The Lord calls us today, “unless you surpass the righteousness of the Lawyers and the Pharisees, then, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.”
Without condemning the Jewish Lawyers and Pharisees at that time, Jesus wants us to realize something beyond the usual actions of these people and to become righteous beyond what is minimum, beyond what is only required.
To set the context, scribes and Pharisees at that time were more inclined in focusing on the letters of the law. This means that these people were more concerned in following trivial things in the Jewish Law. However, this kind of attitude prevented them to be compassionate to others and more expressive of mercy to the sinners, the sick and the poor.
Jesus gave a practical challenge to his disciples, an action that expresses mercy and compassion. Jesus calls for “Reconciliation” and “Reparation” of the damage we have caused to others. To be reconciled with the person whom we have hurt and those who have hurt us, expresses righteousness.
Thus, the Gospel today invites us to look closely at our failures and sins and to recognize them. Yet, we do not stop at the recognition of sin but we step forward by making peace, by reconciling ourselves with others, by doing the right thing and doing what God desires us to do.
God calls us to go beyond from what is only easy and comfortable for us. It is a temptation to settle to what is only minimal and become complacent and indifferent towards others. True enough, it is very easy for us to continue what we are doing like going to mass, praying our rosary and novena, and going to confession regularly, but then, remaining unmoved by the many social issues that surround us, or remaining indifferent to the needs of people around.
Jesus invites us now to be more expressive of our devotion by being honest and true in our words and actions and by seeking reconciliation and peace with our brothers and sisters. In these ways, then, we make a room for Jesus to renew our heart and to experience God’s mercy. Kabay pa.
In our search to what fulfills us, we could face many trials, challenges and battles which could give us failures, disappointments and frustrations. This process of finding our fulfillment not only strengthens us but also purifies our motivations and builds up our person. Thus, it is in finding our fulfillment in life that we also discover and understand better ourselves and our relationships with others.
Speaking of such fulfillment, our readings today point us towards our greatest fulfillment in life. This is what we have heard in today’s first reading from the First Book of Kings. The many prophets who worshipped Baal must have been in search of what would hopefully fulfill their life. Yet, it was Elijah who challenged them to look and examine better what they were following. Indeed, though they were many, but then, they were wrong. Baal was not the fulfillment of their life. They realized that no matter how hard they called on Baal, there was no response at all. Baal was a false god, giving them false hopes.
Elijah rather proved to them that the Lord is God. The Lord burnt the altar of sacrifice and that fire was the symbol that God indeed, is their fulfillment. This was expressed by all at the end of the reading, “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”
This fulfillment is reechoed in our Gospel today. The Gospel of Matthew reveals to us that Jesus is the fulfillment of our life. Jesus declares that he fulfills the law and the prophet. This became an argument between the Jewish leaders and Jesus. They thought that Jesus abolished the Law and Prophets, which composed the whole tradition of their people. For them, the Law and the Prophets, and all those teachings were the fundamentals of their faith. The commandments written in the scriptures motivated them to live as faithful Jews.
However, Jesus himself denied that he abolished the law and the teachings of the prophets and the whole tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus is actually the fulfillment of the promises in the whole Hebrew Scriptures. The person of Jesus is the very inspiration of the scriptures.
But then, the Jewish leaders missed the whole point. They were not able to recognize Jesus, the true inspiration. They focused more on themselves, on what they can gain and on their privileged status.
This will happen also to us when we think that our achievements, successes and titles are our main inspiration, and when we believe that pleasing people around us will make us fulfilled and happy. But we are wrong, these will only make us more anxious, fearful and unsatisfied.
We are rather called to find our true fulfillment there in the most important part of our life, and that is, in our relationships. These include our relationship with God and with one another, with our family and friends. Yet, let us never forget that at the very center of all our relationships, is the person of Jesus, who is our true fulfillment. Kabay pa.
It was through the widow in Zarephath that Elijah was sent by the Lord. The land was in drought, people were poor and growing hungry because of the scarcity of food. Yet, the request of Elijah for some bread and water did not prevent the widow to give the small things she had. Indeed, the widow remained kind and accommodating to the stranger, Elijah, expressed through her generosity.
Through her generosity, it allowed the Lord to work wonders with her who despite her poverty and insecurity in life she remained kind. Consequently, the Scripture revealed to us how the jar of flour never been emptied and the jug of oil never been dry. This is God’s generosity and providence.
Generosity, then, is also an expression of trust and confidence in the providence and kindness of God. The Lord shall never let a generous and trusting person to run out of surprises in life.
But aside from the surprises that God does through our generosity, is also the effect of our generosity to people around us. The Gospel of Matthew today speaks of this as Jesus proclaims, “You are salt of the earth. You are light of the world.”
A generous heart brings life and light. It inspires and uplifts those who are struggling. Thus, a true believer of the Lord expresses generosity that comes from the heart in order to bring life and light into our homes, communities and organizations.
This may calls us then to express our generosity by not just extending our material resources to those in need, but also our presence and friendship, our understanding and compassion to those who need them. Kabay pa.
The caress of a mother or even of someone who is motherly to us, would always bring comfort and healing to an injured knee from running around to a broken-heart because of failures and hurts in our relationships and dreams. In fact, when we are caressed by our mother or by someone who is motherly to us, it soothes us and relaxes us. This is the wonder and the power of a motherly caress, loving and caring.
