Food for soul! 21

John 4:43-54 

After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to. Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king’s court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: “Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe.” But the court official wouldn’t be put off. “Come down! It’s life or death for my son.” Jesus simply replied, “Go home. Your son lives.” The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home. On his way back, his servants intercepted him and announced, “Your son lives!” He asked them what time he began to get better. They said, “The fever broke yesterday afternoon at one o’clock.” The father knew that that was the very moment Jesus had said, “Your son lives.” That clinched it. Not only he but his entire household believed. This was now the second sign Jesus gave after having come from Judea into Galilee.

Food for soul: The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home!

After Sunday, after church, after listening to the word of God, we start our work week. We are like the man in the Gospel reading. "The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home." He believed what Jesus had told him, "Go home. Your son lives." Now that Sunday is over, we are called upon to put the word Jesus told us at the church and head to work. Yes, we must do what the man did: move from words to works; from pews to queues; from church to Main Street. 

Certain things about the conduct of this man can help us during this week.

(i) Here is a man who came to a carpenter. The man was not any man. The gospel calls him "a certain official from the king’s court." Jesus on the other hand had no greater status than that of the village carpenter of Nazareth. Further, Jesus was in Cana and this man lived in Capernaum, almost twenty miles away. That is why he took so long to get back home. 

There could be no more improbable scene in the world than an important court official hastening twenty miles to beg a favour from a village carpenter. First and foremost, this courtier swallowed his pride. He was in need, and neither convention nor custom stopped him bringing his need to Christ. His action would cause a sensation but he did not care what people said so long as he obtained the help he so much wanted. If we want the help which Christ can give we must be humble enough to swallow our pride and not care what any man may say.

(ii) Here is a man who refused to be discouraged. Jesus met him with the at first sight bleak statement that people would not believe unless they were supplied with signs and wonders. This was Jesus' way of making sure that the man was in earnest. He did the same to the Syro-Phoenician woman (Matt.15:21-28). If these two had turned irritably and petulantly away; if they had been too proud to accept a rebuke; if they had given up despairingly on the spot, Jesus would have known that their faith was not real. A man must be in earnest before the help of Christ can come to him.

(iii) Here was a courtier who had faith. It must have been hard for him to turn away and go home with Jesus' assurance that his little lad would live; it must have been difficult for the courtier. Yet he had faith enough to turn and walk back that twenty mile road with nothing but Jesus' word to comfort his heart. We too, must believe that what Jesus says is true. So often we have a kind of vague, wistful longing that the promises of Jesus should be true. The only way really to enter into them is to believe in them with the clutching intensity of a drowning man. If Jesus says a thing, it is not a case of "It may be true"; it is a case of "It must be true."

(iv) Here was a courtier who surrendered. He was not a man who got out of Christ what he wanted and then went away to forget. He and all his household believed. This courtier was a man who faced and accepted the facts. He had seen what Jesus could do; he had experienced it; and there was nothing left for it but surrender. He had begun with a sense of desperate need; that need had been supplied; and his sense of need had turned into an overmastering love. That must always be the story of the Christian life.

Food for Soul! 20

John 9:1-41

Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?” Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.”

He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man’s eyes, and said, “Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “Sent”). The man went and washed—and saw. Soon the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying, “Why, isn’t this the man we knew, who sat here and begged?” Others said, “It’s him all right!” But others objected, “It’s not the same man at all. It just looks like him.” He said, “It’s me, the very one.” 

They said, “How did your eyes get opened?” “A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ I did what he said. When I washed, I saw.” “So where is he?” “I don’t know.”

They marched the man to the Pharisees. This day when Jesus made the paste and healed his blindness was the Sabbath. The Pharisees grilled him again on how he had come to see. He said, “He put a clay paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “Obviously, this man can’t be from God. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath.”

Others countered, “How can a bad man do miraculous, God-revealing things like this?” There was a split in their ranks. They came back at the blind man, “You’re the expert. He opened your eyes. What do you say about him?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The Jews didn’t believe it, didn’t believe the man was blind to begin with. So they called the parents of the man now bright-eyed with sight. They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he now sees?”

His parents said, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But we don’t know how he came to see—haven’t a clue about who opened his eyes. Why don’t you ask him? He’s a grown man and can speak for himself.” (His parents were talking like this because they were intimidated by the Jewish leaders, who had already decided that anyone who took a stand that this was the Messiah would be kicked out of the meeting place. That’s why his parents said, “Ask him. He’s a grown man.”)

They called the man back a second time—the man who had been blind—and told him, “Give credit to God. We know this man is an impostor.” He replied, “I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see.” They said, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

“I’ve told you over and over and you haven’t listened. Why do you want to hear it again? Are you so eager to become his disciples?” With that they jumped all over him. “You might be a disciple of that man, but we’re disciples of Moses. We know for sure that God spoke to Moses, but we have no idea where this man even comes from.” The man replied, “This is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It’s well known that God isn’t at the beck and call of sinners, but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn’t come from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

They said, “You’re nothing but dirt! How dare you take that tone with us!” Then they threw him out in the street. Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and went and found him. He asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man said, “Point him out to me, sir, so that I can believe in him.” Jesus said, “You’re looking right at him. Don’t you recognize my voice?”

“Master, I believe,” the man said, and worshiped him. Jesus then said, “I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind.” Some Pharisees overheard him and said, “Does that mean you’re calling us blind?”

