Whenever anyone obeys what Christ has said,
God’s love comes to perfection in him. 1 JN 2:5
1THESSALONIANS 2:9-13
My Soul's Beloved,
It is so easy to allow the ways of the world, the cynicism of the world, the hard and cold world to penetrate our hearts and influence our response to the needs of others, both spiritual and temporal. How easy it is to turn away to make excuses, perhaps sometimes legitimately, and ease our conscience by staying uninvolved. But St. Paul reminds us how he and his companions worked feverishly and tirelessly bringing the Good News to as many as they could and saving souls for the Kingdom of God.
Beloved, if those who had nothing in this world but had faith in You, they would be richer than kings. Faith in You, Lord, has the power to bring light into the darkest places of our lives and joy and peace under the most horrendous conditions. Yet, how often do we withhold sharing the Gospel because we are shy or are afraid of the negative response we may receive? We give our negative feelings and fears predominance over that which is our sacred duty. Nothing is more important than for us to share in the mission entrusted to us at our baptism, and yet so many of us live our entire lives closed in on ourselves. We fail in our paramount duty to share the Good News with those closest and dearest to us in a way that will shape their own lives and choices and save their souls.
Grant us the grace to end such indifference in us, O Lord, and help us to burn with zeal as St. Paul did to share with others what we have so generously received.
Let me remind you, brothers, how hard we used to work, slaving night and day so as not to be a burden on any one of you while we were proclaiming God’s Good News to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, that our treatment of you, since you became believers, has been impeccably right and fair. You can remember how we treated every one of you as a father treats his children, teaching you what was right, encouraging you and appealing to you to live a life worthy of God, who is calling you to share the glory of his kingdom. Another reason why we constantly thank God for you is that as soon as you heard the message that we brought you as God’s message, you accepted it for what it really is, God’s message and not some human thinking; and it is still a living power among you who believe it.
PSALM 138(139):7-12
O Lord, you search me and you know me.
PSALM 138(139):7-12
O Lord, you search me and you know me.
O where can I go from your spirit,
or where can I flee from your face?
If I climb the heavens, you are there.
If I lie in the grave, you are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn
and dwell at the sea’s furthest end,
even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.
If I say: ‘Let the darkness hide me
and the light around me be night,’
even darkness is not dark for you
and the night is as clear as the day.
O Lord, you search me and you know me.
MATTHEW 23:27-32
My Soul's Beloved,
We cannot ascribe the grievous sin of deicide to the Jews and the Romans of the time alone, for each one of us is just as guilty as they of putting to death the Son of God and the Son of Man. As St. Paul reminds us, 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' Not one of us can claim innocence, and we continue to wound You by our deliberate and wanton disobedience to the Law of Love which God has inscribed on every heart.
How easily we point to the speck in our brothers' and sisters' eyes, yet fail to notice the log in our own, and rid ourselves of them. We are all hypocrites like the scribes and Pharisees that you condemn. We are guilty of an overly critical spirit of the faults and failings of others, and their sins, while whitewashing our own.
Pity us, Lord, and in Your great mercy and tender compassion, grant us true wisdom so we can amend our own lives before seeking to amend the lives of others.
Jesus said: ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of corruption. In the same way you appear to people from the outside like good honest men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who build the sepulchres of the prophets and decorate the tombs of holy men, saying, “We would never have joined in shedding the blood of the prophets, had we lived in our fathers’ day.” So! Your own evidence tells against you! You are the sons of those who murdered the prophets! Very well then, finish off the work that your fathers began.’
‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who build the sepulchres of the prophets and decorate the tombs of holy men, saying, “We would never have joined in shedding the blood of the prophets, had we lived in our fathers’ day.” So! Your own evidence tells against you! You are the sons of those who murdered the prophets! Very well then, finish off the work that your fathers began.’
Great reflection 🙏
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