THE LOVE CHECK

Then he said to them, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”– Luke 14:5

       In the cold, tail-end of winter, with a bouquet of roses and a love letter in my hand, I walked up to her doorstep and rang the bell. For the past 17 months, I had done everything I knew to win her back, hoping she would recommit to our 13-year relationship. The ringing of the bell lingered in my ears.

       No answer. I rang the doorbell a second time. No answer. A third time. Then, through the stained-glass door, I saw a silhouette of a woman approached the door. As soon as she recognized me, she turned and walked back into her castle.

       I had traveled across the seas hoping to win her back. I was at a crossroads — to pursue her further or to let go. I had to ask myself, “What was the loving thing to do at this point — not just for her but for myself as well?”

       Jesus asked a similar question to resolve the issue in today’s Gospel. Would it be loving to leave your son in a cistern because you fear the judgment of others? Sometimes, complex questions become simple when we boil it down to a question of love.

       As for me, I didn’t win her back. I turned my back and won the future that was ahead of me. Edwin S. Soriano (ka_edong@edwinsoriano.com)

Reflection: Are you in a dilemma? Check your motivation. Are you moved by love or by fear?

Lord, let love be my primary motivation in life.

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, pray for us.

Paul could not understand why the Jews failed to recognize Christ as the Messiah. This was ingenuous on his part, and it took a pretty major intervention from God to get him to convert to the Christian faith. For 2,000 years, God prepared the Jews years for the coming of the Messiah and they missed Him — at least from the point of view of Christianity. They are still awaiting the coming of the Messiah.

1 Brothers and sisters: I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing me witness 2 that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. 4 They are children of Israel; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; 5 theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20

R: Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

12 Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. 13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you. (R) 14 He has granted peace in your borders; with the best of wheat he fills you. 15 He sends forth his command to the earth; swiftly runs his word! (R) 19 He has proclaimed his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel. 20 He has not done thus for any other nation; his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia. (R)

Jesus confronts the leaders of the people — those who have the power to make life easier for the poor. He presents a conundrum that forces them to face their hypocrisy. As leaders of community, let us make sure that we do not make life difficult especially for those unable to cope with our demands. Let us be a Church of the poor and stand in solidarity with those who most need our help.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.

1 On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leadingPharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. 2 In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath or not?” 4 But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him. 5 Then he said to them, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” 6 But they were unable to answer his question.

think: Let us be a Church of the poor and stand in solidarity with those who most need our help.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Isaiah 29-32

THE GREATEST ANGUISH OF ALL

In these next three chapters, Paul is anguished by be the greatest unsolvable problem of all time. Why did most of the Jews, and in particular the leaders of the faith, reject Jesus as the Messiah? This issue both puzzles Paul and causes him great worry as he cannot bear to see anyone from the faith of his childhood lost. Yet this is a reality that confronts believers of all generations and all faiths. Why do some people choose to reject what is to you the most self-evident of all truths? Perhaps it is a bit ingenuous of Paul to wonder about this question too much because he was not the most straightforward of conversion cases.

     For me, the key to a vibrant Christian faith is one’s personal experience of God. If an encounter with Jesus at the affective level of our being is lacking, then it is not surprising that a vibrant faith in God is also lacking. How can one ensure a strong and affective experience of God in the life of another person? You simply cannot enforce this upon another person. The very nature of our faith demands that the individual chooses it willingly. Paul’s anguish will not be lessened by this understanding; however, we are challenged to look for the most effective ways of making our Gospel proclamation as affective as possible.

       We need to avoid emotionalism, as this is the kind of response to God that is here today and will be gone tomorrow. Our emotions need to be awakened in our encounter with Jesus, but only insofar as they serve to deepen our encounter with Jesus and not control it. It is our minds and hearts that ultimately have to be won over to the truth of the Gospel. It is in choosing Jesus in a reasoned and  reflective manner that we will be saved. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Reflect on your encounters with Jesus. How do you cultivate a vibrant relationship with Him?

Holy Spirit, help me to engage my emotions in my faith so as to deepen my relationship with God and make it more real to me and to those who experience it with me.