Jesus said, “If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure.”

Food for the soul!

Today's gospel centres on the analogy and distinction between physical and spiritual blindness.  Physical blindness is a metaphor for the spiritual blindness which prevents people from recognizing and coming to Jesus. These stories testify, therefore, to the power of Jesus to heal not just the blindness of the eye but, above all, the blindness of the heart. 

The clue to this physical – spiritual connection is found at the tail end of the story: “Jesus then said, “I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind.”

The first blindness of most of us is that we fail to understand that sin and suffering are not caused by God, but by us; by our choices. Many of us are like the disciples; we think that our suffering is a punishment from God. This is what the disciples were saying when they said: “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?” They thought the man was sick because of someone, or by himself or by his parents. Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here.

Jesus does not try to follow up or to explain the connection of sin and suffering. He says that this man’s affliction came to him to give an opportunity of showing what God can do. In other words, (1) there are things in our life that only God knows why they happen; (2) affliction, sorrow, pain, disappointment and loss are always opportunities for displaying God’s grace; (3) any kind of suffering is an opportunity to demonstrate the glory of God in our own lives; (4) by helping those who are in trouble or in pain, we can demonstrate to others the glory of God.

If and when we do this, God’s highway runs straight through us.’ When we spend ourselves to help those in trouble, in distress, in pain, in sorrow, in affliction, God is using us as the highway by which he sends his help into the lives of his people. To help another person in need is to manifest the glory of God, for it is to show what God is like. 

Another one is the reality of sin. The lesson that Jesus gives here is valid not only for the Pharisees but also for the men and women of our time. To learn from Jesus we must first admit our ignorance, to be healed we must first acknowledge our blindness, to be forgiven we must confess our sins. The I'm-OK-you're-OK mentality so prevalent today may in fact not be too far from the mentality of the Pharisees. The great archbishop Fulton J. Sheen used to say that in the past only Catholics believed in the Immaculate Conception but today everybody thinks they are immaculately conceived and, therefore, sinless.

Food for Soul! 19

Luke 18:9-14

Jesus also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [that they were upright and in right standing with God] and scorned and made nothing of all the rest of men: Two men went up into the temple [ enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men—extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers—or even like this tax collector here. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain. 13 But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am! I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

PLAYING GOD OR PRAYING TO GOD!

Jesus is inside a church, where two worshippers have gathered one to play goodness, the other to pray to God. The first man did not really go to pray to God. He prayed with himself. He feels like he is talking to the Lord, in truth, he is only talking to himself. He said: "I thank You that I am not like the rest of men—extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers—or even like this tax collector here." As you can see, this prayer got no higher than the roof of his mouth.

This man was really giving himself a testimonial before God; he did not really go to pray; he went to inform God how good he was. This man is a picture of many of us in the churches. Everyone who sees us thinks we are pure, holy and righteous. We have convinced everyone that we are the epitome of righteousness, holiness and virtue. We have even convinced ourselves that we are right and everyone around us who is not exactly like us is wrong.

The second man, a tax-collector, stood afar off, and would not even lift his eyes to God. In his praying, he referred to himself not just as any sinner, as THE SINNER par excellence. "And," said Jesus, "it was that heart-broken, self-despising prayer which won him acceptance before God." This man is a picture of another kind of people in our churches. These are the people who do not act like we think they should. They might not dress like we think they should. They might not do things and say things just like we think they should; these people are often looked down on by the other people who think they are more spiritual.

We could learn a lot from this man and his style of prayer! He knows that he has nothing at all to offer the Lord. He knows He is a wicked sinner. When he prays, there is no pride, no pretense, no hint of self-righteousness and there are no attempts to justify himself or his lifestyle in the eyes of the Lord. He just tells the truth, humbles himself before God, and asks for mercy. He won’t even lift his eyes toward heaven. He beats himself on the breast, knowing that his real problems are problems of the heart; his heart is the seat of all his problems. His prayer is simple and to the point. 

Food for Soul! 18

Mark 12:28-34

One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. 30 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” 32 The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 33 And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.” 34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Food for thought: Ask Jesus!  

As we all know, there too many rules and regulations and commandments in our faith community, so much so that sometimes you wonder which is the most important. This was the question put to Jesus: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Jesus replied, "You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind." These are the words Jesus said in reply to the question posted by a teacher of religion. 

The religious teacher had a question for Jesus. I wonder what YOUR question to Jesus would be? What would you ask Jesus? What is your question? What can't you find answer for? What battles you? Bring it to Jesus. Jesus answered and answers whoever comes, and however one comes, to trap him or not, to genuinely know and learn from him or not, with good intentions or not. As you know,  «disciple» means learner. In other words, as disciples of Jesus, we are all his learners and he is our teacher. 
In Jesus' time, there were hundreds of petty laws and rules and regulations so much so people wanted to know the most important of them. For instance, David reduced all the laws to 11, in Psalm 15.  "Lord, who shall sojourn in thy tent? who shall dwell on thy holy hill? He who walks blamelessly. And does what is right. And speaks truth from his heart. Who does not slander with his tongue. And does no evil to his friend. 6. Nor takes up a reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a reprobate is despised. But who honours those who fear the Lord. Who swears to his own heart and does not change. Who does not put out his money at interest. And does not take a bribe against the innocent." 
Isaiah reduced them to 6. (Isa.33:15.)
1. He who walks righteously. 2. And speaks uprightly. 3. Who despises the gain of oppressions. 4. Who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe. 5. Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed. 6. And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil. He shall dwell on high." 
Micah reduced the 6 to 3. (Mic.6:8.)
"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee? 1. To do justice. 2. To love kindness. 3. To walk humbly with your God." 
Once again Isaiah brought the 3 down to 2. (Isa.56:1.) "1. Keep justice. 2. Do righteousness." 
Finally Habakkuk reduced them all to one. (Hab.2:4.) "The righteous shall live by his faith."

