Teach Me Too

Today’s Gospel Text:  As he entered Caper'na-um, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him 6 and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress." 7 And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Matt 8:5-11

Reflection: A school is a great place to be, a great invention of man. Parents admit their children to school in the hope of building their future on a solid foundation.

In school these children could learn either the good things of life or bad.  But it is always a joy for the parents to hear their children or see them having learnt the good values of life and doing well.

It is as if these things which they learn become a pleasing offering to the parents in return for their investment on their children.

Similarly God has sent us to earth for a purpose and in this body, a perfect creation of God, to learn of the good things of life.

The human body is like the school and the various stimuli of life are the many things one learn's in school.  

In the story of the centurion we have one such example of right learning and offering in the school of life:

He has learnt that authority has a special power to delegate things and to make things work and as he adds this to his faith in Jesus, it produces a wonderful miracle with eternal ramifications.

The servant of the centurion is not only healed but he becomes an example of how we can carry our daily interactions of life to God in prayer and ultimately leave it to God to work a wonderful miracle in our lives and those of the others too; for the centurions testimony of faith has become an example for all ages.

We need to ask ourselves; how have we learnt about the marvels of God either through our education or work situation or as parents or friends or brothers and sisters to one another?

Do we, each day, make our experiences an opportunity to know more about God and then in and through them offer them to God? 

Prayer:  Teach me thy way, O Lord, that I may walk in thy truth; unite my heart to fear thy name.  I give thanks to thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify thy name for ever. Ps 86:11-12

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Faulty Formation

Today’s Gospel Text: At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; 26 yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. 27 All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Matt 11:25-27

Reflection: Our schools and our formation houses train us to be mature men and women. Some teach to have a balanced approach to life and equip us to survive and even reach out to others.  Our formation houses even train us to be balanced and give a holistic formation, though a big question mark.

When it comes to our formation houses; we are trained to be wise and understanding; hence they exercise leadership in the community of God’s people.  

Some in order to be further wise and grow in understanding amass secular certificates and degrees for progressive growth in the organization of the church and are looked up to for such qualifications.

This is nothing but a deviant behavior pattern, benefitting the self more than the people whom we serve.  Hence the sermons are those that are based on such worldly knowledge and wisdom.

Similarly, those formed in our institutions, rise in the corporate work place to accommodate positions of power and authority.  They are able to express with confidence that which need not be sound wisdom, and at the same time their listeners lap up whatever is given to them, due also to their lack of training in discernment.

I often hear the adage; “there is no right or wrong answers”.  If there is no a right or wrong answers then what are they? A partly right answer, and we have every right to use that term when necessary, but it is still a wrong answer. Only a right answer is a right answer.

Now to understand even these small nuances, we require a different kind of wisdom and understanding.  The Church needs to return to such wisdom and understanding to survive in these deceptive times.

"I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes.”

Prayer:  Lord, apart from you we can do nothing; help us to realize the limitations of our mind to comprehend the deeper truths of life and return to know from you like little children.

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