Be Least

Today’s Gospel Text: And an argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. 47 But when Jesus perceived the thought of their hearts, he took a child and put him by his side, 48 and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me; for he who is least among you all is the one who is great." 49 John answered, "Master, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow with us." 50 But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him; for he that is not against you is for you." Luke 9:46-50

Reflection: In today’s world can we think about the greatness of a person minus the privileges they enjoy.

Though they opt to be servants of all, yet privileges makes them delegate much of their labour on to others. Thus these great in reality make servants of others rather than becoming servant of all.

Who is the greatest or who among them is the greatest? Yes, in the gospel, the argument was among themselves.

It seemed like kids at fight. We did that in childhood to find out who was strong, not knowing at times that the eldest had the greater strength by age among us boys.

We learnt to respect the great among us on the basis of strength and the only way to beat that strength was to take up matters with the higher ups. If anyone of the parent did intervene then all other greatness took a beating, even if it meant injustice.

Jesus was no doubt the greatest and this argument among them only existed in relationship with Jesus. At the same time it revealed a mind set among the disciples which revealed their hidden motives for following Jesus.

They were expecting Jesus to become great in the worldly sense of the term and what is more these simpletons, many of them fisher folks were now beginning to see themselves as identifying with a person whose popularity was growing by the hour.

The simple when they taste power and popularity forget the greatness that they have received as pure gratis or as a gift from God who out of his great mercy chooses us from among the people of the world in order to manifest his humility.

Hence, to opt for greatness is a legitimate human desire which is not to be condemned, for even God does not condemn it, but to seek it at the cost of true humility is what is condemned.

'Be least of all and not the Lord of all', can be said to be the message of Jesus in order to be great in the Kingdom of heaven.

I would desire that all seek that greatness by opting for the path of humility and it would glorify God much.  

Prayer: Lord, teach me constantly the path of humility, the path of being nothing in the midst of your dedicated disciples.

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

Seek?

Today’s Gospel Text: And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 25 When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 27 Then Peter said in reply, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?" 28 Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many that are first will be last, and the last first. Matt 19:23-30

Reflection: If, according to Jesus, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, then will it be easy for a poor man to enter the kingdom of heaven, for that matter any poor man?

In order to understand the truth of this statement we need to understand the rich man first? Why is it hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven? Why does Jesus not say that it is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven but only “hard”?

That makes one thing clear; it is hard but not impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. It means that a rich man can continue to remain rich and yet enter the kingdom of heaven, though it would be hard for him to do so. 

Having made this point clear, let us move to the next step of analyzing the rich man: The rich man is normally rich because he has chosen to make riches his goal in life, riches as the buyer of his happiness and trusts it more than anything to give him what he wants.

If it is so, then does such a person require God or feel the need for God in their lives? It is a clear sign of living in a state of sin whereby the first commandment is clearly broken and love of riches take the place of God. 

Not that a poor man may not have such avaricious ambitions in life, even he is capable of seeking to achieve that goal of getting rich and seek riches in  order to achieve their targeted happiness based on greed.

But a rich man, who has not inherited his riches and has achieved riches, normally has worked his way with riches as his goal in life to achieve the many pleasures of life. In the process he may have even treated his neighbor with disdain and ill-treated those who have been under them- further adding to his guilt.  

Prayer: “… let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually!” 1 Chron 16:10-11

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

Humble Like this Child

Today’s Gospel Text: At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, 3 and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; 10 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Matt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

Reflection:  Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?

Who doesn’t want to be great? There are the easy ways out and one could dream like a Cinderella or one could go the hard and difficult way.

Here in the gospel it is neither of these ways which are of primary importance; what is important and necessary is this: Where do you want to be great, here on earth or in the kingdom of heaven?

There seem to be a process to become great in the Kingdom of heaven and that process first begins with seeking to be like little children in general and thus ensure for ourselves a place in heaven.

