Posts

Showing posts from October, 2014

“Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” - Matthew 22:21

“Very well, pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar -- and   God   what belongs to God.” In the gospel the Pharisees asked Jesus’ opinion about paying tax to Caesar but asking Jesus’ opinion was the way of testing him, but Jesus being Jesus the awesome one figured out what the Pharisees are doing so he said “You hypocrites! Why are you putting me to the test?” then Jesus asked the Pharisees for the money that they pay the tax with. The Pharisees handed him a denarius then Jesus asked “Whose portrait is this? Whose title?” then they replied “Caesar’s”. Jesus then told them “pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar -- and   God   what belongs to God” Sometimes, we doubt Jesus despite everything that he have given us and what does it make us? Hypocrites. Who are we to doubt and judge his intentions when the only thing he did was to give us what we need and more. There comes a time in our lives when we doubt his intentions because it seems like the bright side of life is nowhere to be found.

Many are invited, but few are chosen. - Matthew 22:14

In our gospel, the king invited a lot of people to attend the wedding feast of his son but refused. Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. All of them have their own priorities so why would they go. Many are invited, but few are chosen. These chosen ones are the one who accepted and went to the wedding feast. It becomes very apparent that the Kingdom of God is a tangible manifestation of the relationship between God and those He calls. The wedding feast is likened to attending the Holy Mass. The king who invited is God. For instance, a friend would invite us to go to church for Holy Mass, Should we accept it or not? Admit it or not every so often we refuse our friend’s invitation. We would always articulate alibis to evade from going to Mass. However when they invite us to go to “gimik” or “laag”, we would straightaway say yes.  Do we see what we are missing once we refuse the invitation to attend the Holy Mass? It’s not our friend who we

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes’? - Matthew 21:42

Today's gospel talks how someone planted a vineyard. After, he put a fence around it, built a tower, and before going away, he leased it to his tenants expecting them to grow produce to collect. When the produce is to be collected, the owner sends his servant to collect what is owed, but they beat him and send him away with nothing. The owner sends more servants, who are treated the same way—some of them are even killed.  Finally, the owner sends his own son. And unfortunately, they kill him, assuming they'll receive his inheritance. We could relate the gospel to our lives in a way that the owner of the vineyard is God, the beloved son sent by the owner is Jesus, the vineyard is our lives in the world and the tenants are us. There is mention of a cornerstone is the gospel also. What is a cornerstone? A cornerstone is a stone that forms the base of the building, joining two walls. A foundation of some sort. In more ways than one, love could be our cornerstone. Be it love fo