Saturday,
September 10, 2016
23rd Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 1 Cor 10:14-22
Gospel: Luke 6:43-49
Jesus said to the crowd, “No healthy tree bears bad fruit, no poor tree bears good fruit. And each tree is known by the fruit it bears: you don’t gather figs from thorns, or grapes from brambles. Similarly the good person draws good things from the good stored in the heart, and an evil person draws evil things from the evil stored in the heart. For the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart.
“Why do you call me: ‘Lord! Lord!’ and not do what I say? I will show you what the one who comes to me and listens to my words and acts accordingly, is like. That one is like the builder who dug deep and laid the foundations of his house on rock. The river overflowed and the stream dashed against the house, but could not carry it off because the house had been well built.
“But the one who listens and does not act, is like a man who built his house on the ground without a foundation. The flood burst against it, and the house fell at once: and what a terrible disaster that was!”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
After my conversation with a non-believer from England whom I met in Paris in 2005 I understood better the relevance of suffering to the growth of faith. Anthony Pearson asked: if there is a perfect world after this lifetime, why don’t we just go straight to that world and spare ourselves from sufferings?
While I was groping for the answer, he started munching on a piece of bread he had set aside from the previous meal. He had been travelling around Europe as a backpacker for two months already and he was evidently cost cutting. “What’s the point of giving up the comfort of home?” I asked. In response he explained, “I’m writing a book and the hardships I encounter will help me write more realistic short stories”. “You mean this travel is a preparation for a book you’re writing?” I asked. “Yes”, he said.
I got the answer I was looking for. This imperfect world is a preparation for that perfect one. This is what the Gospel of today is all about. We need a strong foundation to attune ourselves to the language of heaven. It is a language that includes forgiveness, humility, and love in the context of faith. Without this world, there cannot be faith because faith is to believe in the things we do not yet see and understand.
Yes, Anthony, there is a perfect world, and it is not totally unrelated to this imperfect one. The more you merit from the trials of this world, the better you are equipped for that perfect world prepared for those who believe.– (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM, MMExM, MAPM, REB. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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