Matthew 7:12 “in a snailshell”
Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
The Golden Rule
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Matthew 7:12 “in a snailshell”
Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
Tag Archives: sermon on the mount
Matthew 7:12 “in a snailshell”
Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
Stop Judging
Another angle on Matthew 7:1-5
Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”
Matthew 7:1-5
Learn From the Wild Flowers
Matthew 6:25-34 in a couplet
Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.“
Matthew 6:25-34
A Secret Gift
Matthew 6:1-4 in a couplet
Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
“But take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
Matthew 6:1-4
Love of Enemies
“Love of Enemies (3 panels)”
Matthew 5:43-48 in a quatrain
Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Related post: Love like the Sun
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48
Christ on Retaliation
Inspired by Matthew 5:38-42
Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
Matthew 5:38-42
The Heart at the Altar
Matthew 5:23-24 in a couplet
Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 5:23-24
Related post: The New (Old) Law
Christ Fulfills the Law
Matthew 5:17-18 in a couplet
Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.
Matthew 5:17-18
Related post: The Law Made Flesh
You Are the Salt of the Earth
Matthew 5:13 in a couplet
Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Related post: Meditation on Light, Series II, Day 5 (Matthew 5:14)
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
Matthew 5:13
Note: In first-century Israel, salt lost its savor through exposure to humidity.
The Cross and the Beatitudes
10th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday (Year I)
2 Corinthians 1:1-7; Matthew 5:1-12
A single teardrop from God could wash away the sins of the world, but the Father gave his only-begotten Son to the last drop of blood.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Our “Father of compassion” (2 Corinthians 1:3) is moved like a mother in the depths of her womb for her children. The Greek word for compassion (oiktirmos) translates the Hebrew word rachamim (from racham) in the Greek Septuagint, which means womb, tender love, mercy, and pity.1 God the Father sent the Son of his Eternal Womb into the womb of the Virgin Mother and Earth for the love of the world.
Our Father is also the “God of all encouragement” or “comfort” (paraklésis), a word that evokes the Holy Spirit, Comforter, and Paraclete (paraklétos).
Our Father who sent his Son and Spirit into the world is indeed a God of compassion and comfort, taking humans by surprise.
Why not a God of sophia (wisdom) in the heights of heaven, an object of pure contemplation beyond human reach and relationship, to satisfy the Greeks?
Why not a God of power and authority, who would overthrow the Romans and enthrone the triumphant Messiah, to satisfy the Jews?
The plan of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit upset both reason and religion in the course of human history (1 Corinthians 1:22-23). The sufferings of Christ shattered all human expectations. What are philosophers and worshippers to do with a crucified God?
St. Paul considered the “scandal” and “foolishness” of the Cross to be his greatest treasure. What all humans avoid, the apostle embraced to “overflowing” (2 Corinthians 1:5). St. Paul found true wisdom and power in the self-negation of the Cross.
Jesus transformed the curse of suffering and death into the blessing of eternal life. The Beatitudes from his Sermon on the Mount, full of paradoxes, are a roadmap to the fullness of life in God.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:3-12
The earthy God of the Cross and the Beatitudes shed tears and blood for us. Ever new and strange, the Gospel never ceases to challenge the human heart.
-GMC
1 An example of this Hebrew idea translated into Greek can be found in 1 Kings 8:50 (Hebrew, Greek).
The Victor's Place 