Bible
Study: Isaiah 1, 10 to 17 and Matthew 10, 31 to 11, 1.
If you want to show respect to a
person, there are so many different things you can do but all of them would
point to the same fact. For instance, you may decide to buy the person a
wonderful gift, you may just present a card, you may even go to the person and
kneel before him or her, or you may dedicate something to the person. The list
of possibilities is endless.
So also in the worship of God, there
is no formula, there are a lot of things we can do to show him our love and
devotion. However there is worship that is acceptable and one that is not. Now,
what is that offering or worship that God rejects? It is the type that does not
proceed from the heart; it is a worship that treats God as though he were an
object; it is worship that bears no relationship with how we live our day to
day life outside the church.
If I say three masses today, spend
five straight hours doing adoration, and so on, God is not so pleased with my
sacrifices as he would be pleased with me if by the time I leave the church, I
refrain from committing sin. Of what use will all the sacrifices of masses when
I cannot sacrifice something as small as telling the truth? Of what use is my
huge offertory in the church if I cannot offer my body to him in chastity?
Isaiah today speaking the mind of God
tells us how much he abhors the sacrifices we present in the name of worship.
By referring to the people of Israel as Sodom and Gomorrah, God is drawing
their attention to their abominable sins of immorality and indecency. God is
saying: “What is the point behind your many sacrifices of bulls and rams when
there is so much iniquity in your midst?”
This is the kind of worship that
makes sense to God. When I make myself clean but in my heart and in action,
when I cease to do evil and learn to do good instead, when I work for justice,
correct oppression, defend the orphans and plead for the widow. All these
things surprisingly cannot be done inside the church. That means that my
worship actually begins at home, in my dealings with my colleagues at work, the
way I live my life.
In my defence of purity by my
thoughts and actions at home, at my place of work or in my school among my
mates, I must prepare myself because clashes and even quarrels would arise. I
dare not expect everyone to support me or become my friend but no matter what,
I must always put God first. I would rather incur the wrath of even my best
friend than offend God. No wonder Jesus says in the Gospel passage: “I have not
come to bring peace, but rather a sword… a man against his father, daughter
against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law and so on.
Then, as if to tell us how serious he
is, Jesus warns: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” That is
to say, if I really want to serve God, I should not mind losing even the
closest persons to me should they become a source of distraction or temptation
to me. My losing them becomes a cross I carry for sake of my faith. Jesus even
adds: “He who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
I have seen where a mother was trying
to lure her own daughter into prostitution all because of money. This is just
one example out of many where calls us to put him first even if it means losing
a relationship as close of that between a mother and daughter. To be a Christian
is not easy. No wonder there are so many persons who claim to be Christian only
by mouth but are not true to what they call themselves.
Today we celebrate Saint Benedict,
the man chose God above everything else such that at the early age of 16, he
left home, left everything behind and decided to pursue salvation as a lone
hermit. Within a short time, he had matured so much in spirituality attracting
disciples to himself whom in organized into 12 monasteries. For love of God,
Benedict left everything behind. We are to leave everything behind as well. As
our opening prayer at mass today says, “grant we pray that putting nothing
before love of you, we may hasten with a loving heart in the way of your
commands.”
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, may my worship
of you reflect first and foremost in my lifestyle. Amen
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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