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Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Blessings | Learn more about our faith | Poverty
When I joined the Congregation of Holy Cross as a seminarian, our formation staff, composed of two Holy Cross expatriates, was deeply involved in the social teaching of the preferential option for the poor. They opted to place our formation house in one of Nairobi's largest slums. They emphasized the importance of living a simple life, identifying with the poor and the needy. We barely had any amenities for a student studying theology. One day, one of us, who was accustomed to stirring the waters with his provocative utterances, confronted the rector; we Africans come from poor villages, humble beginnings, lived all our lives in poverty, why do you force us to glorify poverty, or push us into even more unfortunate and miserable situations again? What is there to learn that we haven’t experienced? Don’t ask me what happened to him later. Blessed Are Those From the Gospel today, to many, it may sound strange that Jesus should declare the poor, the hungry, and those who weep as happy and blessed, and then a hopeless future for the rich. Probably many of us might find it disturbing, who does not need comfort, safety, and a good life!
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I do believe some of us, if not all, have run into someone who becomes a friend for a while, helps you out, but all of a sudden something happens, and you realize the person you thought you knew is not actually that person at all. The saying goes; “Not all that glitters is gold” People can seem one way on the outside but are completely different underneath. For those who have experienced betrayal, it speaks to the fact that people can mask cruel ambitions behind loyal faces. In the gospel today, Jesus accuses the religious leaders of hypocrisy, comparing them to “whitewashed tombs” – outwardly beautiful, but inwardly full of decay, dead bones. How they appear to others does not correspond to reality in their lives. There is a disconnect between the outside and the inside. They care more about having presented a good image and reputation while having neglected the unclean inner life. They honor God with their pious life, yet they mask a hardened heart.
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At one time or another, as human beings we tend to compare ourselves to others, “I am smarter” or “he/she is better than me”, or “I am a hardworking and conscientious individual and they are not.” Constantly comparing ourselves to others can easily lead to feelings of pride, jealousy, resentment towards others, friends, colleagues, or even our loved ones. The habit of comparison can stain relationships and create a sense of competition rather than fostering genuine connections and support. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of Joy.” In today’s gospel, we have laborers who worked all day and received their payment, complaining to the master for paying the same wage to those who came later in the day. The issue being, how could those who did less than a day’s work be entitled to a day’s wage? Yet, all were paid what had been agreed upon prior to starting work. They are getting worked up because they are comparing the amount of time and energy invested in the whole day as opposed to just a few hours or minutes.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
“Abba Anthony taught that while a solitary person escapes the external wars of hearing, speaking, and seeing, the constant battle remains within the heart.” Put in different words, purity of heart is and must be the core goal of our spiritual life, our anchor for striving for holiness. The caution here is: we should not fool ourselves into believing that external purity habits do equate to a holy life. Experience teaches that religious performance can easily mask a prideful and spiteful heart. Our words and reactions are a reflection of what truly sits deep within our hearts.
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Rejection is something that is hard to deal with in our lives. And all of us are going to get rejected at some point in our lives. In relationships, at workplace and in family, in society, rejection is something we cannot escape. Whether it is being passed over for a job, or left out of dinner with friends, rejection hits hard. It can stir up shame, self-doubt, anxiety, and even physical pain.
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In the past, but even currently there has been debates as to whether God who is full of compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness ever set up a place where to eternally banish those considered evil and sinful. Some sections of people believe and preach that everyone goes to heaven, no matter what one does. This would suggest that it doesn’t matter if one prays or doesn’t, if one keeps or breaks promises, if one steals or doesn’t, if one is faithful to his/her spouse or cheats. Yet, in today’s gospel, Jesus presents the parable of the dragnet cast into the sea and once it is brought ashore there will be a separation of good fish from bad one. In otherwards there will come a time, when those who have lived a faithful life and those who did not, will be clearly distinguished and separated from each other.
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