Wednesday, 7 March 2018
Tuesday, 6 March 2018
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 - Dt 4:1, 5-9; Mt 5:17-19
Wednesday, March 8, 2018 - Dt 4:1, 5-9; Mt 5:17-19
Wednesday, March 7, 2018 - When was the last time you performed an action without any expectation of reward? Will you perform one today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Dt4:1, 5-9; Mt 5:17-19
These verses contain what are commonly known as the
“theme” of the Sermon on the Mount. In these verses, the Matthean Jesus makes
explicit that he is a law abiding Jew. His attitude towards the Jewish law is
fundamentally positive. However, Jesus also makes explicit here, that he has
come not merely to confirm or establish the law, but to fulfill or complete it.
This means that he will go beyond a purely legal interpretation to a broader
perspective. He will remove the focus from the mere external and concentrate on
the internal. The focus will be more on the attitude than merely on the action.
While laws, rules and regulations are necessary and
help towards order, it is also possible that they can become ends in themselves
and not as they are meant to be, means to an end. We might follow in some cases
the letter of the law, but miss out on its spirit. We might even follow the
rule or law only because we are afraid of getting caught and punished and not
because we are convinced of it.
Audio Reflections of Wednesday, March 7, 2018
To hear the Audio Reflections of Wednesday, March 7, 2018 click HERE
Monday, 5 March 2018
Audio Reflections of Tuesday, March 6, 2018
To hear the Audio Reflections of Tuesday, March 6, 2018 click HERE
Tuesday, March 6, 2018 - Dn 3:25, 34-43;Mt 18:21-35
Tuesday, March 6, 2018 - Dn 3:25, 34-43;Mt 18:21-35
Tuesday, March 6, 2018 - What would be your position if God kept a grudge against you for every sin you committed? Will you give up all your un-forgiveness today?
The text of
today is the conclusion to Matthew’s “Community Discourse” (18:1-35). It begins
with a question from Peter about the number of times one is expected to
forgive. While Peter proposes seven times, Jesus’ response far exceeds that
proposal. The number seventy-seven can be understood in this way or even as four
hundred ninety (seventy times seven). The point is not so much about numbers
but about forgiveness from the heart. If one has to count the number of times
one is forgiving, it means that one is not really forgiving at all.
The story that follows in 18:23-35 about the
king who forgave his servant a debt of ten thousand talents (a talent was more
than fifteen years wages of a labourer). The combination of “ten
thousand” and “talents” is the greatest possible figure and indicates the
unimaginable sum of money owed. An indication of how large this sum was can be
seen when compared with the annual tax
income for all of the territories of Herod the Great which was 900 talents per
year. The point is that the debt is unpayable. The servant in his desperation
asks for time to pay back the debt. Though the king knows that no matter how
much time is given to the servant he will never be able to pay back what he
owes, forgives him all the debt in his magnanimity and generosity. The debt of
the fellow servant to him pales in comparison with his own debt to the king.
Yet, if given time there was a clear possibility that the money could be
repaid, because though by itself it was a large sum, it would not be impossible
to repay. The servant who had been forgiven by the king will have none of it. He
refuses to listen and be convinced. When the matter is reported to the king be
the fellow servants, the king takes back his forgiveness because the one who
was forgiven could not forgive in turn. This indicates that he had closed
himself to the forgiveness of the king and not received it completely. The
conclusion is frightening because it will be impossible for the first servant
to repay the debt. This means that he will be tortured for eternity.
How easy it is to say “I am sorry” when we know we
are in the wrong or have done something that deserves punishment. We expect to
be forgiven by others when we do them harm after we have said sorry, and
sometimes if they do not forgive us, we get upset with them even more. We need
to apply the same yardstick to ourselves when others ask for forgiveness from
us.
Sunday, 4 March 2018
Audio Reflections of Monday, March 5, 2018
To hear the Audio Reflections of Monday, March 5, 2018 click HERE
Monday, March 5, 2018 - Have you set limits on where, when and in whom God can work? Will you leave God free? Will you let God be God?
To read the texts click on the texts: 2Kgs 5:1-15; Lk 4:24-30
The text begins with the words “Truly I tell you”
which is used six times in the Gospel of Luke and always to introduce a solemn
statement. Luke alone uses it here to introduce the proverb that follows. This
proverb is found also in Mark (6:4), Matthew (13:57 ) and John (4:44 ),
but in a different form there. In Luke, the proverb is given in a negative form
and “hometown” may also be translated as “home country”. This leads to the
interpretation that Jesus will be rejected not only by the people of Nazareth
(his hometown) but also by the whole of Israel (his home country).The references
to Elijah and Elisha are to reinforce the statement made namely that the
blessings of God were not restricted to one particular group or community but
were available to all peoples. No one was excluded from the graciousness of God
and from his bounty. This statement of Jesus enraged the people who were
listening to him and drove Jesus out of their town. Though they were hostile to
him, Jesus did not let that deter him, but continued to do what he was meant to
do.
This scene suggests that the basis for their
hostility toward Jesus was a difference in the way they read the Scriptures.
The people of Jesus’ hometown read the Scriptures as promises of God’s
exclusive covenant with them, a covenant that involved promises of deliverance
from their oppressors. Jesus came announcing deliverance, but it was not a
national deliverance but God’s promise of liberation for all the poor and
oppressed regardless of nationality, gender, or race. When the radical
inclusiveness of Jesus’ announcement became clear to those gathered in the
synagogue in Nazareth
Not only is this scene paradigmatic of Jesus’ life
and ministry, but it is also a reminder that God’s grace is never subject to
the limitations and boundaries of any nation, church, group, or race. Those who
would exclude others thereby exclude themselves. Human beings may be
instruments of God’s grace for others, but we are never free to set limits on
who may receive that grace. Throughout history, the gospel has always been more
radically inclusive than any group, denomination, or church, so we continually
struggle for a breadth of love and acceptance that more nearly approximates the
breadth of God’s love. The paradox of the gospel, therefore, is that the
unlimited grace that it offers so scandalizes us that we are unable to receive
it. Jesus could not do more for his hometown because they were not open to him.
How much more might God be able to do with us if we were ready to transcend the
boundaries of community and limits of love that we ourselves have erected?
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