The scholar of today's gospel was not satisfied with all the attempts and answers. That is why he wanted to know what Jesus says. Before Jesus tells you don't content yourself with others' answers. 
Jesus' answer: «Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.»
Briefly, Jesus is commending us the obvious: each of us can and should love God as much as s/he can, that is, with all OUR heart, all OUR soul, all OUR mind, all OUR strength. In other words, love the Lord YOUR way, for you will never love the Lord the way I love him, and I will never love the Lord the way you love him. God is fair, he only expects you to love him as you, not as me, and expects me to love him as me, not as you. That's why the greatest law is also the fairest.

And finally, the love of God is just one side of the coin. On the other side, it is the love of neighbour; you cannot have one without the other. You cannot love God and hate man, you cannot love man and hate God. That simple.

Food for Soul! 17

Luke 11:14-23

Jesus delivered a man from a demon that had kept him speechless. The demon gone, the man started talking normally, taking the crowd by complete surprise. 15 But some people said, He drives out demons [because He is in liaison with and] by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. 16 Others were sceptical, waiting around for him to prove himself with a spectacular miracle. Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, "Any country in civil war cannot stand for very long. A constantly squabbling family falls to pieces. 18 If Satan fights Satan, is there any Satan left? You accuse me of ganging up with the Devil, the prince of demons, to cast out demons, 19 but if you're slinging devil mud at me, calling me a devil who kicks out devils, doesn't the same mud stick to your own exorcists? 20 But if it's God's finger I'm pointing that sends the demons on their way, then God's kingdom is here for sure. "When a strong man, armed to the teeth, stands guard in his front yard, his property is safe and sound. 22 But what if a stronger man comes along with superior weapons? Then he's beaten at his own game, the arsenal that gave him such confidence hauled off, and his precious possessions plundered. "This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you're not on my side, you're the enemy; if you're not helping, you're making things worse.

Character assassins!

Have you ever been misrepresented? Has anyone ever taken your words and motives and twisted them around and used them against you? Have you ever done something good, which was misinterpreted as bad? Have you ever been attacked, slandered and envied for doing good? This is what is happening to Jesus in today's gospel. He has done something good, he has healed a man, and his enemies are annoyed and not happy; they decide to character assassinate him.

The earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus was surrounded by constant controversy. Nearly everyone He met misunderstood Him and what He came to this world to do. Nearly everyone was guilty of misrepresenting his words and his works. The things Jesus did and said in love were used to attack him in hate, especially by the religious leaders. They hated him and they hated everything he said and did. They despised him so much that they actually plotted to have him killed, (Mark 3:6).

These men will do anything to kill Jesus. They begin by killing his name, his character, his fame. They begin by saying, he is demon possessed. "He drives out demons because He is in league with and by Beelzebub, the prince of demons." They are saying that Jesus is in partnership with Satan!!!!

These men consider the words and works of Jesus and attribute them to the power of the devil; they accuse Jesus of acting under the influence of “Beelzebub”. Beelzebub was a loathsome, wicked demon associated with all things dirty and filthy. It was a cruel, heartless attack. Why would they say something so foolish and so cruel against someone so innocent and so holy as Jesus?

If they acknowledge that Jesus is working His miracles in the power of God, then they will be obligated to follow him too. If they acknowledge that Jesus is working His miracles in the power of God, they will have to admit that their old system of belief is dead and is being replaced. If they acknowledge Jesus and what He is doing, they are out of business and they know it! They will have to change and that is not what they want. So, they attack Jesus and accuse Him of being in league with the devil. If this charge sticks, they can undermine Jesus' ministry with the people and draw away His crowds.

It is easy to attack people you don’t agree with. You don’t need facts; just make a few wild accusations and people who are not attentive will take the bait. When that takes place a life, a reputation, a family, or a ministry is destroyed. Beware that you are not in the business of destroying others. When you do, you are truly doing the work of the devil! He is a destroyer (1 Pet. 5:8), and he loves to enlist others in the business of destroying people! 

Food for Soul! 16

Matthew 5:17-19

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.’ Trivialize even the smallest item in God's Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, tell it to others, and you will find honour in the kingdom.

Remember by sharing!

In the Old Testament, we find this reading from Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9

Moses said to the people: 《Now listen, Israel, listen carefully to the rules and regulations that I am teaching you to follow so that you may live and enter and take possession of the land that God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, is giving to you. Pay attention: I'm teaching you the rules and regulations that God commanded me, so that you may live by them in the land you are entering to take up ownership. Keep them. Practice them. You'll become wise and understanding. When people hear and see what's going on, they'll say, "What a great nation! So wise, so understanding! We've never seen anything like it. Yes. What other great nation has gods that are intimate with them the way God, our God, is with us, always ready to listen to us? And what other great nation has rules and regulations as good and fair as this Revelation that I'm setting before you today? Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don't forget anything of what you've seen. Don't let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you've seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.》

I am sure most of people are like me: they forget the readings moments after reading or listening to them; research shows that most people do forget the reading of the day shortly after, and many people do forget the things they even asked the Lord. If you are like me, the readings of toady are about not forgetting the things the Lord does for us or tells us.

