St. Augustine is perhaps the most significant Christian thinkers who shaped the practice of biblical interpretation and helped lay the foundation for much of modern Christian thought. It is said that he preached somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 sermons in his lifetime. Wow!
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There are quite a few random thoughts running through this wandering mind of mine this week, and it seems to be taking me in a variety of directions.
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Anybody have difficulty with anger or controlling your anger, maybe even leading you to behavior that you’re not exactly proud of? Write my name down on that list; better yet, put it at the very top. If you want to see me NOT at my best, make me angry. If you’re with me in feeling that way, there’s a powerful message for us in today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:20-26).
Jesus is talking about anger, holding onto grudges, hurt and perhaps even hate. I assume that most of us do not hate someone. However, I am sure that all of us have dealt with anger, grudges, hurt and jealousy at various times in our lives. These are emotions that we all have. They are part of being human. Do we always like these emotions? Most likely not! Yet, these emotions that we may consider negative are as much part of us as are the positive emotions.
As human beings, we experience both ends of the spectrum of positive and negative emotions. Today Jesus is talking to his disciples about the choice we all have. We can choose to focus on the emotions that we know are positive and make us feel good: love, gratitude, appreciation, hope, understanding and faith Or we can choose to focus on the emotions that disturb and upset us: anger, jealousy, hate, etc.
The reality is that our emotions are neither “bad” nor “good.” They simply are! The key is learning how to deal with all of these emotions. When we hang onto those disturbing emotions, it can lead to feelings that block love and therefore block God in our lives. Jesus teaches us this about anger so that we can not only learn to forgive others and love as God loves us, but to also learn how to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness. If we are truly to be the men and women that we are called to be, then we must learn how to give in to love, rather than anger.
We all know what Jesus is asking us to do. It’s just not easy! So we must pray for the grace, strength and wisdom to overcome these love-blocking emotions. God will give us the grace that we need, but it’s up to us. So what will we choose today?
For some reason, I woke up this morning not praising God, but judging others. You may think that this is difficult because I haven’t even “seen” anyone yet. But for some reason, I was judging these people in my mind. I’m not really sure where this comes from, but this happens far more than I care to admit.
I often get this thought in my head that people don’t fit into the mold that I am trying to put them into. As I sit here writing this, I realize how terrible this action is. I am trying to make these people something they’re not. I am forcing my rules of living onto others, and they don’t even know that I am doing it. I am judging people according to my thoughts and beliefs. I am finally starting to realize when I am doing this, and I try to realign my thoughts as soon as possible. I was not placed on this earth to judge. That is not my job. God will judge – not me! My role is to love and serve the Lord and others each and everyday. I shall not judge because I have many obstacles of my own to overcome. I need to constantly pray for the strength to overcome my weaknesses and become more loving and caring.
It all comes down to realizing that I am not the one who is in charge. It is not about me and it’s certainly not how others should conform to my thoughts, actions and preconceived notions. I will continue to pray for the knowledge and understanding to accept this reality of God being the one who has control of every situation. By placing my life in God’s hands, I will be totally free of thoughts of judgement toward others. I will be able to love others for who they really are, and not what I expect them to be. I will be fully accepting of their gifts and talents and strive to live better because of them.
Help me, Lord, not to judge others – but to serve you with my whole heart. Amen.
A farmer painted a sign advertising puppies for sale and was nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy. “Mister,” he said. “I want to buy one of your puppies.” “Well,” said the farmer, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.” The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?” “Sure,” said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. “Here, Dolly!” Out from the doghouse ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain-link fence. His eyes danced with delight. Read More
Today would have been my father’s 87th birthday. But as many of you know, he left this world last November. Tomorrow, it will be the six month anniversary of his death. I’ll be honest with you, I miss him dearly. I miss the talks we had, both in person and on the phone. I miss his advice. And I miss his warm embrace when we hugged. And I’ll never forget the last words he said to me the night before he died. When we were done talking on the phone, he said, “So long.” It was his way of saying goodbye. How ironic that these were his final words to me. Read More
What would you like to own more than anything else in the entire world? Would it be a sports car, a yacht, a beautiful mansion? What are these things worth to you? Jesus is telling us that following him and seeking the kingdom is worth even more than the thing we want most. As we learn more about the kingdom, the desire to attain it grows in us. We want to be in a place of perfect love and perfect peace, where there is no war or disease, no hatred or violence, no discrimination because of the color of our skin or the origin of our family, where people are respected and treated with dignity, and where all of us can live as sisters and brothers in Christ. What we need is what Solomon asked for: an understanding heart, so that we don’t judge others, but we love and serve one another and do what is right. And that’s not always an easy thing to do! Read More
As I was sifting through our pile of mail, I picked up our copy of U.S. Catholic. I casually flipped open the magazine, and my eyes zoned onto this quote:
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