Seize the moment and don't let the moment seize you!

Matthew 8:18-21

When Jesus saw the great crowds all gathering about him by the minute, he gave orders to leave for the other side. One of the scribes then came up and said to him, ‘Master, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another man, one of his disciples, said to him, ‘Sir, let me go and bury my father first.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.’

Food for thought

Today's gospel reading reminds us of the importance of the MOMENT. We have heard the expression, Seize the moment! It means that when opportunity comes your way, don't hesitate, grab it. This is what happened in today's gospel reading.

Two men, one was seized by the moment, the other didn't seize the moment. The first man was undoubtedly seized by the moment; the man was impressed by Jesus and decided to follow Jesus whenever Jesus would go. This is not how Jesus recruits his followers.

What does it mean to be seized by the moment?

It means not being able to look beyond, not seeing any further, not seeing the future, not counting the cost. This is what Jesus is telling the first man: "Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Jesus is saying to the man: Are you ready to rough it? Are you ready for the challenges ahead? Have you counted the cost? 

Being a prisoner of the present moment means to stagnate with what is happening to you right now. It means not knowing that the present moment is just now, it is not forever. What you're undergoing today, will end, will pass away. Be it good or bad, be it suffering or joy or prosperity, it will come to an end. So, don't get stuck with the present moment; don't be over excited with the NOW that you forget the AFTER NOW; don't be over saddened by your current agony because all problems end. 

The second man was the opposite. He had the rare opportunity of following Jesus, and then he remembered his father. It is most likely that his father was not yet dead, nor that he was near death. The man was saying in other words, I can only follow you after my father's death, after fulfilling my family obligations. Before that, I am not available. The man was saying, in other words, you're important but not that more important than my father. As long as he lives I cannot follow you. Wait until he dies.

In life there're opportunities and things that come once in a lifetime. You seize them or you lose them. That's how Jesus is. Don't let old plans get in the way of new opportunities or luck. Open yourself to chance and don't let the past hold you. Leave the dead die; leave the past pass; embrace the opportunities out there; look for them, and try to take them. 

Once you seize the new opportunities, don't let them seize you. Don't let the opportunities you have seized seize you, and prevent you from further opportunities. Every opportunity should prepare you for new opportunities; don't get stuck with your success.

See what Jesus did in the gospel reading of today. When Jesus saw the great crowds all gathering about him by the minute, he gave orders to leave for the other side. He literally told his disciples to get him out of there to the other side of the lake. At the very moment that everybody was hailing him, at the very moment that he was making gains and success, Jesus left the scene and went across the lake, away from everybody, away from old success and for new opportunities.

The good moment to change course, is when all is good. The good moment to start a new life is not when your life is falling apart; it is when all is going well with you. Thank you Jesus for this lesson!

Peter & Paul!

Second Letter to Timothy 4:6-8.17-18.

For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance. But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Saint Matthew 16:13-19

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, «Who do people say that the Son of Man is?» They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Food for thought

Today, we celebrate two great men, Peter and Paul. We celebrate these two men together because they're our two heroes, both in life and in death. If Peter discovered that Jesus is the Christ (Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah (= Christ), the Son of the living God), Paul announced that discovery to all the world, especially to non Jews: "the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it".  This is what Peter and Paul did in life FOR THE LORD.

The readings show not only what Peter and Paul did for the Lord, they show us as well what the Lord did, and does, for those who work for him. In the 1st Rending we read: Peter came to himself. ‘Now I know it is all true’ he said. ‘The Lord really did send his angel and has saved me from Herod and from all that the Jewish people were so certain would happen to me.’ (Acts 12:11). And in the 2nd Reading: I was rescued from the lion's mouth.  This is what the Lord did for Peter and Paul, and what he does FOR US today.

We, too, need to grasp the reality that God is all powerful, capable of doing anything and everything to accomplish His will in our lives. Don’t set limits on God, believe Him for the impossible, and watch Him work on your behalf as you stand at your Red Sea, paralyzed by fear. God will show up. 

If there was ever a promise that God knew we would need through the trials and tribulations, it was John 16:33: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Courage. It’s the opposite of fear. “Fear imprisons, faith liberates; fear paralyzes, faith empowers; fear disheartens, faith encourages; fear sickens, faith heals; fear makes useless, faith makes serviceable—and most of all, fear puts hopelessness at the heart of life, while faith rejoices in its God.” —Harry Emerson Fosdick. 

