Dare to risk!

Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus said to the people that the kingdom of heaven "is also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. 15 To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. 16 Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. 17 The second did the same. 18 But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money. 19" After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. 20 The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. 21 His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.' 22 "The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. 23 His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.' 24" The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. 25 I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.' 26 "The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? 27 The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. 28 29"' Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play- it- safe" who won't go out on a limb. 30 Throw him out into utter darkness. '

Food for thought

In this parable Jesus tells us that there can be no life without adventure, and that God can find no use for the person afraid of adventure. Because he expects you and me to adventure, God gifted us. One man received five talents, another two, and another one. It is not a man's talent, which matters; what matters is how he uses it. God never demands from a man abilities which he has not got; but he does demand that a man should use to the full the abilities which he does possess. We are not equal in talent; but we can be equal in effort. The parable tells us that whatever talent we have, little or great, we must put to work.

Jesus still teaches us that the reward of work well done is still more work to do. The two servants who had done well are not told to lean back and rest because they have done well. They are given greater tasks and greater responsibilities in the work of the master.

The man who is punished is the man who will not try. Even in real life, the people who are punished by life are the people who do not want to try. The man with the one talent did not lose his talent; he simply did nothing with it. Even if he had adventured with it and lost it, it would have been better than to do nothing at all. It is always a temptation for the people with less to do even less.

Jesus lays down a rule of life which is universally true. It tells us that to him who has more will be given, and he who has not will lose even what he has. The meaning is this. If a man has a talent, a gift, an ability and exercises it, he is progressively able to do more with it. But, if he has a talent and fails to exercise it, he will inevitably lose it.

If we have some proficiency at a game or an art, if we have some gift for doing something, the more we exercise that proficiency and that gift, the harder the work and the bigger the task we will be able to tackle. Whereas, if we fail to use it, we lose it. That is equally true of playing golf or playing the piano, or singing songs or writing sermons, or carving wood or thinking out ideas. It is the lesson of life that the only way to keep a gift is to use the gift; the only way forward is to move forward; more breeds more; less breeds less; the rich get richer; the poor get poorer; the good get better; the bad get worse.

Don't procrastinate!

Matthew 25:1-13

1 "God's kingdom is like ten young virgins who took oil lamps and went out to greet the bridegroom. 2 Five were silly and five were smart. 3 The silly virgins took lamps, but no extra oil. 4 The smart virgins took jars of oil to feed their lamps. 5 The bridegroom didn't show up when they expected him, and they all fell asleep. 6" In the middle of the night someone yelled out, 'He's here! The bridegroom's here! Go out and greet him!' 7 "The ten virgins got up and got their lamps ready. 8 The silly virgins said to the smart ones, 'Our lamps are going out; lend us some of your oil. 9" They answered, 'There might not be enough to go around; go buy your own.' 10 "They did, but while they were out buying oil, the bridegroom arrived. When everyone who was there to greet him had gone into the wedding feast, the door was locked. 11" Much later, the other virgins, the silly ones, showed up and knocked on the door, saying, 'Master, we're here. Let us in.' 12 "He answered, 'Do I know you? I don't think I know you.' 13" So stay alert. You have no idea when he might arrive.

Food for thought

Jesus, by this parable, is teaching us at least two universal lessons:

(i) He teaches us that there are certain things which cannot be obtained at the last minute. It is easy to leave spiritual things so late that we can no longer do anything. To be late is always tragedy. Don't leave for later what you can do now; don't leave things for the last hour. Be prepared. Don't procrastinate.

(ii) He teaches us that there are certain things which cannot be given nor borrowed. The wise virgins couldn't give their oil, and the foolish virgins found it impossible to borrow oil, when they discovered they needed it. We cannot borrow a relationship with God or with any human; we must possess it for ourselves. We cannot borrow goodness; we must be clothed with it; we cannot pass on to others our goodness, our faith, our love, our dedication, our talents.

We cannot always be living on the spiritual capital which others have amassed. There are certain things we must win or acquire for ourselves, for we cannot borrow them from others. Because you live with a good and holy person is no guarantee that you're good and holy; you must be good yourself. If you live next to a devout person does not mean that automatically you too are devout.

Bad things do happen to good people!

Mark 6:17-29

17 Herod was the one who had ordered the arrest of John, put him in chains, and sent him to prison at the nagging of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. 18 For John had provoked Herod by naming his relationship with Herodias "adultery." 19 Herodias, smoldering with hate, wanted to kill him, but didn't dare 20 because Herod was in awe of John. Convinced that he was a holy man, he gave him special treatment. Whenever he listened to him he was miserable with guilt, and yet he couldn't stay away. Something in John kept pulling him back. 21 But a portentous day arrived when Herod threw a birthday party, inviting all the brass and bluebloods in Galilee. 22 Herodias's daughter entered the banquet hall and danced for the guests. She dazzled Herod and the guests.

