We Have Done Only Our Duty

It is our duty to put the needs of others especially our very young children before our own.  It is the duty of the father to provide for his family, and often he may have to do this in very trying and difficult circumstances.  It is the primary duty of  the mother to nurture and raise her children especially when they are very young.  It is our duty to look after aged and ailing parents.  It is our duty to give generously to the Church and to the poor.  To offer our services to our Parish cheerfully wherever and whenever required.  To use whatever talents God has given us for His glory.  And when we have done all this we must say, “We have only done our duty.”  If duty is impelled by love then we will look at all duty as a labor of love.

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Luke 17:10

So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, you say I have only done my duty.

It is clear that God is very demanding.  He  has given us life and along with it, its accompanying blessings and guides and supports us.  We must know that we are completely dependent on Him.  Therefore, we can never really say, “I have done enough.”  As St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:16 For if I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion.”  This compulsion is the compulsion of love.

When we exhaust ourselves working for those we love to support them as well as the Church, we have done no more than our duty.

For more in-depth commentary go here:

http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/francisjamieson/hardsayings/doneourduty.asp

THE UNPARDONABLE SIN

In the Chronicles of Avonlea, the writer L.M. Montogomery, makes this remark in the short story, ‘Each in His Own Tongue,’ the old man Abel Blair says this, when he discovers that the grandfather of the young boy has forbidden his grandchild to ever play the violin although the boy has an extraordinary talent,

“Felix Moore will live," he said positively, "You can't kill that kind until their work is done. He's got a work to do–if the minister'll let him do it. And–if the minister don't let him do it, then I wouldn't be in that minister's shoes when he comes to the judgment–no, I'd rather be in my own. It's an awful thing to cross the purposes of the Almighty, either in your own life or anybody else's. Sometimes I think it's what's meant by the unpardonable sin–ay, that I do!"

How often we have seen the hand of God at work in the miracles that take place in our lives and yet there are many who refuse to give God the credit.  They will thank their luck, their stars, the  people who helped them – everybody else but the true Giver of all good things.

Let us see what Jesus meant when He spoke of the unpardonable sin in the Gospel of Mark 3:28-29 and in Luke 12:10.

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Mark 3:28-29

28 Truly, I say to you, every sin will be forgiven humankind, even insults to God, how­­ever numerous. 29 But who­ever slanders the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven: he carries the guilt of his sin forever.”

Luke 12:10

10 There will be pardon for the one who criticizes the Son of Man, but there will be no pardon for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit.

Fr. F, asks us to look at the context and the setting in which Jesus spoke and this will help us to better understand what He meant.  The Pharisees refused to give God the glory for the various healings that accompanied the work of Jesus wherever He preached.  They did not doubt the validity of the healings but attributed it to Satan, accusing Jesus of being an agent of the devil.  If they believed this, they had  closed their eyes to the truth and light.

In  the Gospel of Mark, the sin against the Holy Spirit is deliberately shutting one’s eyes to the light and calling good evil.

In  Luke it is the final apostasy – turning away from God’s salvation.


For more in-depth commentary go here:

http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/francisjamieson/hardsayings/unforgivablesin.asp

USING MONEY TO MAKE FRIENDS

We are called to win souls for the Kingdom of God by using the power of wealth, the acquisition of which is quite often through dishonest means, in order to help those who are less fortunate that ourselves.  In doing so, when we die we will receive a welcome in the Kingdom of God.

In Luke chapter 16 verses 1-9 and 19-31 we read two parables one is about the crafty steward and the second about the rich man and Lazarus.  The second throws light on the first and enables us to understand what Jesus means in verse 9 when He says,

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Luke 16:9

⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

It is considered quite prudent when a man spends all his time and leisure on his business trying to make a profit and amass wealth.  Often a man will spend all his waking hours planning and plotting the ways and means by which he can expand his business and extract the maximum profit. Using even dishonest means maybe to increase his wealth.  In the same way Jesus wants Christians to be just as zealous when it comes to working for the Kingdom of God.  In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus we see that if the former had helped the latter even in a small way, he would have pleaded to God for mercy for the rich man.  In the same manner if we help the less fortunate, we can expect them also to  intercede for us.

Christians are called to have the same zeal and enthusiasm, energy and self denial as people who sacrifice everything of value to build up a fortune.  Many are prepared to sacrifice spiritual development for a spiritual one.  The rich must give to the poor, if they do, they will enter into eternal life.