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

“Do not be afraid! Be strong, and see how the Lord will save you today.” (Exodus 14:13)

“Be strong and have strength of heart. Do not be afraid or shake with fear because of them. For the Lord your God is the One Who goes with you. He will be faithful to you. 

“For I am the Lord your God Who holds your right hand, and Who says to you, ‘Do not be afraid. I will help you.’ ” (Isaiah 41:13)

“The Lord is my Light and my Salvation—whom shall I fear or dread? The Lord is the Refuge and Stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

As Cherie Hill says, choose faith instead of fear, by trusting Him, even when you’re doubting that you should. Yesterday, he saved Peter and Paul; today he will save you and me.

The Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (2 Timothy 4:18)

Treasure the treasures in and of your heart!

Luke 2:41-51

Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

Food for thought!

It happened; it happens. We sometimes loose sight of Jesus, just as Mary and Joseph did! They «lost» Jesus, just twelve years old: «the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends.» It is interesting to note that they looked for Jesus everywhere, among relatives and friends, and the boy was nowhere to be seen. Why? Because they were looking in wrong places, relatives and friends.

We are like Mary and Joseph many times when we think we can find solace, warmth, meaning of life among relatives and friends; they too are struggling just like us. The gospel reading says that «When they did not find him (among relatives and friends), they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts.» After three days of looking in the wrong places, Joseph and Mary remembered to go to the temple. After three days! Indeed, Jesus' parents were just as normal as the rest of us.

«Why were you searching for me?» Jesus asked. «Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?» This is an intriguing question. It is as if Jesus reminded Joseph and Mary, where were you looking for me? How comes you didn't know where to find me? You didn't know I had to be in my Father's house? Why were you looking for me in the wrong places? My place is here, in the temple, in the Father's house.

What a lesson for you and me. The best place to go to when Jesus is lost, when we feel lost and least, when we are down, when we are not in the mood, when we are suffering, when we are frustrated, or when we are celebrating, is not in the pub or the relatives and friends; it is the temple within you. That is where we find Jesus, waiting of us. «Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?» 

Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 6:19). It may be your body, but it's still God's Temple. The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). Like Mary did, we need to learn to treasure the treausre in our hearts. Why? Because as James Cameron's Film (Titanic) put it: "A woman's heart is an ocean of deep secrets." This is what Mary does in today's gospel reading: "his mother treasured all these things in her heart."

In Jesus we see the heart of God!

Matthew 11:25-27

Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer: "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know- it- alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. 26 Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

27 Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. "The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father- Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.

Food for soul!

Today, just as always, Jesus is speaking out of experience, the experience of his own life; that the Rabbis and the wise men rejected him, and the simple people accepted him. The intellectuals had no use for Jesus; but the humble welcomed him. 

This said, we must be careful to see clearly what Jesus meant here. He is very far from condemning intellectual power; what he is condemning is intellectual pride. As Plummer has it, "The heart, not the head, is the home of the gospel." It is not cleverness which shuts out; it is pride. It is not stupidity which admits; it is humility. A man may be as wise as Solomon, but if he has not the simplicity, the trust, the innocence of the childlike heart, he shuts himself from Jesus.

This passage closes with the greatest claim that Jesus ever made, the claim which is the centre of the Christian faith, that he alone can reveal God to men. All of us may be sons and daughters of God; he alone is The SON. This is what Jesus meant when he said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn.14:9). 

What Jesus says is this: If you want to see what God is like, if you want to see the mind of God, the heart of God, the nature of God, if you want to see God's whole attitude to men and women and sinners and saints and the good and the bad, just look at me (Jesus) and how I deal with each one of these people! What this means is that God speaks, loves, forgives and treats us the way Jesus spoke, loved, forgave and treated people. In Jesus we see the sacred heart of God! 

It is the Christian conviction that in Jesus Christ alone we see what God is like; and it is also the Christian conviction that Jesus can give that knowledge to anyone who is humble enough and trustful enough to receive it.

From words of Jesus to works of Jesus!

Matthew 7:21-29

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?” Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men! ‘Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’ Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people because he taught them with authority, and not like their own scribes.

Food for thought!

