Reflection
Everything Jesus preaches calls us to a new way of life. The interpretations of Jesus’ message that we hear and see from all parts of the Christian spectrum often are more conflicting than enlightening. Is this really what Christ expects of me? Is this how I should live? Or, is this a reflection of my society’s values and prejudices? How is this different from any other way of life? We may have to admit that after all we have heard, learned and say we believe, as Christians, we still do not understand.
Prayer
Send us, Lord, the Spirit of understanding.
Action
Read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. Who is the Jesus you meet there? How does his message compare with what we see and hear in the various Christian communities? What’s the challenge?
Suggested Reading
Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me?
John 14:1-12
You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you, and persecute you; that you may be the children of God who makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans do the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans do so?
Matthew 5:45 – 48
The Word of God, a word of mercy and healing, is a call to conversion and to sharing the Good News with everyone.
Pope Francis
If you don’t interpret a text with a pre-existing condition of faith and love, your egocentricity, your agenda, and your anger can always be presumed to be in charge, and you will interpret the Bible in whichever way you want.
Richard Rohr
Even those who have renounced Christianity and attack it, in their inmost being still follow the Christian ideal, for hitherto neither their subtlety nor the ardor of their hearts has been able to create a higher ideal of man and of virtue than the ideal given by Christ of old.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are very wise and very beautiful; but I never read in either of them: “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden.
Augustine
Our problem is this: we usually discover him within some denominational or Christian ghetto. We meet him in a province and, having caught some little view, we paint him in smaller strokes. The Lion of Judah is reduced to something kittenish because our understanding cannot, at first, write larger definitions.
Calvin Miller
People talk about imitating Christ, and imitate Him in the little trifling formal things, such as washing the feet, saying His prayer, and so on; but if anyone attempts the real imitation of Him, there are no bounds to the outcry with which the presumption of that person is condemned.
Florence Nightingale