WORD ALIVE
FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD
The Jews had been very much impressed by Jesus' teachings and actions. They had gone to great lengths to seek him out wherever he went, the gospel for this 21st Sunday relates.
But when he started talking about "eating his body and drinking his blood as food for eternal life," they were having second thoughts. "This is intolerable language," they grumbled. "How could anyone accept it?" A sad note follows: “After this many of his followers left him and stopped going with him.”
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Aren't we very much like the skeptical Jews to some extent? Not consciously perhaps, but when we hear some "hard teachings" of Jesus, we grumble and may even turn our back on him?A priest was once delivering a homily with much enthusiasm. "Thou shalt not kill!" he bellowed. A charismatic parishioner in the front row exclaimed, "Amen, Father, amen."
"Thou shalt not commit adultery!" the priest fulminated. "Amen!" again the parishioner practically shouted.
With the tension rising, the preacher paused and declared with a booming voice, "Thou shalt not steal."
"Ops, oops, Father," said the parishioner. "You’re no longer preaching. You are now meddling with my life." (That parishioner is a barangay chairman who makes “ayuda” funds disappear mysteriously).
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It's easy enough to accept the teachings of Christ as long as they don't go against our grain or don't apply to us. But once they do ("tinamaan" in local parlance), we say with that parishioner, "Now, now you are meddling with our lives." That’s “selective obedience” to God’s commands."Don't murder! Don't steal! Don't commit adultery! Don't worship false idols!" That's not so hard to take, perhaps because for most of us they don't apply. But "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"? That's hard to swallow!
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"Forgive your enemies--and, mind you, not seven times but seventy times seven times!" "How can I forgive a husband who's unfaithful, a friend who's betrayed me or an officemate who keeps back-biting me?* * *
"If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." How many of our public servants would really practice this so-called “servant leadership”?Remember: “We don’t change the message of God but His message should change us.”
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As Simon Peter professed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have come to believe that You are the Son of God” (Jn 6,70). That is faithful commitment to the Lord.When we encounter serious problems and we cannot understand why a good God does not seem to help, does our faith falter?
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Or, isn’t it also our fault because we don’t strive enough to remedy them? But if despite our best efforts, we can’t still remedy them, like the sudden death of a loved one, then let’s hold on in faith and trust that God has other plans.* * *
The lighter side. Husband came home from office, cleaned himself and sat down for dinner. After his first bite, he scolded his wife and said the food had no taste. His wife got up, called the hospital and told the doctors that her husband lost his sense of taste. The ambulance came and took him away. Now he is 14 days in quarantine!LESSON: Husbands, be kind and gentle with your wives.
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Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.* * *
The reason men lie is because women ask too many questions.* * *
My grandfather is 90 and still doesn't need glasses....He drinks straight from the bottle.* * *
Success is relative. The more successful, the more the relatives.* * *
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