Jesus has been teching us since Mt. 5:1 (When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them). Today, as Jesus concludes his sermon, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard a teaching like this. This was the best teaching they had ever heard. The people applauded Jesus because, though many of his teaching was hard, no one is like him and no teaching is like of Jesus. He is a divine teacher; he deserves all our listening.

And Jesus knows how important are his words, that's why he says that the words he speaks to us are not incidental additions to our life, homeowner improvements to our standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. But if you just use his words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.

Let's look at the two houses, two lives, two kinds of Christians. Each house was subjected to the same kinds of abuse. A storm came. Rains fell, winds blew and savage floods wrapped themselves around these houses. One house fell in the storm, but when the storm was over, one house was still standing, the other was not.

The two houses were built by two men. These men were pretty much alike. They both wanted houses and they both built them. Both watched as the house they had built was attacked by the same vicious storm. One watched in horror as the house he had built succumbed to the storm and fell in the raging flood waters. The other watched in satisfaction as his house stood firm in the storm. Jesus looked at these men and proclaimed one a fool, but the other he called wise or smart. 

We are one of these men; we are either one or the other. Each one of us and all of us are builders of our own lives. Your life is like a house. It looks pretty much like all the other houses around it. It is made from the same materials. It is also attacked by the very same storms. Storms of economy, storms of sickness, storms of sin, storms of temptation and storms of problems. But as the two houses some houses, some people, do survive quite easily the challenges of life while others do not. What makes the difference? It is the Word of God. Jesus is teaching us that if our life is built upon anything that is not Jesus' word, WE'RE IN TROUBLE! There is nothing in all creation that can bring us victory in whatever it is we are facing than putting our faith in the Word of God. We must learn to run to God’s Word when we are in the midst of a crisis or attack.

True & False Teachers, Teaching and Religion!

Matt. 7:15-20

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but who within are rapacious wolves. You will recognize them from their fruits. Surely men do not gather grapes from thorns, and figs from thistles? So every good tree produces fine fruit; but every rotten tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. Every tree which does not produce fine fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then you will recognize them from their fruits.

Food for thought!

In today's gospel, Jesus is reminding us of false teachers and teaching. Teaching is false if it produces a religion which consists solely or mainly in the observance of externals. That is what was wrong with the people of Jesus' time called Scribes and Pharisees. To these people religion consisted in the observance of laws, rules and regulations. If a man went through the correct procedures of religions, then he was a good man, he was a holy person.

It is easy to confuse religion with religious practices. It is possible, and indeed not uncommon, to teach others that religion consists in going to Church, observing the Lord's Day, fulfilling one's financial obligations to the Church, reading one's Bible. A man might do all these things and be far off from being a Christian, for Christianity is an attitude of the heart to God and to neighbour.

Teaching is false if it produces a religion which consists in prohibitions. Any religion which is based on a series of "thou shalt not's" is a false religion. A teacher who teaches things like, "thou shalt never go to the cinema, or dance or use make-up or read a novel or enter a theatre," is teaching a false religion. The real test of any teaching is: Does it prepare you to bear the burdens of life, and to walk and work with Jesus? If not, that is a false teaching.

If becoming a Christian simply meant abstaining from doing things, then Christianity would be a much easier religion than it is. But the whole essence of Christianity is in not in not doing things; it consists in doing things. It is not enough not to commit evil, not to lie, not hate; it necessary to do good to others, to say the truth and to love. 

Teaching is false if it divorces religion and life. Any teaching which makes good people on Sundays but not on Monday, any religious which makes us good in churches but not good on the Main Street is false. True teaching should prepare us for Monday morning on the Main Street, because Jesus prayed for his disciples, "I do not pray that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one" (Jn.17:15).

No man can be a good soldier by running away from the battle, and the Christian is the soldier of Christ. How shall the leaven ever work if the leaven refuses to be inserted into the mass? What is witness worth unless it is witness to those who do not believe? The Christian is not a spectator from the balcony; he is involved in the warfare of life.

His name is John!

Luke 1:57-66

 57 The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby. She gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very kind to her. They shared her joy. 59 On the eighth day, they came to have the child circumcised. They were going to name him Zechariah, like his father. 60 But his mother spoke up. "No!" she said. "He must be called John." 61 They said to her, "No one among your relatives has that name." 62 Then they motioned to his father. They wanted to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for something to write on. Then he wrote, "His name is John." Everyone was amazed. 64 Right away Zechariah could speak again. His first words gave praise to God. 65 The neighbors were all filled with fear and wonder. All through Judea's hill country, people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it. And because the Lord was with John, they asked, "What is this child going to be?" The child grew up, and his spirit became strong. He lived in the desert until he appeared openly to Israel.