Today, just after celebrating the Solemnity of Pentecost, the Church celebrates and honors Mary, as the Mother of Church. The Gospel of John tells us how the crucified Jesus gives assurance to his disciples through the presence of Mary, as a mother. There at the cross, Mary, his mother stood and was in pain seeing how his son suffered and was about to die. Yet, that very moment also became an opportunity for Jesus to declare that presence of Mary as a mother to all disciples as he said, “Woman, behold your son.”
Indeed, the presence of Mary becomes also an assurance of that comfort and healing to the terrified disciples. Her caress as a mother to the disciples must have also given them the confidence. This is what we celebrate now!
Hence, in today’s feast of Mary, as our mother, our devotion to her also calls us now first, to be a comforting presence to one another, to our friends, family and people we shall meet. Second, that our touch may always be a caress that shall bring healingand life and will not become a violent touch that only bring pain, destruction and death. Kabay pa.
What keeps us from truly expressing ourselves? What prevents us from sharing ourselves to others? What stops us from being truly free? Fear of being not accepted, of being rejected and thus, of being hurt prevents us from being free, from sharing and opening up ourselves to and for others.
This is how our traumatic and painful experiences of abuse in whatever form that is, or of betrayal, of failures, shame and guilt, or of separation and death – could paralyze our relationships, damage our self-esteem and hamper our maturity in all aspects of life.
However, God desires that we become fully human according to God’s image, and that is by being truly free and having developed our full potentials as persons in all aspect of our life.
Today, as we celebrate the Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit into the Church, we are being reminded today of this desire of God for us to have peace, to be free, to be filled with all the good things that God offers us as individuals and as a Church.
So, allow me now to bring you a bit deeper into our readings today that we may also be able to see and claim what God has prepared for us today, on this Pentecost Sunday.
The Gospel that has been proclaimed to us today would tell us about the terrified situation of the disciples. The disciples were in hiding. They were terrified and so they locked themselves because of so much fear. They did not want to go out anymore, to socialize with their other friends and relatives or to continue preaching about the kingdom of God and healing people’s illnesses. They were rather filled with fear.
This tells us that fear can actually paralyze us. Fear can prevent us in making movements and in making decisions. Consequently, when we become fearful we also settle to what is only minimal and comfortable for us, then, this makes us complacent. We wont take risks because we are afraid of rejection and failure or of the possibility of another pain and hurts.
But then, such attitude could also make us controlling and demanding in our relationships to the point that we direct others on how they should treat us, or accommodate us and love us according to how we want it. We do not think of others then, because we do not want any compromise. We only think of ourselves, locked in those painful past but terrified of the present. This was how the terrified disciples kept themselves in a locked room. It was a paralysis to love and be loved, to forgive and be forgiven.
This is the very reason why Jesus appeared in the midst of his fearful disciples. Jesus wants them to get out from the attitude of fear. Jesus penetrated those fearful and closed hearts of the disciples and gave them PEACE. And that peace filled their hearts with the Holy Spirit. With that, it completely changed all of them.
The Holy Spirit indeed calmed and gave confidence to their terrified hearts, healed their wounded hearts, forgave their hearts that were found guilty, freed their imprisoned and locked hearts, and filled their hearts longing for love.
In fact, in the Acts of the Apostles, it was proclaimed to us how the Holy Spirit changed the disciples. That is why, aside from the noise that sounded like a violent wind and the tongues of fire that rested on each of them, there was a more interesting expression of the Spirit that happened there. The disciples of the Lord who were mostly Galileans proclaimed the goodness and power of God. Though they spoke in their own native language yet strangers and foreigners understood what the disciples were proclaiming about.
Yes, foreign peoples grasped what the disciples of Jesus had proclaimed because at that moment, they became confident and unafraid. They were able to get out from their fears of being persecuted, from their doubts about Jesus and from their insecurities of the coming days. They realized how good God is. They truly believed that “Jesus is Lord.”
All of these realizations were fruits of their journey with Jesus. With the Holy Spirit, the disciples found peace in their hearts, meaning, these fearful and doubtful disciples had at last found and recognized God in their life, in their human experiences. This is how the Holy Spirit creates and renews us, as the Psalm proclaims to us today. As we are being renewed by the Spirit then we shall begin to see and recognize God’s indwelling presence in everyone and in everything, and in every circumstance of our life.
Jesus said, “Peace be with you!” which also means, “I am with you!” because Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The Lord who is with his disciples sends them now. And so, they have become witnesses of Jesus – witnesses who convey God’s offer of salvation and love not just to a particular group of people but to all, to Jews and Greeks, to rich and poor, to you and to me.
This is also how the foreigners understood the disciples of the Lord and in effect were converted to believe in Jesus. Thus, a church was born, a church that is not fearful of persecutions and a church that joyfully sings God’s goodness and love.
What is it to you and to me now, as a church gathered here today?Our birthday celebration today is not meant to be a mere remembering of the distant past. This feast of the Pentecost calls us rather to relive and to re-experience the first Pentecost – and that is to experience again that confidence with God, being secured by his love, by being courageous and honest enough to share the kindness of God and his love to others.Because you and I, have already received the Holy Spirit.
We may be constantly aware, then, of the Holy Spirit in all of our human experiences and relationships. In that way, we may be renewed by the Spirit who is ready to free a heart locked in fear and insecurities, ready to calm and give confidence to our terrified heart, ready to heal our wounded heart, ready to forgive our heart that has been found guilty, and ready to fill a heart longing for love. Kabay pa.
A DOSE OF GOD TODAY 