And the best way is by sharing with others what the Lord has done for us or has told. It is by telling that we remember: «But take it seriously, tell it to others, and you will find honour in the kingdom.» 

«Don't forget anything of what you've seen. Don't let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you've seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.»

In other words, the best way to remember the things the Lord tells us is by sharing them with the others. Or better, REMEMBER BY
TELLING!

Food for Soul! 15

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth 27 to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. 28 Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her: Good morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you. 29 She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. 30 But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: 31 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great, be called 'Son of the Highest.' The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; 33 He will rule Jacob's house forever-- no end, ever, to his kingdom." 34 Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man." 35 The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you; Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God. 36 "And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months 'pregnant! 37 Nothing, you see, is impossible with God." 38 And Mary said, Yes, I see it all now: I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say. Then the angel left her.

God has a plan for you too!

In Ephesians 1:11-12 we read: "It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone."

What this reading is saying is what is happening in the gospel reading: God has a plan for each one of us. He has had this plan from day one of our existence; he created us with a plan; we come into this life for a purpose. This is the good news. The bad news is that, like Mary, we sometimes don't know it. The gospel says that all Mary was looking toward to was her wedding, for she had been engaged to Joseph. When she least expected the angel from God came to her with a very disturbing revelation: "Good morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you. She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus."'

Like Mary, sometimes we don't know God's plan for us; we plan and work for one thing when God has quite another thing for us. Like Mary, we get upset and we upset others when we come to know God's surprise for us. This surprise plan can be in our private life, family life, professional life, can be in our business. In all these, God can and indeed sometimes acts contrary to our expectations and plans.

How many people have married someone completely different from the one they dreamt? How many people have moved from their home countries to a completely different country they never ever dreamt of going to? How many people have changed career or jobs to a completely different one? How many people...? God continues to surprise us because, as the reading from Ephesians put it, God has a master plan, an overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

For that reason, when all is done and said, we must say like Mary: Let it be done to me according to thy plan. Imagine if Mary had stubbonly refused to cooperate? Imagine Mary saying to the Angel, Sorry, I am set for marriage; I can't and I won't. Mary would not be Mary if she had refused. Our glory consists in obeying God's plan for us, even when we don't understand all the details; even if we get upset ourselves; even if we upset others. We should always say like Mary and with Mary, "Be done to me according to his plan for me!" Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

Food for Soul! 14

Luke 4:24-30

Jesus came to Nazareth and spoke to the people in the synagogue: ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.  ‘There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.’ When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.

Food for thought!

Jesus walked away!"

Jesus escaped death. The first people to want to kill Jesus were the people who knew him, the people of his home town, Nazareth. The gospel says that "they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff."

Why would the people of Nazareth want to kill Jesus? The question can be put this way, why do the people who know us best turn out to be our worst enemies? Look and you will notice that your adversaries, your enemies were once your friends. Why does this happen so often?

Well, it happens because the people who know us think that they know us. And as always familiarity breeds contempt; the more we know someone the more we tend to despise that person. That's why Jesus said that no prophet is ever accepted in his own home. Our greatest challenge are the people who claim to know us.

I like the fact that Jesus walked right through the crowd and went on his way. Sometimes it is good to get away from some people before they destroy you. When the environment becomes hostile to you, or when our ministry or service or our employment or neighbourhood or relationship becomes ineffective or hostile for whatever reason, consider to do like Jesus did, walk away.

Food for Soul! 13

John 4:5-42 

On the third Sunday of Lent, providence has given us the gospel of the Samaritan woman,  found in John 4:5-42. (Because it is quite long, we have not quoted the text; you do well to read it).

It is about thirst. Athirst could be physical or spiritual. Often it is both, as in the case of the unnamed woman whose meeting with Jesus by Jacob's well gave us today's gospel story. Physically she is thirsty, thirsting for water, and that brings her to the well day after day. But spiritually also she is thirsty, an inner thirst which drives her from one man to another and for which she can find no satisfaction. By the time she meets Jesus she is in her sixth marriage, and yet she is able to tell Jesus "I have no husband," indicating that she is probably already looking for the seventh.

Numbers are often significant in biblical interpretation. According to the biblical symbolism of numbers, six is a number of imperfection, of lack, of deficiency. The woman in her sixth marriage is, therefore, in a situation of lack and deficiency. Seven, on the other hand, is a number of perfection, completion, finality and sufficiency. Jesus comes to this woman as the seventh man in her life. She opens up to him and finally experiences the satisfaction of all of her soul's desiring, the full assuaging of her spiritual thirst. Isn't this the kind of experience we wish for ourselves and for all in this season of Lent? It might, therefore, be useful for us to look at the mechanism of this profound turnaround in life that we call conversion.

First, someone must be ready to break boundaries. Human society organizes itself by erecting boundaries - national, ethnic, religious, and gender. Jesus shows in today's gospel that in order to reach out to the other and create the necessary conditions for conversion, one must be prepared to challenge these man-made boundaries and break the dividing walls of prejudice. This is exactly what Jesus does to get to this woman.

