Gospel: Matthew
10:34-11:1
Jesus
said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the
earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a
man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household.
“Whoever
loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his
cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose
it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever
receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever
receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and
whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a
righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of
these little ones to drink because he is a disciple–amen, I say to you, he will
surely not lose his reward.”
When
Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples, he went away from
that place to teach and to preach in their towns.
+ + +
+ + + +
Reflection:
What is
this sword that Jesus speaks about in the gospel?
It’s the
sword of righteousness! Jesus came into this world to bring the sword of
righteousness and this sword of righteousness pierces anyone who stands in the
way.
Man
against his father? Daughter against her mother? Indeed, if anyone stands in
the way even if they are our relatives we should not be afraid to speak in the
name of righteousness we should not be afraid to gently voice out what we think
is right no matter who gets hurt.
In the
same manner that we should not be afraid to voice out our sentiments even if
the person whom we are going to address has the money and power.
Sometimes
we have second thoughts if we are going to speak our minds in the name of
Jesus. We ought not to think twice we must have the courage to say what’s in
our mind in the name of the sword of Jesus’ righteousness.
The
church always speaks out its mind whenever there are issues or policies that
hurt the populace. It’s not afraid to verbally rebuke anyone in power even if
it creates enmity and wedge between them. Why? For the simple reason that this
is the mission of the Church which Jesus founded through St. Peter. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment