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 truth and righteousness! Jesus came into this world to
bring the sword of truth and righteousness and this sword of truth and
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 truth and righteousness we should not be afraid to 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, influence and power.
Sometimes we have second thoughts if we are going to speak our mind 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’ truth and righteousness.
The church always speaks out its mind whenever there are issues or policies
that hurt the people of God. The church is not afraid to contradict anyone in power
even if it creates temporary enmity. Why? For the simple reason that the
mission of the church is to speak the truth no matter who gets hurt. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment