Sun 21 June: Teacher, don’t you even care that we are all about to drown?

Mark 4: 35-41

As evening fell, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took him just as he was and started out, leaving the crowds behind (though other boats followed). But soon a terrible storm arose. High waves began to break into the boat until it was nearly full of water and about to sink. Jesus was asleep at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically they wakened him, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are all about to drown?” Then he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Quiet down!” And the wind fell, and there was a great calm! And he asked them, “Why were you so fearful? Don’t you even yet have confidence in me?” And they were filled with awe and said among themselves, “Who is this man, that even the winds and seas obey him?”

Food for thought!

Our storms of life bring us to the point where we realize that we have nowhere to go, but to God. In a moment of overwhelming desperation, the disciples after laying on their own located the storm, finally called out to Jesus: “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are all about to drown?” We’ve all been there, at one time or another. If you haven’t experienced a storm in your life, then praise God; but, get ready because Jesus assured us, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16: 33)

If you aren’t currently in a storm, be on the lookout. The enemy is looking for an opportunity to send the perfect storm into your life. He is well aware of our deepest desires and our innermost struggles. Satan not only attacks us where we are weakest; more often, he attacks in those areas where we feel we are strongest. He knows exactly where pride exists. How many times have we judged others and said, “I’d never do that. That could never happen to me… I’m too loving, too giving, too faithful, too loyal, too obedient, too prayerful, too dedicated to God. Besides, I go to church on Sunday!” Before we know it, we find ourselves in the midst of that very storm; we’re dazed and confused, wondering how we got there and how to get out.

This miracle is for you and me to understand the purpose of the storms in our life and how to persevere through them. By applying this miracle to our life, we will find out that God can calm all of our storms . . . if we will just call on Jesus IN FAITH. The miracle in the storm on the Sea of Galilee revealed the Disciples’ lack of faith in Jesus as the Son of God. Although they had witnessed Jesus perform many miracles, they still had doubt about who He really was. It was through this miracle that their faith was truly put to the test.

The Disciples were not exempt from a test of faith and neither are we. Faith isn’t faith, unless it requires taking a step into the unseen. It doesn’t take faith at all to cling to what you see. The faith that God is after is a faith that clings to Him and isn’t threatened or destroyed by adversity and uncertainty. You know that you have genuine faith when common sense tells you to stop believing, to stop praying, to stop forgiving or loving, but you continue to trust God anyway, you continue praying, you continue forgiving or loving.

Did you notice that it was Jesus that deliberately drove his disciples into the storm? He said to them: “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” And after getting into the boat he slept! What Jesus teaches us here is that it is him who leads us into storms or problems of our life; that those our problems are not only known by the Lord, they are also permitted by him.

The storm on the Sea of Galilee was a test. Jesus knew there would be a storm. He knows about every storm in your life, too. As you know, God doesn't tempt us but he tests us, in order to grow us. You see, sometimes we bring storms on ourselves through sin, poor judgment, or just a lack of experience; some storms may come by the wrongdoing of other people to us. No matter how the storm is brought about, God will use it for good. Remember Romans 8:28, "God uses everything for good for those who love him!"

It is in and through our storms that He desires to do something awesome in and through us. He uses the storms to get our attention, like He did with the disciples. At the end of today's gospel reading the disciples were filled with awe and said among themselves, “Who is this man, that even the winds and seas obey him?” Yes, in every storm and problem of our life there is something good that we get; in every storm stands Jesus.

Rest assured, in every storm, God is bringing you to your knees, so that you can witness His hand lifting you up. The message that God needed the Disciples to understand was that it was by faith alone that they could be saved. It’s the message He wants you to know, as well. People are declared righteous because of their faith, not because of their work (Romans 4: 5).

Fri 19 June What and Where is your treasure?

Matthew 6:19-23

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Food for thought!

In today's gospel Jesus makes a statement that deserves our utmost attention. He says, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." It is as if he said, where your heart is, is where your treasure is! In other words, our treasure is where our heart always is. It means that if you want to know what your treasure is or where your treasure is, observe carefully your heart. Where's your heart? What do you spend most of your time thinking of? What do you think of most? That's is your treasure.
Do you think most of someone? If so, he or she is your treasure. Do you think most of your job, your money, yourself...? Whatever you think of most, that's your treasure. If it is earthly, your treasure is earthly. If it spiritual, your treasure is spiritual. If it is your business, your treasure is business. If it is your family, your treasure is family. Where your heart is, is where your treasure is also.
Whatever your treasure is, you do well to consider this divine advice: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal."
In other words, let not your treasure be things of God, but the God of things; not the things God made, but the God that made the things; not the creatures but the Creator.
"Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse." (Phil. 4:8).

Thurs 18 June He is our Father!

Matthew 6:7-15

And in your prayer do not make use of the same words again and again, as the Gentiles do: for they have the idea that God will give attention to them because of the number of their words. So be not like them; because your Father has knowledge of your needs even before you make your requests to him. Let this then be your prayer:

Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your kingdom come. Let your pleasure be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day bread for our needs. And make us free of our debts, as we have made those free who are in debt to us. And let us not be put to the test, but keep us safe from the Evil One. For if you let men have forgiveness for their sins, you will have forgiveness from your Father in heaven. But if you do not let men have forgiveness for their sins, you will not have forgiveness from your Father for your sins.

Food for thought!

Jesus teaches us something very important: "And make us free of our debts, as we have made those free who are in debt to us. ... For if you let men have forgiveness for their sins, you will have forgiveness from your Father in heaven. But if you do not let men have forgiveness for their sins, you will not have forgiveness from your Father for your sins."

Why did Jesus teach us this? Because he knows us all; Jesus knows what is in man. Sin. Many of us resent being treated as sinners. The trouble is that most people have a wrong conception of sin. They would readily agree that the burglar, the drunkard, the murderer, the adulterer, the suicide bomber is a sinner. And since many people are not guilty of none of these sins, since many people live decent, ordinary, respectable lives, and have never even been in danger of appearing in court, or going to prison, or getting some notoriety in the newspapers, they therefore feel that sin has nothing to do with them. Many Christians don't know their sins. It is always the others who sin, not ourselves. So we think.

So, we do well to consider sin. What is sin, according to the Bible? The Bible uses different words for sin. It uses the word sin to mean a missing of the target. To fail to hit the target is according to the Bible sin. Therefore sin is the failure to be what we might have been and could have been; when we fail to be what God made us to be, we sin.
Are we as good husbands or wives as we could be? Are we as good sons or daughters as we could be? Are we as good workmen or workwomen or employers as we could be? Is there anyone who will dare to claim that he is all he might have been, and has done all he could have done? When we realize that sin means the failure to hit the target, the failure to be all that we might have been and could have been, then it is clear that many of us are sinners without knowing it.

The Bible uses sin to mean a debt. It means a failure to pay that which is due, a failure in duty. There can be no man or woman who will ever dare to claim that he has perfectly fulfilled his duty to man and to God. So, then, when we come to see what sin really is, we come to see that it is a universal disease in which everybody is involved. Outward respectability in the sight of man, and inward sinfulness in the sight of God may well go hand in hand for most of us. For that reason, this is a petition of the Lord's Prayer which every one of us needs to pray regularly.

The Bible uses the word sin to mean a stepping across. Sin is the stepping across the line which is drawn between right and wrong. Do we always stay on the right side of the line which divides honesty and dishonesty? Do we always stay on the right side of the line which divides truth and falsehood? Do we never, by word or by silence, twist or evade or distort the truth? When we think of it in this way, there can be none of us who can claim always to have remained on the right side of the dividing line. For this reason, Jesus taught the Our Father, not to some people but to all of us; to you and me.

Wed 17 June Don't parade your goodness!

Matthew 6:1-6,16-18

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

‘And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

‘When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.’

Food for thought!

After a series of teachings, Jesus is now turning to a numbers of dos and don'ts . Jesus groups them into three areas: giving to others (charity); giving to God (prayer); and giving to ourselves (fast).

Jesus says, "when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you." What does he mean by this? Firstly, Jesus says, WHEN YOU GIVE, not, IF YOU GIVE. It means that for a Christian, giving is not a might but a must; we are expected to give, to share with others. Giving is not optional (it is not "If you give" but mandatory: "when you give"). Giving is vital, because it is by giving that we get. In order to get we must give. That is the rule. And it works in every sphere of life, business, social, relationships, spiritual. You get in as much you give. Many of us are wanting in many things because we are none givers.

And then Jesus says, "when you pray," not, "if you pray." It means that for a Christian prayer is not a might but a must. This is why we must ALWAYS pray, when we are in the mood, when we e not. As St Paul urges us: "Pray without ceasing." (1Thessalonians 5:17). St Theresa of Avila, makes it potently clear: "He who neglects mental prayer needs not a devil to carry him to hell, but he brings himself there with his own hands."

And again Jesus says, "When you fast"; he does not say, "if you fast." So fasting too is a must for a Christian. When you fast, "put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.’" Fast is not necessarily of food; it is anything that, by abstaining from it, gives both our bodies and spirit more life.

