Ad Jesum per Mariam

We Must Examine Our Hearts to See What Is There that God Does Not Like! How Do We Do This?

We Must Examine Our Hearts to See What Is There that God Does Not Like! How Do We Do This? Jesus’ language is very strong within the Gospel. He talks about the inside and outside. Yesterday, we focused on cleaning the outside of the dish and cup. But the inside is important too! In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes those like whitewashed tombs. Beautiful on the outside, but on the inside filthy. Why do we often focus on the outside, avoiding the inside? Because it's easier to look good . . . then to be good. Hear more in the Homily. To be good demands a lot. We must confront ourselves and the attitude of ourselves. To clean these attitudes is not easy! How can we strive to be good? We are frequently invited to check ourselves. We must examine our hearts to see what is there that God does not like. How? Listen to this Meditation Media. Listen to: We Must Examine Our Hearts to See What Is There that God Does Not Like! How Do We Do This? ----------------------------- Image: Sacred Heart of Jesus: The Shrine of Our Lady of the Island ----------------------------- Gospel Reading: Matthew: 23: 27-32 First Reading: 2 THES: 3: 6-10, 16-18

Broadcast on:: 04 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: other

the Lord be with you. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Jesus said, "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evil doing. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous. And you say, "If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood." Thus, you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets. Now fill up what your ancestors measured out. The gospel of the Lord. The reading that we had yesterday and today see that Jesus is not joking. It's come a little strong. And he is talking about the inside and outside. Yesterday we read that we focused much on cleaning the outside of the cup, outside of the dish, and we live out the inside. And in this inside where we have plunder and self-indigence. And today he says we are like white washed tombs who appear beautiful outside, magnificent, splendid, but inside they are filled up with dead man's bones and all sorts of fields. And then we wonder why is it that most of the times we get focused on the outside, living out the inside. The fact of the matter is it is easier to look good than to be good. It is easier to appear good than to be good. To appear good we go, we wash our face, we take a shower, put on lotion and a little bit of perfume here and there. We walk around people say you are looking good. That's wonderful. But to be good demands a lot. It demands confronting ourselves, the attitudes within ourselves, which are times are not easy to face. The attitudes of pride, the attitudes of envy, jealousy, the attitudes of greed, and to clean these is not easy. And then we ask, so how can we strive to be good? How can we put focus on to be good than to appear good? We are invited to frequentry check ourselves. Honestly, face ourselves within our hearts. Generously, go deep into our coinchers. Just like every time, which I'm sure, half of us, if not even all of us, before coming here, after taking shower, we had to look at ourselves in the mirror. Maybe even some of us have done that before stepping out of the car. Look at yourself in the mirror and say, am I okay? As for me at the start of months, we have a mirror there in this accuracy. And after putting on this beautiful hub, I had to look at myself and say wow, I look great. So just as we do that, we continuously look at ourselves and see how we appear to others. We also invited to do likewise with our heart. To see what is there that God does not like. And when we look at our heart, it's not what people are going to like or not, but what God is going to like. Continuously, we check within ourselves and begin to clean that so that we be good, not appear good, but we be good. And today, we are given a great example of St. Augustine. His story is so popular and so interesting because men of us can resonate with his story. In his inspiring autobiography, Confessions, he writes, "Our heart is restless until it rests in you." God, you made us for yourself. Our heart is restless until it rests in you. We all undergo a lot of moments in which we are restless, physically, mentally, spiritually. Physically, "restress" because of tiredness, exhaustion, mentally, "restress" because of anxiety. We don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. Spiritually, "restress" because of the emptiness. And in all these, we ask ourselves, why am I exhausted after waking for a long time? We ask ourselves, why am I empty in the midst of all the achievements that I have done? And we ask ourselves, why am I concerned with what tomorrow is going to bring? Something that is beyond my control and at the heart of all these is the question of meaning, seeking meaning. What is the meaning of life? And this was what Augustine did in the first part of his life, in which he was looking for meaning in life. And his mother, with tears every day, prayed for him. And Augustine was looking for this meaning in the world, trying to find meaning. And thank God that grace was granted to him, with the prayers of his mother, and the grace of God came upon him. When he discovered that our hearts are "restress" until the rest in you God. There is no way that we can get full meaning of ourselves, but in God himself. The big question is, where do we look for God? Where do we look for God? Pope Francis, in commenting about St. Augustine, he says, "St. Augustine's search for the remote God led him to himself and then moved out." Augustine realized that God is so close to himself than he Augustine is close to Augustine. God is so close to us than we are close to ourselves. And Augustine discovered God within himself. May I mind God made us for himself. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And it is there that Augustine discovered God. And this was not the end. After he discovered God in himself, because it's the image of God, he moved out to help others discover God. To share the God that he himself has discovered within himself. If all of us here and realize that God is close to us than the way we are close to ourselves and that we can find him within ourselves. Because we are the image of God. And then from there we share this quote that we have found within ourselves with others. Our hats are restless until the rest is new, our God. And God is so close to us than the way we are close to ourselves. Amen. [silence]