To hear the Audio Reflections of Wednesday, June 13, 2018 click HERE
Tuesday, 12 June 2018
Wednesday, June 13, 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:1 Kings 18:20-39; 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.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - 1 Kings 18:20-39; Mt 5:17-19
Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - 1 Kings 18:20-39; Mt 5:17-19
Monday, 11 June 2018
Audio Reflections of Tuesday, June 12, 2018
To hear the Audio Reflections of Tuesday, June 12, 2018 click HERE
Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - How will you as a disciple of Jesus be salt and light today?
To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Kgs 17:7-18; Mt 5:13-16
The text of today is somewhat of a link text, which joins the
beatitudes (5:3-12) to the theme of the Sermon (5:17-20). These verses point
out the effect that living the Sermon will have on the liberation of the world.
The text makes two assertions about the followers of Jesus. The first is that
they are the salt of the earth and the second is that they are the light of the
world. Both these symbols seem to point to the indispensable role that the
disciples of Jesus are to play in the liberation of the world.
It is through
the lives of the disciples of Jesus that the world will be moved to glorify
God. This is indeed a great privilege, but also a great responsibility.
Salt is an ingredient that adds flavour or taste to that to
which it is added. It makes the insipid tasty, edible and enjoyable. Disciples
of Jesus are called to add taste and flavour to the lives of others. Light
enables one to see correctly and results in removing darkness. This is what the
disciples of Jesus must do if they are to be true disciples: remove the
darkness from the lives of others.
Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - 1 Kgs 17:7-18; Mt 5:13-16
Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - 1 Kgs 17:7-18; Mt 5:13-16
Sunday, 10 June 2018
Audio Reflections of Monday, June 11, 2018
To hear the Audio Reflections of Monday, June 11, 2018 click HERE
Monday, June 11, 2018 - Do any of the beatitudes apply to you? Will you strive to make at least two applicable to yourself today?
To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Kings 17:1-6; Mt 5:1-12
Beginning today, the gospel reading will be from the Gospel of
Matthew except on feasts or special occasions.
The Church begins from Chapter 5
of Matthew. The three chapters beginning from 5:1 and ending at 7:29 contain
one of the most famous discourses of Matthew known as “The Sermon on the
Mount”.
Since we will be reading this Sermon for almost three whole
weeks on weekdays, it is important to have some background of what the Sermon
is about.
The first point that we note is that this is the first of the
five great discourses in the Gospel of Matthew. Each of these five ends with
the phrase, “and when Jesus had finished…” (7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). The Sermon begins by showing Jesus as a Rabbi teaching ex-cathedra (5:1) and ends by
showing Jesus as the Messianic prophet addressing the crowds (7:28).
The second point that must be kept in mind is that the Sermon is
a composition of Matthew. An analysis of similar texts in the Gospels of Mark
and Luke indicate that many verses found here in Matthew are found in Mark and
Luke in different contexts. This does not mean that Jesus did not say these
words. It means that Matthew has put them together in this manner.
The third point is the theme, which will determine how one will
interpret the Sermon as a whole. Most are agreed that the theme of the Sermon
is found in 5:17-20, in which Jesus speaks about having come not to abolish but
to fulfill the Law and Prophets, and issues a challenge to those listening to
let their “righteousness” be greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees in
order to enter the kingdom.
Today’s text contains what is commonly known as the
“Introduction” to the Sermon and contains the Beatitudes, which are the
communication of a blessing. The mountain is a “theological topos” in the
Gospel of Matthew (Luke’s Sermon is from “a level place cf Lk 6:17) and
therefore means much more than simply a geographical location. Matthew does not
name the mountain, but by choosing it as the place from where Jesus delivers
the Sermon, he probably wants to portray Jesus as the New Moses delivering the
New Law from a New
Mountain
A Beatitude is an expression of
congratulations, which recognises an existing state of happiness. While the
rewards described in the first and seventh beatitudes are in the present tense,
they are in the future tense in the other five beatitudes. The sense is that it
is God himself who will do all of this for them. By choosing to bless the
disadvantaged, the Matthean Jesus indicates the thrust of his mission, which is
primarily a mission to the disadvantaged.