Tues 16 June 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? Is there anything we do different? Is there any difference between you, a Christian, and your neighbour, a non-believer? This is real food for thought.
Why does Jesus demand that we be different? The reason is very simple and tremendous: 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 your enemy's home?
Jesus says that we must have this same love of our Father in heaven. The language in which the Bible was written is not rich in adjectives; it often uses the expression “son of...” with an abstract noun where we would normally use an adjective. For instance a son of peace is a peaceful man; a son of consolation is a consoling man. So, the expression “Son of God” means a godly man. The reason why we must be godly is because of our God; and godly people can only become nothing less than sons of God.
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.

Don't hit back at all!

Matthew 5:38-42

Jesus said: "Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.'39 Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all. 'If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. 40 If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, gift-wrap your best coat and make a present of it. 41 And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. 42 No more tit- for- tat stuff. Live generously.

Food for thought!

RESIST not evil and it will decrease. Fight it and it will increase!

Here is a statement of one of the great laws of our being. When we resist we make a mental image of the thing we are fighting, and that tends to have it created for us. When we fight our enemies we make them into heroes. When we learn to look only at what we want and never at what we do not want, we will no longer resist anything.

This is a statement of eternal truth. It means that whatever man sets in mind will be returned to him, even as he has conceived within himself and brought forth into manifestation. If we wish to transcend old thoughts and feelings we must rise above them and think higher things. When we desire only the good, the evil slips from us and returns no more.

Jesus forbade the tit for tat law because retaliation has no place in the Christian life. He gives examples.

He says that if anyone smites us on the right cheek we must turn to him the other cheek also. There is far more here than meets the eye, far more than a mere matter of blows on the face. Suppose a right-handed man is standing in front of another man, and suppose he wants to slap the other man on the right cheek, how must he do it? Unless he goes through the most complicated contortions, and unless he empties the blow of all force, he can hit the other man's cheek only in one way--with the back of his hand. Now according to Jews (Jesus' people) to hit a man with the back of the hand was very insulting. So, then, what Jesus is saying is this: "Even if a man should direct at you the most deadly and calculated insult, like slapping you with the back of the hand, you must on no account retaliate, and you must on no account resent it."

It will not happen very often, if at all, that anyone will slap us on the face, but time and time again life brings to us insults either great or small; and Jesus is here saying that the true Christian has learned to resent no insult and not to seek retaliation at all. Jesus himself was called a gluttonous man and a drunkard;  was called the friend of tax-gatherers and prostitutes, with the implication that he was like the company he kept. Jesus was even acused of being an agent of Belzebub,  the devil.

The true Christian has learned from his Master to receive insults and never to retaliate; to offer the wicked man no resistance. Now you may ask: are our enemies going to go away with it? No. Remember what the Lord says in Deuteronomy 32:35, "Vengeance is mine. I will repay." So let us not take vengeance into our hands; it is God's right and duty. Those who wrong us will pay for it in due time from the Lord.

What story shall I use to illustrate the kingdom of God?

Mark 4:26-34


“Here is another story illustrating what the Kingdom of God is like: “A farmer sowed his field and went away, and as the days went by, the seeds grew and grew without his help. For the soil made the seeds grow. First a leaf blade pushed through, and later the heads of wheat formed, and finally the grain ripened, and then the farmer came at once with his sickle and harvested it.” Jesus asked, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story shall I use to illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed! Though this is one of the smallest of seeds, yet it grows to become one of the largest of plants, with long branches where birds can build their nests and be sheltered.” He used many such illustrations to teach the people as much as they were ready to understand. In fact, he taught only by illustrations in his public teaching, but afterwards, when he was alone with his disciples, he would explain his meaning to them.

Food for thought!

Wow! Are we that helpless? Jesus today is both revealing our helplessness and our hopefulness. We are helpless in that there are things we don't know and we can't know; there are things we have no idea how they happen. Look at the farmer in the gospel reading: de does not make the seed grow, he does not even understand how it grows. This knowledge is hidden from the farmer. It is the secret of life. Nobody has ever possessed the secret of life; no one has ever created anything in the full sense of the term "create". We can discover things; we can rearrange them; we can develop them; but creating them we cannot. This is how helpless we are.

I want you to look at the Book of Revelation, chapter 5 to see our helplessness. «I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One Seated on the Throne. It was written on both sides, fastened with seven seals. I also saw a powerful Angel, calling out in a voice like thunder, «Is there anyone who can open the scroll, who can break its seals?» There was no one—no one in Heaven, no one on earth, no one from the underworld—able to break open the scroll and read it. I wept and wept and wept that no one was found able to open the scroll, able to read it. One of the Elders said, «Do not cry! The Lion of the tribe of Judah has won the battle. He is the Root of David. He is able to break the seven seals and open the scroll.»

