8th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Two Masters (Mt 6: 24-34)

Two Masters

Introduction

- Story of birds – Two birds were on a tree, watching people pass by, rush here and there, run to and fro, come and go endlessly. One bird observed, “How troubled these people seem, always on the go”. “Indeed”, the second bird agrees, “they must not have a God like us”.

- Story of Clock – a clock began to count it each of its second strikes of the pendulum to know how many times it has to beat in the next year - 60x60x24x365. It broke down with tension – consulted an expert – advice – you were doing the same work for several year smoothly. Therefore continue your everyday work with an intention to show the correct time.

- Story of the promo ticket that included the food and other essentials. Without knowing that fact the people adjusted with what they had. When God gave us life he has blessed us abundantly. It is our responsibility to claim the blessings through our lives.

Content

- Is it a call for a carefree life? Eat, Drink and always make merry? Never.

- It is a call for a life with full of trust in God and complete surrender in the divine providence.

- Two trends;

o Trust completely and surrender to Money (mammon) or any material things (power, positions)

§ The result is worry, tension, anxiety, frustration etc.

§ The owner has to protect the material things and keep up his status and power.

o Trusting and surrendering to God

§ Peace – “Peace be with you”

§ Freedom – “the spirit will set you free”

- As a Christian whom do we need to take as our master – God or world? Our choice in our life makes us the follower of God or World.

o The RH bill:

§ Is it the ways of God.

· It blocks the free flow of life by using artificial means. Contraceptives are anti-life in nature.

· It will foster abortion rate because it eases the concepts of Responsible parenthood and Responsible Sex.

· It will not prevent HIV/AIDS as the government projects. It gives a temptation to go for sex with the assurance of the contraceptives. The contraceptives are never perfect. The nature and size of HIV virus must be taken into account. Experts say it can pass through even the gaps of condom.

· Will it empower the woman? We are the stewards of our body and the master is God. Women may be degraded as sex objects.

· Is it to control the over population and poverty? Poverty is the product of corruption and defective political system.

Conclusion

- Let us decide who is our master?

- Are we looking for freedom or bondages in our life?

Philippines has the duty to show the world a model as a catholic country in obeying the Law of God, as it is shown in the example of EDSA where the rosary won without any bloodshed.

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Be Perfect (Mt:38-48)

Be Perfect (Mt:38-48)

Introduction

- Is there a word “impossible” in the dictionary of God?

- “Impossible” is an impossibility in the dictionary of God. But today Jesus shows us that there are some things impossible to God. For example it is impossible to God not love His creature. It is impossible to God not to forgive a repentant sinner.

- These impossibilities may be called as the “weakness of God” - weakness to love and forgive.

Content

- Let us look at the two impossibilities / weakness of God.

- It is impossible for him not to love his creatures especially the human being.

o Gives rain to just and unjust

o Gives sunshine to good and bad

o Out of Love he gave His only son

o Even though we are sinners he comes in the form of Eucharist in to our hearts.

o Even if we go away from him, he comes behind searching us. He cannot forsake his creatures.

o Even those who do the corruption get the blessings of God.

- It is impossible for him to avoid a repentant sinner.

o The example of prodigal son

o The good thief on the right side of the cross

- Jesus ends today’s gospel with these words – “be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect”. He gives all his believers a call to be perfect – or – to have the same weakness of heavenly Father.

Conclusion

- Is it possible to walk towards perfection in love and forgiveness? Yes, it is possible.

- Love as God loves

o We often love with conditions – if you are a good wife I will be a good husband.

o We often love with selfishness – what will get back if I love him/her?

o Can we love others since they are the gift of God for me? – Husband has to love his wife only because she is a gift of God for him.

- Forgive as God forgives

o Story of bomb blast in front of De La Salle University on Sept 26 – so many students got injured - a girl who lost her legs in the blast told in an interview – I forgive the people who is the cause for losing my legs.

o Jesus forgave on the cross. By saying that the centurion cried out, “he is truly son of God”.

o Forgive is the most powerful weapon to destroy the enemies permanently.

- Eucharist is the sacrament of Love and Forgiveness.

- Let us be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect by practicing Love and Forgiveness.

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Spirit of the Law (Mt 5: 17-37)

6^th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Spirit of the Law (Mt 5: 17-37)

Introduction

- Story – a teacher told to the children on a work day – ‘before coffee break, make 30 pits on the ground – after coffee break fill it with soil’. The intention of the teacher was to plant seeds in those pits/holes at the tea break. The children made the pits with a spade – went for the coffee break – re-filled it with mud/soil after the coffee break. But the teacher failed to plant the seeds since he was late to come back from the seeds shop. The children obeyed the instructions word by word but never knew the purpose of that.

- Jesus calls us to look into the spirit of the law.

Content

- Do we need laws? In the book “Animal Kingdom” George Orwell describes an Utopian world where there are no laws among the animals. There were perfect equality and freedom. At the end everything became chaotic and full of confusion. Their life became so miserable. We need laws and just structures for our development.

- There are two important elements for every law – spirit of the law and the letters of the law.

o Commentaries are written on the letters of the law, expanding its nuances.

- Today we have three Old Testament laws to reflect on and the vision of Jesus about that.

o Murder – Letters of the law is – You shall not kill anybody.

§ The spirit of the law is - love your brothers and sisters even if they are your enemies.

§ Do not harm in any kind, not in word or in deed.

§ Even getting angry (for the destruction of the other) is liable to judgment.

o Adultery – letters of the law is – do not commit any physical sexual acts.

§ Spirit of the law – respect your sisters

§ Therefore even lustful thoughts are against this respect because lustful thoughts come when other is seen as an object of pleasure.

o False Oath and misleading others.

§ Letters of the law is “do not false oath”

§ Spirit of the law is ‘never cheat others, by words or actions’

- The spirit of the law is pointing towards the root cause of the problem:

o Murder – anger

o Adultery – lust

o False oath – cheating

Conclusion

- Look to the spirit of the law and observe it

- Above all Jesus gives us two basic laws – love of God and love of neighbor. The spirit of all the law is these two basic principles.