Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you,
unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to your
ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment,
and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and
whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the
altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your
gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then
come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to
court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge
will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I
say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
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Reflection:
What is the antidote to sin or what could
defeat sin or hatred? Its humility, forgiveness and love. For example, if you
sin against your spouse the cure for this sin is to humble yourself before your
spouse. You do this by saying, I’m sorry for hurting you or I’m
sorry for betraying your trust.
If your spouse loves you dearly you can
expect forgiveness, the mitigating factor here is your humility to admit
your offense or sin. But not everyone is willing to say, I’m sorry for to admit
ones mistake or to say I’m sorry is one of the hardest words to say. But
if there’s humility in us we would not think twice to apologize for this will
once again heal the relationship.
But the paradox is, we are quick to sin
yet we are not quick to apologize or some are not even willing to
apologize. And this lack of humility on our part creates bigger trouble/s in
our married relationship or any other kind of relationship for that matter.
In our gospel Jesus is teaching us about
humility and to have the courage to admit our own mistakes or shortcomings
(Matthew 5:23-25). Why? Because if we are willing to humble ourselves and if we
have the courage to admit our own sinfulness. We therefore save ourselves from
further trouble. But if we continue to be dominating and arrogant then
trouble/s would always be with us.
Would you be willing to humbly apologize
to somebody whom you have offended? To reach out or to apologize is hard to do
but it’s also a redemptive experience for it will set you free from the bondage
of satan. – Marino J. Dasmarinas