Monday, November 12, 2018 32nd Week in
Ordinary Time 1st
Reading: Tt 1:1-9 Gospel: Luke 17:1-6
Jesus said to his disciples, “Scandals will ne-cessarily come and cause people to fall; but woe to the one who has brought it about. It would be better for that one to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around the neck. Truly this would be better for that person than to cause one of these little ones to fall.
“Be careful. If your brother offends you, rebuke him and if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he offends you seven times in a day but says to you seven times: ‘I’m sorry,’ forgive him.”
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” And the Lord said, “If you have faith even the size of a mustard seed, you may say to this tree: ‘Be uprooted and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Today’s Gospel presents points of renewal for believers. The first has refe-rence to scandal, a term derived from the Greek skandalizein which means “to make one stumble”. A strong warning is addressed to believers not to scanda-lize others into abandoning their faith lest they end up in the deep blue sea with a millstone for a swimming gear. No warning could be more stern. A millstone used in Palestine weighed hundreds of pounds. Ha-ving one for a swimming gear surely means death. The gravity of the sin of scandal justifies the seriousness of the warning.
Another area of renewal is the heart’s willingness to forgive. Forgiveness takes central place in the light of the love commandment, making it the calling of e-very believer in Christ. We share in the same calling to forgive. If all we do is pray the Our Father and exert no effort at living out its demand to “forgive those who sin against us”, we constitute as among the biggest scandals in Christianity. Admittedly forgiveness is one of the hardest Christian tenets. But where the desire to forgive is sincere, the grace of God abounds. One only needs to humble himself, swallow his pride, and admit that it is his obligation to forgive even if the other is yet to seek it out.
The Gospel ends reminding us of the power of faith. Jesus said, “If you have faith even the size of a mustard seed, you may say to this (mulberry) tree: ‘Be uprooted and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” In the first place, it is hard to uproot a mulberry tree because its roots are deeply spread underground. Secondly, mulberry trees won’t grow in the sea. This kind of exaggeration impresses upon us the power of faith in a believer who shines as good example to others and whose heart is ever ready to forgive. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
May comment ka ba sa column ni Father Dan? May tanong ka ba sa kanya? I-type ang BANDERA REACT
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Bandera. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.