23rd JUNE. TUESDAY IN WEEK 12

1.Genesis 13:2, 5-18

2.Matthew 7:6, 12-14

REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS

In today’s texts we are invited to cope with success. Isn’t possible to be trapped by our own success if it comes too early? The consequence is that we tend to make our worst mistakes when we have the money and the leisure to do so, and even family members turn against each other in the flush of property, i.e fighting for family inheritance etc. In our today’s scripture not only reflects our common difficult in dealing with success, education and achievement; it also advises on how to deal with such impulse. We learn from our faith father Abraham that his first goal was not wealth, prestige, honour or security but it was peace. He said “ Let there be no strife, between your herdsmen and mine, for we are relatives.” This peace is marked with dignity and love and the sense of family.

From the gospel we get the image of the narrow gate, this in fact is a metaphorical expression suggesting to us that being Jesus’ disciples there are lot of demands a head of us to be accomplished. To get through a narrow gate we have to concentrate and focus our attention. Jesus being our master is telling us today that being his follower it requires a highest degree of deliberation and attentiveness on our part. The adjective ‘narrow’ in the gospel tends to have a negative connotation in our culture. No one would like to be considered narrow in a literal sense; we like to think of ourselves broad minded. However, the gospel today suggests certain narrowness is required in following our Lord Jesus Christ.

The narrow path we are told to follow is to say yes to the Lord and say no to other ways that seem to please us but contrary to the will of God. We have to think and meditate upon things that seem to preoccupy our lives, things that seem to dominate us to an extent that we put Christ aside and regard them as the centre of our lives. The narrow path entails both self emptying and self denial for the sake of our brothers and sisters who have not witnessed Christ in their lives.

In the gospel we hear Jesus making a contrast between holiness and pearls with dogs and swine. (Mt 7:6). In the gospel according to St. Matthew Jesus is teaching us not to exclude people from one another, exclude people from our love rather the concern of Jesus is all about moral and spiritual purity. Jesus has used the visible things to express his concern about invisible reality, that if we are capable of making our self clean by avoiding unclean things what about our daily spiritual cleanness? Thus we are all invited to maintain the purity of our faith and all that has been entrusted to us by our father in Heaven.

Jesus by saying “do not give dogs what is holy” is a kind of transforming the Jewish old moral law to a new level that was not yet acquired by Jews. In this context Jesus is speaking of unconditional love to all, good wish for the well being of others and loving people for their sake. Jesus by saying that he fulfilled the law of prophets he meant also that when we love our neighbours and in the same way we would like to be treated by God then we fulfil the law and the prophets. The gospel according to Matthew is the fulfilment of what was not perfected in the Old Testament that is why it is under this background Jesus is saying about fulfilling the Old Testament and the prophets.