Food for thought!

(In some areas, today's Feast of the birth of John the Baptist, was celebrated last Sunday) 

The gospel story of the birth of John focuses on the naming ceremony. Why does the gospel show such an interest in the naming of the child? What’s in a name? In the Bible, just as in many cultures, names function the way business names do, that is, they aim to convey what the bearer of the name stands for.

The name John means “God is gracious.” His birth signals the beginning of a new era in God-human relationship, an era to be characterised by grace and not by law. God himself gave John that name and it was revealed to his father Zachary in a vision (Luke 1:13). That this name was given to the child already before his birth shows that God has a purpose and plan not only to this child but to all of us. Yes, God had and still has a purpose for each one of us.

The words of Isaiah in today's first reading apply equally to John, to you and to me, to all of us: “The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he NAMED me. … he formed me in the womb to be his servant (Isaiah 49:1, 5). In John we see that God already has a purpose for His children before they come into this world, and so the challenge of life is for each one of us to discover this purpose of God and to be faithful to its demands.

The purpose for which God created you may require that you walk to a different drum beat than other people. For John it required that he live in the desert far from normal human contact and civilisation. God’s purpose for his life dictated every details of how he would dress and eat, since he had to dress in rough animal skin and eat the vegetarian food of locusts and wild honey. He adopted a lifestyle that would enhance his calling in life. He did not go for any unnecessary trappings that would weigh him down or contradict his life.

The neighbourhood in which John was born did not help him to realise his divine calling. In fact they wanted to prevent John from receiving his God-given name and identity. They wanted to give him his father’s name “Zachary.” They objected to his being named John because “None of your relatives has this name” (Luke 1:61). Each one of us has to travel a unique road that God traced for him or her. Please, note that you are not what people call you; you are what God called you and calls you to be and to do.

Yes, many times other people don't want us and don't let us live our God given vocation; they force us to embrace and live according to what they want. This is especially true of parents, who many times force their children into alien vocations, alleging "none of your relatives has this name or job or kind of life." Such parents impose on their children their own past; they want their children to be their extension! Sad. We do well to avoid such toxic assumptions because God’s dream for us far exceeds anything that has been in our family background. Our life’s work is to make God’s glorious dream for each one of us a reality.

As we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist and read the marvellous story of how he got his God-given name, let us ask ourselves: what on earth am I here for? What is God's purpose for me? Why was I born? What am I here on earth for? Do I know my purpose if life? Am I faithful to it? If you do not know your God-given name, the name which represents all that God sent you into the world to be and to accomplish, then it is time to find out. 

And if you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God, not with yourself. You won't discover your life's meaning by looking at yourself. You didn't create yourself, so there's no way you can tell yourself what you were created for. YOU WERE MADE BY GOD AND FOR GOD, AND UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, LIFE WILL NEVER MAKE SENSE TO YOU.

None of us is an accident. As Rick Warren says: Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you!

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

Be careful: the measure you use for others is the measure used for you!

Matthew 7:1-5

Jesus said: “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use will be the measure used to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Food for thought!

Let's pay attention to the words of Jesus: the measure you use on others is the measure that will be used on you! Jesus is saying in other words that the way we treat others is the way we are treated; that the amount (of love, of hate, etc) we use for others is the same amount (of love, of hate, etc) that is used for us; that the bias we hold for others is the bias we suffer ourselves.

If we are rough with others, we must expect roughness ourselves; if we are good, kind and loving to others, God will be good, kind and loving towards us. For that reason, Jesus advices us, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce on other is the same judgement that is pronounced on us. 

Whether we admit it or not, we all engage in judging from time to time.  Some people have even made it their lifestyle to judge others by their standards. The word “judge” means “to criticize, condemn, judge, censor.” It is a fault-finding attitude; it is being picky; it is the habit of carping criticism; it is a mean, critical spirit that sees only the bad in others. 

Jesus is talking about looking at people and judge their motives based on what we see in their lives. The idea here is that the judge presumes to know the condition of another person’s heart.  He sets himself up as judge and jury and proclaims the guilt and innocence of all those around him.  This is the attitude that Jesus condemns because only God knows all the facts about us all.

