Inherit

Today’s Gospel Text: And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read?" 27 And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." 28 And he said to him, "You have answered right; do this, and you will live." 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, 34 and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" 37 He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:25-37

Reflection: “A lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  (vs.25)

The lawyer could have asked any other question under the sun or could have asked a question in keeping with his profession?  

He could have asked Jesus as to how the knowledge of the law could help in bringing about a reign of justice, peace and brotherhood?

(The lawyers of Jesus’ time were not in any way the same as the legal lawyers of today but were scribes who were well versed with Mosaic Law and taught them to the people)

Yet, what was asked by the lawyer was a question which could either be looked at with skepticism and negativity or with a sense of respect and approval as being the right question which everyone must either ponder on or ask.

It could also be looked upon as a selfish question with self centered overtones; In other words, one could say that instead of bothering about relevant issues of society or justice issues, this man is concerned about his eternity. 

One could even ask:  Will a struggle done on behalf of the poor and marginalized not assure him a place in heaven, and more so, since he is a lawyer he should be familiar with matters of justice and struggle?

Yet, we could have such experts in our day with such a stance and they may even come across as wiser than Jesus because in their criticism they overrule all that Jesus says, not by explicit rejection of what Jesus says but by their misinterpretation of the teachings of Jesus.

But we are not to be so because in saving ourselves we could be better equipped to save others; for this saving of ourselves is primarily accomplished with Christ Jesus by our willful cooperation and through whom we receive the grace to even reach out in love for our neighbor.

Prayer:  Lord, as I walk in your way, may I never lose sight of your salvific action in our lives which equips us to enter totally into your way of life.

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

Gospel of Jesus

Today’s Gospel Text:  And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen. Mark 16:15-20

Reflection: Some theologian’s best way to scuttle the work of God was by denying that it was Jesus who ever said these things and that the disciples had put these words in the mouth of Jesus.

When they did not succeed in their fabrication they resorted to other ways to foil the work of God in the revelation of his Son Jesus.

This time around, in their ever newer methods, they did not deny the words but took the liberty to give it a new meaning and interpretation.

"We need to proclaim gospel values and not the gospel", they said and evangelize by actions rather than words and hence witness by deeds.

They managed to sweep quite a few with their deceptive tail and hence many walked in their deception because they trusted their irrational rational mind rather than trust the truth; Jesus Christ who has proved himself for all ages by his death on the cross.

Hence the call to proclaim the gospel, which is the good news of God’s saving plan stands firm forever and for all ages:

"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (vss. 15-16)

The saving good news of God offered through his son Jesus is to be believed in order for men to be saved and there is no other way offered by God to humanity. (cfr. Acts 4:12)

There have been countless witnesses who have proclaimed the gospel with great risk to their lives and with great sacrifice, going through great persecution and torture for the sake of the Gospel.

Compare this with terrorism in the name of religion; even in our day there are people who go through great hardship for the sake of the gospel of peace.

There have also been dedicated disciples of Christ who support this mandate of Jesus with their prayers and material support so that the work of God may triumph until the day of Christ.

Prayer:  Lord, protect me from every deception of the evil one as I seek to dedicate my heart to your gospel.

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

Increase our Faith

Today’s Gospel Text:  And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, "See that no one knows it." 31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. Matt 9:27-31

Reflection:  The contrast of life teaches us the beauty therein. 

There are situations in life when we see a person from the outside and underestimate the capacity of the person and then when we see the same person in action, doing well, we are overtly surprised and may even become ashamed of ourselves.

Life has innumerable examples, fortunately we see sometimes the performance of a handicapped and we are able to learn much from them, but not before we have passed our judgment.

Likewise we may see school dropouts and those whom we considered as stupid idiots or a small child excelling in things which will put an adult to shame. 

Take for example the moral acumen of a child, who cares to observe it and learn from the child who manifests uprightness in their own ways and thus give up on addictives.

And what if we see a child manifesting devout faith in God and expressing a wisdom that is divine in all its dimensions, how would we react? Are we spurred on by the contagious nature of such faith to pick from the child and walk in God’s ways?

How blessed is the man who recognizes and learns from the weak the strongest truth of life, with God’s help and wisdom to help him.

In the gospel passage we have the examples of the two blind men who follow Jesus with such perseverance and faith. What is more when questioned by Jesus thus; “"Do you believe that I am able to do this?” they reply in the affirmative with a thumping YES.

I do not know how many among the crowd that followed Jesus had such faith and even if they did not, then how many among them went home with a deep conviction to learn from the incident so as to have such faith like that of the weak handicapped blind man. 

It doesn't matter, what that crowd did at that moment but what matters is that now our savior and God is revealed and he has spoken that we cannot be saved unless we exhibit such faith in him (cfr. Heb. 11:6) as that of the blind. And if you have to call it blind faith then know for sure that such is the faith that pleases God to save us.

It is so because saving is not our action, we cannot save ourselves but it is God’s action in us and he only can  work in us to an extent that we trust him and thus allow him to work in our lives.

Prayer:  Lord, "Increase our faith!"  Luke 17:5

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

Saved by Jesus

Today’s Gospel Text:  As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. 10 And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12 But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." Matt 9:9-13

Reflection: Once, when in a particular parish, I was on my regular visit, and I was asked by both my guides not to venture into a particular house.  

This made me all the more curious but I never really had the answer as I inquired with them for a reason. They only pleaded with me all the more and firmly that I should not visit such a house. This made me suspicious and I insisted that we need to visit this place, more so since they had Catholic roots.

When we entered the house, it seemed like a house waiting for the salvation and light of God to enter their home. The family welcomed us with great openness and was happy that we had come and they promised that they would be regular to church and mend their ways. Soon even the grown up children were baptized too.

There were two young girls in that house who went into hiding and finally when I did stand before them they just couldn’t even openly look in my direction. It seemed the comfort of darkness couldn’t behold the light of grace.

But the end result was a marvelous change; a great spiritual blessing and even to this day the great witnessing of the family to the faith of Christ and his power, whether in the church, or in their neighborhood, it even continues in their work place.

 Today, it is as if these have entered the kingdom of God rather than those who are in it and yet not in it. 

Tax collectors, sinners and prostitute encounter and witness more powerfully to the righteousness that comes from Jesus than those who are rich with a self-righteousness acknowledged by men.

Rule out no one, Christ Jesus came especially for the sinners; not that sinners will be saved by virtue of their sinfulness but by virtue of their repentance and trust in the Lord who is able to save anyone who comes to him in humble acknowledgment.

Prayer: “Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to thy holy name and glory in thy praise.” Ps 106:47

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