Repay

Today’s Gospel Text:    He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." Luke 14:12-14

Reflection: Our monetary world talks in terms of repayment. You pay and in return are repaid.

So also many actions of life including the whole justice system are based on similar principles.

There is a certain kind of logic about this system which cannot be ruled out, some even look at it as scientific and it maybe so.

Jesus is giving us a new measure and new system that will break every kind of logic and the very laws of science. It works on charity that comes from an authoritative source, which is Jesus.

It is a charity that was first practiced by him before he taught it to others. It is a charity that defies every law and ethics practiced by humans.

How can anyone so easily practice this kind of charity without expecting anything in return? Even though we may call ourselves Christian we practice what is contrary to our Christian calling to be generous beyond a certain measure; a measure which beats every human logic.

He who taught it also practiced it to the utmost when he gave himself for us sinful men in unconditional love.

When Christ invites us he invites us to practice charity in our invitation to the unfortunate and less privileged in the banquets we organize but when he practiced it he practiced it in a much more difficult manner. He offered his very self for sinful and ungrateful men who in no way can ever repay him.

No one can repay Christ for what he has done for us by his offering on the cross for our salvation.

The only repayment we can do, and which is no repayment, is a heart filled with love and lips overflowing with gratitude to God for what he has accomplished in Christ Jesus.  Yet these are mere words from our lips acceptable to God when done with a sincere heart.

Prayer:  Lord may I learn from your great sacrifice and seek to be generous with what you have given me.

  

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Love of Neighbor

Today’s Gospel Text: And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" 29 Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 32 And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he; 33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any question. Mark 12:28-34

Reflection: Love is the greatest commandment of all and I am sure no one will doubt that.

There are times I have often been in serious discussion and they have been individuals who have rendered the whole discussion flat by just one statement: “In the end what is important is that we love”

As if asserting that the horizontal commandment is the most important, they think that if we love one another is enough to enter into heaven. And what they say is even broadened to include the love of anyone and everyone.But in the end love no one.

In all these false assertions, the love that one practices is the love that seeks to please and compromise on the truth of God and sound doctrine.  Thus one even has to act crooked with all types of lies in order to present oneself as loving, gentle and kind.

There have been times, when I have heard experts in New Testament quoting St. Paul’s famous words on love, as if the horizontal dimension is the only important:element: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”  Rom 13:8

What one fails to learn is that St. Paul's assertions is to a community that is born out of love for God and he is preaching to a community on the aspects of brotherly love.

Then there have been some who have quoted from St John’s letter: “If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” 1 John 4:20

Here St. John in his letter is shocked about a community that is supposed to be loving God and yet not loving him enough by loving his commandment of loving one another. He sums it up well in the statement below:

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.” 1 John 5:2

Hence what Jesus asserts in the gospel about loving God is prime and important. 

Prayer:  Lord, I pray that I may love thee above everything and thus be an instrument of loving my neighbor too.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Watch Not

Today’s Gospel Text:  One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him.

7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 "When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:1, 7-11

Reflection: Why would one watch and more so watch over Jesus?

It could be either to imitate him or to see what faults they could find in order to condemn him.

As for us the safest thing to do before watching over someone or sending people as spies to watch over others is to watch over our hearts and mind first and see if we are right with God.

This also applies to those in authority and those who want to exercise authority over people by watching over them in order to discern their ways or simply spy on them.

By deliberately seeking to watch over people whom we may want to target, we are bound to fail, especially if it involves the work of God.  

    

"For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" 1 Cor 2:16

Ideally, if one wants to discern the authenticity of a person so as to discern whether they are God’s servant then the best thing to do is not to watch over that person but to watch in prayer for God’s insight about the person.

The human mind is limited and even petty in the light of the large heartedness of God and bound to make mistakes when it comes to judging a spiritual man.  He cannot be judged by anyone. (cfr. I Cor. 2:15)

On the other hand we could watch over a person in order to imitate him, yet it is never safe to do so without seeking the wisdom of God.  There are many who have been deceived by men in assumed humility but inside have been ravenous wolves. (cfr. Mt. 7:15)

These categories are not always found outside the church or among the laity but could be among the hierarchy too.  Hence the great need to trust in God, which is never an option, and carry on with life.

Prayer:  Lord, deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. Ps 59:2

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

We are His

Today’s Gospel Text:  All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; 39 and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:37-40

Reflection: These words of Jesus are full of assurance and strength; “All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out.”

