Reflection on the Gospel of the Monday Of The Twenty-Second Week In Ordinary Time(Memorial: The Passion of St. John the Baptist) |
Matthew 6:17-29 |
The above passage is part of the sermon on the mount that Jesus gave starting with the beatitudes in Mathew chapter 5.
Jesus despises the show that some people do when they pray, give alms and even when they fast. Jesus was specifically targeting the Pharisees, but if we see today, many of us end up doing the same. Jesus is trying to say that Our Father knows and sees our every act on earth, and we need not make a show and whenever we do these things in secret, the Father blesses us with much more, and what humans can give in return is very limited.
In this passage Jesus gives us the basics of living a good, content and happy life:
- As mentioned, don’t make a show of sacrifices and good things done
- Do not waste too much time is earning wealth, spend quality time with family and friends
- Be careful of what you watch
- Choose between God and Wealth
- Do not keep worrying about the future
In the current days we have seen so many rich and famous people have had sudden death and left behind wealth which they slogged for and could not even enjoy. There are also those who just accumulate wealth and do not spend on themselves or others. The fourth point is again on wealth especially earned by wrong means and furthermore worshiping it and giving it priority over God. We have seen after the pandemic; many have made it a habit to attend online mass, and many have even stopped attending mass so that they can give more time for their work and study.
The third point stresses on being holy and be aware of what leads us to darkness. Many a times when we watch movies and even the one evil or scary scene runs behind our minds for days and weeks. And the fifth point is what we all do. Worry about every small problem in our life. We should understand that if we do not have any challenges, then how will we grow. We need to learn to overcome them and trust and surrender to our Lord that He will make a way when we call out to Him.
Though we all are aware of all the above, yet we still faulter, human that we are. Let us ask Jesus to help us in our daily walk to guide us to reach our goal to be like Him and live a good life.