According to the convention of the times, Jews were not supposed to interact with Samaritans. Walls of prejudice built on the foundations of ethnicity and religion kept them apart. Jesus broke these boundaries when he asked the woman for a drink, as her reaction shows:

"How is it that you, a Jewish man, ask a drink of me, a Samaritan woman?" Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans" (John 4:9).

That was not all. It was also against the moral norms of the day for a man to engage a woman in dialogue in a public place. And yet Jesus engages this woman in the longest dialogue we have in all the four Gospels, an act which even his own disciples saw as morally questionable:

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" (John 4:27)

If Jesus had kept within the bounds of the expected behaviour of his day, there was no way he could have gone beyond a superficial brush with the woman, which would invariably lead to superficial results. Note also that, unlike many evangelists of our time, Jesus never tries to condemn, threaten, or intimidate the woman. All he tries to do is invite (v. 7), challenge (v. 10) and affirm her (v. 17), patiently trying to enlighten her doubts in no uncertain terms (vv. 24, 26).

Why does Jesus make such a tremendous impact on the woman? Because for the first time in her life she meets a man who really understands her. In her excitement she forgets her water jar and physical thirst (and so also does Jesus) and runs back to the village inviting the villagers to come and see "a man who told me everything I have ever done" - probably the first man to know her so well without rejecting her. Before you know it the convert has become a missionary bringing others to Jesus and to the joyful experience of conversion.

Before we close our refection on the gospel story I would like us to pay attention to the words of those other Samaritan villagers that the woman brings to Jesus.

They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world." (4:42)

We see that there are two stages in the believing or conversion process: a. believing because of what someone told us about Jesus, and b. believing because we have come personally to know Jesus ourselves. Lent is the period when the Church invites all her children who still believe on the strength of someone else's witnessing to come to Jesus personally and believe, not because someone told us, but because we have known him and experienced his love personally in our own lives.

Food for Soul! 12

Luke 15:1-3,11-32

The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them:

  ‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of the estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.
  ‘When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father.

  ‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.

  ‘Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. “Your brother has come” replied the servant “and your father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.”

 ‘The father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”’

Food for thought!

The best way to approach this parable is to look at what triggered it in the first place. The gospel says, "The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them."

What triggered this story are two kinds of people that were in the company of Jesus, the sinners and the religious (Pharisees and scribes). The sinners were in the company of Jesus in order to listen to him and learn from him. The Pharisees and scribes were in the company of Jesus, not to listen to what he had to say, but to criticize him, to complain, as the Gospel put it.

We also have these people, who seem to be our friends, who even are always physically close to us, but who emotionally and spiritually are very far away; people who criticise us are normally the people who know us. Have you ever noticed that all our enemies were once our friends? In other words, only those who once knew you, only those who once were your friends, can be your enemies. Enemy means old friends that turned their back on us.

Please, note that in today's gospel reading, it isn't the so called sinners that are complaining, but the so called religious people. Note again that of the two sons, the one complaining is not the young son but the older son, who was always in the company of Jesus. This is how be phrased his complaint: “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.”

What does this teach us? It warns us, we the religious, we the Christians, we the Catholics, we who seem to be close to Jesus, that we may be the furthest people from the Lord. Like the Pharisees in the company of Jesus, like the elder son always in the company of the Father, we may be the real sinners. Those people we label as sinners may not be as much sinners as we think.

Food for soul! 11

Matthew 21:33-43,45-46 ©

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, ‘Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third. Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.” So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:

It was the stone rejected by the builders

that became the keystone.

This was the Lord’s doing

and it is wonderful to see?

‘I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’ When  they heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was speaking about them, but though they would have liked to arrest him they were afraid of the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.

Food for soul!

In the parable there is something serious going on. It is called breach of contract. We are talking about the sense of responsibility, the recognition that every privilege we enjoy comes with a price tag. Some people go about trying to take advantage of others, of the society, and even of God. We see that in the parable of the rebellious farm managers in today's gospel, who enjoy the benefits that accrue to them as managers but withhold the benefits that should go to the landowner. Today's gospel calls for responsibility and accountability in our dealings with God, which include our dealings with our fellow human beings.

Jesus directed the parable at the Jewish leadership of his day. The parable has a lot to teach us about stewardship. As such it has very important lessons for church leaders in particular but also for all of God's people in general. We all have at least received life from God. Life is given to us in trust. We are expected to cultivate and manage this life in such a way that it bears good fruit - fruit that we can present to God the owner of our lives on the day of reckoning.

The parable teaches us a lot about God and how God relates to us. First we see the PROVIDENCE of God. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower (Matthew 21:33a). Before God entrusts a responsibility to you, He makes provision for all that you will need in carrying out the responsibility.

Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. This shows God's TRUST in us. God does not stand looking over our shoulders, policing us to make sure we do the right thing. God leaves the job to us and goes on vacation to a far country, so to say. God trusts that we will do the right thing. Unfortunately many of us don't. The story also highlights God's PATIENCE with us. God sends messenger after messenger to the rebellious managers who would not render to God what is His due. With each messenger, God provides another chance for us to put an end to rebellion and do the right thing. Finally there comes a last chance. God plays His last card and sends His only son. If we miss this last chance, then we've missed it. In the end we see God's JUDGMENT in which rebellious humanity lose their very lives, and their privileges are transferred to others who are more promising. The picture is that of a provident, trusting, patient, but also just God.

