DAILY HOMILIES #St. Paul

One of the secrets of Paul’s success as a great missionary and evangelist was his ability to thoroughly examine his own conscience and admit his faults. In today’s first reading, St. Paul writes: “I thank him who has given me strength for this, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful by appointing me to his service, though I formerly blasphemed, persecuted and insulted him” (1 Timothy 1:12-13).

What makes a Christian different from any other human being on earth? Jesus Christ answers this question in today’s Gospel passage, and His answer is simple: LOVE FOR ENEMIES. You are not better than any sinner if you only love those who love you. Your Christian identity demands a higher attitude; that you love your haters as well.

Be poor in spirit; do not be haughty, rude or arrogant. Be eager for salvation. Do not simply gloss over evil in the world. Do not be indifferent to the problem of immorality, indecency and corruption. Of course, fighting evil and injustice by shining your light will create more enemies than friends for you. Jesus says we should rejoice even in our sufferings for His sake.

Jesus consulted with God all night long. It was only after this consultation that Jesus made His selection; first, He chose twelve persons – a number symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel; secondly, all twelve persons were men; thirdly, none of these men was perfect – each of them had character flaws here and there, some will still not believe after many miracles, one would deny Him, and one would eventually betray Him.

By ‘hate’, Jesus is referring to ‘detachment.’ To better understand what Jesus means, recall what He taught in the Sermon on the Mount: “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; you should lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; you should lose one of your members rather than that your whole body goes into hell” (Matthew 5:29-30). Whatever could lead us to sin, including our own family members, must be cut off from us.

So long as the Jews failed to recognise Jesus as God in human flesh, Jesus seemed to them as a law-breaker. To this day, the world continues to grapple with this truth. Did God really take our human flesh? How could Jesus be fully human and fully God at the same time? Surprisingly, even amongst Christians today, many seem more comfortable addressing Jesus as the Son of God but not as God Himself.

Jesus rose very early the next morning and went to a quiet place to pray. When the Holy Spirit leads us, we are stirred to pray. Jesus went to a quiet place to pray, teaching us that prayer is intimacy with God: “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites… go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6).

Humility is giving God reverence; it is coming to terms with our nothingness before God, our creator. Humility is channelling the praises we often receive from others to God as the source of our talents, our riches, and, in fact, everything good in our lives. It is ensuring that we do not take the glory that rightfully belongs to God. Humility is being able to give God thanks from the very depths of our hearts, not grudgingly, as though we are being forced.

Let us learn to practice self-control. Herod was not thinking straight when he promised even half his kingdom to a little girl. What if she had asked for his head? Think before you speak. Be a master of your emotions. In moments of anger, hold it. In moments of excitement, keep it also. Develop the habit of speaking to God and listening to Him before speaking. Avoid making promises. Remember, seeking God’s guidance in all our actions can bring us peace and clarity.

The best way to stay vigilant is to keep busy. Just as a good security officer never sleeps while on duty, being watchful requires keeping our hearts engaged. If we are not busy, we will soon find ourselves sleeping, allowing the enemy to sow bad seeds in us (Cf. Matthew 13:25ff). The consequence of being unprepared for the end in Jesus’ words is this: “The Master will… punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.”

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus likened the scribes and Pharisees to whitewashed tombs, beautiful from the outside but full of dead men’s bones inside. Jesus also condemned the fact that the Scribes and Pharisees had a practice of adorning the tombs of the prophets (who were killed for speaking the truth) to exonerate themselves from the crimes of their ancestors.

Paying one’s tithe is not a sin, but it should never be done out of fear. God’s blessings are not reserved for tithers only. Jesus mentioned the washing of the outside of cups and dishes, while inside their hearts were full of extortion and rapacity (the violent seizure and carrying off of another’s property; plunder). When the preacher is only interested in what he can get from the people (the inside), his words (the outside) cannot be clean.