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March 10, 2020Today, Jesus warns us that although those who are in religious authority may cause scandal if their actions contradict what they teach, we should not allow this to cause us to reject the truth of what they teach. I must admit that for many years without realizing it, I often used OTHER people's sins as an excuse to commit my own. For instance, I either neglected to assist or even pray for someone in need who seemed to have wronged me in some way in the past, or I would assist or pray for them only hesitatingly or begrudgingly. Their indifference toward me neither changed the truth of their need nor the truth of my recognition of their need.
Nevertheless, like the scribes and Pharisees, I expected them to play by the rules while giving myself a dispensation. This was a difficult thing for me to admit, but even more horrifying to me was realizing that perhaps others had used MY sins as an excuse to reject the Master I professed to love and serve, the pitfall of scandalous behavior Jesus warns us of today.
The only way to heal that situation was to stop allowing my will and desires to rule as master in my life, as did the scribes and Pharisees and to accept wholeheartedly Jesus as my Master by seeing in others only him. And when I found him, the result was that not only was my neighbor's burden lightened, so was mine. Dear Jesus, help me to lighten life's burdens and heal the wounds I have caused by my sins by seeking and finding only you in my neighbor.