From this we can learn a lot about ourselves and how we stand in relation to God. First we see human PRIVILEGE. Like the managers of the vineyard, everything we have is a privilege and not a merit. This is what we mean when we say that everything is God's grace. Grace is unmerited favour. Another word for this is privilege. Life itself is a privilege which can be taken away from any of us at any moment. Privilege comes, however, with RESPONSIBILITY. We are ultimately responsible and accountable to God for the way we use or abuse our God-given privileges. God has given us all that we need to make a judicious use of all our privileges, yet we retain the ability to abuse them. This is called FREEDOM. The Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, as it is called, is a parable on the misuse of human freedom. Let us today pray for the wisdom and the courage never to abuse our privileges but rather to make a judicious use of all the privileges and opportunities that God gives us.

Food for Soul! 10

Luke 16:19-31

19 "There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. 20 A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. 21 All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man's table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores. 22" Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. 24 He called out, 'Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I'm in agony in this fire.' 25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It's not like that here. Here he's consoled and you're tormented. 26 Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.' 27" The rich man said, 'Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father 28 where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won't end up here in this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham answered, 'They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.' 30" 'I know, Father Abraham,' he said, 'but they're not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.' 31 "Abraham replied, 'If they won't listen to Moses and the Prophets, they're not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.'"

Food for soul!

Today,  Jesus is taking us beyond our death and dying; he is taking us to two places, heaven and hell. After death, we go to either of these places. On the other side of death, is heaven and hell. And we shall go to either. Heaven, we know quite a lot. Hell? Well, some people have problems understanding it or even accepting its existence.

If anything, don't deny the existence of Hell. Because God and Jesus declare Hell to be a very real place, (Psalm 9:17; of 162 references to Hell in the New Testament, 70 come from Jesus Himself). We may not like to think about it, but Hell is a reality, otherwise Jesus would not have told us today's parable.

In the parable, we see a rich man, he is alive in this world.  After he experiences death and is buried in verse 22, we see him in Hell. But, he is not dead, he is very much alive.  He is a conscious man and he is very much aware of his surroundings.

The rich man looks at his surroundings through scalding tears. This passage is very clear; this is a real man in a real place, experiencing real torment.  This is a literal man in a literal body in a literal place called Hell!

In v.27 the rich man still hears his fellow sufferers moan, cry, curse and scream. You see, Hell is not a state of mind!  It is a real place, where real souls spend a real eternity in real torment.  Notice a few of the truths the Bible reveals about Hell.

In v.25 we see the living dead rich man still conscious in memory – This poor rich man remembers every witness who ever came to his gate. He remembers Lazarus lying there. He remembers turning a deaf ear to the pain and needs of Lazarus.  He remembers all the opportunities he wasted during life. He remembers all his chances and he realizes that they are gone forever now.

So hell is a place of Memory and Remorse. The living dead rich man still wanted his brothers spared, too. The rich man is convinced that he will remain in hell forever. That's why he asks that Lazarus, and not himself, be sent to witness to his brothers; he knows that he will never be permitted to leave the torments and flames of Hell.

In v.24 we see that the living dead rich man is still conscious in taste – The rich man still can desire water; those trapped in Hell will still have many of the same wants and desires they had in this world, v.24.

You might wonder why Jesus tells this parable. Well, Jesus wants to teach us that life does not end at death; Jesus wants us to know that there's life beyond death and dying, and that this life is passed either in heaven or hell; and that that life depends on this life. Where we shall spend that life depends on how we have spent this life.

But before we go, what was the sin of this man? He had not stolen to get rich; he had not insulted Lazarus, did not even ever speak to him. So what did he do to merit hell? The sin of the rich man was not doing something wrong, but not doing good, it was not action, but inaction; it was sin of omission, the sin of not doing good when with all his riches he could. It was not what he did that got him into hell; it was what he did not do.

Btw, that is why in Mass we confess: "in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do." We sin not only when we do evil but also when we fail to do good to our brothers and sisters. This is what Jesus is saying today, who at the due time will be revealed by God, the blessed and only Ruler of all, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal, whose home is in inaccessible light, whom no man has seen and no man is able to see: to him be honour and everlasting power. Amen.

Food for soul! 9

Luke 2:41-51

Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere. Three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have, you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’ ‘Why were you looking for me?’ he replied ‘Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But they did not understand what he meant. He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority.

Food for thought!

Today we remember and celebrate St. Joseph, the patron of silence and silent people. In all the Gospels we don't find any word ever spoken by Joseph; he speaks by his silence. St. Joseph reminds us of the value of silence, the importance of silence, the use of silence. Yes, even silent people can talk to us, not by mouth and words but by their silence.

In today's Gospel reading, who does the talking is a woman, Mary. The gospel says, "When his parents saw him, they were astonished." Both Joseph and Mary were astonished; both wondered, but only Mary spoke out. Yes, Mary was an outspoken lady. Women, don't be afraid to talk; men, you don't have to talk all the time. Let your Mary do the talking because many times she knows better.

Jesus' mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." Your father and I! Isn't this amazing? That Mary talks in the name and on behalf of Joseph!