Don’t criticize because you don’t know all the facts surrounding the other person's action. I read about an owner of a manufacturing plant who decided to make a surprise tour of the shop. Walking through the warehouse he noticed a young man just lazily leaning up against some packing crates with his hands in his pocket doing nothing.  The boss walked up to him and angrily said, “Just how much are you paid a week?”  Well, the young man’s eyes got rather big, and he said, “Three hundred bucks.” 

The boss pulled out his wallet, pealed off three one hundred bills, gave it to him, and said, “Here’s a week’s pay.  Now get out of here and don’t ever come back!” Well, without a word the young man stuffed the money into his pocket and took off.  The warehouse manager was standing nearby staring in amazement.  The boss walked over to him and said, “Tell me, how long has that guy been working for us?” The manager said, “He didn’t work here, he was just delivering a package.

Another one. There was a lady in an airport who bought a book to read and a package of cookies to eat while she waited for her plane.  Well, after she had taken her seat in the terminal and began to read this book, she noticed that the man sitting one seat away from her was fumbling to open up the package of cookies on the seat between them.  Well, she could hardly believe her eyes that a stranger would just open her bag of cookies and eat them.  He took one and ate it.  She was so hot and steamed.  She reached into the bag and took one and ate it.  Well, the man didn’t say anything.  He just reached over and took another cookie.  This woman thought to herself that she wasn’t going to let him eat all of her cookies, so she took another cookie.  When they finally got down to one cookie, the man reached into the bottom of the bag, broke the cookie in half, ate it, glared at the woman, got up and left.  This lady couldn’t believe this man’s nerve.  She was thinking to herself how fresh and arrogant he was.  Soon the announcement came to board the plane. This lady got on the plane, still hot and bothered at the audacity of this man, sat down, buckled her seat belt, reached into her purse for a tissue, and there was her bag of cookies. She got mad at the man for nothing; she was wrong and the man right.

I think you got the point. Have a nice week!

Luke 6:37

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven...!

Don´t be intimidated by humans, but by God alone!

Matthew 10:26-33

“Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now. “Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.

“Two sparrows are sold for a penny and yet not one of them falls to the ground without the knowledge of God. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries. “Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?

Food for thought!

This Sunday's Readings are timely; most of us, if not all, needed to hear and have the comfort that comes from the Reading from Jeremiah (1st Reading) and the Gospel Reading. Jesus is telling you and me not to be afraid because we are protected; we are covered; we are secured. He is telling us that we are known by God in and out. Jesus uses the image of sparrows. That two sparrows are sold for a penny and yet not one of them falls to the ground without the knowledge of God. Luke gives us that saying of Jesus in a slightly different form: "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God?" (Lk.12:6).

The point is this, two sparrows were sold for one penny. But if the purchaser was prepared to spend two pennies, he got, not four sparrows, but five. The extra one was thrown into the bargain, because it made little difference to the seller. Although this may happen, God cares even for the sparrow that is thrown into the bargain. If sparrows are dear to God, what will be the man that God made in his image and likeness?

So let's not fear. Why? Because life has a way of bringing us to places where there’s nowhere to run and no place to hide—where fear not only consumes us, but paralyzes us. If you’re facing insurmountable circumstances, surrounded by impossibilities, you’re in a “Red Sea” moment. And even if you’re not in one right now, you can rest assured you will be. It’s only a matter of time. Red Sea moments take us back to the biblical book of Exodus, where God proved that He can make a way when there seems to be no way. As put Charles H. Spurgeon it: “The Lord will make a way for you where no foot has been before. That which, like a sea, threatens to drown you, shall be a highway for your escape.” 

Some of us might be facing a Red Sea or entrapped in a desert right now; we might be consumed with fear from an encroaching enemy and we may be looking back at all that we’ve endured, knowing we must go forward, but overtaken and paralyzed with the fear of a future that looks impossible. We should know that God specializes in making a way when there appears to be no way. God will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19).

As you see in today's gospel, Jesus identifies two fears that we normally have: 1) fear of false accusation and conviction, and 2) fear of bodily harm and death. In either case Jesus teaches us that the way to overcome fear is by keeping one’s mind focussed not on the fear itself, but on the Lord. God wants you and me to focus on Him, not on the problem, not on the challenge, not on the enemy.

