May the Lord give you peace and happiness in the Holy Spirit.
It is 01st June 2024.
What attracts our hearts the most: lies or truth?
We reflect on Jude 17, 20-25; and the Gospel from Mark 11:27-33.
False teachers are on the increase everywhere specially in the Church.
The false teachers are the ones whose life is not built on personal prayer, deep faith and genuine love and hope. What they say is completely different from what they live. Their private lives are motivated by pleasures of the body and materials things.
These false teachers are mostly the best administrators in the eyes of public, but they are indeed a mess in their personal lives.
False teachers do not prioritise prayer life and personal time with God rather they spend more time in building and demonstrating social connections.
Some of the false teachers are well talented in music, art, speech, and writing.
The version of the Gospel they preach is not from their personal and mystical experiences of God rather based on some logical, philosophical, cosmological, and epistemological worded teachings that are appealing to human intelligence not to the soul.
Some others are very much interested in acquiring degrees after degrees from the universities to show and demonstrate what they say is coming from their well-founded studies.
These false teachers believe in acquiring power and authority by evil means and plans that they suggest and convince others to bring them to the helm of the affairs to dispense such authority.
In the first reading, St. Jude warns us to be extremely careful in identifying these false prophets and teachers in the church and in our social life. He instructs to look for the four spiritual powers found in committed and good teachers such as Faith, Prayer, Hope, and Love.
The passage teaches us to be mindful not to listen and relate with their tainted version of the Gospel.
We must exclude ourselves especially our souls and beings be guarded from these most seductive and attractive teachings that do not have any change of our personal lives.
The Gospel presents us with the power Jesus holds by the virtue of being the Son of God, and the Messiah and the authority that came out from Him was the outcome of the union with the Father.
Having cleansed the temple and taught them the Way to the Father, Jesus was interrogated by the high priests that by what authority He did what He did and spoke. Jesus rebutted them with another question for which they consciously evaded saying: “We do not know.” (Mk.27:33).
Unless we get the authority from God through faith, prayer, hope and love, we cannot convert people and lead people to God.
Being honest to the truth makes us to have the authority to serve not to use and abuse people and situations for our benefits and advantages.
May the Lord help us to have faith in God to be sincere in the pursuit of knowing the truth and spreading the same with our humble service.
May you have a good day.