Back to silence and silent people. Joseph should remind us that sometimes the best response is silence; that sometimes we do well to stay silent; that we don't have to open our mouth all the time. In fact, the lesss you say, the more profound and mysterious you appear. You have more power when you shut up. Every day we are asked, often before the time is right, to reveal our secrets, ideas and projectos as a swy of being accepted or seen as important by others. How many times have you had an excellent idea, shared it with someone, and then felt that you had lost the Energy to bring your idea to life? Silence helps us retain the energy necessary for realizing the idea. Remember: the energy of silence is your internal energy that expends or shrinks depending on what you choose to say, or not to say.

You loose your inner energy, when you speak too much; when you tell your secrets; when you share projects with others before you are ready to do so; when you speak about things you know you shouldn't to people you know you shouldn't speak with.

By saying less than necessary you create the appearance of meaning and power. Also, the less you say, the less risk you run of saying something foolish, even dangerous. Learn the lesson: once the words are out, you cannot take them back. So like Joseph, keep your words under control.

Those who are attentive enough, like Mary was to Joseph, can understand our words of silence and our silent sighs and our silent suffering and our silent anxiety. St. Joseph, patron of silence and of silent people, pray for us, now and at the hour of our death. St. Joseph is also the patron of the dying!

One teacher; all classmates!

1 Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. 2 "The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God's Law. 3 You won't go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It's all spit- and- polish veneer. 4" Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. 5 Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. 6 They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, 7 preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend.' 8 "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. 9 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. 10 And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life- Leader for you and them-- Christ. 11" Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. 12 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.

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."

If anybody whosoever tell you anything contradictory to what Jesus teaches you to do and be, don't do it. Nobody, not even of the church, should tell us what to do. 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!"

Food for soul! 8

Luke 6:36-38

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Food for thought

What Jesus is teaching us is what we normally refer to as tit for tat tactic. If you tit, expect a tat. It is about cause and effect. He is saying in other words, whatsoever happens to us, good or evil, is what we have done to others. In other words, there's nobody to blame but ourselves for our fate.

This is not just a spiritual principle, it is a psychological one too. People tend to treat us in proportion to the way we treat them.

 If you are rude to people, people will be rude to you; if you shout at people, people will always shout at you. If you're kind to people, people will be kind to you. If you're good to people, most people will be good to you, because goodness begets goodness. Evil begets evil. Evil cannot eliminate evil; darkness cannot fight darkness. Evil + evil = more evil.

Be merciful; do not judge; do not condemn, forgive, and give. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. The amount of mercy you use is the amount of mercy you get; you will be judged according to the manner you have judged; you will be condemned in accordance to the manner of your judgement (if you're judgemental, others will be judgemental to you), if you deny anyone forgiveness, you'll not be forgiven too. Roy Masters, in his book How Your Mind Can Keep You Well, says that we ought to be grateful when someone offends us. They are doing us a favor, he suggests, because when we forgive those who have offended us, it erases some of the self-destructive effects of offenses we may have caused others; the person who cannot forgive eventually become physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually ill. Do you have some people you don't want to forgive?  Please, do forgive them and you will feel better:

The last one, give and you will get, is like a summary and repetition of all the others. It means that what we get back is what we have given away in the first place. Who gives much gets back much. If we give much goodness we get much goodness back. Who plants sparingly harvests sparingly. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

It means that what we are and have is not due to others' fault, it is not due to God; it is due to us. The smart get smarter and the stupid get stupidier. Have you ever noticed that the poor tend to get poorer and the rich tend to get richer? It is because of what Jesus said that those who have will get more, and those who have not, even the little they have will be taken away. It is the same principle according to which "the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

As Henry H. Buckley said, “Keep your thoughts right—for as you think, so you are. Thoughts are things, therefore, think only the things that will make the world better and you unashamed.” St. Paul's advice: "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things." (Phil. 4:8).

Food for soul! 7

Matthew 17:1-9 

Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone. There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him. Then Peter spoke to Jesus. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘it is wonderful for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them with shadow, and from the cloud there came a voice which said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’ When they heard this the disciples fell on their faces overcome with fear. But Jesus came up and touched them. ‘Stand up,’ he said ‘do not be afraid.’ And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but only Jesus. As they came down from the mountain Jesus gave them this order, ‘Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’

Food for soul!

Last Sunday, Jesus showed us his humanity. We heard that He was lead into a wilderness where he was tempted and where, after 40 days, He felt hungry. This was Jesus the man. Today, we have Jesus the divine. If last Sunday Jesus showed us his weakness, today he is showing us his glory. It is the same Jesus, the one we saw last Sunday and the one we are seeing today. 

The Gospel says, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone. And He was transfigured before them. In other words, Jesus changed forms on the mountain. The glory that was concealed within Him was revealed on that mountain, before Peter and James and his brother John. You see, this was not the first time Jesus had experienced a transfiguration. When He was born in Bethlehem, Jesus concealed the glory of His deity behind the veil of His human body. On this occasion, the glory on the inside burst forth to the outside.

Jesus had twelve disciples, so why just these three, Peter and James and his brother John? Why did Jesus choose to show his glory to a few and not to the many? Jesus showed his glory not before a crowd, not even before the twelve disciples, but before three; Jesus was at his best before just three of his twelve disciples. As you know, many of us are at our best away from home; we show our true colours at our place of work, at the church, at where there's a gathering, and never at home, never before the spouse and children. Unfortunately, our dear ones never come to see our glory, but the outsiders. Jesus showed his glory to Peter and James and his brother John.