The king said to the girl, "Ask me anything. I'll give you anything you want." 23 Carried away, he kept on, "I swear, I'll split my kingdom with you if you say so!" 24 She went back to her mother and said, "What should I ask for?" "Ask for the head of John the Baptizer." 25 Excited, she ran back to the king and said, "I want the head of John the Baptizer served up on a platter. And I want it now!" 26 That sobered the king up fast. But unwilling to lose face with his guests, he caved in and let her have her wish. 27 The king sent the executioner off to the prison with orders to bring back John's head. He went, cut off John's head, 28 brought it back on a platter, and presented it to the girl, who gave it to her mother. 29 When John's disciples heard about this, they came and got the body and gave it a decent burial.

Food for thought

This passage is one of the saddest in the entire Bible. It records the events surrounding the death of John the Baptist. He was a special man, chosen for a special mission. He was the “forerunner” of the Messiah. He was the fulfilment of several Old Testament prophecies. He was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He was the last martyr of the Old Testament period and the first of the New Testament period. He was a powerful preacher. He was a fearless prophet. He was a true man of God. As Jesus Christ Himself testified, “Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist,” (Matt. 11:11). Why? Because bad things sometimes do happen to good people.

Contrary to John was Herod.

Herod was an odd mixture. At one and the same time he feared John and respected him. At one and the same time he dreaded John's tongue and yet found pleasure in listening to him. There is nothing in this world so queer a mixture as a human being. Herod could fear John and love him, could hate his message and yet not be able to free himself from its insistent fascination. Herod hated and loved the same man at the same time.

Convinced that John was a holy man, Herod gave him special treatment. Whenever he listened to him he was miserable with guilt, and yet he couldn't stay away. Something in John kept pulling him back. Herod was a man who acted on impulse. He made his reckless promise to Salome without thinking. We do well to think before we speak.

Herod feared what people might say. He kept his promise to Salome because he had made it in front of his guests and was unwilling to break it. He feared their jeers, their laughter; he feared that they would think him weak. Many of us do things we afterwards bitterly regret because we had not the moral courage to do the right thing; we do things right and not the right thing. And that is what Herod did.

At the centre of the controversy was Herodias.  She shows us what a wicked woman can do. There is nothing in this world as good as a good woman, and nothing as bad as a bad woman. The trouble with Herodias was that she wished to eliminate the one man who had the courage to confront her with her sin. She wished to do as she liked with no one to remind her of the moral law. She murdered John that she might sin in peace. She forgot that while she need no longer meet John, she still had to meet God.

Herodias had been waiting for an opportunity to see John the Baptist put to death. She saw her chance at Herod’s birthday party. This party was nothing more than a drunken party for Herod and his men. When they were all drunk with wine, Herodias seized the moment.

She sent in her teenage daughter Salome to dance for Herod and his friends. This particular dance would have been a suggestive, sensual, sexual dance designed to inflame the passions of the men in the room. Her dance had the desired effect, for Herod and those with him were captivated by the girl. Herodias was a wicked woman. Imagine putting your daughter on display in that fashion. Imagine sending her out to dance for a man who was both her uncle and step-father! What wickedness!

We are all learners!

Matthew 23:8-12

8-10 Jesus said to his disciples: “Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.

11-12 “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

Food for thought!

There's lot of food for thought for all of us in today's gospel reading. You can't read it and talk; its best response is silence.  It is a reading that reminds us a number of things that need to be corrected in our faith, our lives, our (Catholic) Church, in our world. Jesus is saying that we are all standing on level ground; nobody should pretend to stand on higher ground than others: "Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates."

Why did Christ say these words? Because he is our saviour; he came to save us from bad practices, bad traditions, bad customs, bad policies. He came to show us the right way of living and being. He came to teach us; "You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates." This means that only Jesus can and must tell us what to do. In other words, " Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do."

Jesus warns us against divinizing humans. In other words, if any human, church member or politician, or any relative or friend, tells you anything that contradicts Jesus don't do it; only God can dictate to us.

A preacher is no better than the people in the pews! He is one of them, struggling like anybody, and given a call to proclaim the Goodnews to his or her brothers and sisters, but that is all! He is not to be exalted. He is not to be worshiped. He is not to be viewed as a superior, but as an equal in the eyes of God! "You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates."

If anybody whosoever tell you anything contradictory to what Jesus teaches you to do and be, don't do it. Nobody, should tell us to do what is contradictory to the gospel. Only God can tell us what to do. And He has told us whom to listen to, "This is my beloved Son, listen to him!"

Be genuine!

Matthew 23:23-26

Jesus said, "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God's Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment-- the absolute basics!-- you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. 24 Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that's wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons? 25 "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. 26 Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.

Food for thought!