This is why today's gospel reading says that Jesus «taught only by illustrations in his public teaching, but afterwards, when he was alone with his disciples, he would explain his meaning to them.» It means that each one of us is a story, he is a parable, a difficult parable, that only Jesus can explain to us. We are a sealed book that no one can unseal, not even ourselves; only Jesus. All our ups and downs, all our victories, all our failures, all our sins, all that happens in OUR life, is a parable waiting to be revealed by Jesus. Yes, like he did long ago to his disciples,  Jesus can explain everything to us, in private. Yes, it is in private that he will tell you. Imagine if the Lord told in public what each of us is and has ever done in our life! Thank God that he only tells us in private, so that no one else come to know us except the Lord. To him be our praise and honor and thanksgiving and glory, for ever.

Joseph, the silent man

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, let's 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 gift 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 the 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, don't be afraid not to talk. 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.

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 attentive to Joseph, can understand our words of silence and our silent words 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!

He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins!

John 19:31-37

Since it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a very important day) the Jews asked Pilate to break their limbs, and to have the bodies removed. So the soldiers came, and they broke the limbs of the first criminal, and of the other who had been crucified with him. When they came to Jesus, and when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his limbs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately water and blood came forth. And he who saw it is a witness to this, and his word is true. And he knows that he is speaking the truth, that you also may believe. These things happened that the passage of scripture which says: &His bone shall not be broken,& should be fulfilled. And again another passage says: "They shall see him whom they have pierced."

Food for thought!


In one thing the Jews were more merciful than the Romans. When the Romans carried out crucifixion under their own customs, the victim was simply left to die on the cross. He might hang for days in the heat of the midday sun and the cold of the night, tortured by thirst and tortured also by the gnats and the flies crawling in the weals on his torn back. Often men died raving mad on their crosses. Nor did the Romans bury the bodies of crucified criminals. They simply took them down and let the vultures and the crows and the dogs feed upon them.

A grim method was used to despatch criminals who lingered on. Their limbs were smashed with a mallet. That was done to the criminals who were crucified with Jesus, but mercifully he was spared that, for he was already dead. The sparing of Jesus is a fulfillment of an Old Testament passage. It was laid down of the Passover lamb that not a bone of it should be broken (Num.9:12). Jesus was indeed our Passover Lamb who delivers his people from death.

There is something that happened with Jesus at death. When the soldiers saw that Jesus was already dead they did not break his limbs with the mallet; but one of them, it must have been to make doubly sure that Jesus was dead, thrust a spear into his side. And there flowed out water and blood. This too was in fulfilment of the prophecy in Zech.12:10: "They look on him whom they have pierced."

We cannot be sure why blood and water flowed together out of Jesus' heart. It may well be that Jesus died literally of a broken heart. Normally, of course, the body of a dead man will not bleed. It is possible that what happened was that Jesus' experiences, physical and emotional, were so terrible that his heart was ruptured. When that happened the blood of the heart mingled with the fluid of the pericardium which surrounds the heart. The spear of the soldier pierced the pericardium and the mingled fluid and blood came forth. It is quite possible that Jesus, in the literal sense of the term, died of a broken heart. And if so, it was the final, unanswerable proof that Jesus was a real man with a real body. Here was proof that Jesus was bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.

So, today as we mark today the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,  let us be thankful of Jesus and his sacrifice for us. For as Isaiah 53:4-6 says,

"It was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all."

You have learnt but Jesus says...!

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 few words, Jesus shows us that he knows that we have other teachers, other instructors, besides him. 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, however. The point is that notwithstanding what we have learnt from whoever has taught us, Jesus wants us to drop that teaching and adopt his teaching. That is why he says:
"You gave learnt... But I say to you."

This saying means that regardles of what we have learnt, regardles of what the world says…Jesus teaches us something else. Yes, Jesus sometimes contradicts us in what we know, in what we do. For instance, Jesus is saying that it is not enough not to commit murder, not to still, not to speak evil of others; it is equally important not to think of murder, not to think of stealing, not to think evil of others. It may be that we have never struck another person; but who can say that he never wished to strike another person? It was Jesus' teaching 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 sin in the first place.

It is Jesus' teaching that we are not judged only by our deeds; we are judged even more by our thoughts which never translate into deeds. By the world's standards a man is a good man, if he never does a forbidden thing. By Jesus' standards, goodness and evil start not with our deeds but with our thoughts. **Jesus is intensely concerned with our thoughts, with what goes on in our mind. **

Pause to examine your thought patterns from time to time. 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.” The Bible says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). And a proverb from the Buddhist Tripitaka reminds us, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts and is made up of our thoughts.”

Almost everything that we use and come in contact with each day was originally a thought. For example, the pens, chewing gum, magazines, textbooks, candy, ice cream, telephones, television, radios and computers, houses and schools, churches, and so much more, were once thoughts, ideas, theories, and dreams; they all came into being as thoughts in someone’s mind.

Philippians (4:8), *“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”*