A CHOICE WE HAVE TO MAKE

VIII SUNDAY OF THE YEAR: Mt 6:24-34

We cannot serve two masters

In this Sunday's gospel, Jesus puts before us a clear and unavoidable choice: We cannot serve two masters, so we must choose, and by doing so we refuse the other. 

There is a Bemba proverb that says: one leg on the path, the other on the grass; meaning that one tries to get the best of two worlds. Jesus does not waste time beating about the bush; instead he forces us to choose. We cannot be his disciples and at the same time put all our hearts and minds in the procure of wealth. Money and God don't go together.

After reading this passage, one wonders how some people have the boldness to preach a gospel of prosperity and wealth and how can preachers of the Gospel be counted among the richest people among a majority of poor. 

Jesus tells us very clearly that we cannot serve both God and Money. That was the proposal that Satan made to Jesus in the desert, immediately after his baptism. The answer given then by Jesus leaves no room for any doubt: "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him" (Mt 4:10).

Put your trust in the Lord

There are people who live in constant stress, worrying about the future, and so they try to accumulate as much wealth as possible as a protection for harsh and bitter days. They have a fundamental lack of trust in the Lord and in the community where they live. In this Sunday's gospel, Jesus gives an answer to such people, with very reassuring words: Don't worry about tomorrow's upkeep! Don’t worry about your daily life! Put your trust in the Lord.

In old times, due to a strong sense of community and solidarity, people could travel with very little. Where they arrived, they would find a place to lay down and some food to eat. In old age, the family would take care and provide for the basic needs. In a way, God was providing through the care of the members of the community.

Nowadays, individualism reigns supreme. Each one for himself. Mind your own business. And what happens to the others is not my business. In spite of that, in many countries there is a well organised welfare that allows people to live without big worries about their old age. 

Maximize your profit is the rule governing the world

However, Jesus’ warning is much more relevant in these modern times than it was in the past. Now everything is counted in terms of money and valued according to the profit it generates. Everything is quantified monetarily, and everybody tries to maximize the profit. 

More than ever before, money has become a supreme value, because money means influence and power, and it means as well the ability to control and put everything else at our service. This power means dominion, exploitation and oppression. In the end, we ourselves become slaves of this merciless god which sucks not only others' blood but our own blood. While it provides luxury, robs our souls of peace. 

If we make of money our god, we will discover that it is an oppressive and false god. Profit has become the ruler of the world and is concentrating the wealth of the world in the hands of a few who trample upon the majority and transform them into slaves.

BE MERCIFUL AS YOUR FATHER IS MERCIFUL

VII SUNDAY OF THE YEAR: Lev 19:1-2, 17-18; Mt 5:38-48

God's holiness

In this Sunday's liturgy, we read one of the most important and well known passages of the Old Testament: "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Lev 19:2). 

Hearing about God's holiness, we may ask ourselves what does it mean. We call God holy, because he is highly above and beyond everything else, and when referring to him, we are filled with a sense of awe. He is holy, because he is untouchable and unreachable, meaning that nothing is like him or can even come close to him in dignity, honour, goodness and power. He is the Other, the Different, who can never be appropriated, controlled or manipulated. We are attracted to him, but at the same time we tremble in his presence, because we feel to be so unworthy of him.

"That God is holy means that he is exalted, awesome in power, glorious in appearance, pure in character. God’s holiness is contagious. Wherever his presence is, that place becomes holy." (from Hartley, John E., Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 4: Leviticus, (Dallas, Texas: Word Books, Publisher) 1998.) 

God’s call to holiness

In Lev 19, God's own statement that he is holy is presented as the foundation for the commandments leading to a holy life. God's holiness demands holiness in his people, and this holiness has to be manifested in a way of life, that is in a conduct filled with love towards the others. 

Peter, in his first letter, wrote: "as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Pe 1:15-16)

Lev 19:17-18 shows clearly how God's holiness and his call to holiness has implications in the relationships with our neighbours: 

- no more hatred,

- no vengeance,

- no resentment 

- correct him, telling him about his wrong doing

And all this can be summarised in the maxim: love your neighbour as yourself.

Be perfect as the Father is perfect

In the Sermon on the Mountain, Jesus presented this call to holiness as a call to perfection: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48).