This assurance should gladden anyone and should spur them on to continue in all faith with the Lord who assures us of his presence and strength.

This passage sometimes makes me wonder about its truth; what happened to Judas then, was he not cast out?

A close look at Judas’ story will help us realize that it is not Jesus who cast him out, neither has Jesus in his life time cast out anyone who has come to him.

It means that Jesus may have been reluctant to answer their prayers or may not answer them.

In other words, he may rebuke and correct us but he will never cast us out if we come to him.

It means that we may sin and may commit the many sins on account of our many weaknesses but he is not the one who is going to cast us out; for he came to save us and in him is our Salvation. 

What may happen is that by deliberately indulging in sinful activities and behavior that goes against God’s holy will we may open ourselves more and more to Satan and his rebellious ways and thus may find ourselves move away from Christ by our own free will.

Judas made a choice of going out from the presence of Christ and rejecting him. He had his plans and ideas in place and put it into practice little realizing that he was accomplishing the work of Satan and being his instrument.

Hence it is necessary for us not to remain in our sinfulness for long but to repent and turn to him who is merciful.

Prayer:  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Ps 51:10-12

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Enabling Leadership

Today’s Gospel Text: Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, Matt 5:1-12

Reflection: What sort of an attitude is this; “seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain and when he sat his disciples came to him.”? (vs. 1)

Should he not have catered to the crowd and their needs, what sort of charity was Jesus practicing that he ignored the crowd and he goes up the high mountain away from their gaze?

I am sure that in our times if someone did that we would have criticized them for ignoring their need to meet God or to be ministered by him. 

Was this not a good opportunity for Jesus to preach to them the things of God and make God known to them?

But if we look at this from the leadership point of view, here was a moment for Jesus, at the very beginning of his ministry, to see the great task at hand and withdraw early in order to prepare a band of people to handle the great task at hand.  

His story is like that of the story of Moses who ministered all day long to his people until his father-in-law came with a better idea of appointing leaders and elders to do the work. (Ex. 18:13ff)

Jesus similarly withdraws in order to prepare his dedicated disciples for the great task at hand.

Leadership is meant for enabling others towards taking up the task that God wants of us. It is meant to raise up dedicated disciples after God’s own heart.

There is a great hunger and thirst for God’s word in the hearts of people and we have failed to cater to these needs of the people. These task is many places and situation is best fulfilled by the many break away groups. 

There is an overemphasis on the rite and the ritual that a few have realized the need to reach out at a level where sacraments empowered by the gospel could be used to bring about transformation in the hearts and minds of people.

The word of Jesus is the primary and it is the word that brings forth the sacrament into existence and it is this word that needs to be proclaimed in all its power.  The beatitudes are those words of Jesus that along with the sacramental presence of Jesus can bring hope to the millions.

Prayer:  Lord, prepare me to be an instrument; a dedicated disciple of your word and sacrament.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Mystery of Life

Today’s Gospel Text: He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And some one said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" And he said to them, 24 "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, open to us.' He will answer you, 'I do not know where you come from.' 26 Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.' 27 But he will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!' 28 There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. 29 And men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last." Luke 13:22-30

Reflection: Did anyone tell you that all will be saved from damnation because he is a God of love? If you believed in them then remember; beginning with that person even your salvation is at stake.

How dare they make the master of all truth a liar or make his chosen servants the evangelist a liar? If you address truth as lie, then what is left for you except to dwell in lies all along life’s journey unto eternal damnation?

Woe to the wise of the world, the learned and the educated who despise the wisdom of the God of all ages. It is his action of love to preserve those that walk righteously in his ways.

Yes only a few will be saved and if you have to condemn such assertion as fundamentalism or by any other name without ascertaining the truth of the matter then it is to your own condemnation.

The choices we make today have eternal ramifications and Jesus' warning about the few being saved is not to be taken lightly. It should make us see the truth behind it and more so the price that he paid in order to bring this truth to us.

The death he endured just so that we may know the eternal truth and the eternal value of our soul could help us in not rejecting what Jesus has to say.

The cross of Christ speaks a powerful message; that eternity is offered to us as a gift by living out the challenges that comes through faith in Jesus.

There will be many to ridicule and mock as they did at the cross, willing to shed innocent blood in order to accomplish their agenda for a just world achieved through pseudo equality, justice and brotherhood and through vile suppression and wrong doing. 

Prayer:  Lord, in your mercy open our minds to understand the depth of the mystery you have revealed in the revelation of Jesus and his cross and resurrection. 

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us