Jesus continues from where he left off yesterday. He calls his contemporaries, the "religious", as hypocrites. What does this word mean? Originally, hypocrite was the regular Greek word for an actor, like in plays. It used to mean something amusing. But then it came to mean an actor in the worse sense of the term, a pretender, one who acts a part, one who wears a mask to cover his true feelings, one who puts on an external show while inwardly his thoughts and feelings are very different.

To Jesus the Scribes and Pharisees were men who were religious actors. What he meant was this. Their whole idea of religion consisted in outward observances, the wearing of elaborate garments and vestments, the meticulous observance of the rules and regulations of the Law. But in their hearts there was bitterness and envy and pride and arrogance. To Jesus these Scribes and Pharisees were men who, under a mask of elaborate godliness, concealed hearts in which the most godless feelings and emotions held sway.

That accusation holds good in greater or lesser degree of anybody, including you and me, whose life is on the assumption that religion consists in external observances and external acts. Religion is an act of the heart. The laws and rules and rituals and ceremonies are intended to be manifestations of our heart. When this does not correspond to those, when that which happens in the heart is different from religious laws and rules and rituals and ceremonies, we become mere actors, we become hypocritical. In theaters and plays this kind of hypocrisy is accepted and even expected; in religion it is condemned because it is sinful. In religion, we are called to be genuine and not actors.

Monday 26 Aug - Doing the right thing x Doing things right!

Mt 23:13-22

13 "I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won't let anyone else in either. 15" You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him

you make him into a replica of yourselves, double- damned. 16 "You're hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, 'If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that's nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that's serious.' 17 What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the

skin on your hands? 18 And what about this piece of trivia: 'If you shake hands on a promise, that's nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that's serious'? 19 What ridiculous hair splitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? 20 22 A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of

worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.

Food for thought!

Woe to them and to us!

You must have heard the expression: Doing the right thing and doing things right! This expression is about two attitudes that characterize all of us; we're either on the side doing the right thing or on the side of doing things right. Today's Gospel is also about these two attitudes. Jesus is on the side of doing the right thing, while the so called religious people of his time are after doing things right, that is, practicing religion according to the laws and traditions of the elders.

The religious people of Jesus' time were hypocrites. A hypocrite was an actor,

a pretender, one who acted a part as in theatre, one who wore a mask to cover his true feelings, one who put on an external show while inwardly his thoughts and

feelings were very different.

To Jesus the Scribes and Pharisees were simply actors. Their whole idea of religion consisted in outward observances, the wearing of elaborate clothes, the meticulous observance of the rules and regulations of the Law. But in their

hearts there was bitterness and envy and pride and arrogance. To Jesus these Scribes and Pharisees were men who, under a mask of elaborate godliness, concealed hearts in which the most godless feelings and emotions held sway. And that accusation holds good in greater or lesser degree of anyone who lives life on the assumption that religion consists in external observances and external acts.

Religion is first and foremost an inside experience; it is our spirit talking to God, and God talking to our spirit. The external acts of religion are meant to reflect and mirror the internal acts of the spirit. Not vice versa. The same with religious rules and regulations; they're are not meant to complicate but to enhance the inner religious experience. If and when they begin to compromise religion, they cease to be relevant.

The Lord save us from hypocrisy, from seeming to be religious when we are not. Let us strive to really be and not just seem to be religious, to really be good and not just seem to be good, to really love and not just seem to love, to be Christians and not just seem to be Christians.

Mind your own business!

Luke 13:22-30 

Jesus 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 neighbourhood 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 cannot be taken for granted; it is the result and the reward of a struggle. "Keep on striving to enter," he said, the way to life, to God!, is vigorous. A bystander had said, "Master, will only a few be saved?" Jesus told this man to mind his own business: “Do your best to go in through the narrow door; because many people will surely try to go in but will not be able.

It is easy to look at some people as hell bound and ourselves as heaven bound. Sometimes we 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 else we go backward.

Please note the defence 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 Church all is well. They differentiate between themselves and the rest. But belonging to some church is not all; going to mass is not all; that is no reason for sitting back content that all is well. Rather, belonging to a church, going to mass should inspire us to be and do more; to struggle to improve what is good to being great.

As Jim Collins says, “Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.”

Jesus is urging, is cautioning us not to take salvation for granted; not to settle for the good, but for the great. He is urging us to keep on struggling; keep on going; keep on walking, and working, and loving, and forgiving, and hoping, and believing. Let us all do like Jesus did: "He went on teaching from town to village, village to town, but keeping on a steady course toward Jerusalem."

Matthew 9:35

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

Acts 10:38

Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Jesus knows all about all!

John 1:45-50

45 Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!" 46 Nathanael said, "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding." But Philip said, "Come, see for yourself." 47 When Jesus saw him coming he said, "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body."48 Nathanael said, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me. "Jesus answered, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree."49 Nathanael exclaimed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!"50 Jesus said, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet! 51 Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again. "

Food for thought

Can anything good, anything worthwhile come from Nazareth? Nathanael's reaction declares that Nazareth is not the kind of place that anything good was likely to come out of. But Philip is wise. He does not argue. He says simply: "Come and see for yourself!" Why did Phillip not argue back? Because not very many people have ever been argued into faith. Often our arguments do more harm than good. The only way to convince a man of the supremacy of Christ is to confront him with Christ.

Christ knows how to handle each one of us. So Nathanael came; and Jesus could see into his heart. "Here," said Jesus, "is a genuine Israelite, a man in whose heart there is no guile." We all stand naked before Jesus; we cannot hide nor can we deceive him. He knows it all about all of us.

Nathanael was surprised that anyone could give a verdict like that on so short an acquaintance, and he demanded how Jesus could possibly know him. Jesus told him that he had already seen him under the fig-tree. What is the significance of that? To the Jews the fig-tree always stood for peace. Their idea of peace was when a man could be undisturbed under his own vine and his own fig-tree (compare 1Kgs.4:25; Mic.4:4). Further, the fig-tree was leafy and shady and it was the custom to sit and meditate under the roof of its branches. No doubt that was what Nathanael had been doing; and no doubt as he sat under the fig-tree he had prayed for the day when God's Chosen One should come. No doubt he had been meditating on the promises of God. And now he felt that Jesus had seen into the very depths of his heart.

It was not so much that Jesus had seen him under the fig-tree that surprised Nathanael; it was the fact that Jesus had read the thoughts of his inmost heart. Nathanael said to himself: "Here is the man who understands my dreams! Here is the man who knows my prayers! Here is the man who has seen into my most intimate and secret longings, longings which I have never even dared put into words! Here is the man who can translate the inarticulate sigh of my soul! This must be God's promised anointed one and no other."

It may be that Jesus smiled as he quoted the old story of Jacob at Bethel who had seen the golden ladder leading up to heaven (Gen.28:12-13). It was as if Jesus said: "Nathanael, I can do far more than read your heart. I can be for you and for all people the way, the ladder that leads to heaven." It is through Jesus and Jesus alone that the souls of men can mount the ladder which leads to heaven.

Love God by loving neighbour; love neighbour by loving yourself!

Matthew 20:34-40

34 When the Pharisees heard how Jesus had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. 35 One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: 36 "Teacher, which command in God's Law is the most important?" 37 Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' 38 This is the most important, the first on any list. 39 But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' 40 These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

Food for Thought

 We may well say that here Jesus laid down the complete definition of religion.

(i) Religion consists in loving God.

It means that to God we must give a total love, a love which dominates our emotions, a love which directs our thoughts, and a love which is the dynamic of our actions. All religion starts with the love which is total commitment of life to God.

(ii) Religion consists in loving our neighbour.

It means that our love for God must issue in love for men. But it is to be noted in which order the commandments come; it is love of God first, and love of man second. Why? Well, because it is only when we love God that man becomes lovable. The Biblical teaching is that man, every man and every woman, is made in the image of God (Gen.1:26-27). It is for that reason that man is lovable. However, the first man to love is YOU. Sometimes we forget this basic truth. Let's look again at Jesus' answer:

Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.'"

Do you notice that the verb "love" appears three times? There is love of God, love of others, and love of yourself. For Jesus, true love must express itself in three dimensions. These three dimensions are (a) love of God, (b) love of neighbour, and (c) love of oneself. The first two are positively commanded; the last one is not commanded but presumed to be the basis of all loving. The commandment to love your neighbour as yourself presumes that you love yourself.

No one gives what they don't have! You can't give love to others if you hate yourself; you can't be nice to others when you have a bad day. Do you realize that whenever you have a bad day, you are nasty to people? You can't smile at people when you're sad. But, the day you're happy, you'll treat everybody nicely. We don't shout at people when we are happy. In other words, you treat others in as much as you are yourself; you love others in as much as you love yourself.  Jesus is saying, Be happy and everybody around you will be happy; and when everybody is happy, God is happy too.

So, in theory, love of God comes first, then neighbour, then self. But in practice, love of self is first, then of neighbour, then of God. When we love ourselves we will love our neighbour, and when we love neighbour we love God.

1Jo 4:20-21

20 If anyone boasts, "I love God," and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people (and loving people presupposes loving ourselves).

Everything is ready!

Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus responded by telling still more stories. 2 "God's kingdom," he said, "is like a king who threw a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent out servants to call in all the invited guests. And they wouldn't come! 4" He sent out another round of servants, instructing them to tell the guests, 'Look, everything is on the table, the prime rib is ready for carving. Come to the feast!' 5 "They only shrugged their shoulders and went off, one to weed his garden, another to work in his shop. 6 The rest, with nothing better to do, beat up on the messengers and then killed them. 7 The king was outraged and sent his soldiers to destroy those thugs and level their city. 8" Then he told his servants, 'We have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren't up to it. 9 Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.' 10 The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on-- every place filled. 11 "When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn't properly dressed. 12 He said to him, 'Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!' The man was speechless. 13 Then the king told his servants, 'Get him out of here-- fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn't get back in.' 14" That's what I mean when I say, 'Many get invited; only a few make it.' "

Food for thought!

