "What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands. 3" On your way! But be careful-- this is hazardous work. You're like lambs in a wolf pack. 4 "Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage. " Don't loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way. 5 "When you enter a home, greet the family, 'Peace.' 6 If your greeting is received, then it's a good place to stay. But if it's not received, take it back and get out. Don't impose yourself. 7" Stay at one home, taking your meals there, for a worker deserves three square meals. Don't move from house to house, looking for the best cook in town. 8 "When you enter a town and are received, eat what they set before you, 9 heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, 'God's kingdom is right on your doorstep!'

Food for thought!

The Lord selected seventy OTHERS and sent them. This statement is very revealing. It tells that Jesus worked and works, not only with the twelve apostles, but with many others. It is a gross misunderstanding to hold that the Lord worked with only the twelve; that the Lord works only with bishops and priests and nuns. In all times, even in ours, there are the OTHERS, nameless men and women chosen to help Jesus.

As the Gospel says, he "sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go." These people were chosen to represent Jesus. As we know, Jesus never could have been in 35 cities (35 pairs), in the short three years that lasted his ministry. He however, devised a way of multiplying himself, so much so that he did go to 35 places without going there! This is normally called delegation. It means that Jesus also delegated. Why? Because delegation multiplies us. It frees us up to do other things that are a better use of our time and talents.  I wonder what Jesus stayed doing when the 70 went out!

With the 70 others, Jesus teaches us some truths about delegation. First and foremost He is teaching us what we know: we dream alone but we never realize our dreams alone. We need a team. He also teaches us that besides bishops and priests and nuns, there many others working for Jesus.

In your professional life, do you ever imagine yourself as being part of Jesus' team, the others? Do you know that you're Jesus' delegate whenever you are and go? Do you realize that your ultimate manager is God? Do you ever talk to him about your job, asking him to send you more human resources, more financial resources, more customers, more opportunities? Do you listen when the Lord tells you what to do and how to do it? Do you ever pray at your workplace?

Jesus gave them this charge: "What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands."

When Jesus speaks to one he speaks to all! (Wednesday readings)

Luke 11:42-46

Jesus said, "I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but manage to find loopholes for getting around basic matters of justice and God's love. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. 43 "You're hopeless, you Pharisees! Frauds! You love sitting at the head table at church dinners, love preening yourselves in the radiance of public flattery. 44 Frauds! You're just like unmarked graves: People walk over that nice, grassy surface, never suspecting the rot and corruption that is six feet under." 45 One of the religion scholars spoke up: "Teacher, do you realize that in saying these things you're insulting us too?" 46 He said, "Yes, and I can be even more explicit. You're hopeless, you religion scholars! You load people down with rules and regulations, nearly breaking their backs, but never lift even a finger to help.

Food for thought!

There is something curious about Jesus: when he speaks to some, he speaks to all. What Jesus speaks to some people is relevant to all peoples. Why so? Because, 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. (Heb 4:12-13)

This is what is happening in today’s Gospel Reading. Jesus is addressing the Pharisees, but as he does so, one of the scribes that is, the religious scholars, jumps in with a personal confession: "Teacher, do you realize that in saying these things you're insulting us too?" It means that as Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, the scribes were getting the message as addressed to them too.

It means that we really cannot hide from Jesus and his word. It means that it is wrong to imagine that what Jesus teaches applies to others and not to us; that it is the others that must change their lives and not ourselves.Yes, like the religion teacher, we do well to admit like he did, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.” When Jesus speaks to some, he speaks to all.

When Jesus speaks to you, he speaks to me. When he speaks to me, he speaks to you (indeed, this is why my personal meditations are our meditations); when he speaks to women, he speaks to men; when he speaks to men he speaks to women; when he speaks to sinners he speaks to me. When Jesus speaks to Pharisees and to scribes, when he speaks to the people of yesterday and of long ago, he speaks to me and to you and to us all, people of today. To him be praise and honour and glory, both now and forever. Amen.

Do you get lost in details?

