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:
A young man who was working as a houseboy was
always being insulted by the family that he worked for. Name all the insulting
words around and chances are that it could have been already hurled against him.
Eventually the young man reached the limit of his patience so instead of doing
something criminal to the family. He just walked away from them emotionally
hurting and wounded.
In the gospel Jesus reminds us to be careful
with the words that we say for it can create a permanent wound in the emotions
of our fellowmen. If the words that we will say are insulting it’s better not
to say it anymore. It’s better to simply shut our mouths, be quite and let the anger be cured by love.
Let us remember that insulting words deeply
hurts the receiver and it carves a permanent emotional wound in his being. But
why do we say words that are not fit to be said? Why are we very quick to
insult and belittle? This is primarily brought about by our arrogance, bloated
egos and the feeling of superiority.
What is the cure for this unhealthy behavior?
The cure is Jesus, if we will follow Jesus and if we will allow Him to change
us. He will cleanse us of our arrogance, egotism and feeling of superiority. Thus, we will now become forgiving, humble and gentle.
Prayer:
Dear Lord I pray that you’ll cleanse me of my
arrogance, feeling of superiority and anger. I know that I’ve hurt others with
these sinful behaviors as such I ask for your forgiveness. Purify me O Lord,
teach me humility, teach me kindness and teach me unconditional love and forgiveness. This I humbly ask of you my Lord. Amen. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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