This parable has much to tell us.

(a) It reminds us that the invitation of God is to a feast as joyous as a wedding feast. His invitation is to joy. To think of Christianity as a gloomy giving up of everything which brings laughter and joy and happiness is un-Christian. It is to joy that the Christian is invited; and it is joy he misses, if he refuses the invitation.

(b) It reminds us that the things which make men deaf to the invitation of Christ are not necessarily bad in themselves. One man went to his estate; the other to his business. They did not go off on a wild carnival or an immoral adventure. They went off on the, in itself, excellent task of efficiently administering their business life.

It is very easy for a man to be so busy with the things of time that he forgets the things of eternity, to be so preoccupied with the things which are seen that he forgets the things which are unseen, to hear so insistently the claims of the world that he cannot hear the soft invitation of the voice of Christ.

The tragedy of life is that it is so often the second bests which shut out the first bests, that it is things which are good in themselves which shut out the things that are supreme. A man can be so busy making a living that he fails to make a life; he can be so busy with the administration and the organization of life that he forgets life itself.

(c) It reminds us that the appeal of Christ is not so much to consider how we will be punished as it is to see what we will miss, if we do not take his way of things. Those who would not come were punished, but their real tragedy was that they lost the joy of the wedding feast. If we refuse the invitation of Christ, someday our greatest pain will lie, not in the things we suffer, but in the realization of the precious things we have missed.

(d) It reminds us that in the last analysis God's invitation is the invitation of grace. Those who were gathered in from the highways and the byways had no claim on the king at all; they could never by any stretch of imagination have expected an invitation to the wedding feast, still less could they ever have deserved it. It came to them from nothing other than the wide-armed, open-hearted, generous hospitality of the king. It is grace which offers us the invitation and it is grace which gathers us in.

Just & Living Wage!

Matthew 20:1-16

1 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. 3" Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. 4 He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. 5 They went. "He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. 6 At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing? 7' "They said, 'Because no one hired us.' "He told them to go to work in his vineyard. 8" When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.' 9 "Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. 10 When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. 11 Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 12 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.' 13" He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? 14 So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. 15 Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?' 16 "Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

Food for thought

This week the Lord is in the market place, talking business. Monday and yesterday, it was the rich young entrepreneur, who forgot all about social responsibility in his business dealings. Today, the Lord, like an estate manager, goes out to hire labourers. What is the Lord teaching us? What is the lesson? Let's look at the gospel reading of today.

First, in it there is the comfort of God. It means that IT IS NEVER TOO LATE; no matter when we come to the Lord, late or soon, young, in the strength of the midday, or when the shadows are lengthening, we are equally dear to God.

May we not go even further with this thought of comfort? Sometimes a man dies full of years and full of honour, with his day's work ended and his task completed. Sometimes a young person dies almost before the door of life and achievement have opened at all. From God they will both receive the same welcome, for both Jesus Christ is waiting, and for neither, in the divine sense, has life ended too soon or too late. JESUS DIED AT 33 YEARS OF AGE, and he died saying, All is accomplished.

Second, in the parable there is the infinite compassion of God. There is an element of human tenderness in this parable. There is nothing more tragic in this world than a man who is unemployed, a man whose talents are rusting in idleness because there is nothing for him to do. In that market-place men stood waiting because no one had hired them; in his compassion the master gave them work to do. He could not bear to see them idle.

Further, in strict justice the fewer hours a man worked, the less pay he should have received. But the master well knew that one dollar a day was no great wage; he well knew that, if a workman went home with less, there would be a worried wife and hungry children; and therefore he went BEYOND JUSTICE and gave them more than was their due.

As it has been put, this parable states implicitly two great truths which are the very charter of the working man--the right of every man to work and the right of every man to a living wage for his work. Unfortunately, many of us pay our workers at home and away from home JUST WAGES and not LIVING WAGES.

Thirdly, there is in it the generosity of God. These men did not all do the same work; but they did receive the same pay. There are two great lessons here. The first is, as it has been said, "All service ranks the same with God." A priest will not get more than a faithful married couple or a single man or woman. They'll all get heaven. It is not the amount or kind of service given, but the love in which it is given which matters. A man out of his plenty may give us a gift of a hundred dollars, and in truth we are grateful; a child may give us a birthday or Christmas gift which cost only a few dollars but which was laboriously and lovingly saved up for--and that gift, with little value of its own, touches our heart far more. God does not look on the amount of our service. So long as it is all we have to give, all service ranks the same with God.

