The mission that Jesus
inaugurated continues even today. It is, even now, a mission that must consist
of both word and action. The word that is spoken must be a word that enhances
and builds up. The action that is
performed must be an action that heals and makes whole.
Friday, 6 December 2019
Saturday, December 7, 2019 - Will you speak an enhancing word today? Will you perform a healing action today?
To read the texts click on the texts: Isa30:19-21,23-26; Mt 9:35-10:1,6-8
The
text of today begins with what is known as a Summary statement. It states
succinctly the ministry of Jesus which is both word and action. It forms an
inclusion with a similar summary in 4:23 and thus brackets what comes between,
namely the Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 5-7) and the Miracle Cycle (Chapters
8-9). Through this Summary, Jesus is portrayed as Messiah in words and deeds.
This Summary statement and Jesus’ observation of the crowd, who appear to him
as harassed and helpless sheep without a shepherd, serves also as an
Introduction to the Mission Discourse in Matthew (10:1-42) which is the second
Discourse in the Gospel of Matthew.
By
placing this Introduction at the beginning of the Mission Discourse, Matthew
succeeds in conveying that the Mission of the Disciples is at one with, is
continuous with, the Mission of Jesus. Like Jesus, they, too, are called to say
and do. They, too, are called to word
and action. They, too, are called, like Jesus, to make the Kingdom that they
proclaim a tangible reality.
The
disciples’ mission is not voluntary activity initiated by them; rather, they
are chosen, authorized, and sent by God through Christ. It is his authority
with which they are sent. They are to speak and act in Jesus’ name. The content
of their missionary proclamation is that the kingdom of heaven has indeed come.
This is a kingdom that is not theoretical but extremely practical and
down-to-earth. This is why the verbal proclamation has to be accompanied by
action. The actions they perform are actions of healing, of making whole. Since
the kingdom of heaven is given by God freely and gratuitously, their
proclamation and actions must also be done freely and without charge. God’s
kingdom cannot be purchased and need not be purchased, since it is God’s free
gift.
The
mission that Jesus inaugurated continues even today. It is, even now, a mission
that must consist of both word and action. The word that is spoken must be a
word that enhances and builds up. The
action that is performed must be an action that heals and makes whole.
Saturday, December 7, 2019 - Isa 30:19-21, 23-26; Mt 9:35-10: 1, 6-8
Saturday, December 7, 2019 - Isa 30:19-21,23-26; Mt 9:35-10:1,6-8
Thursday, 5 December 2019
Friday, December 6, 2019 - YouTube Reflections
Friday, December 6, 2019 - Have you tried seeing with your heart instead of only your eyes? What difference does it make?
To read the texts click on the texts: Isa 29: 17-24; Mt9:27-31
Chapters 8 and 9 of the Gospel of Matthew are known as
the “Miracle Cycle” of Matthew, because in them we find ten miracles in series
of three miracles each. The fact that the Miracle Cycle follows immediately
after the Sermon on the Mount and that both are framed by a summary statement
in 4,23 and 9,35 is an indication that Matthew’s intention is to show, through
such placement, that Jesus is the Messiah, in words (through the Sermon on the
Mount) and in deeds (through the Miracle Cycle).
Many regard this story as a doublet of the healing of
blind Bartimaeus found in Mk 10:46-52.
Matthew’s story, however, has the healing of two blind men and does not
name them. A similar story of the healing of two blind men is found in Mt
20:29-34, and since, in both cases,
the one blind man of Mark has become two blind men in Matthew, he pieces the
story together with details and elements from his own sources.
The story begins with the blind men following Jesus.
While on the one level, this will mean walking behind Jesus, on the deeper
level, it means that they are doing what disciples are called to do. Their
address for Jesus: “Son of David” (this is the first time in the Gospel that
Jesus is called “Son of David”) and “Lord” indicates that they are believers.
They have faith. Though physically blind, they are able to see who Jesus is and
see the extent of his power to heal them. This faith is the reason why they
receive their sight.
