Freedom or Slavery

Today's Gospel, Luke 10: 13-16,  begins with strong, harsh words spoken by Jesus:  "Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you,  Bethsaida!  For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you."  Jesus is not trying to bully the inhabitants of these two cities. Rather, He is expressing His grief that they have not turned back to God. Instead they remained slaves to their sinful way of life in spite of the many ways in which Jesus revealed God's love and mercy.

To this very day, it is very easy to get caught in a lifestyle dominated by greed, immorality, lust,  resentments, envy, avarice,  and other corrupt activities.  Satan is a Father of Lies, a "professional" at conning people into choosing wrongful actions to the point that people do not even realize when they have been deceived. The scene in the Garden of Eden plays out over and over again in today's reality: Satan entices one person to sin and that person lures another, while both find ways to pass the blame onto another  person or something else, refusing to accept responsibility for the choice one has made.

All of us need to pray with the psalmist the words of Psalm 139, today's responsorial psalm:  Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way and take to heart the words of the psalm:

"O Lord, you have proved me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.  
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar."

So, I may cover up the truth from my fellow human beings and from myself, but not from God.  God knows me through and through and is deeply saddened when I make poor choices, choices whereby I become more and more a slave to sin and less and less a slave of the truth that makes me free.

Anchored in Christ Jesus

In today's first reading, Acts 16: 22-34, Paul and Silas are attacked, beaten with rods and thrown into prison.  It would seem as though all is lost, that there is no escape, as their feet are chained to the floor in one of the most secure cells of the prison.  In the middle of the night,  a sudden earthquake opens all of the prison doors. They are free to escape but do not.  The prison guard  panics and is about to kill himself when Paul and Silas  intervene. What follows is the conversion of  the guard and his entire family.

The guard panics. Paul and Silas remain calm; their relationship to the Lord is unshakable.  You and I have at times remained calm in the midst of a crisis while others have panicked and vice versa. Panic blocks our awareness of God's presence and His power. It is important to realize that if I seek God on a daily basis, I am more likely to seek God in crisis situations.  When I am having a difficult time, my first thought is to call upon my best friend. So, too, if I have chosen Jesus as my closest friend and developed an intimate relationship with Him. I will automatically think of Jesus and call upon Him in both the good and bad times of life.

When, in a crisis, the Rock to which  I cling is Christ Jesus, I will be as strong as that Rock. I will not be shaken even if every one around me has entered the crisis mode. To whom do you cling?