The second lesson is even greater, all God gives is of grace. We cannot earn what God gives us; we cannot deserve it; what God gives us is given out of the goodness of his heart; what God gives is not pay, but a gift; not a reward, but a grace.

This brings us to the supreme lesson of the parable, the whole point of work is the spirit in which it is done. The servants are clearly divided into two classes. The first came to an agreement with the master; they had a contract; they said, "We work, if you give us so much pay." As their conduct showed, all they were concerned with was to get as much as possible out of their work. But in the case of those who were engaged later, there is no word of contract; all they wanted was the chance to work and they willingly left the reward to the master.

Yesterday, Peter asked the Lord, "What do we get out of it?" The answer involved everything but money! Why? Because the Christian works for the joy of serving God and his fellow-men, not just for money. Money is additional, not principal. That is why the first will be last and the last will be first. Many people in this world, who have earned great rewards, great money will have a very low place in the Kingdom because rewards were their sole thought. Don't work just for money, that's too little; see your work, your profession, your job as a service to ease some need in society; that is what God created you for. If and when you do it passionately well, you will additionally get money. Lots of money.

God notices & God rewards!

Matthew 19:23-30

Jesus then said to his disciples, “I assure you: it will be very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of heaven. I repeat: it is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”

When the disciples heard this, they were completely amazed. “Who, then, can be saved?” they asked.

Jesus looked straight at them and answered, “This is impossible for human beings, but for God everything is possible.”

Then Peter spoke up. “Look,” he said, “we have left everything and followed you. What will we have?”

Jesus said to them, “You can be sure that when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne in the New Age, then you twelve followers of mine will also sit on thrones, to rule the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake, will receive a hundred times more and will be given eternal life. But many who now are first will be last, and many who now are last will be first.

Food for thought!

Today's gospel reading begins where yesterday's stopped (Matthew 19:16-22). Peter and his disciples must have looked at yesterday's rich man go away until he disappeared in the distance. And as he went, Peter's mind must have been working hard, and, characteristically, his tongue could not stay still. He had just seen a man deliberately refuse Jesus' «Follow me!» He had just heard Jesus say in effect that that man by his action had shut himself out from the Kingdom of God.

Peter could not help drawing the contrast between that man and himself and his friends. Just as the man had refused Jesus' «Follow me!» he and his friends had accepted it, and Peter with that almost crude honesty of his wanted to know what he and his friends were to get out of it. Peter's concern is our concern: we sometimes do wonder, if there is any recognition for us for having accepted Jesus as our saviour, for having followed him on a daily basis, for having gone to church every Sunday or every day for some, for taking time to pray, for avoiding evil and doing good, etc. What is our reward? What’s in this for us?”

Jesus says that no man ever gave up anything for the sake of himself (that is, Jesus) and of his good news without getting it back a hundredfold. Jesus is saying that those who follow him have a definite advantage both here and in the hereafter. Jesus reminds us all that God is not indifferent to our efforts; he is saying that God sees; that God notices; that God records and rewards every sacrifice that is made for him and because of him. Jesus reminds us that what we have walked away from might seem like a lot, but God has far more in our future than we left behind in our past. Jesus is saying that we cannot beat God with generosity, we cannot outperform God in giving.

When Jesus speaks of «100 times», he simply means that it is more than you can imagine. He is not saying that if you give a dollar, he will give you one hundred in return. He might, but that is not the point! He is simply telling us that He has far more for us than anything we could ever give up to follow Him.

A caveat!

Jesus adds one warning epigram: «But many who now are first will be last, and many who now are last will be first.» This was in reality a warning to Peter. It may well be that by this time Peter was estimating his own worth and his own reward and assessing them high. What Jesus is saying is, «The final standard of judgment is with God. Many a man may stand well in the judgment of the world, but the judgment of God may upset the world's judgment. Still more many a man may stand well in his own judgment, and find that God's evaluation of him is very different.» It is a warning against all pride. It is a warning that the ultimate judgments belong to God who alone knows the motives of men's hearts. It is a warning that the judgments of heaven may well upset the reputations of earth.

Avoid evil and do good!

Matthew 19:16-22

Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" 17 Jesus said, "Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you." 18 The man asked, "What in particular?" Jesus said, "Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, 19 honour your father and mother, and love your neighbour as you do yourself." 20 The young man said, "I've done all that. What's left?" 21 "If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me." 22 That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go.

Food for thought

This story teaches one of the deepest of all lessons about religion, about right and wrong, about being religious and not being religious. The man who came to Jesus was seeking for what he called eternal life. He was seeking for happiness, for satisfaction, for peace with God. He  wanted to know the one thing that he humans can do to get it all. But his very way of phrasing his question betrays him. He asks, "What must I do?" He is thinking in terms of actions, of works, of doing. He is thinking of piling up a credit balance-sheet with God by doing a series of things. He clearly knows nothing of a religion of grace. So Jesus tries to lead him on to a correct view.