Some people are very good as professionals, they're very good people at work, but at home, they shout at and harass others they live with, and sometimes beat their spouses and children. If you smile all the time at your place of work, but frown all the time at home, please, do change. Your Peter and John and James are your spouse and children; show your glory first to them before you show it to the rest of us.

When and where do you show your glory? When and where are you at your best? When you're with the twelve or when you're with the three? When you're at work, or when you're at home? When and where do poeple say that it is good to be in your company? At home or at work? WHO SEES YOUR GLORY?

We normally say, charity begins at home. I say, not only charity but also love begins at home; forgiveness begins at home; our glory also begins at home. But does not end there. It only begins at home but does not end at home.

Peter and John and James were chosen on this day to experience something special and later to witness; they were especially chosen to go thru an experience and later witness to others. The Gospel says, And as they were coming back down the mountain, He admonished and expressly ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man should rise from among the dead. So, these three men had to tell the rest of us of what they had experienced.

As you know, the Lord continues to choose us for special experiences; He selects us to make and have special experiences. Your kind of experiences, your kind of life, your kind of problems and joys and suffering, all you are going through is what the Lord has chosen you to experience AND witness. So next time you wonder and ask yourself why you're going through that experience, next time you wonder and ask, but why me, why this one on me, remember that Jesus carefully chooses us for special experiences in order to witness, in order to tell of our tale, in order to, when it is all over, tell others of our ordeal.

What are you doing exceptional?

Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’

Food for thought!

What are you doing exceptional? This is the question that Jesus made then and makes now to all those, like you and me, who claim to be his followers. What more than others are we doing? Is there any difference between other people and we Christians? Are we different in any way or in any thing? Is there anything we do differently? Is there any difference between you, a Christian, and your neighbour, who is a non-believer? This is real food for thought.

Why does Jesus demand that we be different? The reason is very simple: it is that our role model is not just human but divine; we cannot compare ourselves to other humans, but to our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father makes his sun to rise on the good and the bad; he sends his rain on the just and the unjust. Have you ever noticed that the rain fell on the field of A, who was righteous, and not on the field of B, who was wicked? Or that the sun rose and shone on your home and not upon the neighbour's home?

Jesus says that we must have this same love as our Father in heaven. The language in which the Bible was written is not rich in adjectives; it often uses son of... with an abstract noun, where we would use an adjective. For instance a son of peace is a peaceful man; a son of consolation is a consoling man. So, then, a son of God is a godlike man. The reason why we must have this unconquerable benevolence and goodwill is that God has it; and, if we have it, we become nothing less than sons of God, we become godly.

What more than others are you doing? This same question can be applied to all other forms of life, even to our professional life, even our social life. If you run your business just like anybody else does, your business will be like anybody's business. If your life is like anybody's life, you will be like anybody. Ordinary actions get ordinary results. Most people are by definition, ordinary, they are just like anybody else. If you continue to be ordinary and act ordinarily, you will continue to get ordinary results. If you want extraordinary results in your life, your family or your business, you must act extraordinarily in that area.

Food for soul! 6

Matthew 5:20-26

Jesus said to his disciples, If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. ‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, "You fool!" shall be liable to the hell of fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.’

Food for thought!

"You have learnt … But I say to you."

In these words, Jesus shows us that he knows that we have other teachers. He says, You have learnt! This means that indeed, there are other teachers in this world, besides Jesus. He knows it. This is not the point. The point is that Jesus tells us that notwithstanding what we have learnt from whoever has taught us, he wants us to drop that teaching and adopt his teaching.

But I say to you.

This saying means that regardles of what we have learnt…Jesus teaches us something else. Yes, many times in contradiction to what we know; Jesus sometimes contradicts us in what we know. Jesus speaks with an authority which no other man had ever dreamed of assuming: the authority which Jesus assumed always amazed those who came into contact with him. Right at the beginning of his ministry, after he had been teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum, it is said of his hearers: "They were astonished at his teaching; for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the Scribes" (Mk.1:22). 

Jesus took the highest wisdom of men and corrected it, because he was who he was. He did not need to argue; it was sufficient for him to speak. No one can honestly face Jesus and honestly listen to him without feeling that this is God's last word beside which all other teaching is inadequate, and all other wisdom out of date.

But startling as was Jesus' accent of authority, the standard which he put before men was more startling yet. Jesus said that in God's sight it was not only the man who committed murder who was guilty, the man who was angry with his brother was also guilty and liable to judgment. Here was something which was entirely new, something which we have not yet fully grasped. It was Jesus' teaching that it is not enough not to commit murder or adultery or theft or perjury; it is equally important not to think of murder or adultery or theft or perjury.  

It is the teaching of Jesus that thoughts are just as important as deeds, and that it is not enough not to commit a sin; the only thing that is enough is not to wish to commit it. It was Jesus' teaching that a man is not judged only by his deeds, but is judged even more by the desires which never emerged in deeds. By the world's standards a man is a good man, if he never does a forbidden thing. The world is not concerned to judge his thoughts. By Jesus' standards, a man is not a good man until he never even desires to do a forbidden thing. Jesus is intensely concerned with our thoughts.

And as Marcus Aurelius put it, "Your life becomes what you think."