Hi! and happy holy (Feast Of The Sto. Niño) and family day to all of us, GUYS. Our first-thing-first this Sunday:
THE GOOD NEWS (15 January 2017)
"Woe to the world because of so many scandals! Scandals necessary come, but woe to the one who has brought it about.
If your hand or foot drags you into sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life without a hand or foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with your two hands and two feet. And if your eye drags you into sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to be thrown into the fire of hell with your two eyes." - Matthew 18:7-9
(Scandal is not something that makes noise or causes a stir in society but which leads consciences astray and causes those who seemed honest to fall.
JESUS then speaks of the harm caused by social pressures. Many times the little ones strive to raise their standard of living and become more self-reliant, better educated and able to earn more. Often enough, society puts obstacles in the way of anyone who does not want to play dirty and who refuses to imitate the lifestyle of selfish persons. Because of this, the little ones will have to give up, to accept failure, to lose an eye before losing the most important thing, which is to live in the sight of GOD.
It is better for you to enter life without a hand or a foot. JESUS stresses the incomparable value of eternal life. At times, to gain the Kingdom we will have to sacrifice even our job, our security and our life.
Woe to the world because of so many scandals. Sometimes it is an individual who leads others to sin; at other times it is society itself with its corruption, violence and unjust social structures. JESUS invites us to be aware of sin, personal and social: the bad structures will be destroyed, no matter how, by tears and blood [Luke 23:28].
These scandals necessarily come. JESUS lived in a world of violence, but apparently HE did not complain about the situation. HE did not encourage us to dream of paradise on earth. While some Christian communities aspire to be a flock of sheep meekly surrounding their shepherd, JESUS has a different vision of Christian life.
The real world, the one GOD is saving, was not created to be an oasis of happiness, but a place where free persons grow through their struggles. Scandals are part and parcel of this world, but the power of evil does not diminish in any way the glory that GOD will receive in the end. Through suffering and hunger for justice GOD will awaken love and make it grow.)
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