Luke 11:37-41

As he spoke, a Pharisee invited Jesus to have a meal with him, so he went in and took his place at the table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished when he saw that Jesus did not first wash his hands before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Didnʼt the one who made the outside make the inside as well? 41 Cleanse the things that are within--and look you--all things will be pure for you.

Food for thought!

The Pharisee was surprised that Jesus did not wash his hands before eating. This was not a matter of hygiene but of the ceremonial law. The law laid it down that before a man ate he must wash his hands in a certain way and that he must also wash them between the courses. First the water must be poured over the hands beginning at the tips of the fingers and running right up to the wrist. Then the palm of each hand must be cleansed by rubbing the fist of the other into it. Finally, water must again be poured over the hand, this time beginning at the wrist and running down to the fingertips. To the Pharisee, to omit the slightest detail of this was to sin. Jesus' comment was that, if they were as particular about cleansing their hearts as they were about washing their hands, they would be better men.

Two things stand out about the Pharisees and for these two things Jesus condemned them.

(i) They concentrated on externals. So long as the externals of religion were carried out that was all that mattered. Their hearts might be as black as hell; they might be utterly lacking in charity and even in justice; but so long as they went through the correct motions at the correct time they considered themselves good in the eyes of God.

We may be regular in our church attendance; we may be diligent students of our Bible; we may be generous givers to the church; but if in our hearts there are thoughts of pride and of contempt, if we have no charity in our dealings with our fellow men in the life of the everyday, if we are unjust to our subordinates or dishonest to our employer, we are not Christians. Nobody is a Christian when s/he meticulously observes the conventions of religion and forgets the realities of the Christian life.

(ii) They concentrated on details. Compared with love and kindness, justice and generosity, the washing of hands and the giving of tithes with mathematical accuracy are unimportant details. How often church meetings and church people get lost in totally unimportant details of church government and administration, and even argue and fight about them, and forget the great realities of the Christian life!

What happens in our life has a meaning! (Monday readings)

Luke 11:29-32

As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah. 30 What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God. 31 “The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. 32 The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.

Food for thought!

There is something very revealing in this text. Jesus says, What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God. Remember the old story of Jonah. This man was sent to the great of city of Niveveh and preach against it. But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He boarded a ship and, no sooner had the ship took sail than a violent storm arose so much so that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. Meanwhile Jonah was deeply asleep.

The captain of the ship went to him and said, How can you sleep in a situation like this one? Get up and call on your god. Who are you, after all? Later they found out that Jonah had run away from his mission. As the Sea was getting rougher, theyasked Jonah what they could do to him to make the sea calm down. He replied, Pick me up and throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. They did so, and the sea calmed. It is better for one man to die in order to save all.

 When Jonah got into the waters she was shadowed by a big fish, which held him in its belly for three days before it vomited him on land, to the place he had run from. Now, Jesus says that what happened to Jonah was not void of meaning: What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him.

 The same happened to Jesus himself. All that happened to him was intended: What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God. What does all this mean, if not that what happens to us has a meaning? Everything we go through, all our ups and downs, all our struggles, our conquests, our failures, our victories have and are a message from God to us and to our people. And the message is that God sent us into this world; God knows all about us.

As the Bible says, For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen. (Rom 11:36) You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you!

God prescribed every single detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair, and every other feature. He custom-made your body just the way he wanted it. He also determined the natural talents you would possess and the uniqueness of your personality. Because God made you for a reason, he also decided when you would be born and how long you would live. He planned the days of your life in advance, choosing the exact time of your birth and death. The Bible says, “You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book!” (Psalm 139:16)

(Warren, Rick (2008-09-09). The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)

Giveaway and you'll get back! (Sunday readings)

Mark 10:17-30

As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?" 18 Jesus said, "Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. 19 You know the commandments: Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, don't cheat, honor your father and mother." 20 He said, "Teacher, I have--from my youth--kept them all!" 21 Jesus looked him hard in the eye--and loved him! He said, "There's one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me." 22 The man's face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go. 23 Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who 'have it all' to enter God's kingdom?" 24 The disciples couldn't believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: "You can't imagine how difficult. 25 I'd say it's easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for the rich to get into God's kingdom." 26 That set the disciples back on their heels. "Then who has any chance at all?" they asked. 27 Jesus was blunt: "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it." 28 Peter tried another angle: "We left everything and followed you." 29 Jesus said, "Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land--whatever--because of me and the Message 30 will lose out. They'll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land--but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life!

