Jesus makes two important points in the gospel passage today: GOD MUST COME FIRST! and YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU GIVE!
First: GOD MUST COME FIRST. Jesus is saying quite clearly that ALL OF OUR ATTENTION MUST BE FOCUSED on him / and his Father through him, by the working of the Holy Spirit for us to have a fully productive and happy life here and fullness of life in heaven hereafter! This is what it means when he says he has not come to simply establish a false, temporary, band-aid kind of "peace on earth." Real peace will come as a result to placing a relationship with God above a relationship with absolutely everyone else, including ourselves.
Secondly: Whoever receives me (when you are sent to bring the gospel to the whole world) will get me and also my Father, because we are inseparable – and also the Holy Spirit because we THREE are inseparable. Whoever receives you as a prophet will get a prophet's reward; whoever receives you as a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward; and whoever receives and gives a cup of cold water to one of the little ones of mine to drink because he is a disciple – surely will not go unrewarded when it really counts.
Belief then in what Jesus is asking us to do leads to action; it always leads to action! Just as in the first reading God was tired of his people offering all kinds of useless sacrifices to him but without changing their attitudes and behaviors – they were still sinning. I DON'T WANT YOUR FANCY SACRIFICES he says: I DO WANT YOU TO WASH YOURSELVES CLEAN putting away your misdeeds from before my eyes by ceasing your evil doing and learning to do good – because it is good!: make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow!
To the upright I will show the saving power of God!
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