The Word God Spells

Matthew 23: 23-26
2 Thes 2: 1-3a. 14-17 / Ps 96: 10-13

You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, but have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity.
(Matthew 23:23)

What lies within is what is real,
And no amount of scheme or stealth
Can hide that time will not reveal,
Lord, give our souls clean bill of health.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, but have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. These things you ought to have done without neglectig the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside may also be clean.” (Matthew 23:23-26)

Reflection

Many Christians find it hard to show their true nature by their natural appearance, and resort to hiding behind facades of virtues that often do not match the person within. That’s because it is easier to manage our externals than it is in dealing with our perceived flaws that we would rather prefer hidden.

It is hard to believe that even Mother Teresa, who was recently featured in Time magazine, kept a deep secret of spiritual dryness and psychological pain during most of her lifetime when her accomplishments appeared to be clear manifestations of her closeness to God. For almost 50 years, according to her letters to various confessors, she was “living out a very different spiritual reality privately, an arid landscape from which (God) had disappeared.” In a new book entitled, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, her letters revealed that for the last almost half-century of her life, God was “neither in her heart nor in the Eucharist.” At one time, the “dryness,” “darkness,” and “torture” she was undergoing almost drove her to doubt the existence of heaven and even of God. Being acutely aware of this discrepancy between her inner state and her public demeanor, she wrote that her smile was just “a mask” or “a cloak that covers everything,” and as she told an adviser, “If you were (there), you would have said, ‘What hypocrisy.’” (Time Magazine, August 24, 2007)

And yet, what made Mother Teresa truly a great saint was that despite her spiritual torments, she never neglected the weightier things of the law, judging herself severely, lest she fell into self-righteousness, continuously practicing works of mercy for the poor and the dying, and being faithful to God and her vocation even in her “darkest night of the soul.” She remained clean inside and outside the cup and dish.

Mother Teresa has shown us that human as we are, there will always be doubts, just as there will always be flaws in our character. But as long as we judge our own behavior (not other people), show mercy to others, and be faithful to Christ come what may, then our outer physical appearance will be as clean as our soul within.

Lord, You have probed me, You know me: You know when I sit and when I stand; You understand my thoughts from afar (Psa.139:1-2), far better than I know myself. Deal with me then as You will, so that my cup and dish will always be clean. Amen.

Matthew 8: 23-27
Amos 3: 1-8; 4: 11-12 / Psalm 5: 4-7

Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?
(Matthew 8:25)

Be firm of faith in Jesus Christ
Wh keeps us safe from storms in life;
Let confidence in Him abide,
And be calm in all kinds of strife.

Jesus got into a boat and His disciples followed Him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but Jesus was asleep. They came and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O You of little faith?” Then He got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?” (Matthew 8:23-27)

Reflection

After healing so many sick people, and driving out demons from the possessed, our Lord needed to take a break from the crowds, and decided to cross to the other side of the Lake of Galilee by boat. Not long after boarding, Jesus fell asleep. Then without warning, the winds whipped up a storm. But there seems to have been a purpose behind this sudden force of nature. It provided an opportunity for our Lord to demonstrate His divine power to His disciples so that their faith in Him may be fortified.

This time of the year has always been a season of storms. The sea tragedy that struck the hapless passengers of the Princess of the Stars ferry was only one among many in the wide swath of devastation caused by the typhoon codenamed “Frank” in the Visayas region. When we learned that the storm had caused untold destruction with strong winds and a flood of mud in Kalibo, Aklan, we immediately contacted Bro. Arlen, former chapter head of the BCBP chapter in Kalibo, in whose house the Brotherhood there met for fellowships and prayer assemblies. Fortunately his mobile phone was still active. He related how the storm had taken away or destroyed all their appliances, his records, and many important documents, leaving his house and their meeting place a total shambles. It was God-sent that our brothers and sisters in nearby Roxas city, which was not as badly damaged by the typhoon, sent them foodstuffs and water, and some money to help them in their time of need. Many of our brothers and sisters in the different chapters and outreaches of BCBP also started to raise funds to send succor to our communities in Kalibo and Iloilo.

Storms are unavoidable events in our life that come without warning. But for men of faith like Bro. Arlen, God would not allow them to happen if they would only break our will and send us to despair. Instead, he told us that if this was one way of carrying his cross to follow our Lord, then he was glad to be on the right path. After all, this was not as hard as what Jesus had endured for our sake. Besides, “In all these things, we shall conquer through Him Who loved us” (Rom. 8:37). As for us who were far from the path of the storm, let us not merely pray and be grateful. More importantly, let the passage of that storm stir up our deepest sentiments of mercy and generosity, so that our contributions of aid may foster love and hope in the affected areas, and bring us closer to our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom we also run for help in times of trouble in our own lives.

Dear God, we ask for Your strength and fortitude to be given to those who are suffering from the devastation caused by the recent typhoon in the island of Panay, particularly in Iloilo and Kalibo. We also pray for Your mercy and generosity to be given to those who have the resources to help, so that a greater good will come out of this tragedy. Amen.