Food for thought!

Tough question. Tough answer.

The young man that came to Jesus asked a tough question: what must I do to get eternal life? This is a question that we all ask, directly or indirectly. As we grow old, as we move away from our birth and come closer to our death, we silently make this question. When I am dead, what will happen to me? Where will I go after this life? Is this life all there is? In other words, what must I do today to live tomorrow? How must I conduct myself today in order to survive tomorrwo? This is the tough question.

Tough questions require tough answers. I praise this man because he knew where to take his tough questions. He took his question to Jesus. The Gospel says that he came running up, greeted Jesus with great reverence, and asked. Where do we take our questions? To whom do we go when we need answers to our difficult questions? We do well to run to Jesus, the wisdom of God, as the second reading put it:

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. (Heb. 4:12-13)

Song: What a friend we have in Jesus!

When you decide to take your quest to Jesus, you must prepare yourself for what he will tell you. Some times Jesus' answers are just too taugh; you must be ready not only to ask but also to listen. Otherwise, you will be like the young man in the Gospel reading, to whom Jesus said: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart.

Why did this man go away the way he did? Well, Jesus had quoted to the man the commandments which were the basis of the decent life. Without hesitation the man said he had kept them all. And he was not lying; he was saying the truth. And Jesus liked him for that. However, note one thing, that with one exception they were all negative commandments, and that one exception operated only in the family circle.

In effect the man was saying, “I never in my life did anyone any harm.” That was perfectly true. But the real question is, “What good have you done?” And the question to this man was even more pointed, “With all your possessions, with your wealth, with all that you could give away, what positive good have you done to others? How much have you gone out of your way to help and comfort and strengthen others as you might have done?” Christianioty consists in not doing bad things ONLY; Christianity consists ALSO in doing good things. That was precisely where this man, like so many of us, fell down. We think that we are ok, just because we never robbed a bank, never stole a car, never did evil. We are not ok until we learn to do good to others.

And this is what Peter was saying: We left everything and followed you. Peter is saying, We stopped everything and followed you; we know we are doing good. We are not like that man who refused to follow you; we followed you. What will happen to us? Jesus said, “Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land--whatever--because of me and the Message will lose out. They'll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land--but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life!”

Song: I surrender!

Why Mary is blessed!

Luke 11:27-28

27 As Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!” 28 Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

Food for thought!

Despite being the shortest Gospel Reading, it is by far the most elucidating. Jesus was speaking when all of a sudden some woman interrupted him. She must have been thinking, not so much of what Jesus was saying, but of his mother. She was not thinking of the preacher but the preacher’s mother. She had been carried away by a moment of emotion.

And Jesus pulled her to reality: more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice. A short story. A pastor was preaching, and one old woman was all the time crying. The pastor saw her crying and thought that she was crying because he was making a point; he was touching her heart with his message. The more she cried, the more he preached, and the more he preached the more she cried.

 After service, the pastor sought the lady to find out how the message was touching her. To his amazement, the lady replied that she was crying because as the pastor spoke and she looked at his long beard, she remembered her he-goat that had suddenly died, the day earlier. She could not remember a word from the pastor’s sermon. This was the situation when Jesus was talking. And this is why Jesus reminded the woman: more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.

 This said, the woman made a point. The woman that mothered Jesus is indeed blessed. Mary is a blessed woman. Period. However, and this is critically important, Mary is blessed not for having biologically mothered Jesus, she is blessed in the first place, for having head God’s Word and having said, let it be done to me according to his word. If Mary had heard but ignored the word of God as spoken by the angel, she would never ever been blessed. It means, as Jesus put it, more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice, as Mary did. So, Jesus is not denying Mary her honour; he is teaching us the correct reason why Mary is and should be honoured.