What a Tragedy

Today’s Gospel Text:  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. Matt 23:27-32

Reflection: What a tragedy! How shall we look at these scribes and the Pharisees, in their pitiable state, as they stand exposed by a one man army; Jesus Christ the righteous one?

What was the sin of the scribes and the Pharisees that they had to face such an onslaught from Jesus?

Was it a curse that Jesus utters against them when he proclaims these woes or shall we look at them as opportunities, maybe, it could be a last one for them, lest they die in this misery of blindness?

Such blind men have no room in the kingdom, because it belongs to the restored and the healthy and Jesus came to set these oppressed free in order that they may enter his kingdom.

On the other hand, the action of the scribes and the Pharisees which Jesus was attacking was the one in which they build the tombs of the prophets which their fathers had murdered.

What is more they apparently seemed truly repentant when they would say: “'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' (vs. 30)

Jesus exposes them in their statement; by making such a noble statement they were actually being a witness to a grave fact that their forefathers were murderers and thus they were sons of murderers.

It seemed like a noble intention on their part to protect the prophet in their day, as if they had learnt from the folly of their fathers.

If that was so; then anyone’s noble desire would remain a noble desire to the end, that too perfectly so, then surely they would not face the wrath of God.

But that is not so, even in our day there are the countless who begin well and carry such a desire in their hearts, of serving God, of protecting his prophets, and bringing glory to his name with a noble desire. 

Some have even achieved great heights of power and position and yet many ultimately end up like these scribes and Pharisees, as murderers who go on to crucify the Lord; if not in deeds then in at least words

Prayer:  Lord, purify those noble intentions and may your spirit constantly make us alive to walk in your ways.

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Wrath of God

Today’s Gospel Text: "Woe to you, Chora'zin! woe to you, Beth-sa'ida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it shall be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Caper'na-um, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. 16 "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." Luke 10:13-16

Reflection: “God is love and he will not bring sinners to judgment, he is not as cruel as you think he is, he loves every one and hence will save everyone”

If anyone thinks of God in these terms then they have only to read this message of Jesus wherein he proclaims woes on the inhabitants of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum.

God indeed is love and his love cannot be taken for granted by one person in order to score over the other.

It is a self-centered way of looking at sin, as something personal and not affecting others.

Whatever sin we commit by breaking the divine law, as revealed in Scripture, we invite a curse on ourselves and also on our families and on the society or community in which we live in.

My individual sin affects all and may even have an effect on the generations to follow.

If we tolerate a serial killer in our midst and would not allow the law enforcing agency to act against such a one then we are inviting him to keep at it, even allowing our own lives to be in peril.

Why do whole cities and nations get destroyed by calamities? Why do sicknesses, pains and accidents thrive in certain places and situation?

Many a time it is due to the judgment of God on account of our sinfulness; for reasons best known to God. As for humans, it could be the nice people and nice neighbors who faced destruction.

In such interpretations we are not sitting in judgment, as some would accuse us  but rather it is a call to plead to God for mercy and reaching out to them in love as God would still want us to, so that the individual may not be lost for all eternity. 

Nevertheless, the call to believe in his assuring word remains: God indeed is our protector and no harm shall befall us unless he has allowed it. 

In such interpretations we are not sitting in judgment as some would accuse us of but rather a moment of pleading to God for mercy and reaching out to them in love as God would still want us to, so that the individual may not be lost for all eternity.

Prayer:  Father of mercy and love, save humanity from the impending wrath on account of their rejection of the Gospel truths.

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

Before you Malign

Today’s Gospel Text:  "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Be-el'zebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.  26 "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Matt 10:24-33

Reflection: They called him, the master Jesus Christ, a Beelzebub; which means Lord or Prince of the Devil or Demons. 

It was no ordinary maligning, inviting a a terrible consequence. 

You could malign a person either out of hate or some half baked knowledge about a person.  It could be on the basis of false information you have gathered about a person or it could be due to your own prejudice. 

Maligning a godly man, the anointed one of God. is a serious business, with wide ramifications.  When you malign an anointed man falsely, you are not only hitting out against the concerned person, but you are also inviting a curse upon yourself and the many. 

I am saying this not just from a spiritual point of view but also from a logical angle. 

By doing so, you close yourself from receiving the truth of life and the truth of the gospel that is able to save you. In the process of maligning, you are also encouraging others too to do the same and thus invite others too to participate in your sin.  This then is passed on from one generation to another.

In the bargain, the Gospel that is able to save us is rejected in our hearts and mind and in the hearts of the many who have allowed themselves to be deceived or hurt by believing your story against the anointed one; thus they too are prevented from walking in the truth of the Gospel of Christ.

The Equation: The greater the maligning the more severe the self inflicted judgment, on yourself, on others who have partook of it and on your children and generations to follow.

This is besides the judgment and wrath of God on those who persist in such sinful activity as maligning the  innocent anointed.

To come out of such habitual sins, one has to take a serious look at one’s limitation to know, apart from God's help.  This requires a training of the mind in the word of God so as to receive from his wisdom to understand and judge situations and people appropriately.  

Prayer: Grant me a discerning heart, that I may love your people with wisdom.

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

Be Fruitful

Scripture/Bible:  And he entered Jerusalem, and went into the temple; and when he had looked round at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it. …. 20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, "Master, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered." 22 And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." Mark 11:11-14, 20-25

Reflection:  When Jesus died on the cross, he cried out aloud expressing his thirst. Many interpretations have been given to this thirst.

What then shall we say of his hunger and more so when it doesn’t spare a fig tree which doesn’t produce its fruit, more so when it is not its season.

The one hunger that God has for his chosen ones is that one bears much fruit, (Jn. 15: 8) and in all seasons.

May be it was unimaginable at one time to think of seasonal fruits being produced in all seasons. But with modern innovations in the field of biotechnology all things are possible.

Similarly, there is no reason why the disciples shouldn’t bear fruit in all seasons to satisfy the master’s hunger, which ultimately has our good in mind.

He provides the right soil of faith through prayer and word so that we bear fruit in all seasons; even if it is not the season to bear fruit. That’s the great miracle soil Christ has produced in himself and shares it with us. He is that eternal oil in us through the presence of his Holy Spirit, whose flame shouldn’t die unless we are foolish virgins.(Mt. 25:1-13)

Prayer: Lord, may I be like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in all seasons, and its leaf does not wither. In all that I do, I prosper. Ps 1:3

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