For more in-depth commentary go here:

http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/francisjamieson/hardsayings/moneyforfriends.asp

Mystification

Quite often we are approached for advise when people find themselves in a moral quandary.  After we have exhausted all the reasons we know why a decision must be taken based on moral, scriptural and spiritual truths, we find that we have just wasted our time.  These persons almost always know  what is the right, moral and noble thing to do, but they were hoping to hear us encouraging them to do what they secretly desire to do and they will almost always do what they had made up their mind to do all along. 

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Mark 4:11-12

¹¹And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables;  ¹²in order that  ‘they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”

Isaiah 6:9-10

⁹And he said, “Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ ¹⁰Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.”

It is an exaggerated way of saying, “They will not listen.”  There are some people who are just not interested in what Jesus has to say.

For more in-depth commentary go here
http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/francisjamieson/hardsayings/mystification.aspystification.asp

Marriage and Divorce

The definition of marriage has always been understood to mean the union between one man and one woman until death.  Once the contraceptive mentality crept into the Christian culture marriage was doomed to collapse.  As Pope  Paul VI rightly predicted in Humanae Vitae, once contraception was accepted as a legitimate form of birth control then every evil would slink into the  backdoor.  Today we see the effects of contraception in the number of babies aborted, euthanasia has become acceptable by law in many countries, same sex unions are now considered normal and new laws are legislated to facilitate such unions acceptable. 

The seventh commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” is relegated to antiquity, however it does not change the words of Jesus who said that if a man even looks at a woman with lust in his eyes he has already committed the sin of adultery in his heart.

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 Mark 10:2-12

²Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” ⁵But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. ⁶But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ⁷‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”  ¹⁰Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. ¹¹He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; ¹²and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” 

This is a hard saying even today, as marriages are breaking down with increasing frequency.

There were two schools of thought in Jesus’ time where divorce was concerned.  One group was far more free in their interpretation of this law of divorce and they used flimsy excuses to obtain a divorce.

The Church today is firm in its view that if a marriage has truly taken place, no law on earth can dissolve it.

For I hate divorce, says the Lord God of Israel. (Malachi 2:16)

This is why a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)

For more in-depth commentary go here
http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/francisjamieson/hardsayings/marriageanddivorce.asp

Let the Dead Bury the Dead

It is often the case that when God calls us to follow Him, we dream up excuses to either delay the time of decision, or refuse the call altogether.  Although our reasons may seem legitimate and reasonable, our conscience will tell us whether we are being honest or not.  When God calls us to a deeper commitment of our life to His service then we must act promptly, joyfully and generously.  He will accept nothing less than our wholehearted yes.  Because He gave the Father nothing less that His wholehearted yes for our sakes.

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Luke 9:23

²³Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

We cannot be so caught up with family ties that we have no time or interest for matters of greater importance family must take second place to the Kingdom of God.

Luke 9:59-62

⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Family ties are placed in a wider context.

Jesus was neither hard, harsh, callous or unsympathetic – but the call to discipleship demands our complete loyalty.

“Leave the spiritually dead to bury the physically dead.”  Those who are serious about being Jesus’ followers must realize that God’s work is most important.  Working for God’s Kingdom is more important than burying the dead.

Those who want to follow Jesus totally and radically must be prepared to give up everything for His sake that is why the challenge cannot be diluted.

There are no half measures in Christ’s call to discipleship one gives Him one’s whole life and heart.

Revelations 3:16

¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

FOR MORE IN-DEPTH COMMENTARY GO HERE
http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/francisjamieson/hardsayings/burythedead.asp

Hating

It is possible to love those nearest and dearest to  us so much that we are unable to give God His rightful place in our life.  Inordinate love for family could place shackles on us rendering us unable to make the sacrifices necessary to put God over and above all else. If we are constantly concerned about  pleasing family members, we will be unable to give God the place of primacy in our lives.  Every human love must be dispassionate and disinterested,  we must neither cling nor  permit others to cling to us, rather  from our love for God must flow our love for others.  Only such a love fulfills God's first commandment to love Him with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole might and our whole being.  Putting anything else before our love for Him becomes an idol.

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Luke  14:26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brother and sister and yes even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Matthew 10:37,  He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

  

The cost of discipleship requires a whole hearted not half hearted response.  If anyone stands in the way of complete commitment to God even our closest, nearest and dearest, it must be renounced.  Our response to God’s call must be radical.

Reading the above verses from the Gospel of Luke and Matthew one may get the impression that God is calling us to renounce all family ties but that is not true at all.  How could a God of Love demand that we  not love our family when He Himself commands us to honor our father and mother?  

What God calls us to is radical love - the same kind of love that sent His beloved Son to the Cross in order to redeem us.  We too must be prepared to lay down our lives in love and service first to God and then to our neighbor.

FOR MORE IN-DEPTH COMMENTARY GO HERE
http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/francisjamieson/hardsayings/hating.asp