When you have a complaint against a brother, how dare you bring him before pagan judges instead of bringing him before the brethren of the Church? – 1 Corinthians 6:1

       Case 1: Rich female legislator brings her family to court over inheritance.

       Case 2: Sexy actress files a libel case against her sister and demands a public apology.

       Case 3: Impeachment case makes public the long-standing legal battles between family members over property and money.

       Mommy was orphaned at a young age. Her father remarried and had a second family. When he died, she and her siblings signed legal documents regarding their father’s assets. However, they were left out of any inheritance, which all went to the second family. Even if she badly needed the money back then, Mommy chose not to take any legal action to get her fair share. She let it be and even remained as the loving stepdaughter.

       My family presents a different case where my siblings and I amicably got together and voluntarily waived our rights over an inheritance in favor of a brother. Mommy imbibed in us that family should never fight over money. So when she passed away, not even legal rights or our financial challenges could push us to the edge and risk family ties. Marie Franco (mariefranco_pie@yahoo.com)

Reflection: It is better to keep relationships than to be in the right.

Father God, we beg for Your mercy each time we allow our passion and self-centeredness to cloud our judgment.

St. Peter Claver, priest, pray for us.

Paul does not want to rely on the secular courts for justice. He knows that they lack true Christian values. Sometimes it is the only recourse we have to get justice, but it is far better to work things out in a more amicable manner with the person with whom you have a dispute. Christians ought to resolve their differences in a spirit of love, mercy and reconciliation. This is the nature of the Gospel.

1 Brothers and sisters: How can any one of you with a case against another dare to bring it to the unjust for judgment instead of to the holy ones? 2 Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world? If the world is to be judged by you, are you unqualified for the lowest law courts? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? Then why not everyday matters? 4 If, therefore, you have courts for everyday matters, do you seat as judges people of no standing in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough to be able to settle a case between brothers? 6 But rather brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7 Now indeed then it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated? 8 Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers. 9 Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

R: The Lord takes delight in his people.

1 Sing to the Lord a new song of praise in the assembly of the faithful. 2 Let Israel be glad in their maker, let the children of Zion rejoice in their king. (R) 3 Let them praise his name in the festive dance, let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp. 4 For the Lord loves his people, and he adorns the lowly with victory. (R) 5 Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy upon their couches; 6 let the high praises of God be in their throats. 9 This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia. (R)

It is encouraging that we often see Jesus resorting to prayer in the Gospels. Even though He is God, He knows that His relationship with His Father needs to be sustained through prayer. If it is good enough for Jesus, then it ought to be good enough for us. Let us prioritize the events of our day so that we will have a good period of time to be alert and attentive in prayer with God.

I chose you from the world that you may go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.

12 Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. 13 When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. 17 And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon 18 came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. 19 Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

GOD’S STRANGE CHOICES

When I take up the story of Esau and Jacob in my Old Testament class, my students often become puzzled and begin to discuss intensely God’s strange choice. Why did God choose Jacob over his older brother Esau?

       Then I ask my students: “Let’s go for a moment to the New Testament.

Would you have chosen the Apostles Jesus chose?”

         Silence first. And then all say, “No.”

       We read today how Jesus chose His closest friends and coworkers, the representatives of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and foundations of the new Israel. He did so after praying a whole night. But, as it turned out, one would betray Him, another would deny Him, not just once but three times, and James and John were very ambitious.

       What kind of choice was this? And that after a night of prayer! Yes, God’s choice is often puzzling. But looking at the Apostles, except Judas, all other Apostles became powerful missionaries. All of the eleven, except John, gave their lives for Christ and for their faith. Our Church is based on these Apostles, a foundation that made the Church last through two thousand years of persecution, turmoil, inner strife and attacks from the outside. Jesus’ choice was correct, after all, as was God’s choice of Jacob who became the father of the people of Israel.

       God does not look at how a person is at that moment. He looks at a person and his hidden potentials. He looks at how he would develop under His guidance and with His grace. If only we could look at persons that way!

       There is only one kind of people that God cannot and will not choose — the indifferent. In the Book of Revelation, the Risen Lord tells the people in Laodicea how He wished they were hot or cold. But because they are lukewarm, He says, “I spit you out of my mouth.”

       There are two messages for us while reading the list of the Apostles. First, see the potentials of each person and don’t judge him according to what you see now. And second, don’t be indifferent. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Are you sometimes indifferent? How do you look at people and judge them?

Lord, too often I judge a person according to what I see in him right now. Let me learn from You and see his potentials. Let me see the future saint in the present sinner.