Saturday, 9 June 2018
Sunday, June 10, 2018 - The sin against the Holy Spirit is to no longer believe that the Holy Spirit can transform me
To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 3:9-15; 2 Cor 4:13-5:1;Mk 3:20-35
The connection between the first
reading and the Gospel seems to be sin. In the first reading we are told about
what is commonly known as original sin and in the Gospel reading we hear the
Marcan Jesus speak about the sin against the Holy Spirit.
The sin of those who accuse Jesus
casting out demons by the power of the prince of demons has its roots in the
sin of Adam and Eve. In both cases it is the result of a closed attitude. If in
the case of Adam and Eve the sin of eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree
was because of a refusal to obey God’s spoken word and command, in the case of
the scribes the sin against the Holy Spirit was because of a refusal to listen
to God’s word made manifest in his Son.
The consequences of the sin of
Adam and Eve are humiliation, domination and subordination, conflict, suffering
and struggle. They touch every aspect of human life. In all of the areas like
marriage and sexuality; birth and death; work and food; human and nonhuman, it
seems that now death is encroaching on life. Where there was once harmony and
cosmos, there is now disharmony and chaos. Where there was once tranquility and
peace, there is now conflict and strife.
This is also the case with the
sin of the scribes. The Word of God made manifest in Jesus was a Word that was
meant to bring harmony and restore the Cosmos to what it was meant to be.
However, the refusal of the scribes to accept and listen to that Word resulted
in confusion, bewilderment, disorientation and disorder.
The point in both the stories is
that it is not God who brings the disorder or confusion, but humans who bring
it on themselves. The onus lies with humans and not with God. God does what God
is meant to do simply because humans have not done what they were required to
do.
It is in this context that we
must look at the related story which is part of the Gospel text of today namely
who belongs to the family of Jesus. In these verses, the family of Jesus is
introduced in a negative manner. They want to restrain Jesus because people
were saying that Jesus had gone out of his mind. One possible reason why people
would have thought that he “out of his mind” was because he was working
miracles and this could have been seen as associated with magic and such
persons could either be banned or even executed. His family thus comes to take
him away by force.
Mark indicates that the family of
Jesus are hostile to him. They are “outside” while Jesus is “inside” the house.
Their position is the opposite of that of Jesus. This too indicates that they
are not disciples. Jesus then defines family in terms of those who do the will
of God.
Both Adam and Eve in the first
reading of today, the scribes and the family of Jesus in the Gospel text of
today are striking examples of what it means not to do the will of God. It is
to close oneself to the revelation that God is constantly making. It is to
close one’s eyes and heart and refuse to see. Adam and Eve were not able to see
because they did not trust the word of God spoken to them. The word of the
serpent ends up putting the word of God in question.
The scribes and family of Jesus
on the other hand were not able to see because they had decided in advance how
the Word made manifest in Jesus must and conduct himself. He had to fit their
stereotype for them to believe. If he did not the would reject him, accuse him
or try to restrain him.
The fact that Adam and Eve were
the first human beings was no guarantee that they would obey God. The fact that
the scribes were learned men and knew the law was no guarantee that they would
see God in Jesus. The fact that the family of Jesus were related to him by
blood was no guarantee that they would understand him.
We may imagine that because we
have been baptized and bear the name Christian we are automatically counted as
members of Jesus’ family. However, baptism alone will not make us members of
Jesus’ family, but the living out of the baptismal promises in our lives. This
living out of the baptismal promises is what the Christians at Corinth are
invited by Paul to do. To believe in Jesus and to understand him does not mean
a mere verbal assent but a living out of the faith that is professed. It is
never to lose heart despite the fact that things might not always go the way we
plan. It is not to be taken in or up by what is temporary and passing, but to
focus on that which is permanent and lasting. It is to continue to obey,
believe, trust and hope even in the face of all odds.
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