June 10, 2015 Wednesday: 10th Week in Ordinary Time
June 10, 2015 Wednesday: 10th Week in Ordinary Time
(2 Cor. 3:4-6)
Brothers and sisters:
Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.
Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit
for anything as coming from us;
rather, our qualification comes from God,
who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant,
not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
“We do not need preachers. We need witnesses.” Preachers, we have so many. Witnesses, why so few? In order to know the spirituality of heaven, God needs medium by which he can transmit His universal Light. People are His mediums. But most of us are unwilling co-operators and runaway prophets. The reason is simply because life as a witness becomes uncomfortable, demanding and unrewarding. To the world where god is matter, meat and money, the mere mention of God becomes blasphemous. It takes courage to stand up for him in these times. It might be easier to preach because most of the time, what we say comes from our cerebrum, while when we witness, what we do must be first blossom from within us, otherwise, there is no fruit for others to taste. Then it is true to say, “The eye with which I say God is the eye with which God sees me” and hopefully, the eye with which others also see me. We then become sacred signs. we become the light through which others can see, the door through which others can pass safely.
St. Francis of Assisi was the one who said, “Preach by example. Speak if necessary.” If love is present in our action as oxygen is to the blood, then whatever is not visible for human applause can also be a witnessing. Only the angels know. The most important thing is to forget ourselves and drop all self-consciousness. Forget that you are witnessing. Just remember that you are loving and all the rest will be given to you besides.
A story goes that an Indian bandit robbed a house and among other things stole a small black book with thin pages. “Just right for making cigarettes,” he thought. Everytime he would tear a page from it and roll it into cigarettes, he would first read a page. Without knowing it, he was reading a Bible. Before long, he went down on his knees and asked Jesus to forgive him. He gave himself over to the police and began to witness to Jesus in prison. (SSpSAP Bible Dairy 2005)
(2 Cor. 3:4-6)
Brothers and sisters:
Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.
Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit
for anything as coming from us;
rather, our qualification comes from God,
who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant,
not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
“We do not need preachers. We need witnesses.” Preachers, we have so many. Witnesses, why so few? In order to know the spirituality of heaven, God needs medium by which he can transmit His universal Light. People are His mediums. But most of us are unwilling co-operators and runaway prophets. The reason is simply because life as a witness becomes uncomfortable, demanding and unrewarding. To the world where god is matter, meat and money, the mere mention of God becomes blasphemous. It takes courage to stand up for him in these times. It might be easier to preach because most of the time, what we say comes from our cerebrum, while when we witness, what we do must be first blossom from within us, otherwise, there is no fruit for others to taste. Then it is true to say, “The eye with which I say God is the eye with which God sees me” and hopefully, the eye with which others also see me. We then become sacred signs. we become the light through which others can see, the door through which others can pass safely.
St. Francis of Assisi was the one who said, “Preach by example. Speak if necessary.” If love is present in our action as oxygen is to the blood, then whatever is not visible for human applause can also be a witnessing. Only the angels know. The most important thing is to forget ourselves and drop all self-consciousness. Forget that you are witnessing. Just remember that you are loving and all the rest will be given to you besides.
A story goes that an Indian bandit robbed a house and among other things stole a small black book with thin pages. “Just right for making cigarettes,” he thought. Everytime he would tear a page from it and roll it into cigarettes, he would first read a page. Without knowing it, he was reading a Bible. Before long, he went down on his knees and asked Jesus to forgive him. He gave himself over to the police and began to witness to Jesus in prison. (SSpSAP Bible Dairy 2005)