Whatever happens to us, we cannot drift beyond the love of God. We should know that our times are for ever in God's hands; that God will not leave us or forsake us because we are surrounded for ever by God's care. This does not mean that we are free of turbulance in our lives. No. Indeed, it means exactly that we are to get all kinds of troubles. 

The authorities that persecuted Jesus and his followers had their strategies for covering up the truth. They knew how to tamper with evidence, produce false witnesses and convict the innocent. They cover up the truth and celebrate a lie. The way to overcoming this fear is to remember God's promise: "Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are"; in the end every lie will be exposed, the truth will come to light and justice will again be just.

Like Jeremiah and Christ yesterday, so is with us today. Please Read the 1st Reading to get the point: 

Jeremiah 20:10-13

Jeremiah said: I hear people whispering against me. Everywhere, I hear things that frighten me.

    Even my friends are speaking against me.

People are just waiting for me to make a mistake.

    They are saying, “Let us lie and say that he did something bad.

Maybe we can trick Jeremiah.

    Then we will have him.

    We will finally be rid of him.

Then we will grab him

    and take our revenge on him.”

But the Lord is with me.

    He is like a strong soldier.

So those who are chasing me will fall.

    They will not defeat me.

They will fail.

    They will be disappointed.

They will be ashamed,

    and they will never forget that shame.

Lord All-Powerful, you test good people.

    You look deeply into a person’s mind.

I told you my arguments against these people.

    So let me see you give them the punishment they deserve.

Sing to the Lord!

    Praise the Lord!

He saves the lives of the poor!

    He saves them from the wicked!

(Jeremiah 20:10-13)

The goodness of goods!

Matthew 6:24-34

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.

‘That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and how you are to clothe it. Surely life means more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are we not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit to his span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the grass in the field which is there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you men of little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?” It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’

Food for thought!

This gospel makes us turn our thoughts to the place which material possessions should have in life. At the basis of Jesus' teaching about possessions there are three great principles.

(i) All things belong to God, as the Bible puts it: "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; the world and those who dwell therein" (Ps.24:1). "For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.... If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine" (Ps.50:10,12).

In Jesus' teaching it is the master who gives his servants the talents (Matt. 25:15), and the owner who gives the husbandmen the vineyard (Matt. 21:33). This principle has far-reaching consequences. We can buy and sell things; we can to some extent alter and rearrange things; but we cannot create things. The ultimate ownership of all things belongs to God. There is nothing in this world of which we can say, "This is mine." Of all things we can only say, "This belongs to God, and God has given me the use of it."

(ii) The second basic principle is that people are always more important than things. If possessions have to be acquired, if money has to be amassed, if wealth has to be accumulated at the expense of treating people as things, then all such riches are wrong. Whenever and wherever that principle is forgotten, or neglected, or defied, far-reaching disaster is certain to follow.

(iii) The third principle is that wealth is always a subordinate good. The Bible does not say that, "Money is the root of all evil," it says that "The love of money is the root of all evils" (1Tim.6:10). It is quite possible to find in material things what someone has called "a rival salvation."

A man may think that, because he is wealthy, he can buy anything, that he can buy his way out of any situation. Wealth can become his measuring-rod; wealth can become his one desire; wealth can become the one weapon with which he faces life.

If a man desires material things for an honourable motive, like helping his family and like doing something for his fellow-men, that is good; but if he desires it simply to heap pleasure upon pleasure, and to add luxury upon luxury, if wealth has become the thing he lives for and lives by, then wealth has ceased to be a subordinate good, and has usurped the place in life which only God should occupy.

One thing emerges from all this: the possession of wealth, money, material things is not a sin, but it is a grave responsibility. If you own many material things it is not so much a matter for congratulation as it is a matter for prayer, that you may use them as God would have you to do.

What is and where is your treasure?

Mat 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 made 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, your prestige, your pet...? Whatever you think of most, that's your treasure. If it is earthly, your treasure is earthly; if it is a thing, your treaure is a thing; if it is the Lord, your treasure is the Lord. 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).

Dos & Dont's of Life & Living!

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!

The Do's and Don'ts of life and living!

