Bible
Study: Numbers 24, 2 to 17. And Matthew 21, 23 to 27.
In our
Gospel passage this morning, we see how the chief priests and elders of the
people felt they could trap Jesus down by asking him who gave him authority to
preach and teach in the way and manner he did. If only they could see beyond
what their physical eyes could carry, they would not have dared to ask God
himself who gave him authority to be God. They did not realise that Jesus was
more than an ordinary man but God himself in the midst of men. Once their eyes
were blind to this fact, they felt they could challenge his authority only to
end up totally ashamed at the response they got from Jesus.
Lack of
faith is a form of blindness, a blindness that prevents us from beholding
spiritual realities, a blindness that turns our ears away from the truth even
when it is obvious to us, a blindness that allows us challenge the authority of
God over our lives, a blindness that makes us question whether or not God even
cares about us. We may engage in prayer to God and try to present our needs
before him but when we do not believe God is listening or when we begin to
doubt God’s ability to grant us what we pray for, we become like these chief
priests and elders. Our prayer becomes a mere challenge of God’s authority, we
pray not because we believe but simply to test God’s power.
Dear
friends, when faith is absent, even our best and most reasonable decisions and
actions become foolish. Reason never works on its own, it depends on faith. Before
I start reasoning about whether or not there is any need for me to go to
church, I must first believe that the church is a place where I can meet God. Once
this faith is missing, all our arguments and debates about church, doctrines
and so on become mere foolishness, an exercise in futility. We do not convert
people to the faith by arguing with them, no one is ever converted by reasoning
or debate. This was what the chief priests tried to do, they thought they could
convince Jesus to stop his mission by arguing about his authority. I have seen
people who go about with Bible from house to house and try to convert people to
their church by arguing with them and each party spend a lot of time trying to
convince each other. At the end, it becomes a total waste of time. When faith
is lacking, reasoning itself becomes foolishness.
Today we
celebrate the memorial of St. John of the Cross. Born in Spain in 1542, John
learned the importance of self-sacrificing love from his parents. His father
gave up wealth, status, and comfort when he married a weaver's daughter and was
disowned by his noble family. After his father died, his mother kept the
destitute family together as they wandered homeless in search of work. These
were the examples of sacrifice that John followed with his own great love --
God.
When the
family finally found work, John still went hungry in the middle of the
wealthiest city in Spain. At fourteen, John took a job caring for hospital
patients who suffered from incurable diseases and madness. It was out of this
poverty and suffering, that John learned to search for beauty and happiness not
in the world, but in God.
After John
joined the Carmelite order, Saint Teresa of Avila asked him to help her reform
movement. John supported her belief that the order should return to its life of
prayer. But many Carmelites felt threatened by this reform, and some members of
John's own order kidnapped him. He was locked in a cell six feet by ten feet
and beaten three times a week by the monks. There was only one tiny window high
up near the ceiling. Yet in that unbearable dark, cold, and desolation, his
love and faith were like fire and light. He had nothing left but God -- and God
brought John his greatest joys in that tiny cell.
After nine
months, John escaped by unscrewing the lock on his door and creeping past the
guard. Taking only the mystical poetry he had written in his cell, he climbed
out a window using a rope made of strips of blankets. With no idea where he
was, he followed a dog to civilization. He hid from pursuers in a convent
infirmary where he read his poetry to the nuns. From then on his life was
devoted to sharing and explaining his experience of God's love.
His life
of poverty and persecution could have produced a bitter cynic. Instead it gave
birth to a compassionate mystic, who lived by the beliefs that "Who has
ever seen people persuaded to love God by harshness?" and "Where
there is no love, put love -- and you will find love." John left us many
books of practical advice on spiritual growth and prayer that are just as
relevant today as they were then. These books include: Ascent of Mount Carmel, Dark
Night of the Soul, and A Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom
Christ. Watch a youtube video of St. John of the cross by clicking this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL58g24NgWPIzvBk2IQVES_xC4WTm6-CDI&v=sY62yARJyTE
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, open my eyes to a deeper faith in you. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy new week.
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