Claim OwnershipMaking Friends With The Lord Jesus
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© Fr. Edwin
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Ways of getting closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ
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The gospel today encourages us to deeply consider our choices. The Lord puts himself as an example to us. He prophesies his own demise at the hands of his enemies but on the third day, he would return to life. He first gives his life so that we also give him ours. So, the gospel insists on our carrying our cross everyday to follow him. If he lost his life for us and our sins, he asks us also to lose our lives for him. Only in this total holocaust can we win and save our lives.
On Ash Wednesday, the Church begins the season of Lent, a 40-day period of preparation for Easter. Lent invites Christians to reflect on Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection, recognizing that sin led to His crucifixion and that His sacrifice redeems humanity. The Gospel reading from the Gospel of Matthew emphasizes that acts of righteousness—almsgiving, prayer, and fasting—must not be done for public recognition but for God alone.The root of sin is pride and vanity, a desire to replace God as the center of life—echoing the temptation of Adam and Eve to “be like gods.” Lent calls believers to repair three relationships: with others (through almsgiving), with God (through prayer), and within themselves (through fasting). The ashes placed on the forehead remind Christians of mortality and humility: earthly praise fades, but God’s reward is eternal.
The Lord calls us to pay attention. We should be on guard. There are threats out there. This disposition is essential to a Christian. We cannot live unmindful of the world, the flesh, and the devil, not taking a vacation to snag our souls to commit sin and end up in hell. Being prayerful and responsive to God's calls at each moment will keep us safer than sorry.
The people persist in demanding Jesus to give them a sign. There have been so many signs in his miracles and still they ask for a sign. There is nothing like blindness that is due to the unwillingness to see. In any case, we should learn how to converse with the Lord in prayer. Those people referred to in the gospel of today were insincere. That is not how to have a familiar discussion with the Lord.
Jesus explains to His listeners in a way so different from that of the usual religious leaders of Israel. He speaks from personal authority, i.e., in the first person singular. This should have shocked the people, and especially their traditional hierarchy. Jesus taught with authority, unlike their rabbis, the Pharisees, and the Scribes. Jesus backed up his claims to truth with prodigious miracles. That gave them a strong motive for credibility. This should have gotten them to think more deeply about Jesus. Who is he? Or even, what is he?
The gospel today tells us about another miraculous multiplication of loaves and fish. Just like the time he multiplied bread and fish for the five thousand, he does it again for the four thousand before him. He did so because he had compassion with the crowds, because they had been with him for three days already. That is impressive loyalty. How are we doing in inserting some prayer time during our busy days?
We witness the miracle of Jesus making a deaf and mute man hear and speak clearly. He does so in a very curious way. He did that and we need to observe him very closely. How he proceeds will help us understand the largely sacramental way we should live our Christian lives.
The gospel provides us the example of a pagan woman of Syro-Phoenician descent in how she engages with Jesus in a repartee so she could get him to grant her a favor. She was worried about her daughter who was possessed by an unclean spirit. Her humility in the end attracts Our dear Lord to listen to her petition and give in to her request.
The Lord Jesus calls out his contemporaries regarding their superficiality in labeling as unclean certain things. They were worried about being contaminated by lepers, dead bodies, blood, etc, that they lost sight of what the real evil was supposed to be. Jesus points out to them the source of being unclean as being internal to man. It is not what we touch or are exposed to that make us unclean and unworthy of converse with God.
The Lord reclaims the position of God and His Will over human traditions. The problem of human traditions happens when they are prioritized over the following and fulfillment of the Commandments of God and His Will. What Christianity always does with respect to a culture is to find the good in it, and affirm it and distinguish it from what does not lead to God.
It is impressive how the Lord Jesus lets the people are cured of their ailments through touch. All they needed to do was have that faith in that by merely touching any part of his person or clothing, they would receive their miracle. These external signs provided Jesus with the credibility for the people to believe that he could perform miracles in the soul, i.e., invisible to the senses.
You are the Light of the World! Our Lord stressed that we should be a light to others. This is a great responsibility.
The Lord wants us to know that we are in a war. We are at war. We are engaged in many battles. Some we lose. Every so often, we win. But we are in a state of war as long as we are still here on earth, battling for our eternal destiny. The Devil does not rest. Hence, our Lord sees the people as sheep without a shepherd. They need protection, preparation, equipment, discipline, and so on. Foremost, they require a leader and a guide.
The gospel today shows us the unwise practice of getting intoxicated. Herod decided to do something he was going to regret forever.
Jesus sent them out! That is what he continues to do to each of us. At the end of every Mass, the priest sends us off too. Go forth, the mass is ended! We have received so much in mass that we need to share it with others.
Jesus continues to impress his listeners. They tried to grasp who and what he was. Today's gospel, however, tells us about his visit to Nazareth, where he met with some opposition. They did not give him any credence. They took offense at him. Furthermore, their excuse was that they were to be familiar with him. They grew up together. They played together. Furthermore, they thought they knew him very well. So, his teaching such doctrines and performing such miracles was mysterious to them. Where did he get this? They asked this question. Instead of exploring and investigating the matter, they took offense at him. They were closed to further learning. They were so stubborn that Jesus was not able to do more miracles there.
The Lord went about teaching. He backed the authority he possessed by performing prodigious deeds like miracles. The people listened to him and believed him because Jesus provided them with motives of credibility. One of these motives of credibility is miracles.
The gospel to celebrate the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple reminds us of certain actions we need to monitor in our lives. Basically, it is the movement of presenting ourselves before the Lord. The devil hates this because what he wants is that we depart from him. The inches he succeeds in distancing us from our Savior are a point for him. We are therefore going in the opposite direction if we are not moving toward God's place or direction. Simeon reported to the temple to witness his salvation, and that meant seeing Jesus. Mary and Joseph also reported to the Temple to do as the Law specified. Let us get used to this. Otherwise, it is hell we are headed to.
If we would like to get a good idea of what God's Kingdom would look like, we have this opportunity in today's gospel about the Beatitudes. Jesus offers himself as a good model embodying the characteristics of how our lives should strive to look like. On top of the commandments that God offered Moses to put before the people of Israel, Jesus delivers his pitch in the famous Sermon on the Mount. He perfects and fulfills those commandments with the Beatitudes.
Our dear Lord Jesus Christ performed one of the more amazing miracles during his lifetime. He calmed a storm when urgently awakened by his disciples on a boat. He chastised them for their lack of faith.
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