Jesus is an expert on life and living. Today, he gives us some dos and don'ts. The dos are intended for getting benefit from life and living; the don't are meant to minimize the losses. He 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 life and living is about giving; it is about sharing 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, as St. Francis so well taught us:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

And then Jesus says, "when you pray," not, "if you pray." It means that life and living is about giving to God; it is about prayer. Prayer is not a "may" but a "must" in life. Prayer is a matter of life and death. If we don't pray enough, we can lose the battle. As St Paul urges us: "Pray without ceasing." (1Thessalonians 5:17). Christ himself admonishes us: "Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:38). 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 life and living is also about fasting. 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 and solely of food; it is anything that, by abstaining from it, gives both our bodies and spirit more life. 

When did you last fast, donate and pray?

Are you exceptional in anything?

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, who is a moslem? 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.

Vengeance belongs to the Lord, not to us!

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 motion 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 wine-bibber. He was called the friend of tax-gatherers and harlots, with the implication that he was like the company he kept.

The true Christian has forgotten what it is to be insulted; he has learned from his Master to accept any insult and never to resent it, and never to seek to retaliate.

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.

Teams & Teamwork!

John 3:16-18 

Jesus said to Nicodemus: ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.’

Food for thought

Whenever we talk of child, we implicitly talk of two other people: the father and the mother. And whenever we mention father we mention at the same time two other people, the mother and the child. And whenever we mention the mother, we mention the father and the child. In other words, there cannot be a child without a father and a mother; there cannot be a mother without a father and a child; and there cannot be a father without a mother and a child.

In today's gospel reading, as soon as Jesus mentions the word " Son" we understand that he implicitly mentions two other people, who with this Son become three. We do understand that God is a trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. If God is trinitarian, if God is three in one, if God is communitarian, if God is a family, then God is a team. According to Genesis 1:7 God created us according to his image and likeness. This means that by looking and observing ourselves, we can come to some understanding of God; and by learning of God, we can gain some understanding of ourselves. 

If we are God's image, then we have something in common. If God is a team then we are also something of a team, something of a family, something of community. Being a family or being a community or being a team is not foreign to us; it is natural.

Have you noticed that the on going World Cup is all about teams and teamwork? There are different teams, representing different countries. The world cup is indeed "a showcase for teamwork" (Pope Francis). It is all about which team has the best teamwork. You'll notice that just about everything in football depends on teamwork; that in order to win a game everybody must work together under the guidance of a coach; indeed, in life just as in football no one can win alone. God made us to work together.

As Pope Francis said at the beginning of the world cup, "soccer teaches three lessons that can promote peace and solidarity around the world: the need to train and work hard to reach goals, the importance of fair play and teamwork, and the need to respect and honor opponents. To win, we must overcome individualism, selfishness, all forms of racism, intolerance and manipulation of people.'' He said being ''greedy'' in football, as in life, is a recipe for failure.

May the on going World Cup remind us that every day, in some way, we are also part of some team; that just about everything we do in life depends on teamwork; that if you are married, you and your spouse (and children) are a team; that if you are employed, you and your colleagues are a team; that nothing great in life has ever been done without a team. 

Name one great achievement in history that was accomplished by a solo individual, without the help of anyone else...! Nothing of significance. In other words, every great thing, every great achievement in life is done in a team. Even to beget children takes a team; no one makes children alone, no one raises children alone. Even the creation of man needed a team. Read in Genesis and you will notice that before God created man, He said, «Let us» (Gen. 1:26-27). Yes, man was created by a team! And man was created for team: «So God created man in his own likeness. He created him in the likeness of God. He created them as male and female.» God created us as team.

NO SOLO EVER DOES ANYTHING OF SIGNIFICANCE. If you want to succeed, team up with some people; alone you will never, ever, get anywhere of significance. Get involved in some team and involve some people in what you do, whatever you do. You have missed too much already for working alone, for being alone, for living alone. Remember what the Bible says about this: «It is not good for man to be alone.» It is not good; and it will never be good to live and work alone, for all of us and for everybody. Yes, in order to succeed you and l need a team. That is the rule. Violate it and it will violate you; keep it and it will keep you. One is too small a number to achieve greatness.

Today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Most Blessed of the Teams, the Blessed Trinity, we wish to acknowledge all our teams, all the members of our different teams, beginning with our family team, our faith team, our friends team, our professional teams. May the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, bless our teams. Amen.