The command of Jesus to the blind men not to tell
anyone what he had done is disobeyed by them. While some see the command as
retention of Marks’ messianic secret (the Markan Jesus tells some of those whom
he heals not to make it known, since he does not want people to mistake the
kind of Messiah that he has come to be), others see it as an illustration by
Matthew that not everyone who says “Lord” obeys the will of the Father
manifested in Jesus. These have faith, they themselves say, but yet they do not
do.
Blindness is not only an external ailment or
limitation. The fox says to the Little Prince in Antoine Saint De Exupery’s
book “The Little Prince”: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.” There is, thus, also blindness of
the heart. As a matter of fact, in many cases, blindness of the heart is worse
than blindness of the eyes. Heart blindness closes itself to another point of
view. It is a blindness that refuses to look anew at things, events, and
people. It prefers the pessimistic and dark side of life. Heart blindness can only be healed when one
turns in faith to God, manifest in his Son, Jesus.
Friday, December 6, 2019 - Isa 29: 17-24; Mt 9:27-31
Friday, December 6, 2019 - Isa 29: 17-24; Mt 9:27-31
Wednesday, 4 December 2019
Thursday, December 5, 2019 - YouTube Reflections
Thursday, December 5, 2019 - Is the home of your life built on rock or sand? How will you show that it has been built on rock today? Is the home of your life able to withstand the storms that threaten it from without? If No, what will you do about it today?
To read the texts click on the texts:Isa 26: 1-6; Mt7:21, 24-27
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”.
This is the first of the five great discourses in the Gospel of Matthew. Each of the five ends with the phrase, “and
when Jesus had finished…” (7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). The Sermon on the
Mount 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
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 also 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. 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 fulfil the Law and
Prophets. He 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.
This they will do if they internalize the law rather than if they simply
follow it as a set of rules and regulations.
The text of today is from the conclusion of the
Sermon. It begins with Jesus stating emphatically that mere words on the part
of people, even if one addresses him with lofty titles and fervent pleas, will
not gain one entry into the kingdom.
Entry into the kingdom is determined by “doing” the Father’s will. Right
action is more important than right words.
What it means to do the Father’s will is brought out
clearly in the parable of the two builders. The point here, besides action, is
one of foresight. The builder who builds his house on sand is doing, at first
glance, as well as the one who builds his house on rock. It is only when the
rain falls, the storm comes, and the wind blows, that the difference is seen.
The house built on rock continues to stand, whereas the one built on sand
falls. The wise person represents those who put Jesus' words into practice;
they too are building to withstand anything. Those who pretend to have faith,
which is a mere intellectual commitment, or who enjoy Jesus in small doses as and
when it suits them, are foolish builders. When the storms of life come, their
structures fool no one; above all, they do not fool God.
The sermon speaks of grace, but the grace of God is
known only in that community committed to doing God’s will, as revealed in
Jesus. There can be no calculating
“cheap grace.” One must take the Sermon
on the Mount seriously as the revealed will of God to be lived. The subject
matter of the sermon is not the person of Christ, but the kind of life Christ’s
disciples are called to live. One cannot avoid Christology and appeal only to
the teaching or great principles of Jesus, for these are inseparable from the
claims of his person. But, for Matthew, the converse is also true: “Correct”
Christological understanding can never be a substitute for the ethical living
to which Jesus calls his disciples. Christology and ethics, like Christology
and discipleship, are inseparable for Matthew.
While some regard the Sermon as an ideal to be read
and not lived, others see it as being capable of being lived out by only a
select few. These kinds of interpretations miss the point. Since the Sermon is
addressed to both the disciples and the crowd, there is no doubt that it is
meant for all. It is a challenge to be lived out by anyone who professes to be
a disciple of Jesus.
Thursday, December 5, 2019 - Isa 26: 1-6; Mt 7:21, 24-27
Thursday, December 5, 2019 - Isa 26: 1-6; Mt 7:21, 24-27
Tuesday, 3 December 2019
Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - YouTube Reflections
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