BE WARY OF SCANDAL!

⏰Thursday of the Twenty-Third Week of Ordinary Time 2 (13 September 2018 – Memorial of St. John Chrysostom)

📖1 Cor 8:1b-7, 11-13; Ps 139:1-3, 13-14ab, 23-24 (R.v.24b); Luke 6:27-38

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit dwell and abide with you. Amen.

Do you remember that saying that, “A clear conscience fears no accusation?” It is still very much valid. But now, that clear conscience must also embrace the virtue of PRUDENCE in order not to be deceitful.

In Matt 18:6, Jesus warned, “If anyone should cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble and fall into sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the depths of the sea with a large millstone around his neck.”

Do you know that what constitutes a scandal might not necessarily be sinful? That is one point that St Paul makes in 1Cor 8:1-13. It happened that in Corinth, at that time, meats that are ritually sacrificed in the pagan temples are taken to the market for sale. The more enlightened Corinthians saw nothing wrong in the meat as the worship of God is in spirit (cf. John 4:23) but some think that it is sinful. For the sake of the latter, Paul warns the others not to eat the meat.

Look for a Bible that contains the deutero-canonical books and read the story of Eliezar in 2 Macc 6:18ff. His friends wanted to bring him a pure meat in place of pork and he would pretend as if he was eating the pork so as to evade execution. But Eliezar replied, “If I led them [many young people] astray for the sake of this short life, I would bring defilement and disgrace to my old age” (2 Macc 6:25).

My dear, never for one day think that what you can do whatever you want with your life. The era of “uka di n’obi” (worship of God in the spirit) alone is gone. Think of your utterances before men; do you join a group where immoral discussion takes the order even though you are morally okay? You might mislead some little ones who look up to you through that.

I pray that God might direct our footsteps aright this day and beyond so that we may never be a source of scandal to people who look up to us as their model. Amen.

Have a grace-filled day. Peace be with you.