Faith and Doubt

Today’s Gospel Text:  Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli'jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matt 16:13-19

Reflection: The statement of Peter would have been a heretical statement to make, which would require stoning.

How could Peter make such a profound statement, which was truth to every extent of the term? How could he be so confident, against odds, about making such a statement and which ultimately finds approval from none other than Jesus himself?

Nor did the question which Jesus posed and their reply could give any positive hints to the Disciples, which includes Simon Peter.

Most people, if placed in similar situation and were to rationally handle such a situation, then they would have had problem of fear and anxiety to make such a statement as Peter the apostle.

Because there was nothing in the previous answers to arrive at such a confident answer nor was there any logical demeanor or any extraordinary character, except for his healing's and deliverance's  that Jesus put forth that one could arrive at such a conclusion easily.

Besides, the Jewish faith would not permit anyone to make such statements of expression and in a way it was a block to make such as assertion like that of Simon Peter.

How then did Peter make such a statement? Was it an angel who revealed it to him or is it a spontaneous wild guess and Peter comes out triumphs as like in a game of luck?

Jesus reveals it to us why Peter was able to come out with a perfect answer: “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

Was God partial only to Peter? From the blessings that Jesus commands on Peter, it could be possible that God’s spirit at work in the consciences of the many who may have had a similar revelation but by the hardness of their hearts they may scuttle God’s revelation about his Son Jesus as Lord and Messiah.

Peter was an exception, when he believes in what is revealed by his Father and does not doubt;    

for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind:”For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.” James 1:6-7

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to be open to the constant revelation of your saving wisdom and believe in what you reveal to me. 

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

DO

Today’s Gospel Text:  "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets. Matt 7:7-12

Reflection: Sometimes the laws seem so complicated and sometimes they sound as simple as it can be.

What can we say about the golden or ethical rule of reciprocity: “Do unto others what you want others to do to you.” (vs. 12). It is so very simple, at least at a surface level: 

·          (Positively): One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.

·         (Negatively): One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated.

Is Jesus the only one to talk about this universal rule? No, according to experts almost all religions talk about this rule.  Some on the basis of this commonality conclude that all religions must be the same as they all teach respect for men. 

In the overall Christian sense if this rule is interpreted by Christians outside its Christian mileu then it can only lead one into an heretical blunder.

Lets analyze this statement in the light of the gospel and see if they mean the same in the various context in which it exists.

What do you want men to do you? For a Christian the answer is plain and simple: NOTHING

A Christian in the service of Christ would not want men to serve them and their personal self-interests but since they have devoted themselves to Christ and made themselves exclusive servants of the gospel they would want men to serve the gospel rather than serve themselves.

In other words I would prefer that if any man wants to do anything for me then let him do it for me by serving Christ or giving his life over to him because to glorify Christ is my happiness and joy.

This in reality means seeking the highest good for all men everywhere and this highest good we can achieve for all men, is by leading them to the truth of the gospel of Christ Jesus, the savior who came to redeem us, by the sacrifice of the Cross.

Thus the only thing I seek from others, is that they seek the truth of Christ and know him and his love for them. In the light of this, every other interests takes second place. 

Prayer: Lord, grant me the wisdom to have the right interpretation of your law always before me, especially in this age of deception.

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

What Generation

Today’s Gospel Text:  When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nin'eveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nin'eveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Luke 11:29-32

Reflection: Each generation of people are so different, wanting to do things differently and even better than the previous.

What about the arena spirituality, can we think about doing it better than the previous generations?

Yes there are many who think likewise and with God as a screensaver they deceive to do better and ultimately project themselves as if they are a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

If that generation was an evil generation then what will the Lord say of this our generation?

Is our generation a better generation by the standards of God?

Ours is a generation that is hedonistic in its culture and self-centered in its ways and is more concerned in achieving and making a mark out there. 

There are some who may be the poor cousins of such cultures and may either envy the others or prefer to resign themselves to such a fate. 

But they will not seek God because it goes contrary to the prevailing trend.

There are those others who are worse-off, who may work as the instruments of the evil, constantly working to destroy the church of God or work contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. 

At least that generation sought signs in order to believe but we are in an age where we want to perform signs or will ignore the very thought of belief in God and his signs.

No wonder Jesus says: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Lk. 18:8) 

One of the expressions of faith is service and this service in its noble form is primarily expressed through prayer for one’s neighbor whose poverty of thought leads them astray to replace humanism with gospel truth. 

It is not an intellectual assertion that will save the other but a deliverance which the Lord alone can affect in the lives of people.

Prayer: Lord, may I never be lacking in zeal to seek you and you face in all my actions and thus find my deliverance from all evil. 

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

The Lord’s Prayer

Today’s Gospel Text: "And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread; 12 And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors;  13 And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matt 6:7-15

Reflection: Who could reveal such secrets about God to us and look how ordinary he is made to look by Jesus to the extent of we having a close relationship with God as our dear Father.  

When we approach our God in liturgical worship he is rightly projected as a God who is Holy, at a distance to be honored and feared; approach him with a great reverence as we offer him his the sacrifice of his Son as a thanksgiving. 

The liturgical moment is a different moment and it has to be a sacred moment, where in we are encountering a God who was appeased by the blood of the Lamb, who took away that sin that separates us from God.

Thanks to that moment when Jesus through his death reconciled us to him on the cross that we “.. in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Eph 3:11-12 Douay-Rheims

Thanks to the work of Jesus, God is now no longer a far distance, angry God, spitting fire when demanding justly the worship of him.

