Sunday REFLECTION....

Sunday Reflections.......

16th SUNDAY, Mt. 13. 24- 33, 19 July 2020

"RECOGNIZE OUR RESPONSIBILITY AND NOT PUT THE BLAME ON GOD"

I. 1. In today's Gospel, there are three parables that refer to the kingdom of God

The first parable of good seed and weed. The second, of mustard grain. And the third, of yeast and flour

2. How are these three related? The first indicates our human situation, and the difference between the action of God and of us. The second and third indicate how to respond and act on that situation

3. First of all, let's take into account the reality of our world. It's so bad. There's so much nastiness.

(Undoubtedly, things often go wrong, whether in personal or family life, or in the community or in society, or in the whole world, whether in the physical or emotional or intellectual or social or political or moral or spiritual realm)

II. 4. That is, in the words of the Gospel, there are not only good seeds but also weeds.

In fact, you often hear that weed dominates and suffocates good seeds. It often happens that the good suffer the most. The sincere struggle, while the insincere enjoy. The faithful lose, but the treacherous gain.

5. This is not right. So, Why does God who is all-powerful and beloved not intervene? Why is he not acting?

Why doesn't he stop evil? Why is He indifferent?

III. 6. The only reason is, because God loves us so much that he gives us freedom and respects it.

Therefore, He never forces and always leaves each of us free in our choice and in our action.

7. God is not helpless but patient. He is not indifferent but hopeful and confident of us.

In his patience he always offers ample opportunity to always know what is right and right, to evaluate the value of everything, to choose the best and to follow what is upright and positive.

8. So we cannot wait for God to intervene every now and then when something goes wrong.

Instead, we must take responsibility for our lives

Then do not be concerned with what God should do or how He should act.

But let's engage with what each of us needs to do and how we should act

Iv.        9. What to do and how to do it?

An answer is found in the other two parables.

In such a situation of the first parable, of the growth of weed together with the good seeds, each of us who is faithful to God, must be

Like a grain of mustard that is small but gets big, like a kindergarten tree for birds,

Like the yeast that is little but dissolving turns all the flour.

10. This is where the "miracle of smallness" consists:

It does not matter before the Lord, what is our position, or the degree of life or the level in society, or the importance of our work or the gains of our abilities.

11. Small or large, the only thing that matters is,

What do we do – good or evil? How do we do – with what attitude, how much goodness, kindness, patience, how much humility in everything we do in daily life

V. 12. Remember: we cannot criticize society that it is so and so, when it is we who make society.

13. (How can we criticize others of selfishness, indifference, envy, arrogance, aberrations, when we too carry and nurture the same, and act in the same way, with the same attitudes in our behaviours and works?

How can we criticize hunger and poverty when they throw away a lot of money on entertainment and seductions?

When there is so much licentious freedom, how can one criticize immorality or immodesty?

When there is too much arrogance and a sense of false dignity, how can we criticize the collapse of relations?

When family values are lowered, how can we complain about the deviations of young people?

When there is no respect for the human being, how can we criticize crime?

When there is no closeness and reliance on God, how can one complain of stress and anxiety and lack of peace and serenity? )

14. So, it takes a perspective that accepts life as a whole of good and evil, a whole of the positive and the negative, a set of good seeds and weeds

15. It takes a lot of patience, a lot of perseverance, and a lot of personal responsibility.

16. It takes a big heart that does even the little things with great dedication