Making Friends With The Lord Jesus Fr. Edwin

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Barnabas, Apostle. Our dear Jesus expounds in the sermon on the mount after mentioning the Beatitudes that we are salt and light. Those are two realities that are well known by the Israelites. Our Lord benefits from them to teach that we are to exhibit the qualities of these realities. As salt, we need to give off flavor to our surroundings. That would mean that we cannot simply be unrecognizable in the crowd because we always adopt what people say and claim. What if they push an agenda that is anti-human and anti-moral? A follower of Christ would need to give witness to the truth that Jesus taught. Then, His followers need to be light. As light, Christians need to help the other know the truth so that they are guided properly through life to reach salvation. There are many errors and fallacies abounding in the world that people exposed to the media and so many hucksters of worldliness are sitting ducks. They are misled by falsehoods disguised as the truth. Then, our role is to help people reach and appreciate the truth.

We read today the Beatitudes according to St. Matthew. They are the new commandments of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We need to learn to live them by depending on God's grace. We can narrow down to the beatitude that says "Happy the Gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage." We all need to learn to be gentle. Furthermore, we are often tempted to be rough and violent. Impatience is something very proper of paganism, especially today, when most equate goodness with speed and quickness.

We can be His mother, His brother, or His sister as long as we do His Will! It is as simple as that. The Jews were so full of themselves as members of the Chosen People. They believed they did not have to have any interior conversion. It sufficed to have external actions. What was visible was enough. No need really for inner changes. Such internal changes were what God wanted. They were distancing themselves from God by such superficiality. So, Jesus made it a point to consider in the last paragraph of the Gospel today that they needed to have the conversion of doing God's Will.

After celebrating the Sacred Heart of Jesus yesterday, the Church praises God today for the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Her Heart is immaculate because it is without stain of sin. She is immaculate because her heart gravitates around God. She looks for Him constantly, just like when she and Joseph searched for Him anxiously for three days when the Child remained in Jerusalem without informing His parents. She kept the reply of Our Lord Jesus in her heart pondering on them. She prayed about them. She learned from them. Her heart was immaculate because she insists in finding God in each situation.

God has a Heart! With Jesus Christ, we appreciate God's Heart that loves all of us. He proved the extent of His love when He died on the Cross. After the soldier pierced His side with a lance, out came blood and water. There was nothing more Jesus could give us. He gave us everything, and He paid with the ultimate price with His life. How do we correspond to His love? We need to love Him in return!

It is so moving to see a marathon runner never giving up in making it to the finish line. He gives this endeavor everything he has. This could be a fine image of how our love for God should be. Today, the Gospel tells us so much, i.e., love God with all our heart, all our understanding, and all our strength. Do we? It is curious, but we might show more dedication to a creature than we do to God. Jesus also adds that we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves. This love is the acid test to check whether we truly love God so much. Another revelation in the Gospel is that this way of loving God is more important than any holocaust or sacrifice. Think about that!