Jesus answers him in his own terms. He tells him to keep the commandments, do what God tells you. This answer of Jesus is too general. So the man wants to know the details. "What in particular?" he says. Thereupon Jesus cites five of the ten commandments. Now there are two important things about the commandments which Jesus chooses to cite.

First, they are all commandments which deal, not with our duty to God, but with our duty to men. They are the commandments which govern our personal relationships, and our attitude to our fellow-men. Second, Jesus cites one commandment, as it were, out of order. He cites the command to honour parents last, when in point of fact it ought to come first.

It is clear that Jesus wishes to lay special stress on that commandment. Why? May it not be that this young man had grown rich and successful in his career, and had then forgotten his parents, who may have been very poor. He may well have risen in the world, and had been half-ashamed of the folks in the home where he grew up.

Second, do you notice that all the commandments that Jesus cited, except the last one, are in the negative? "Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie." And do you notice the man's response, "I've done all that. What's left?" In other words, all the man had done was NOT TO murder, commit adultery, steal, lie. Just as many of us do. We think that because we don't kill, commit adultery or steal, we are ok. Morality is not only not doing evil; it is also doing good. And this is what was still missing in this man's morality, just as it does in much of ours.

"If you want to be perfect," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor." GO and GIVE. For the first time, this man is told that it is not enough not to do evil (not to murder, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to lie), it is equally good to do good; that it is not sufficient to avoid hurting others, it is as well important to love them.

The question Jesus is putting to this man and to you and me is, with all the riches you have justly accumulated, with all the talents you have, with all the money you have and with all the goods you have, what good have you done in life? Have you made any body rich from your riches? What difference have you made in the life of others? 

Acts 2:45

And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

Luke 12:33

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

Luke 16:9

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Fire on earth

Luke 12:49-53

Jesus said to the people, "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 right-side 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

Jesus knew all about his life; he knew what would happen, when it would happen, how it would happen, and why it would happen. "I have," he said, "a terrible experience through which I must pass; and life is full of tension until I pass through it and emerge triumphantly from it." The cross was ever before his eyes; his passion and death was always before his eyes. Jesus well knew that without his pains there would be no gains. We do well to know this eternal principle, too.

We too, have to go thru hardships before getting the results we need; things normally get worse before they get getter. If your life if going to get better, you'll have to go through hardships. There's simply no way to the top that does not include climbing. BTW: This is why you hear of austerity packages and measures in USA, Europe, etc.

That's why we don't concentrate on hardships, but on the good results. Remember this, obstacles are what we see whenever we take our eyes off the goal. If you're afraid of hardships and terrible experiences, you'll never accomplish great things.  You can improve your life, if you too drink the cup of hardships like Jesus.

One of the terrible experience to go through will inevitably be your dear people, some of whom may object to your aspirations. You will have to decide whether you love more your dear people or your dear dreams; whether you love more comfort or hardships, whether you follow Christ through a Good Friday or follow Judas Iscariot who wanted easy money without a struggle; he eventually killed himself.

Following Christ's (hard) way is a choice we have to make. This choice many times implies division, estrangement and opposition, sometimes even from our dearest. He says, Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I've come to disrupt and confront! We must ready ourselves for rough ride.

Loyalty to Christ has to take precedence over the dearest loyalties of this earth. We must be prepared to count all things but loss for the excellence of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:7-9a

But the things that were gain to me, the same I have counted loss for Christ.  8 Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, first hand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ 9 and be embraced by him.

Are you loved by or lovely to the children?

Matthew 19:13-15

13 Then little children were brought to Jesus, that He might put His hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But He said, Leave the children alone! Allow the little ones to come to Me, and do not forbid or restrain or hinder them, for of such [as these] is the kingdom of heaven composed. 15 And He put His hands upon them, and then went on His way.

Food for thought!

It may well be said that here we have the loveliest incident in the gospel story. The characters all stand out clear and plain, although it only takes two verses to tell it.

(i) There are those who brought the children. No doubt these would be their mothers. No wonder they wished Jesus to lay his hands on their children and make a prayer. These mothers had seen what the hands of Jesus could do; they had seen these hands touch away disease and pain; they had seen them bring sight to the blind eyes, and peace to the distracted mind; and they wanted hands like that to touch their children. They knew that there is loveliness in Jesus. There is loveliness in Jesus Christ that anyone can see. Yes, Jesus is lovely.

(ii) There are the disciples. The disciples sound as if they were rough and stern; but, if they were, it was love that made them so. Their one desire was to protect Jesus. They saw how tired he was; they saw what healing cost him. He was talking to them so often about a cross, and they must have seen on his face the tension of his heart and soul. All that they wanted was to see that Jesus was not bothered. They could only think that at such a time as this the children were a nuisance to the Master. We must not think of them as hard; we must not condemn them; they wished only to save Jesus from another of those insistent demands which were always laying their claims upon his strength.