The next part of the process is humility which is so visible in that particular child that Jesus has put on display for his disciple. He called him and he responded, then he put him in their midst for display and in all humility, he did not protest.

Similarly, a dedicated disciple who responds to the call of the master and willing to be on display, in all humility, to public shame and disgrace for the sake of Christ and in response to him alone, he will indeed be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.  

Humility is the greatest virtue, it opens us up to be open to no one but God and seek his wisdom and glory in all that we do and think. In other words, we become ideal instruments for God to use us.

Jesus conquered by his humble submission to the will of the Father, he drank the cup of humiliation.

We may do mighty things and perform great works for God but the greatest thing we can do for God is allowing him to do it for us, especially when he does it by humbling us.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for revealing to us the secrets of your kingdom. Now we can seek you and with your help, make every effort to walk humbly with you.

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

Treasure Trove

Today’s Gospel Text:  "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matt 13:44-46

Reflection: Let’s understand the first of the two parables, which compares the Kingdom of heaven to a treasure hidden in a field.

From what is said in comparison, we see the kingdom of heaven as not something that we have or posses. It is not something that we can arrive at or build on our own wisdom.

It is something that has to be discovered or found; how can we discover and find what is covered?

What the parable does talk about is that this Kingdom is to be found, not in ourselves, as deceivers would have us believe, by even wrongly quoting a text of the Bible; “For lo, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:21 Douay-Rheims

But it is a kingdom which is first found external to ourselves and then made ones own.  Once discovered, we realize that it is something that we are capable of perceiving as being of a far greater value than all our strivings and efforts.

It is something, that once we see it or behold, it will fill us with a joy to give up everything in order to possess it. In other words it gives us joy and yet is greater than our joy, lest we remain satisfied with our joy and lose out on that treasure of the kingdom.

It is something that will lead us to a concrete action, or a praxis of first wanting to have it, by giving up all that we have seen as important in our lives; whether wealth or fame or power or possessions or vast field of expertise or knowledge or idea or ideologies or spiritualities or experiences or our pet projects or innovations.

May be for the many of us reading this, it is a challenge to check whether we fit in with this aspect of the truth, that the parable reveals.

It’s high time we ask God’s help, to enable us to discover this great treasure of the kingdom of God. Pray, to be totally enamored by it and allowing it to take total control of our lives, so as to compel us into giving up everything for this greatest of treasure: Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that I may have you as my sole treasure, my portion and cup, and when I find you, I may do as you will.  

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

Kingship Of Jesus

Today’s Gospel Text: Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." 33 He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened." 34 All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet. Matt 13:31-35

Reflection: "Who has seen heaven that you talk of eternal life?" Is the oft heard question, when you tell some one of the kingdom of heaven.

Yet to those who have seen,experienced even a glimpse of it and live in it, for them, it is a reality to worth live for and to be looked forward to.

Is it the same as earthly kingdoms and does it operate in the same way as any earthly kingdoms?

Jesus in explaining the kingdom of heaven by means of the many parables brings out the many facets of such an existence. The many parables bring out the richness of this kingdom.

One great reality that Jesus brings out, through the parables, is that the Kingdom of God is not just a distant reality, which can be attained after death but a reality that can be lived and experienced in this world too. It can be experienced by all of us through him who brings it to us primarily by his very presence, through our invitation of him.

Jesus is the reality of God’s kingdom present in our midst. Just as you cannot talk about a kingdom without a king in place, so also Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of God.

The fact of the Kingdom he came to establish; though having all the rights, yet with no kingship in the many hearts created by him.

In order to win this earthly kingdom, the hearts of the many on earth, he chose to conquer it, not with men and women employed to fight through blood shed and war, but by humbling himself, taking on the form of a slave, dying the most ignoble and miserable death of the cross. Thus he proved his love for us.

To those who surrender their hearts in order that he may reign, they also lift their hearts to the heavenly place, the heavenly values, which he has revealed though these various parables.

Prayer: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matt 6:10

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