Mt 23:13-22 Woe to you, you hypocrites! Wow!
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites…You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.”
Woe to you…you hypocrites…you blind guides! Can you believe that Jesus said this??? Wow!!!
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. We, as Christians, tend to think that the closer we are to God - the more blessed we are - the less we will suffer. This is total nonsense! Christ is not in heaven because he is on vacation! He is in Heaven because He leads us. He does not rest in heaven; he coordinates precise tactical strikes on the hearts and minds of men. Christ is no pacifist. He did not go AWOL. He did not earn his purple heart long ago; He earns it every single day. What you did to the least of my brothers, you did it to me.
God is sacred; Christianity is sacred. But it’s not just about Him. It’s also about us! Life is sacred; marriage is sacred; family is sacred. All other definitions are fiction. All other definitions are an appeasement; an affront to Christ’s sacrifice and death. Did the Lord die in vain? God forbid! Did He die and shake hands and agree to disagree? Never! Then why do we do this to Him? Why do we make pretend that there are far more important matters than life, marriage and family? Are we to believe that Christ’s death was an exaggeration? He didn’t have to go that far.
Those who attack the sacredness of life, marriage and family do not have any difficulty in ridiculing, insulting and degrading those who think differently. Oh well, aren’t you guys suppose to forgive us? It’s amazing how selective is their memory and knowledge of Christianity. Yes! We are! But we will not roll over and play dead. We forgive you… for you know not what you are doing. Let us not forget that it was Christ who forgave His enemies. Let us not forget that His enemies never asked to be forgiven. We know that by what they did next.
Let’s not be hypocrites or blind guides. Where did we ever get the idea of hiding in our Churches; preaching only to the choir; of playing dead; of not speaking out; of negotiating with sin?
Christ was not a diplomat. He died because he would not negotiate or surrender. The Lord was not a weak man. He conquered death! All of us put him to death and He rose from the dead. When we learned of what He did, some of us switched sides; some continued along party lines. Once upon a time, you could tell a Christian from a non-Christian by what they were willing and not willing to do. Those who were willing to sacrifice everything but their faith, honor, principles, morals and values were the Christians. Now, you have Christians who are willing to sacrifice their faith, honor, principles, morals and values but not their homes, careers, income and/or status.
The Lord never told his Apostles to mingle and mix with the latest trends; to go unnoticed; to not stand out. Not even when all appeared lost did He call for a truce, or an evolving of ideas. On the contrary, the Lord put his enemies on notice. He declared all out war for the salvation of souls. He declared it in the upper room on the night he was betrayed. He declared it as He was nailed to the Cross. He declared it when He said, “Do not be afraid. Go throughout the world…”
He is looking for a few good men. As soon as he can find a special operator that is willing to fight and die for Him, He will send Him. This is the truth. All other ideas of the ideal Christian are simply nonsense! Or better yet, from the devil’s headquarters. The devil would love for us to call off the attacks on abortion. He would love for us to retreat on marriage and family. “Let’s have a little respect here for people’s privacy, shall we?” “You shouldn’t be protesting in front of our clinic doors. Where are your manners?”
In today’s first reading, we read of how proud St. Paul is with the Christians in Thessalonica. Their faith is flourishing; the love they have for each other keeps growing; their endurance in the face of persecution and affliction is a model for others. He considers their suffering as evidence of the just judgment of God.
Do you still believe that your trials and tribulations are proof that God does not exist or is absent? Give me a break! We know the apple does not fall far from the tree. If they persecuted me, then they will persecute you!
St. Paul traveled to the ends of the earth to make one convert. St. Monica traveled across the sea to convert her son. Why did they do it? For love of God and neighbor. How did they do it? By imitating Jesus Christ. And both were very successful in accomplishing their mission. And both paid a heavy price for it.
Let’s not make the Lord’s death (or St. Paul’s and St. Monica’s) in vain. His death was meant to inspire us all.
When reading your Meditations one after another. I truly believe this my Favorite one Father Alfonse ;)
ReplyDeleteGood bless u My Father
my silly typo: GOD Bless u My Father ;)
ReplyDelete‘We, as Christians, tend to think that the closer we are to God - the more blessed we are - the less we will suffer.’ A friend of mine calls this “The god of swimming pools” because her family never had a swimming pool: swimming pools were the sign of being very blessed! I read the lives of the saints and a common thread in many of their stories is how happy, blessed, joyful they were in their sufferings!! It is not that they were sad that they ‘had’ to offer their pain – they wanted more sufferings! St Lawrence wanted to be turned over on the grill when he was ‘done’ on one side! St Joan of Arc smiled when she was burned at the stake! St Rita wanted to have the thorn of Christ’s crown penetrate her forehead even when it became so infected that worms would appear! I just finished reading a book on Mother Teresa: ‘What tortures of loneliness. I wonder how long will my heart suffer this?....If my separation from You brings others to You and in their love and company – You find joy and pleasure – why Jesus, I am willing with all my heart to suffer all that I suffer – not only now – but for all eternity – if this is possible.” I remember reading some of these stories when I was in college, searching my heart out for “The Way”. I knew that there had to be a special grace given to these people – it was not natural! There had to be some type of supernatural intervention for them ‘wanting’ to suffer!!!! If our world is upside down, this makes total sense. “The Lord was not a weak man.” But in the eyes of earth, he was! If I can take my small (& big) everyday sacrifices and temptations that are hard! and TRY to only want Him in His forsakenness, out of compassion only for Him, I often do find Love. This is what helps me through my temptations. So many times, I think that I can’t do this anymore!! It is only Him forsaken that gets me through the tough moments.
ReplyDelete“We live for it, and when we are through with it, we look again to satiate our appetite; looking for the next sensation, which is typically more daring, thrilling, appealing and appalling.” How true! How true! What if we Catholics looked at and lived suffering with these eyes of sensation? “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.”
AMEN!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe best definition I've heard of hell is the torture of being separated from the beloved.
ReplyDelete