Bible
Study: Romans 4, 1 to 8. And Luke 12, 1 to 7.
At that
time, when so many thousands of the multitude had gathered together that they
trod upon one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “BEWARE of the
leaven of the Pharisees, which is HYPOCRISY. Nothing is covered up that will
not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have
said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in
private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. I tell you, my friends,
do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can
do. BUT I WILL WARN YOU WHOM TO FEAR: FEAR HIM WHO, AFTER HE HAS KILLED, HAS
POWER TO CAST INTO HELL; YES, I TELL YOU, FEAR HIM! Luke 12, 1 to 5.
The
greatest temptation we face today is the temptation to SECRECY. It is such a
powerful force that is capable of pulling anybody down. “Hey, do not worry, see
no one is watching. People will not know. Trust me, don’t you trust me again? I
swear, I will not tell anyone. Nobody will ever know. This is just between us,
okay. See I will come when no one is at home. Don’t worry, I say, just relax,
mummy and daddy will never get to know. Etc. etc. etc.” Have you heard such
words recently? Do you notice that what follows statements like this? An almost
immediate DESIRE TO SIN!.
There are
certain things we cannot do in public. Isn’t it? There are certain things we
cannot do before our children. True or false? There are things we cannot do in
front of camera. True or false? There are certain things we cannot do before
our boss? Or before the people that we respect? Isn’t it? Why do we RESTRAIN
ourselves with all our strength not to do these things in the open view of
others? The answer is FEAR. We are afraid of the consequences of such actions
when others see us do them. We are afraid of our losing our self-worth, our
personal integrity and dignity.
If our
fear of public perception or people can restrain us from vices, Jesus is
telling us that we do not need to be afraid of people. We do not need to be
afraid of those who can tarnish our image, not even those who can kill the body
but cannot kill the soul. We should only be afraid of GOD because He alone can
destroy both body and soul in HELL FIRE. And for God, there is no hiding. He
does not sleep, he does not blink, he sees everything and he knows everything.
So if we know that God is always looking (omnipresent), we aren’t we AFRAID TO
SIN before his constant gaze? Why do we become weak and fail to apply same
restraint as we would do when we know people are watching? Don’t we know that
God is ALWAYS watching? Is it because we are not seeing him physically?
It all
boils down to one thing. We are not afraid of God. We fear people more than
God. The book of wisdom says; “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.”
(Sirach 1, 14 and 20). Oh, how foolish we are when we fail to fear God enough
to run from sin while at the same time, we fear people too much ever to even
think of sin before them. Oh, what a contradiction! This is nothing but
HYPOCRISY. Or better put, “hypo” (meaning, very high) and “crazy” (meaning
madness or foolishness.)
In fact,
time and time again it so happens that people BETRAY US. The things we thought
we did in secret become spoken about freely; those telephone calls which we had
to run into the bathroom to make whispering, those texts messages we had to
type and quickly delete, those funny Blackberry chats or whatsapp images and
texts we sent with the warning: “For your eyes only.” Etc. All these things
eventually come to light someday not just because people are bad but because
Jesus himself said so: Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden
that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be
heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed
upon the housetops. And what happens, we eventually come down in REGRET.
Live in a
manner that when your deepest secrets are one day exposed to light, the world
itself will be inspired, God himself will clap for you and the Angels will duff
their hats. You don’t have to become proud by so doing or try to boast about
your deeds as St. Paul warns us against in the first reading. Even Abraham who
we refer to as our father in faith cannot dare to boast because it was not by
his works or personal holiness that he attained that height, his faith was what
was reckoned to him as righteousness.
Today we
remember the great Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. She was the one to whom Jesus
Christ revealed the messages that eventually metamorphosed into what we have
today as the Sacred Heart Society. She was a great instrument in God’s hands in
the revival of spirituality in the church at a time when the church had very
much closed in on itself. Her private revelations having become exposed to the
light have inspired millions even to this day.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, when my most private life secrets are one day exposed, may it be such
that I myself would be proud of what I will see. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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