Monday, 15 July 2024. Readings: Isaiah 1:10-17, Ps. 50:8-9,16-17,21,23, Matthew 10:34-11:1
“Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:15-17)
Today’s first reading contains deep revelations about prayers and our relationship with God. God says: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen because your hands are full of blood.” In other words, there is no point in spending long hours in church casting and binding if there are “skeletons” in your cupboard. No wonder Jesus Christ said: “If you are offering your gift at the altar, and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24). What is God saying to us today?
- It is better to live a holy and blameless life than to empty your bank account in the name of sowing a seed in the church. It is better to be reconciled with your neighbour than to be the highest donor during harvest. “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts… Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me.” (Isaiah 1:11-13).
- God cannot be bribed. For instance, if you kill someone to make money, your offering is an abomination to God. By His reference to Sodom and Gomorrah, God draws our attention to the sins of the flesh (including unnatural unions, LGBTQ, etc.), which have become rampant today. You cannot partake in such immorality, hoping to appease God with its proceeds. Such a sacrifice may attract the applause of others (who do not know how you made such money), but it is nauseating to God, who sees and knows everything.
- Do not treat God as if He were a human being who cannot survive without your offerings. After all, God owns everything. “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills… All that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and everything in it is mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?” (Psalm 50:10-13). Your money doesn’t move God. Any preacher who tells you it will be tight for you if you don’t pay tithes or sow seeds is a liar and a thief. God does not need your money. Give to appreciate Him, not to invest.
- Do you want your prayers to be heard? God says: “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:16-17). There is no point moving from Church to Church or subjecting yourself to abuse in the hands of so-called powerful miracle workers; repent from the evil around you, and God will grant your prayers. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
- Is it easy to turn away from our attachment to sinful lifestyles? What if we try to put God first, but we do not get the support of our family members and friends? Jesus answers these questions in today’s Gospel passage: “I have not come to bring peace, but rather a sword… a man against his father, daughter against mother, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law and so on.” There is a type of peace that allows evil to thrive. If we are too scared to speak up or challenge the vices of people around us in the name of “let peace reign”, we indirectly contribute to the reign of darkness.
- A few days ago, we heard Jesus say, “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33) Today, Jesus adds: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37-38). Jesus is not against Family. Rather, He wants us to know that we have a choice. Even if it means losing a member of our body (cf. Matthew 5:30) or cutting ties with our family members, God’s kingdom is worth the sacrifice. For instance, in the case of a mother seeking to lure her daughter into prostitution, the daughter should disown her mother than give in to such evil.
- Today, we celebrate St. Bonaventure. He was born at Bagnoregio in Etruria in about 1218. He became a Franciscan in 1243 and studied philosophy and theology at the University of Paris. He became a famous teacher and philosopher, part of the extraordinary intellectual flowering of the 13th century. He was a friend and colleague of St Thomas Aquinas. Bonaventure wrote extensively on philosophy and theology, permanently marking intellectual history. Still, he always insisted that the simple and uneducated could have a clearer knowledge of God than the wise. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588 by Pope Sixtus V.
Let us pray: Almighty, ever-living God, may our worship of you be reflected first and foremost in our lifestyle. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. May God’s abundant blessings be upon us all. (Saint Bonaventure, Bishop, Doctor. Bible Study: Isaiah 1:10-17, Ps. 50:8-9,16-17,21,23, Matthew 10:34-11:1).
@Rev. Fr. Evaristus E. Abu