He is now an accessible God,  a dear Father through Christ Jesus. He is not my Father but our Father, which means in union with all who call upon him as Father, we have the right to be children of him.

Jesus reveals to us that he is a Father who though holy and reigning in the highest heaven is willing to establish his kingdom in our midst, in our hearts and willing to work out his perfect will for the humbly disposed.

He is the provident God who provides for our needs and cares for us and expects us to be perfect as he is perfect by being instrument of forgiveness.

In other words we are called to imitate and be like God himself and live with him for all eternity.  He will equip us against the evil one who is a force constantly at work in our midst.

Prayer:  Our Father who art in heaven ……………..

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

Where do you Belong?

Today’s Gospel Text: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. 34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? 38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? 39 And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' 40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' 45 Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' 46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Matt 25:31-46

Reflection: This is one of the most interesting parable and so widely interpreted that some have even read meaning into it which are not contained therein.  

Indeed ours is the age of such Isogesis, when we read into a parable or scripture text what we want to read; a self deception which we tend to be least aware of and yet cannot be free from blame because we, even otherwise, have chosen a lifestyle of insincerity and dishonesty in order to achieve our worldly gain and power.  

Reflecting on the parable we have the sheep and the goats and if one understands the power politics of the kingdom then from the positions of the goats and sheep we know which are on the way to destruction and which not. 

The goats are going to meet a fate of destruction and into eternal punishment.

If you thought that the goats and sheep are the only category of people then you are wrong. They could be other categories of people too. 

 “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” Rev 22:15

Hence wolves’ dogs and Swine’s are the other categories of people and they are outside the church and may make attempts to be a part of the church of God.    (cfr. Mt. 7:15; Acts 20: 29; Mt. 7:6; Ps. 22:15; Ps. 59:6, 14) 

The fascinating aspect of the goats and sheep is that they can be reared together and they seem to be quite comfortable and adapt to each other. 

The Matthean community in which this parable is situated is only concerned with sheep’s and goats, living as one community. They are alike in every way and have similar patterns of existence.  

We are called to be like sheep, living a life of willful obedience to the voice of the Shepherd who is with us to lead us and care for our fellow Christians as desired by the chief Shepherd.

Prayer:  O save thy people, and bless thy heritage; be thou their shepherd, and carry them for ever. Ps 28:9

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

Holy Spirit

Today’s Gospel Text: And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit 2 for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." 4 And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'" 5 And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours." 8 And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'"  9 And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; 10 for it is written, 'He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,' 11 and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"  12 And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'" 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Luke 4:1-13

Reflection: It is the language we often use in spiritual circles: “full of the Holy Spirit” or to have a portion of the Holy Spirit”

We could have various situations of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the Christian, depending on how much one allows oneself to be used by him.

The Holy Spirit is the humble Spirit of Jesus, whom the Scripture reports here that Jesus too was full of the Holy Spirit when he returned from the Jordan. (vs. 1)

Just as Christ came to serve and not to be served at similarly the Holy Spirit has chosen to be our servant, depending on our cooperation with God’s will.

  

“.. the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” 1 Cor 14:32-33 

Otherwise we could be quenching the Holy Spirit which we have received at baptism when we do not know its working or when we do not allow him to use us as his instrument or if we walk in sinfulness, preferring to trust ourselves and others rather than God.

    

“Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 Thess 5:19

Today many of us Christians walk without a knowledge of the Holy Spirit and his working in their lives. Instead many have opted for programmes of self development and practice a spirituality which is alien to the Holy Spirit.

The scripture invites us to practice a spirituality that encourages us to walk by the Holy Spirit who has his own style of working or in other words; a God approved style:

   

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Gal 5:25 - is a clarion call for the baptized. 

Prayer: Lord, help me to rediscover the working of your Holy Spirit, which I have received at Baptism and live according to his promptings and grace.

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

Mixing with Sinners

Today’s Gospel Text:   After this he went out, and saw a tax collector, named Levi, sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." 28 And he left everything, and rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house; and there was a large company of tax collectors and others sitting at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" 31 And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:27-32

Reflection: One would always find some smart ones who would have an opinion about anything and everything but most of it is communicated through grumbling and murmuring.

Not that they are illogical or appear less wise but they appear intelligent when they express it.  Yes, even the grumblers and murmurer’s appear wise when they express themselves; for they grumble about relevant issues.

Let’s look at these Pharisees and their scribes: what was wrong in what they expressed? Would you like your politicians and religious leaders to be seen with sinful, underworld dons and goons? 

I am sure you would not want to see them with such, then why should Jesus sit with such characters and that too eat with them.

Imagine if the media were around and recording the incident with photographs of Jesus with these people splashed across the front pages and everywhere.  Many tongues would have started wagging and there would have been protest rallies and candle light marches.

It is like the visibly righteous and popular man sitting with unrighteous sinners. Very rarely, even in our times people cannot digest it.

But there could be a difference: there are many who roam around with the wealthy and the unrighteous or the goons and underworld in order to extract much gain.

Some of this gain could be a mere protective garment or some cheap popularity or the kick of being with the powerful or the material prosperity such an association can bring about.

But Jesus when he mixes around with these so called sinners, he is seeking to heal their many afflictions and wounds and lead them to reconciliation with God.

Yet we as Christians fail our master while seeking to follow in his footsteps and would look to what people would say rather than go against the tide of people’s opinions in order to be with these neglected who are seeking to follow the righteous path. 

Prayer:  Lord, may I look to you for approval in all my actions and may they be pleasing to you.

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