July 11, 2015 Saturday, 14th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Gen 49:29-31, 33; 50:15-26
Gospel: Mt 10:24–33
Jesus said to his apostles, “A student is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master. A student should be glad to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If the head of the family has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of the family! So, do not be afraid of them. “There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.
What I am telling you in the dark, you must speak in the light. What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but have no power to kill the soul. Rather be afraid of him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. For only a few cents you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. As for you, every hair of your head has been counted. So do not be afraid: you are worth much more than many sparrows. (…)
D@iGITAL EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Chapter 10 of Matthew’s Gospel presents a growing opposition to Jesus. The opposition will escalate in Chapters 11 and 12. Jesus did not find ways to soften the impact of this opposition. He focused, instead, on preparing his followers. He taught them that if people treated him badly to the point of calling him Beelzebul (prince of devils), his followers would be treated worse. He said: “A student should be glad to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master.”
Jesus did not worry about the fact that persecutions were inevitable but that his followers might expect intervention from him as a political liberator. That would be a complete misunderstanding of his identity. Yet we wonder why he did not lay down his cards but kept people in the dark about who he was. He ordered people not to tell others that he was the Messiah. He did not want his identity spread by devils (Mark 1:34), by those he cured (Mark 1:44; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26), and even by the apostles (Mark 8:30; 9:9).
Jesus knew that premature self-revelation would be disastrous to the build up of faith. This silence was not to be broken until after his death (Matthew 10:27). If he allowed devils to proclaim who he was, people would flock to him out of curiosity. If he allowed the sick people he healed to reveal his identity, people would follow him like they follow a quack doctor.
Jesus’ concern was the growth of faith. It was for this that he prepared his followers to face whatever form of persecution coming their way. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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