And this holiness or perfection can only be achieved when we allow love to guide our steps, and this love is shown in a attitude of mercy and compassion to all, mainly to those who are in need of forgiveness and compassion. According to Luke, Jesus said: "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36). Having received mercy from God, we must show mercy, by forgiving our enemies: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Mt 5:44).

Being merciful, as God is merciful, there can be no place for revenge and retaliation, and no place for hatred, but reconciliation and love.

JESUS CHALLENGES OUR COMMONLY ACCEPTED IDEAS

VI SUNDAY OF THE YEAR: Matthew 5:17-37

Jesus came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets

During these sundays, we have been reading the Sermon on the mountain, where Jesus, like a new Moses, presented the demands of the new Covenant. Contrary to Jewish opinion, who accused Jesus of disregarding the Law and being intent on abolishing it, Jesus proclaimed very clearly that he was not abolishing the Law, but giving it its full meaning and that he came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets. However, Jesus was at variance with the Scribes and the Pharisees in the interpretation of the Law, and he warned his disciples that they "will never enter the kingdom of heaven" if their righteousness does not "exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees” (Mt 5:20).

The righteousness of the Pharisees

We may be surprised by Jesus' attack on the Pharisees. In their strict legalism, they missed the aim of the Law, which is to provide protection and guidance, and to enhance an interior attitude that comes from the heart and gives direction and meaning to one's life. Instead, they became casuists, continuously asking themselves what is allowed and what is forbidden. They were strict keepers of the Law, paying attention even to the smallest details, but in their legalism they did not understand the spirit of the law, that is to discover God's will in each life situation.

Jesus radical demands

Jesus presented six examples of commonly accepted doctrine, opposing to it the demands that come from an attitude of total faithfulness to God's will and love. In those six examples, Jesus spoke about the correct attitudes in the relationships between people. 

Murder is condemned in every society, but Jesus deals with the source of crime in our hearts: anger, hatred, jealousy,insults, which lead to trample down on the other. That is where sin starts and takes hold of our hearts and then our lives.

Jesus had the courage to speak about sexual relationships: when based on lust, they transform the other into a tool at the service of pleasure and self-indulgence, destroying at the same time the dignity of the one who abuses the other. It is from within our hearts that lust comes to dominate our minds and our bodies. 

Jesus spoke also about marriage and divorce, reminding us that marriage is a sacred commitment before God, and not something to play with.

According to Jesus, there is no need of oaths; we just have to be truthful in whatever we say, that is all.

Revenge and retaliation cannot bring harmony and peace. When we pay back evil with evil, the evil that destroys the other consumes us as well. We must make an extra effort to defeat evil by doing good.

Jesus goes on challenging sand forcing us to examine the prevalent ideas and check the accept ideologies - the so called politically correct, because many of them are not correct at all.

The first reading, taken from the book of Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus)tells us that we must choose between life and death, ending with these wise words: God "has not given anyone permission to sin" (Sir 15:20).

YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH

V SUNDAY OF THE YEAR: Matthew 5:13-16

Called to be light and salt

In the sermon on the mountain, immediately after proclaiming the beatitudes, Jesus tells his disciples: You are the salt of the earth… you are the light of the world.

As light, we are called to be beacons that attract people’s attention and guide them to safety, that is to salvation. In the darkness of this world, so many people are misguided by false values that promise joy, peace and life, but bring oppression, injustice, violence and war. The Christians are guided by a different set of values, that cannot be missed by those who observe their behaviour. By our attitudes and by our way of thinking we  denounce and challenge all false values that are put forward as the standard of acceptable and dignified behaviour. Christians cannot hide themselves. In fact, if they are true Christians, living in faithfulness to Jesus Christ, their difference is conspicuous and it will appeal to many, while being rejected by many others.

The Christians are people like everybody else, mixed with all other people, living here on earth and going through the same hardships and struggles as all others do. However, in many ways, they are different; indeed, they must be deferent, if they don’t want to loose their identity as Christians.

The Christians at the beginning of the II century

In this aspect, it is good to read how the Christians saw themselves at the beginning of the II century:

“For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.” (from the anonymous letter to Diognetus).

Committed to our faith

Christians are called to be light and salt of the earth. Mixed with people, participating in everything that is worthy with their fellow human beings, they bring a new dimension and instil a new hope that transforms society and leads it to become more and more the true people of God. 

Are we being faithful to the mission entrusted to us? Or may be we have lost the good taste, having become useless, only good to be thrown out and trampled upon by people!