(iii) There is Jesus himself. This story tells us much about him. He was the kind of person children loved. Jesus was certainly no grim ascetic, otherwise children would have run away from him. The best test of loveliness in you and me is the children. Do children come to you easily and spontaneously? Do you come to children easily and spontaneously? Do children from your neighbourhood come and play in your yard? Or are afraid of you? Are you lovely? Even your own children, when you come back from work, come running to embrace you, or they run to hide from you?

To Jesus no one is unimportant. Some might say, "It's only a child; don't let him bother you." Jesus would never say that. No one was ever a nuisance to Jesus. He was never too tired, never too busy to give all of himself to anyone who needed him. There is a strange difference between Jesus and many political and religious leaders. It is often impossible to get into the presence of one of these famous ones. They have a kind of retinue and bodyguards which keep the public away lest the great man be wearied and bothered. Jesus was the opposite of that. The way to his presence was open to the humblest person and to the youngest child.

(iv) There are the children. Jesus said of them that they were nearer God than anyone else there. The child's simplicity is, indeed, closer to God than anything else. It is life's tragedy that, as we grow older, we so often grow further from God rather than nearer to him.

Celebrate every success, even if it not yours!

Luke 1:39-56

39 Mary didn't waste a minute. She got up and travelled to a town in Judah in the hill country, 40 straight to Zachariah's house, and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and sang out exuberantly, You're so blessed among women, and the babe in your womb, also blessed! 43 And why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord visits me? 44 The moment the sound of your greeting entered my ears, The babe in my womb skipped like a lamb for sheer joy. 45 Blessed woman, who believed what God said, believed every word would come true!

46 And Mary said, I'm bursting with God-news; 47 I'm dancing the song of my Saviour God. 48 God took one good look at me, and look what happened, I'm the most fortunate woman on earth! What God has done for me will never be forgotten, 49 the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others. 50 His mercy flows in wave after wave on all those who are in awe before him. 51 He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts. 52 He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. 53 The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold. 54 He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. 55 It's exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now. 56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her own home.

Food for thought!

You're so blessed among women!

These words of Elizabeth contain the meaning of today's feast. Very few people rejoice at others' success; very few celebrate others' achievements; very few see and say any good about others. Instead, people envy each other; gossip about each other. But not so Elizabeth. She's openly celebrating Mary success, You're so blessed among all of women, she confesses.

Like Elizabeth, we celebrate today Mary's success, blessings and achievement. We openly say, You're so blessed Mary! Your achievement is unique and outstanding. We are saying today, that what Mary got is unique among all of humanity. Today, we acknowledge Mary, not just as Mother of God, this Elizabeth did; we acknowledge Mary as assumed, as taken body and soul to heaven. Where do we get all this? Why do we say so?

The First Reading of today has a clue for us. (Rev 12:1.5) "A great Sign appeared in Heaven: a Woman dressed all in sunlight, standing on the moon, and crowned with Twelve Stars.... 5 The Woman gave birth to a Son who will shepherd all nations with an iron rod." According to this passage, there appeared in heaven, not a copse of a woman, but a living woman, dressed, standing and crowned. This is the first statement we make today. We are saying, that in heaven there's is a living woman.

Who's this woman? Again, according to the reading, the woman seen in heaven "gave birth to a Son who will shepherd all nations." Who's this great Son, if not Jesus? And who's the mother of Jesus, if not Mary? So, the nameless woman, who was seen in heaven, is Mary. This is what we publicly acknowledge and confess and celebrate on the 15 of August, like Elizabeth did long ago when she acknowledged and confessed publicly that Mary as mother of God, "why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord visits me?" She said.

Today, we remind ourselves that in heaven, there's at least two human bodies we know of, one of a man Jesus and the other of the woman Mary. In heaven there's is a masculine and a feminine bodies. If on Ascension day we celebrate the assumption of a man, on the Assumption we celebrate the Ascension of a woman. That's why today's feast completes salvation of mankind. Both man and woman are saved. This is what is meant by these words, "His mercy flows in wave after wave on all those who are in awe before him."

All means all, both men and women. If anything, today we affirm the equality of sexes, the equality of man and woman. Today's feast is a balancing feast; we are equal. God has no favourites among sexes. God saves and loves all those who revere him, regardless of their sex or their generation. In God's economy, what counts is fear of God, faith in God, reverence to God; this is the only currency in use in God's economy.

We shouldn't envy Mary, or anybody whom God has blessed. We should instead celebrate, because God blesses everybody, at different moments, of course. We only have to wait our turn, as the Second Reading so beautifully reminded us, 1Co 15:20-26

20 But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries. 21 There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. 22 Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ. 23 But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming, 24 the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father. 25 He won't let up until the last enemy is down-- 26 and the very last enemy is death!

Wait for you turn. In the meantime, celebrate others' success and achievement.